There has been quite a lot to see at E3 this year, which we’ll get into during the podcast, but the Project Natal video was a little much for me. It doesn’t help when the disclaimer calls it a ‘product vision’ which could also read ‘wishful thinking’. Of course we can hope that the technology really is there, and some people are already believers, but it’s more fun to find potential flaws!
OMG Amazing comic guys! Each panal was completely hysterical in its own way. One of the best to date. TTU (Two Thumbs Up. Maybe I’ll start a new thing 😉 )
Even if this comic might go away, I want to, at least one, say I had first post. Thanks to you guys for everyone so far. So much has happened with the comic, and I remember 2 years ago asking you guys about sponsorship for a tournament I was hosting. Oh man, that was quite a bit ago. I don’t remember how I found out about the comic, but it sure was nice to be reading it all the way to now. It’s become more than just a comic, it has a podcast, extras, “PERFECT!” *hasn’t read the comic yet*, and even all of these cool little side projects like the changing logos snazzy icons for where to get podcast music from. There are blog posts and even author/illustrator comments under each comic. There’s no much work and time going into 2P START! that it really says something about the caring these two have for their site. It’s probably not off to say Tim’s constant work in WordPress has gone without praise so I’ll put it in here for those that probably don’t even know that either.
Thanks guys! Hope the comic still stays around but here’s my first first post for ya :D>. <- it has a beard
That was great! I’m still laughing.
Nice job guys I really liked it… I am really blown away by the Project Natal… I am a believer…
Excellent. Reminds me of mario party 7, the minigame of matching with the mic. “Strawberry.” I’m sorry, I can’t understand. Say again. “Ok…Strawberry. Strawbry? Strbry? Straw-berry?”
I’m sorry, I still don’t understand you.
Haha! Awesome Comic Guys! My personal favorite touch was the voice recognition. It brings back good memories of Brain Age’s color game. I didn’t have that much of a problem, but pretty much all of my friends did. The comic’s even funnier when you picture Tim and Ray using the Milo program. Tim showing a small boy his ‘gear’ and Ray trying to kick him is just hilarious to think of.
Oh, and I liked the small Sonic Unleashed reference. 😉
Ah, yes, those days of Brain Age. The one color nobody could seem to make the DS comprehend was blue. We’d shout, whisper, say it slowly, quickly, nothing worked. It got to the point where my friend was swearing at full volume into the microphone. For whatever reason, the game decided that a certain expletive wasn’t a curse at all, but the word “blue.” And it kept working, too, that particular swear being interpreted as “blue.” From then on, you could hear us going “Red!” “Yellow!” “&^%$^!” whenever we played that activity.
Awesome comic guys 🙂 Natal looks cool, but there’s something creepy about the face recognition that rubs me the wrong way. Still though, I won’t deny I’m sure I’ll spend many an evening just playing with the dashboard a la Minority Report :p
Lawl, I knew it! I knew it all along!
Tim -is- a pedophile!
And not just -any- pedophile!
He’s Tom Nook!
And he thought changing one letter in his first name would hide this little fact!
Because there is -no- reason he should be playing Animal Crossing at his age! Other then fun…
With little animals! That darn Pedonook and his furry ambitions.
Sorry, I have to double post to say this….read this comment about the Natal article and be disturbed:
“by uptheironsrafi June 2, 2009 8:16 PM PDT
I second that. The possibilities of this technology is immense. And Microsoft should not limit this technology to the Xbox only. Bring it on to the PC, and it opens up a whole new world. A world where disabled people can interact with the device without any hiccups, where students can interact with a virtual teacher, and where the use of an electronic device is not limited by the physical distance between it and the user. If Microsoft is able to develop this technology well, it will truly be revolutionary. ”
…..yeah….right…umm…..well….didn’t we have something this ambitious before? Oh yeah, the wii. Wasn’t that the cutting edge motion sensor technology?
Wow, Ray, Tim, I think you did go too far with one of those panels… 😀 😀
EXCELLENT!! I love this one! It’s got it’s own jokes throughout AND a punch line! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 Awesome!! 😛
(After watching the video: my comment from YouTube:)
There’s no way 1) anything this day and age would be this responsive 2) anything THAT SMALL could be that responsive and have all the features it claims it has and 3) be THAT SMALL and do ANYTHING with motion capture – motion capture today has to read green balls an your clothes and has to have at least four high-tech readers to capture effectively.
