Microsoft announced their “Project Natal” at the E3 Expo this year. It’s a concept for future products, but if they can pull off what they hope to pull off…..wow.

Basically, it’s a video gaming system, on the Xbox 360
platform that utilizes no controllers other than your own physical body. There is a sensor that has motion capture capabilities, facial recognition, and vocal recognition. It’s kind of taking the concept of the Wii‘s interactive gaming up 3 or 4 levels. You physically act out what you want to do in the game and the system responds. In addition, you use physical movement and vocal commands to control the system in selecting movies, browsing content, video chatting with others, etc.

I don’t really get how it all will work out. Again, it’s still proof-of-concept at this point. I’d really like to see if Microsoft can pull this one off, though.

More to come when there’s more to tell.

Most people post videos of when they destroy songs in Rock Band or Guitar Hero a la this guy.

Anyway, we find it much funnier to show how awful we are at stuff, and when Jose was trying to play Metallica’s Ride The Lightning
on Rock Band 2, we saw the opportunity and capitalized.

Well, my PS2 was really old and dated. I usually keep it at the Liberty Center for The Bridge to use and only bring it home when I want it. I’ve had in mind to just donate the PS2 to The Bridge and upgrade my system at home. In fact, I pretty much decided on it. And so herein lied my dilemma:

Should I get an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3? Overall, both systems are pretty comparable. Both have outstanding graphics and offer up to 1080p resolution. Though not exactly the same, both systems are incredibly powerful. There were, however, several reasons to choose one or the other. Here was my thinking:

Xbox 360:
Pros: Slightly better graphics engine and an overall more powerful system, Xbox LIVE component to offer software/firmware upgrades as well as game upgrades and downloads, LIVE service for digital downloads of music and movies, great online multiplayablity, Ethernet built in with optional WiFi add-on (as compared to PS3′s Bluetooth Internet)

Cons: HD DVD instead of Blu-Ray (as PS3 has), red ring of death, new controllers and experience to get used to, more expensive than PS3.

Playstation 3:
Pros: We’re pretty well established and familiar with the Playstation brand, backwards compatibility with the few games I own, Blu-Ray player built in, cheaper than Xbox 360.

Cons: Not as strong online component, not as easily upgraded.

To be honest, I was leaning in favor of the PS3 on the way to the store. I mean, I kinda really wanted an Xbox, but the Blu-Ray player seemed to be a dealbreaker for me. But we decided to go spec out both systems and make a decision for one or the other or neither there. And so we arrived at our destination and reviewed all the options. While there we found a Rock Band (for Xbox) demo setup, and we played a bit. We really enjoyed the feel of Rock Band on Xbox, even moreso than Guitar Hero on Playstation back home. We really wanted it, so this was another addition to the reasons to go for Xbox.

It was the HD DVD vs Blu-Ray issue that really kept us going back and forth, and so the final question came down to this: are we putting our faith in future media in the realm of physical disc (Blu-Ray) or digital download (a la LIVE or Apple TV)? There’s no question that Blu-Ray looks incredible, and I would love to see some movies in a full 1080p resolution. I’ve really been looking forward to seeing Planet Earth , though they do have an HD DVD version of it, so I could see that. Then again, while not as good looking, the ability to download movies whenever we want via Xbox is a pretty compelling argument… and I’m sure the quality will go up in future years.

As we thought about it, and as I thought about my current media consumption habits, it made more sense to us to go with an XBox. I’m already big into downloadable content, and this seemed like a nice way to get to it in another realm. Besides, Blu-Ray will soon come down in price and we’ll probably be able to pick up a player for $100 in a year or so.

And so we bought the Xbox 360. And the Rock Band game with drums and an extra guitar. We went for the “XBox 360 Pro” instead of the “Elite.” It was $100 cheaper and I think that was worth a 60Gb less drive, and I can get the HDMI cable for well less than $100 on eBay if I really wanted it. In that case, we actually got the system for $50 less than the PS3 would have been, which covered the cost of the extra guitar.

So far we really like it. I have to setup my LIVE account still. I have to get the WiFi adapter to do it since I don’t have a TV in my room, and this is where the router is. I plan on getting a small HDTV some time later this year for the room and then I’ll make it a permanent fixture up here. Until then, it will float around downstairs on those TV’s.