What is Project Natal's "River Rush" game, you ask? Well, it sounds an awful lot like Wii Sports Resort's canoe-paddling game, albeit minus the whole "physical controller" thing. Hollywood writer James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead, Slither) got to demo the game at a media preview held by Microsoft recently in Los Angeles, where the company was showing off its latest consumer offerings -- from Project Natal to the Courier to Halo: Reach (Gunn says he "was slaughtered instantly and numerous times by the Microsoft employees playing when they're supposed to be working" of Reach) -- and couldn't help but share his feelings about the experience with the world via his blog.
Gunn describes River Rush as "a game where you stand side by side in a river raft, so it's two people playing at once ... to move right, you have to step right; to move left, you have to step left." The game also features a jumping mechanic that, as you might guess, involves players actually leaping into the air. "As you rush down right rapids, you have to jump up and slap floating stars in the air -- the whole raft jumps up every time you do." You'll forgive our reticence, but it only takes one life lesson to learn that jumping into the air blindly near friends and expensive technology almost always results in bad memories. We've asked Microsoft for more information, but the chances of that before the company's E3 press event are about as likely as us going upstream without a paddle.
[Thanks, Jonathan Dixon]
Reader Comments (77)
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 2:58PM (Unverified) said
I'm pretty sure if it was sexual, it would be my hand tired.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:55PM MystileArmor said
I prefer watching porn, but if a little man in a boat is your thing then I gue....
Oh wait...
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Oh wait...
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:58PM (Unverified) said
Remember, there isn't a fetish that hasn't been invented yet.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 5:36PM anonim1979 said
"Dave’s avatar was a girl during River Rush, probably because Dave feels like a little princess inside, and I suddenly realized how awesome it would be for my avatar to molest Dave’s. As my avatar rubbed its crotch against Dave’s avatar’s ass the Microsoft folks started laughing and said that was the first time they had seen anyone do that. I was extremely proud of myself. I’m sure millions of little assholes will follow in the wake of my avatar-raping, but I want it to be noted in my Wikipedia page that I was the very first."
Ewwwwww.....
I think Chris Hansen will have a lot more work after Natal ships....
And Move too.
Evvvv ...^2
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Ewwwwww.....
I think Chris Hansen will have a lot more work after Natal ships....
And Move too.
Evvvv ...^2
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 8:46PM (Unverified) said
Do you walk on your hands?
"Stepping side to side" Where do arms come in?
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"Stepping side to side" Where do arms come in?
Posted: Apr 19th 2010 10:31AM SoCoolCurt said
"Remember, there isn't a fetish that hasn't been invented yet."
Rule 34 man, Rule 34.
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Rule 34 man, Rule 34.
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 2:36PM crhennen said
Doesn't it seem really annoying and counterintuitive to "step" in one way or the other to move left and right while in a canoe! I would imagine leaning would make more sense. Maybe he misspoke.
Can't wait for MadCatZ to start selling the Natal canoe accessory.
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Can't wait for MadCatZ to start selling the Natal canoe accessory.
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 2:40PM (Unverified) said
Is it just me or does Natal actually sound fun? I mean no controller sounds cool.
I haven't really been following the Wii or Playstation Move much, but that's because I don't own the systems, I haven't seen the games for Move either, but I'm sure they are cool too. The Wii has some fun games I've played at my friends house, like Animal Crossing (big fan) and Brawl, but I shouldn't count Brawl because I play it without motion control. Did I mention Mario Kart? They all are innovative, and with the great AND EQUAL graphics of both the PS3 and 360, it should be really fun, I just hope they are incorporated into games, and not a couple.
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I haven't really been following the Wii or Playstation Move much, but that's because I don't own the systems, I haven't seen the games for Move either, but I'm sure they are cool too. The Wii has some fun games I've played at my friends house, like Animal Crossing (big fan) and Brawl, but I shouldn't count Brawl because I play it without motion control. Did I mention Mario Kart? They all are innovative, and with the great AND EQUAL graphics of both the PS3 and 360, it should be really fun, I just hope they are incorporated into games, and not a couple.
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 2:47PM (Unverified) said
Yeah, I kinda agree. Also, when I said "Actually sounds fun" I wasn't dissing either PS3 Move or Wii.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:40PM (Unverified) said
I was talking about the PS3 and 360 games having equal graphics.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 9:36PM ptcamn said
If you want to test out how the whole experience with Natal will be go to Gamestop and get an used Eyetoy and a copy of Antigrav for less than $10. Not only will you be able to get a pretty accurate idea of how Natal will work but you also will get a very cool game. You will still need to jump, but you don't need to step to the sides to move around. :)
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Posted: Apr 19th 2010 1:51PM sigma8 said
As presented? No, it does not seem fun to me. The Milo demo seemed cool to me, but not really "fun" per se. Basically, anytime I see anyone using their "body" for Natal, it seems really dumb. But the Milo demo was more of a facial recognition demo, and that seemed to have promise. If the game can really tell if you are happy or mad (frustrated), and it can do something with those emotions, that would be cool. Being able to have real conversations with NPC's--even though i'm sure the experience will be limited in the beginning...that's also really cool.