This thing is not happening… it’s all wishful thinking…
Meh. The only part that made me chuckle a bit was the “scan your gear” bit.
BTW, the voice recognition really does work. Did you see the painting performance on stage. He said every color and it worked flawlessly. IGN got to play it live with Burnout, and it actually worked! He could even level his foot for gas and brake. (Although keeping it at an angle would be murder on your ankles I imagine.)
Also, how useless is the new Tony Hawk game if you could use Natal and your OWN skateboard to play a skateboarding game?
Nice comic! I was a little creeped out by panel four, but other than that…
I find it hard to believe that that thing can do everything they say it can do, unless they sell it for like $1000 or something… It just seems like too much. And I want to know how they expect everyone to be able to play fighting games…
Oh, and congrats on your one year anniversary of being on Gamers pair of dice this Sunday!
What’s interesting about the Natal is that it doesn’t suffer from the same problem as the EyeToy did: it will know if you’re too close and just waving madly infront of it, so you won’t win… it has depth perception.
Why doesn’t Tim have a shirt…ooooh….That was awkward. And for the first time in my 34 years I realize the word awkward is, indeed, awkward. Does that make it an anamanapia?
The use your own gear one went a little to far for 2pstart. Also if Tim doesn’t have a shirt than why is he wearing his beanie? I think you will have two weeks with the baby and then Child Services come. You guys have problems.
I could have made a gay joke with the panel Ray linked but I didn’t. I miss when I used to do that.
VNCG! See? The baby isn’t destroying you yet? Why would it if it’s not born, well, I had a dream where it just popped out and screamed “Prepare to meet thy doom!”, and threw away all of Tim’s video games and computers. Not to mention she swallowed his phone whole. Then Ray was trapped in his apartment by her, by having Chip guard all of the doors, windows and vents. She then burned the building, insuring that 2P START! Would never be again.
BTW, I think Natal will work fine, but there will only be five good games for it at the most. Although it seems to be a similar case with SONii’s, that looks just as great depending on what you like! The potential is great because of the depth perception, 1:1 tracking, and great perscision! The Natal looks like it will be great for talking to a virtual Seama- I mean boy. But seriously, what the use of it sensing the color of your shirt? Imagine if you’re playing Gears of War 3, and you’re wearing a bandana. Then as you’re pinned down and about to die, your enemy says, “You’re wearing a ******* bandana while playing ******* Gears of War? You’re a ******* delusional! Good luck moving out of your pant’s house!”
Good Comic.
If there ever was a zombie apoclypse, I would want you two with me, with Tim’s muscles and Ray’s amazing kicking powers we would be sure to survive.
But I don’t think Natal wil be that big. For one, it isn’t the standard controller, so there probably won’t be many games for it, and they’ll probably be expensive.
and two, if people are too lazy to swing a wiimote around, then they’ll definitley to lazy for full body moving.
Yeah, Isn’t this comic supposed to be “family Friendly?”
Live action Hd Teabags aren’t exactly family Friendly…
Ok, I really liked the comic. very funny.
about this whole Project Natal thing, everyone is arguing about if it will work or not. My question: even if it does work, what are they going to do with it? I seriously doubt any game the core gamer cares about will use this in any more than a support role (maybe for some face and voice recognition.) The problem is precision and speed. even if this devise is perfectly precise, we are not. Most normal people are not capable of precise enough and fast enough movement for this method of input in a serious gaming setting. It is a lot harder to make an actual kick than pressing the A button.
this could be really big with the casual gamers, but it can’t cost much more than a Wii or it will never take off at retail. I am going to say no more than $350 bundled with an Xbox 360. but I may be wrong.
Wow, blood and gore AND frontal nudity?
Guess the Ripoff / Conversion program is on the fritz this week, eh?
Darn! I had a friend post that for me while I was asleep. Who in the world posted the exact same minute he did! Ha ha. PERFECT! 😀
Well, I guess Ray decided to take out the fourth panel… If you do, though, you may want to also edit your little blurb with a link to the alternate picture…
ok, well I feel the ‘scan’ panel was maybe a lapse in judgment on my part. It was funny to me knowing that people would be doing that sort of thing when given a camera, but not so much when it’s cartoon Tim doing it (since I wouldn’t do something like that). Also, it does sort of push the ‘family friendly’ nature of the site in the wrong direction, so sorry! It’s gone now.
