Promo videos always show the best side of things. That’s their point. To promote the goodness of something and get people interested in buying it. If you’re like me, you probably watch those videos with a healthy dose of salt in your hand. That’s exactly how I watched Microsoft’s promo video for Project Natal, their controller-less full body motion capture toy, but it didn’t work. Try as I might, my skepticism has left me. This thing looks like the ten year evolution of the Wii done in half the time.

Project Natal is a sensor bar, much like that of the Wii. Instead of picking up the signal of the infrared camera in the controller, though, Natal senses your movement. All of it. The bar is equipped with a couple 3D cameras and a microphone, allowing for voice recognition. I’m sure your imagination is already sprinting towards Dance Dance Revolution or punching Mike Tyson without worrying about throwing a controller. Watch the video below – it says it all.

My own Memorial Days are typically full of family revelry: picnics, drinking, outdoor games, too much sun (followed by a week’s incubation and then a week’s worth of peeling). This year, I’m not doing much of anything, and for those of you in similar positions, you may find this Wii hack a productive way to fill your time.

The hack, which comes to us via mikeandheth.com, teaches you how to load your Wii discs from an attached USB hard drive. Without explaining too much (and unnecessarily leeching credit), the hard drive hack saves you all sorts of time and space that you might spend hunting for discs, changing discs, waiting for discs to load, and just about anything else that is limiting about physical media.

The one caveat I’ll offer: M&H do suggest keeping your Wii on older firmware versions than the most current (though they offer plenty of great reasons to do so). If this makes you uncomfortable for any reason, you probably won’t like their guide very much. I will say, though, it’s worth reading, and worth examining some of the hackable possibilities of your Wii. It is yours after all, and despite what Nintendo will tell you, there’s no reason it shouldn’t do what you want.

This spring’s console sales decline has plenty of people (including myself) wondering when the next generation is coming. According to Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter, we’re going to be waiting a while. Pachter thinks we won’t see new hardware until 2013 at the earliest, citing profit margins that have yet to catch up to manufacturer’s expectations.

The good news is extended console life-cycles mean more time for developers to learn each generation’s ticks and tricks. The bad news? Developers are left guessing just as much as we are. Ubisoft’s CEO is recommending everyone start beefing up, investing in new blood and new toys to handle the next generation now. Nothing pays like preparation, but four years of it? Four years that could be spent making new games? Better games?

This is the paradox that makes me rub my temples. I still think games could be better, and much better. They could certainly look better, which means better hardware, or possibly more intelligent use of the current hardware. Of course, games could also play better, have more intuitive control schemes, more immersive gameplay, which means more time for developers to learn the hardware and adapt to its possibilities/limitations.

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In case you missed it, here’s what’s Bouncing Around the Web:

Nikon has released what seems to be a wonderful new DSLR. It combines a 12.3 megapixel still camera with a video camera that shoots 720p video at 24fps. The best part? It starts at $730. From a high level, it looks like the D5000 is a consumer’s D90 at a more affordable price point. Well done Nikon… well done.
Via Wired

Who doesn’t love a good rumor? Or better yet, a good Apple rumor? Or better still, a new iPhone rumor? Or best of all, a new iPhone rumor backed by actual data? Yes, the new iPhone’s features may have been leaked with the release of the iPhone OS 3.0. In the OS, developers have found several interesting things like: a video recorder, auto-focus, an iPhone locator, voice control and more. Yum!
Via Wired

Nintendo has announced the release date for their new Wii MotionPlus accessory. If you haven’t heard yet, MotionPlus is supposed to give a more true 1-to-1 experience on the Wii. Things like swinging a golf club or handling a sword will act more like the real thing than ever before. It’s a pretty cool concept and I expect the final product to be solid. So look to pick one up for $19.99 on June 8 or bundled with Wii Sports Resort for $49.99 a few weeks later.
Via IGN

Interesting article by popularmechanics.com this week. Here they explore “5 Design Flaws that Ruined Otherwise Smart Gadgets.”

In order for a touchscreen to be successful, the user needs to feel that he is in constant control, and for this, responsiveness is key—even small lags can prove immensely frustrating. One recent offender of this rule is the Blackberry Storm, RIM’s first touchscreen phone.

Some history: Before the Storm was released, there was a lot of buzz surrounding its supposedly ground-breaking touchscreen, which depresses like a button, giving users a satisfying “click”.

But when users and reviewers actually got their hands on their device, the real shock was how buggy the whole thing was. The touchscreen suffered from long delays—often a second or more—that made users yearn for their old button-based Blackberry. And completing simple tasks took an unnecessary number of steps. For example, inputting the letter “C” involves putting one’s finger on the letter, waiting for the phone to respond by highlighting the letter, and then pushing down. All that for a simple letter.

I can definitely agree with some of this. BlackBerry, for instance, had a good vision when designing the touch-and-click function in the Storm, but the execution was less than stellar. Have you tried this thing? Press and hold, press harder, wait for it… wait for it… and click. Are you kidding me? That’s the ultra-innovative touch-screen we’ve been waiting for? Please.

I can’t agree too much with the Wii Remote. After all, they did include a wrist strap with every Wiimote. If you choose not to use the wrist strap, that’s at your own risk.

I’ve already touched on the Kindle vs. the Kindle 2 here, so I won’t go there right now.

Check out the article and let me know if you know of any sweet gadgets that have a clear miss in the design.