So after months of getting used to Project Natal we now find out that Microsoft’s new motion-base controller is to be called Kinect.
No more Natal - now Kinect.
Reading the announcement which brought this news I wondered just how long it took and just how much it cost for someone to put together “kinetic” and “connect” to come up with this new monika.
And the other thing I wondered was – what was wrong with Natal?
Having worked with Microsoft, directly and indirectly, for a number of years now I know that they like to give their projects names (remember Longhorn?) and I get that, I really do. I’ve done the same myself in the past – “Hexagon” had a lot more punch than “the hosted email and collaboration infrastructure project” I’m sure you’ll agree. But What was wrong with Natal? I’d have been happy picking up a box with that on the front, we’ve been happy enough to talk about it for long enough across the blogs, forums, news sites and print magazines. Why then the change?
The answer of course is purely marketing. The “Official” launch with that “official” name is the prime opportunity to grab ALL of the headlines once more. A new name means new interest, a new logo to ooh and ahh over – OK, not so much in this case – but it does get coverage, certainly more than a simple re-introduction of something we already know, even if Cirque du Soleil are playing with it.
Kinect - it might just catch on.
Also, for all the simplicity of the name and its parts, it actually does work, for me at least. The Kinect controller… the Kinect interface… the Kinect system, they all sort of make sense and you’d be able to take a stab at what it was if you were to overhear a conversation. OK its not as direct as “Move” but then neither does it have a big coloured blob on the end either!
So, Kinect for the Xbox 360, and, I predict, for the PC in the not so distant future. There’s already talk about presentations using this technology. No longer the laser pointer and the throw-a-six-to-start remote control it’ll all be about gestures and hand swipes!
It’ll take a while but soon we’ll forget Natal and all be Kinecting with each other!! Do you see what I did there?! … I’m so lonely.
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June 16th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
When I heard Natal, I thought babies. When I think babies I think screaming, puking and shitting. Hence I approve of the name change.
June 16th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Worst name. That is all.
June 17th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I will continue to call it Project Natal as a sign of my stubbornness to accept misspelled non-existent English words. :)