When you're an Xbox and you wanna go "Wii"

In 2006 Nintendo finally released the infamous "Wii" into the videogame mainstream.  For the idea behind the Wii was initially laid down by Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto in 2001.

That idea?  Completely innovate the console "controller" by completely renovating its mechanic.

No longer would people simply press buttons to manipulate their games on console, now they would have the power of manipulation not just in their hands' fingers...but in their movements.  No more calloused thumbs!

Since then the rather primitive motion-sensor-controlled Wii has dazzled people by forcing them into a new echelon of videogame interaction.  Coming close to body-movement-sensor-control but not quite there.

A police shooter I've found at a few movie theaters does just that, you stand square-shouldered feet facing forward on top of a platform with footprints, from there you use the plastic gun to shoot but move your body to find cover, seriously...after a few goes I decided to drop back and watch someone else play it...its quite hilarious due to the sluggish response of the game, grown people killing time by shooting computer-generated gangsters while performing what looks like a Richard Simmons workout in slow motion.

Thus spoke Microsoft!  Project Natal..."you are the controller."

This marvelous addition to the Xbox 360 is home to a color video camera to detect your movements from 48 body parts (joints, head, neck, shoulders, facial features, etc), an infrared emitter and sensor for depth perception (to visually gauge your distance from the Natal system), and a microphone (for detecting your voice commands and for hearing how far from the Natal system you are).

Toss a microprocessor into the device to compute all that data on the fly and bam!  The "Wii" becomes a "Bii" for innovation.

But the truly remarkable dynamic shift is it's detail.  It has the ability to read your facial features, subtle hand gestures, while recognizing your voice; this quite frankly may take the role-playing genre to the extent of realism.