Excellent, funny comic guys! If that last few week were the death of 2P Start, then this is definitely the “rise from your graves” of 2P Start’s life.
PS. Tim, are you going to relaunch the 2P Start iPhone site using the iWPhone plugin or something in the near future? Thanks.
Really, looking back on E3, Microsoft was extremely weak this year. All they had was Project Natal and until it comes out, we won’t be completely sure of its success.
Nintendo had 3 Mario games, Professor Layton 2, Legend of Starfy, Golden Sun DS, New Metroid, and more.
Sony had Little Big Planet PSP, Resident Evil PSP, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Motion Sticks (reserving judgement), Final Fantasy XIV, The Last Guardian, and Heavy Rain.
PC even got some love with a The Old Republic demo that apparently is as close to perfect as possible.
I’ll only buy six of the above, but that’s on top off all of the other things I was planning to get. I better get a lot of money for my birthday.
If I were a 360-only user right now, I’d be pretty bummed out.
Crud…. That was the panel I wanted to show my sister….
Sorry for snagging first post. Especially since I just got one on the megaman comic a couple weeks ago.
But I’m dissapointed that you guys edited the comic. Not that it needed that panel to remain a great comic, but it was still a great panel. Oh well, at least I got to see it before it was taken down.
Another good comic. I like the small traces of blood on Ray’s foot.
Ans actually, I thought the scan panel was pretty funny even if it was SCANdalous
….
I’ll be going now
Scince Ray broke the normal TV, do we have to use the egg-shaped one now?
Man, I missed the scan panel. It could have been like a car is parked in the room, seeing the wall in the background crashed, and it says “Cannot scan”. That would have been funny. And the first time blood in a comic I’m pretty sure. NCG!
http://www.2pstart.com/2008/06/11/now-youre-playing-with-power/
Second/Third panel
Wait- shouldn’t the TV be in front of the window?
I think you guys read my mind (and yay for the return of the DC Talk TV!). Though there’s should’ve been a panel about how no one cared after about a month. XD
SSCG!
Oh I was very confused…everyone kept talking about that panel and I had no idea what they were talking about…I thought it was something to do with Ray’s Sonic figure and I was desperately trying to figure out how that was raunchy in anyway. Now I’m really curious to see that panel…
Dang it, you beat me to it.
But holy crap, not only is the dc Talk TV back, but it’s magic! There’s obviously nothing supporting it from the bottom or top, and Ray’s foot clearly shows that it’s not just hanging on the wall. I’d rather have magic-floating-TV technology then the Natal (which I think is a dumb name btw).
One Word, SkyNet
Finally My Avatar Works, Thank who ever fix it =)
Never before has skepticism been presented in such a clever fashion. Fantastic comic all around.
By the way, good call with stripping the “scan” panel. I find clean comics are much easier to recommend, and the family-friendly orientation of 2PSTART has always set it apart from most other video game webcomics.
Me and my friends were poking some fun at this peripheral, and here’s some things we said:
Imagine playing a shooter and holding up your arms as if you held a gun for 3 hours while playing online
Playing some football game and your friend tackles you
When playing a skateboarding game you fall over and break your T.V.
You play a boxing/fighting game and you punch your friend
While air guitaring your girlfriend walks in and asks what in the world you are doing!
Thats pretty much it XD
Also what is that thing in the corner of the first panel? A poster for E for All maybe?
It also seems like the wallpaper is creeping up. Maybe its time to get some home repairs near the carpet.
Could you guys put that panal up again as a link in the blurb? Unless you have violent swearing or actual full frontal nudity, I wouldn’t worry about the censorship
Heh, reminds me of when I abused the eyetoy and similar camera flash games by waving around something large like a back scratcher in front of the camera, also just registered after a long time of just lurking.
You know, I wouldn’t have as big of a problem with natal if it wasn’t that the flagship game for it is made by the British! You’re gonna say “what color fish do you want?” and that Milo kid is gonna be like “I think you mean colour, now can you draw the fish?” That’s when you get pissed and just draw a “space gun” instead. But if your Ray I guess you’d be too busy showing Milo your Sonic figure collection, and then try to kick him in the face when he says that Sonic’s lame and master chief is way cooler.
