As the Next generation Console War rages on, companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are fighting to find new ways to grab their users’ attention, and to pull users away from the other companies. Microsoft may have just set the new standard with a product that they plan to release for their console, the XBOX 360, called Natal.

The concept is simple, a special camera that plugs directly into your console, can open up a new range of possibilities. In the demo shown here we see a user who interacts with a virtual person on the screen. Big deal right, anyone can make a program to listen for predefined words and have some sort of response. The difference is that you build a relationship with this person, you learn from them and they learn from you. In a report that was released from XBOX, users claim to actually forget the person is a virtual entity, but actually get drawn into their story (which is different for everyone)

On top of that, the camera and the software that Microsoft has developed has the ability to ‘scan’ real life objects. Shown in the demo a user draws a picture and holds it up to the camera, the camera scans it into the system, and the virtual charter takes the picture from the user and looks at it, even compliments it. In a few other concept videos it shows how a child can scan a skateboard and use the graphic on the bottom of it to play a game.

In another video shown here, a user can chat with another XBOX Live member, and even share items that the camera has scanned into the system. An example is used of a girl trying to pick out a dress to wear, and a friend sends her a picture and even places it on a still frame photo.

Microsoft promises that this will change the future of gaming as we know it, finally giving the gamer a more in depth experience, blurring the lines of fantasy and reality. I look forward to its arrival as well as what other ideas spring forth from this.

Chuck Lindblom

It is no surprise that the video gaming industry is huge. Everywhere you look today there is an ad for a new system coming out, or the latest hack and slash game, but every once and a while you find a diamond in the rough. In my case, I found two.

I recently purchased both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour for the XBOX 360, and let me tell you, I am hooked. I am a drummer by trade, I have been doing it for a number of years, but I was never able to learn the guitar. With these games it doesn’t matter, after playing for ten minutes I can rock out with the best of them.

For those of you who may not have heard of these games before the objective is simple. A song plays in the background such as ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World. As the song plays you can see a vertical guitar neck on the TV with five colored sections at the bottom (Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Orange). As the song plays ‘Notes’ fly down the neck of the guitar and the user must play them. To do so you hold down the correct fret button or buttons and strum the guitar in time with the song, imitating playing a real guitar. The drums act the same way but instead of strumming you need only hit the correctly colored drum head. For the singers in the group the microphone measures the pitch of your voice and compares it to the singers. The closer you are the more points you get.

Both games are filled with great songs for all genres and decades, and both games let you create your own unique rocker to rule the music world with. There is one issue though, the equipment needed to play these games are mildly different from one another, and some people may not enjoy that so much, so let me take some time to break it down for you and let you in on my favorites.

• Microphone. The microphone is a must-have for the vocalist. I can honestly say though, that there is no real difference in the microphones from either game besides the logo that is placed on it. Both work on either game, and both let the volcalist go crazy! In my opinion, I like the Rock Band 2 microphone better, only because I like that game just a little bit more.
• Drums. The drums are one fun instrument to play, both in real life and in these games. The main difference is that the guitar hero drums come with three pads and two cymbals, while the bass pedal makes for six different areas to use, and the game takes full advantage of that. The rock band drums have four pads, while the bass pedal makes for five areas of drumming goodness. Note that there is a cymbal set you can buy for the rock band drums in a two- or three-pack. The question I am most often asked is, can one drum set be used in the other game? The simple answer is yes. Using the Rock Band drums in Guitar Hero is easy to do, Guitar Hero will just take away the Orange Drum for you. As for the other way, I know it works but I have not tried it myself. In the end, I find myself leaning towards the Rock Band 2 drums; I find the setup to be a little more real, and the set a little more fun to play on.
• Guitar/Bass. The guitar is the one real-life instrument I always wanted to play but could never get the hang of. I always thought the bass was kind of cool as well. These games make it easy on us consumers, the guitar for both games can act as the guitar or bass guitar, whichever you like more. The Rock Band 2 guitar is just like the one from Rock Band 1. It has the same five fret buttons (Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Orange) on both the top of the guitar neck, as well as the smaller solo fret buttons at the bottom of the neck. The strum bar is a decent size, as well as very quiet to use. The whammy bar works just fine for me and is the same as every other whammy bar in this type of game. The Guitar Hero guitar is slightly different though. While it has all of the same fret buttons on top, a strum bar and a whammy bar, it has one thing the Rock Band guitar is lacking. A touch pad along the neck allows the user to play crazy guitar solos by simply moving their finger along the touch pad to hit the correct note. While I think this is a crazy new addition, I sometimes find it hard to switch from using the fret buttons to  the touch pad without missing some notes. In the end, I lean to the Guitar Hero guitar mostly for the look and feel.

In the end, I feel both games are very well made, but I feel Rock Band has a better gamplay. As for the equipment of the two games, it is up to your own personal choice. I have spoken to some people who say the Rock Band 2 guitar is better than the one I like. You can pick either of these games up at your local electronics store.

Chuck Lindblom