But hopping around, flailing your arms... And I really mean flailing. We all teased the Wii for encouraging flailing, but the popular Natal demo of "beat back the flying balls by using your whole body!" bring flailing to a whole new level... that does not seem fun at all to me.
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But hopping around, flailing your arms... And I really mean flailing. We all teased the Wii for encouraging flailing, but the popular Natal demo of "beat back the flying balls by using your whole body!" bring flailing to a whole new level... that does not seem fun at all to me.
Posted: Apr 19th 2010 6:02PM Tephlon said
@Scott
All you've done is pointed out that you are not the targeted demographic.
I don't find anything fun about Just Dance or even to some extent Wii Sports/Resort, but that doesn't stop them from selling like hotcakes.
LadyGaga?
The Pet Rock?
Children?
McDonalds?
Just because these seem to be popular things to participate in doesn't mean I have to like them... but I also understand that I'm not everyone. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, just as corporations are entitled to target audiences they think will make them money.
Here's a hint- the Wii sells big with things like Just Dance. This means plenty of people find ridiculous flailing about with friends to be a fun and worthwhile activity.
I'm not saying Natal is guaranteed to sell... but I guarantee there's an audience for such experiences.
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All you've done is pointed out that you are not the targeted demographic.
I don't find anything fun about Just Dance or even to some extent Wii Sports/Resort, but that doesn't stop them from selling like hotcakes.
LadyGaga?
The Pet Rock?
Children?
McDonalds?
Just because these seem to be popular things to participate in doesn't mean I have to like them... but I also understand that I'm not everyone. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, just as corporations are entitled to target audiences they think will make them money.
Here's a hint- the Wii sells big with things like Just Dance. This means plenty of people find ridiculous flailing about with friends to be a fun and worthwhile activity.
I'm not saying Natal is guaranteed to sell... but I guarantee there's an audience for such experiences.
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 2:58PM MystileArmor said
I'm not jumping in my living room. This is a worse idea then Tony Hawk Ride was.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:05PM MystileArmor said
GODDAMMIT! Who the hell let you in my house while I'm at work?
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:18PM JoshMilewski said
Well, I wasn't joking. But this at least goes to show how distinctive the Wii series' look is.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 4:27PM Titus8705 said
The Microsoft Avatars look a lot like the Nintendo Miis, so it isn't too hard to picture the canoe game for Natal looking something like this. When I first saw the picture, I also thought it was for the Natal canoe game for that reason. I just thought it was an Avatar paddling. No need to go and downvote the guy, was an honest mistake.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 8:11PM Acosta02 said
I don't know why Josh got downvoted. There are plenty of people here who made the same mistake. I guess Joystiq was going for a not-so-subtle joke, but it looks like it mostly caused confusion.
(Maybe you guys can change it like you changed the MW2 credits headline!)
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(Maybe you guys can change it like you changed the MW2 credits headline!)
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:02PM Courtney said
Dammit, the screenwriter James Gunn always gets me excited, because he has the same name as one of my old professors, a guy pretty well known for his science fiction from the 60s and 70s. He's also written for TV and movies, so it's easy to get the two confused.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:04PM armageddon said
This most interesting thing I take from this is that Natal can track two people at once, Move demands two controls (that will get expensive quick).
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:49PM superskunk said
I'd say wait until we know the real prices for both of them.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 6:16PM aroGADGET said
Seriously! Microsoft has always denied the existence of Courier, to little more than a tech demo...
If they are, in fact, showing it off themselves, this should be a major headline over at Engadget!! (Looks like Topolsky wasn't invited to this event!)
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If they are, in fact, showing it off themselves, this should be a major headline over at Engadget!! (Looks like Topolsky wasn't invited to this event!)
Posted: Apr 18th 2010 7:16PM IllithidDude said
No, Courier was not there. I had a friend there who said it wasn't. Too bad though, I want Courier more then puppies.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 7:06PM maveric101 said
yeah the tech sounds cool but everything i've head game-wise is completely "meh."
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:28PM (Unverified) said
i dont know . . . . . . this has potential. Remember how skeptical we were about the wii . . .
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 6:08PM Lucky The Fox said
Oh yes, I do remember those days when we expected Wii games to be nothing but random waggling. Oh, how pleasantly surprised we were when that wasn't the case.
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Posted: Apr 18th 2010 3:29PM ArchiGamer said
Natal: Still not interesting.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD RELEASE SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING MS!!!
RARWR!!
*nerd rage*
Reply
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD RELEASE SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING MS!!!
RARWR!!
*nerd rage*
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