Noticed some wierd things about the tv this time around, like how its supporting itself and how the Wii censor bar is inside the TV. Doesnt quite look ike that the first time we saw it in comic 2
I don’t think the Wii bar is INSIDE just hanging down and over. It is kind of hard to tell though.
It almost looks like it knows its been replaced (note the Wii farther away from the TV than the Xbox 360) and so the sensor bar is hanging its head in shame.
Another deep and poignant statement made by 2P Start.
I should have made a gay joke when I had the chance.
Thank god. We just didn’t want your daughter to be brought up in a world where 2pstart has filth.
Hilarious!
I predict a Sony’s-wand-thing-looks-like-a-sex-toy comic from someone in the coming days.
Penny Arcade summed up the story of my life.
And you guys brought it all together with Microsoft.
Nice to see the return of the weird TV from the future. 😉
Oh, also: Did Ray try to Sparta-kick the little 3D kid?
😀
Why are the Wii and 360 on the carpet? That’s just asking for a RROD.
GASP!!!! RAY!!!! TIM!!!!!! You EDITED THE COMIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU?!?!?!?! HOW DARE YOU?!?!
This comic used to be good, before it’s creators lost their cajones!
Again, YOU EDITED THE COMIC?!?!?!??!
Seriously though, it looks bad now because there’s too much Ray and not enough Tim, whereas it was even in the original. You should at least make a new panel with Tim doing something else.
IDEA! Title: “Facial Recognition”. Tim is walking towards the screen (side view?) while Natal tries to guess him: “Ray?” “Sarah?” “Sonic?” Tim: “Sonic?! I look like Sonic?!” (Or better yet, replace “Sonic” with “Tingle” 😀 )
Hey! I missed that panel that was cut! Totally not cool, 2P Start!
Also, Natal seems to actually work. I was quite amazed that not a single thing went wrong in the presentation of, say, Paint Party.
Let’s try to get this comic cut down even more…
OMG Blood!? That’s not family friendly!? 😉
Ah, great to see another Tim & Ray & Ray & Tim comic. They always seem to turn out being some of your best.
Tim, it’s not a lapse in judgment if it’s funny. Which it was. And we all know that it’s going to happen when Natal comes out.
Can you at least put a link for the deleted panel? I can’t live with myself knowing that I missed something.
Darn. the one time I don’t immediately download the comic, one of my favorite jokes gets edited away (I more liked the tangent Ray made than the actual panel, but hey.)
My thoughts exactly. It seems the timing got messed up a bit as the ratio of Tim to Ray suddenly became unbalanced
The last panel might as well happen…. now, good comic with your regular style (I think). The motion detection cheating and voice ”recognition” working not so well are probably true… is there a reason light magenta was chose? ahhhhh….. sonic’s blue….. good comic, true matters and we know it all, in your average, let’s say 4/5?
Thanks for taking down that, ahem, controversial panel. When I saw it, I had to check the top of the page to make sure that I wasn’t on VG Cats! But you’re right, that panel was pushing it a little bit too far. But I was too fast for you. I already dragged the panel onto my desktop and I am currently emailing it to everybody in the world! Mwa ha ha!
On second thought, I’ll just keep it on my desktop for my “viewing pleasure” (that sounded kind of weird, if you know what I mean).
Email it to tobylurio@gmail.com please?
lol the second panel reminds me of mario party on the cube with the microphone
“Wario.”
“Sorry, Penguin is the wrong answer.”
For some reason, it takes my PC a lot longer to register site changes and such. For example, I could see the new default logo a little more than a week after it was put up. And other users’ avatars are even worse. With BadnikHunter, it’s still a picture of Sonic (from Sonic X, I believe?) and Kyzin’s is still of a coconut. The only way I realized these things was because I visited this site from a different computer. Any ideas what could be wrong and what I could do to fix it?
Try clearing your cache. If you have Firefox, go to Tools->Clear Private Data, click “Cache” (and anything else you want) and then “Clear Private Data Now”. If you’re in something else, get Firefox, and then you won’t have to worry about it, because it won’t have a cache yet. Or look for something similar in your browser; it’s probably not hard to find.
