BitFlipper said:dentaku said:*snip*I think part of the problem is that we are so used to controllers that it is hard for us to imagine playing any other way. Using a controller seems "natural" when in fact it is anything but natural.
Personally I find it difficult to use a console controller to play FPS games. It feels like all my intended moves are funelled through a straw. A melee attack is reduced to a single button push. There are so many ways you can perform a melee attack, but all I get is to push a single button. I used to play FPS games since before the original Doom even came out using a mouse and keyboard on a PC. To me that allows for much finer control. Mathematically, an analog stick results in the 1st derivative of where you are trying to aim, while a mouse is a 1:1 mapping of where you are trying to aim. Even so, I have gotton somewhat used to using analog sticks to play FPS games.
I think if Natal proves to be accurate enough, and they can reduce the lag to such an extent that it becomes a non-issue (which I believe they can as this is still far from final shipping hardware), that there is nothing preventing game developers from creating a whole new FPS control mechanism based on body motion that could end up being much less restrictive that a controller. And unlike some people's idea that you will need to "walk/run in place" to simulate walking/running, it can be something much simpler like leaning in the direction you want to move. I already gave an idea of a motion-only, full control scheme for an FPS while comfortably sitting down on your couch.
The good news is that the developers are now getting the development kits. Let's hope they come up with some cool things that we just can't imagine right now since we are so brainwashed into thinking that these controllers are the "natural" or only way to do things.
but then again alot of games include things that you just cant do in real life 
i cant jump 20 ft in the air for example, but in games i can, thats where the abstraction for the natal sort of breaks.. also when youre running around or turning in say a
fps, the TV doesnt follow you around.. natal works best when youre relativly stationary or doing some fine grain maniuplations like aiming or something. but for course grained stuff like ducking or runngin around, i think a controller is needed.
the human body is great but its also limited, our fingers are to fat to select a single zergling out of a whole bunch, but a mouse is excelent for that Also in a fast paces fps you might want to switch weapons instantly, even if its more realisitc to reach
for them.. the over shoulder reach is still cool though
i see natal as more or a replacement/compilient for the mouse. consider old school fps:s where you used only the keyboard, then the mouse came around and revolutionized the quake scene but only in conjunction with the keyboard i think something similar
will happen with natal, it will compliement another input device, but not replace it completly
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