Post by trog @ 12:50pm 02/06/09 | 33 Comments
As part of their big E3 announcements, Microsoft have unveiled "Project Natal":
Unveiled for the first time to the public was "Project Natal," pronounced "nuh-tall" and a code name for a revolutionary new way to play, no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak, you and your friends can jump into the fun. The only experience needed is life experience.We'll have more on this soon, but it sounds like an interesting game changer - here's the video (look how much fun they're having!@#$!):
Compatible with any Xbox 360 system, the "Project Natal" sensor is the world's first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device. Unlike 2-D cameras and controllers, "Project Natal" tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions and even a shift of emotion in your voice.
In addition, unlike other devices, the "Project Natal" sensor is not light-dependent. It can recognize you just by looking at your face, and it doesn't just react to key words but understands what you're saying. Call a play in a football game, and players will actually respond. Want to log onto Xbox LIVE? Simply step in front of the sensor.
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Posted 01:00pm 02/6/09
Its cool, but I dunno tho ... With that much motion tracking and jumping around required why don't they just go outside and kick a ball around? Isn't console video gaming for sittingo nthe lounge and beer burping?
Posted 01:01pm 02/6/09
Posted 01:08pm 02/6/09
Posted 01:11pm 02/6/09
Why does Microsoft continue to call their new products s***** dumb names? First their new search engine and now this.
Posted 01:17pm 02/6/09
I cannot even imagine how you go from Natal to nuh-tall ??? I just tried saying nuh-tall and it sounded like I have brain damage.
OMG that video... did they come up for the marketing back in the 80s?
last edited by thermite at 13:17:28 02/Jun/09
Posted 01:50pm 02/6/09
Sounds awesome though.
lol.
Posted 02:38pm 02/6/09
Posted 02:47pm 02/6/09
Posted 02:51pm 02/6/09
Posted 02:55pm 02/6/09
And the source of the doubt you have trog is disbelief that it will work as advertised, I think they went to far.
Posted 03:12pm 02/6/09
Thats it - They've set the bar pretty high based on that. Surely it can't really work that well.
Posted 03:37pm 02/6/09
Posted 03:40pm 02/6/09
Posted 04:04pm 02/6/09
ill stick with teh wii for now
Posted 04:23pm 02/6/09
Not sure how not actually having something in your hand will work for most games.
Its easy to make a tech demo that looks cool, but will have to wait for the actual games.
Posted 04:28pm 02/6/09
I wonder what would be better - WiiMotionPlus or this?
Posted 04:30pm 02/6/09
Posted 04:31pm 02/6/09
Posted 04:34pm 02/6/09
Well if it was mentioned via voice ahead of time, say in a phone call or vid, and then separately through text, would make it hard to connect the dots.
Posted 04:43pm 02/6/09
Posted 04:46pm 02/6/09
Posted 04:59pm 02/6/09
Posted 10:25pm 02/6/09
so i think this will be equally as lame.
ps. big brother will be watching. haha.
Posted 10:48pm 02/6/09
Posted 10:57pm 02/6/09
Posted 11:03pm 02/6/09
Sounds like a logical next step after black and white.
Posted 11:35pm 02/6/09
ad
Posted 11:39pm 02/6/09
Posted 11:48pm 02/6/09
But I like the facial recognition thing too, how it will sign in profiles based on who's in front of the console. That's cool.
Posted 12:03am 03/6/09
Anyway wouldn't holding a real steering wheel for a racing game be more realistic and fun than holding your hands up in the air like an idiot?
and what if i wanted to play street fighter and i wanted to do something crazy like a hurricane kick, psycho crusher or a spinning pile driver? i don't wanna have to jump off fridges and s*** now do i.
F** this medicore s***. f** it.
last edited by MatchFixer at 00:03:57 03/Jun/09
Posted 12:27pm 03/6/09
Posted 01:46pm 03/6/09
Well, they're both huge gimmicks I guess, Sony's just looks like a slightly more useful gimmick.
Posted 04:11pm 04/6/09
Sure, I wouldn't have the high quality accelerometer (although using something like a SunSpot would give me that), but the reason why the Sony system needs accelerometers on the physical controler is because the Sony Eye in itself has no understanding of 3d space or the human moving behind it. Assuming that the promotional advertising is somewhere near the truth (and I'm sceptical) we have to consider that Natal apparently has high fidelity ad hoc: voice recognition (that includes detecting stress in the voice), facial recognition (including facial emotions), glyph recognition and gesture recognition.
All of those features mean that you can get everything that the Sony solution has without needing computational devices onboard the gamepad.
Of course, I'm really sceptical of all of the claims that MS has made. If they've nailed it, I think I'm going to have to buy a console for gaming.