Basically, it does that to save time. Your computer saves those images so that instead of pulling them from the internet each time you visit a page, it can load them from itself, saving time.
No Devin no… Dont make me smack you…
I just want a 1 to 1 Tim to Ray ratio again… 😉
Alright, I’ll give that a shot. Thanks!
That’s right, it’s like South Park’s battle with the world: they pulled one show once because Christans thought it was offensive, and now everyone ELSE wants them to pull a show because they thought it was offensive.
Pull one show, pull them all. Pull one panel, pull them all!
Though, I don’t think this applies in this case, because, really, Tim pulled the panel because he was living up to a standard, not offending anyone. Standards are a good thing! Look at America’s school system: public schools have terrible standards, and they turn out terrible graduates; private school have much higher standards, and they turn out much better graduates. 🙂
See now there you go. This comic was ACTUALLY funny and well done. Keep up the short, clever little quips about video games that keep a constant chuckle through my head instead of this long drawn out crap. Very good comic again I will say, and its gems like these that make me continue to check this page once a week.
You’ve never played an EyeToy game have you >.>, it might be a little different but the principle isn’t too much different
And since the comic’s title is asking for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_ItDKzzMI
It’s coming back to haunt Ray, Stretchy arms and all!
OMG, new avatar? 😛
Yes, More on that here… I decided to do something different for a bit… A friend drew a picture for me and I liked it enough to make it my avatar for a few sites… 🙂
Darn it! I’ve been caught! I’m sorry, I lied. I don’t really have it. I just wanted to sound cool . . . 🙁 🙁
Brilliant comic. I think everyone and their mother knows that this product will fail, but it’s fun to think of how it will fail.
Also, is there any chance of a mirror for that missing panel. I happened to be gone on Wednesday, but I’m slightly intrigued.
Okay, I must admit, Nintendo made ONE mistake at E3. They didn’t advertise Scribblenauts which is looking to be the most awesome handheld game ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEUbtgpIgo
Seriously, I want this game more than Heavy Rain now. Imagine a game that you can play literally thousands of different ways, no, a level you can play thousands of different ways. And the game is full of that. Apparently the game is also full of popular things like Keyboard Cat, Cthulu, and vampire killers. When you type in hose, it asks if you mean a water hose or women’s hosiery. If this game has a level editor and an ability to download others’ levels, I will never need another DS game again.
Nice comic guys, common set up, but brilliantly executed.
Also, Ray, I went on your site and watched the video about the Comic Room. I thought I was the only one who stuck my headphones in my shirt like that! =D
Well isn’t that funny? The developers have confirmed that it has just that: a level editor with which you can trade levels over Wifi! 🙂
Re: Scribblenauts:
I posted this in the forum, but since it has now been brought up here:
I’m pretty sure this is the best paragraph ever written about a video game (from Joystiq’s hands-on):
“Andrew created a teleporter in an attempt to instantly apparate to the Starite — instead, it took him to a medieval world where he was besieged by shadowy assassins. He tried distracting them with candy — really, Andrew? — then created a fairly anachronistic nuke. The nuke didn’t detonate, however, so andrew created a laser rifle to take out the assassins. One of his lasers grazed the aforementioned WMD, and blew up the entire level.”
Seriously, if that doesn’t make you want this game, nothing will.
why light magenta?
And so the DS tv returns.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I THINK (might be wrong) that this is the first appearance of blood in the comic. Ray, how could you?
http://www.2pstart.com/2008/06/11/now-youre-playing-with-power/
Second/Third panel. Snake’s mouth.
did u say blue=priceless
lol, poor ray. how does tim get away with abusing you? and how do you get away with abusing you? tim will keep you up till 2:00 AM waiting for comic scripts. and you somehow decide to draw yourself with your foot thru da tv??? you could lose that foot!!!!!
Hah, I only just noticed that line. Before I thought it was more like the Wiik Band comic, or the Patapon comic.
Rise from my grave!
I found this early video of Natal in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFAdmWwg374&eurl
Looks like so much fun.
Blue!!! haha, that’s funny. Those damn voice recognition never can work right.
YOU’LL WISH YOU WERE PRE-NATAL SO YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO EXPERIENCE PROJECT NATAL! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!
That was supposed to be in the style of the two old Muppets on the balcony…
its now anouced at e3 as kinect