Does not compute
Can't wait for this. Between inFamous, Prototype, and another Crackdown, I think I'll have had my fill of open world games!
Microsoft E3 2009 Keynote Thread
- Thread starter Arwin
- Start date
Does not compute
Can't wait for this. Between inFamous, Prototype, and another Crackdown, I think I'll have had my fill of open world games!
They didn't mention anything about Natal coming out this year, right?
If it comes in 2010, it will constitute effectively a relaunch of the console; I would assume, at that point, there will be at least two years of life left in the platform - and more probably three or four.
Seems there will be plenty of time to polish the MEMEXPORT skills
If it comes in 2010, it will constitute effectively a relaunch of the console; I would assume, at that point, there will be at least two years of life left in the platform - and more probably three or four.
Seems there will be plenty of time to polish the MEMEXPORT skills
I was pretty pleased overall with the conference. I wish they'd just dump the celebrity cameos, though. They NEVER work out. The Paul and Ringo appearance was awkward and sad and took away from the cool vibe the Beatles game itself generated. I'll bet this appearance was what was behind the schedule change, too. That having been said, Felicia Day (sp?) was pretty cool, though. Nice to see someone who seemed "real" appear on an E3 stage!
Aside from the mic gaffe during the Shadow Complex demo (which, unfortunately for the developers, probably blunted some of the impact of that presentation) and a couple of places where there were awkward pauses waiting for more of a crowd reaction than was forthcoming I thought it went fairly smoothly. From the perspective of a 360 owner I think this may have been MS's best E3 keynote yet. The absence of charts and graphs was certainly welcome and makes it all the more impressive that MS were able to fill their entire keynote with content that was directly relevant to 360 owners and potential owners. No Zune (save the video marketplace tie-in), no Windows, no Windows Mobile. It'll be very interesting to see by comaprison what proportion of Sony and Nintendo's keynotes are dedicated to the PS3 and Wii owner respectively.
Aside from the mic gaffe during the Shadow Complex demo (which, unfortunately for the developers, probably blunted some of the impact of that presentation) and a couple of places where there were awkward pauses waiting for more of a crowd reaction than was forthcoming I thought it went fairly smoothly. From the perspective of a 360 owner I think this may have been MS's best E3 keynote yet. The absence of charts and graphs was certainly welcome and makes it all the more impressive that MS were able to fill their entire keynote with content that was directly relevant to 360 owners and potential owners. No Zune (save the video marketplace tie-in), no Windows, no Windows Mobile. It'll be very interesting to see by comaprison what proportion of Sony and Nintendo's keynotes are dedicated to the PS3 and Wii owner respectively.
good point... it was nothing but content... Xbox 360 content
oh and what a subtle release of info for Halo Reach
It's basically a complete Halo 4 package including new multiplayer (ODST uses the existing Halo MP)
I guess E3 10 will be the huge roll out for that.
I am so pumped for Halo Reach, esp when I heard "there are Spartans on the ground..."
They will need to clearly differentiate Natal and Natal applications, from every other xb360 software on the market.
In fact, they should pull the cameras off the shelves now and give rebates to those that have cams to buy Natal.
They need this to be super simple for people if they want to bring in any of the Wii market.
As an add-on for the existing xb360 base, yeah, as hardcore gamers we like the interface for non-gaming activities and will buy it for that purpose, but to capture the Wii market, it will need to be cheap, simple, and have enough on offer for people to buy in.
This base has already seen Wii. To us, obviously it offers more, but the only obvious benefit to potential Wii buyers is the fact they won't have to buy waggle remotes for every one (3) and nunchucks (3).
It needs support from games like Madden, FN4, Tiger Woods, etc ...
It needs to show and prove that not only does it outdo Wii in more accurate waggle controls, but it also offers a better gaming experience with richer AV and just as expansive library for diversity.
It will take a lot to unseat Wii, but it can be done. The tech is far superior in every way, but it needs to present that message clearly to consumers to maximize this difference and superiority.
If people see this as an xbox360 ... they have little reason to get excited. They don't want xb360, or they would have one. Wii is still showing strength in pulling consumers.
Putting a different name on the platform (even a different box design) to let people know this is a different experience will go a long way toward swaying potential Wii customers from walking out of the store without a Wii and instead, with Natal.
How they handle this launch will be crucial in it's success.
Even simple integration modification of games in progress right now would go a long way. Mass Effect 2 would be a good example. Code an optional Natal interface where the gamer doesn't have to walk the character through all the details. Controlling the game more like an interactive movie by speaking or even selecting responses and pointing at destinations and threats to be dealt with.
Many gamers wouldn't find it interesting or involved, but Wii type gamers would see it as something not capable on that platform and compelling as an alternative game type.
The potential is huge ... I hope it isn't wasted.
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Wow, I think some of you are going way overboard while others are going too far to downplay the importance of natal.
Sure, the tech has nice potential applications for games, but it's more important and will reach a wider demographic because it'll be the primary interface for all menu interactions.
3rd party support and games are all completely secondary, and honestly, not even required. It doesn't need support from EA, and I don't think it necessarily means a lengthy extension of this generation as far as MS is concerned.
The gaming support you want will probably occur next generation when it is included in every xbox. Right now, all they need to do is get it into the field, let users test it as a new GUI and control scheme, and toss a few 'action' games the user's way.
It's revolutionary as a tool to manipulate menu-driven software. I don't think we should expect it to be much more than that as version 1.0. Somebody drew (what I thought) was a great comparison to Live earlier in the thread.
Sure, the tech has nice potential applications for games, but it's more important and will reach a wider demographic because it'll be the primary interface for all menu interactions.
3rd party support and games are all completely secondary, and honestly, not even required. It doesn't need support from EA, and I don't think it necessarily means a lengthy extension of this generation as far as MS is concerned.
The gaming support you want will probably occur next generation when it is included in every xbox. Right now, all they need to do is get it into the field, let users test it as a new GUI and control scheme, and toss a few 'action' games the user's way.
It's revolutionary as a tool to manipulate menu-driven software. I don't think we should expect it to be much more than that as version 1.0. Somebody drew (what I thought) was a great comparison to Live earlier in the thread.
Honestly, I think MS could pull a Wii and repackage xb360 with a faster clock and more mem selling this as Natal360.
The target audience is clearly there and clearly different than the typical xb360/ps3 hardcore gamer.
It seems a reversal of roles. Sony has tons of stuff for 2009, MS was showing lots of 2010 stuff (and some CG I hear). I didn't find much to get excited about (only had text, so no videos), Crackdown is the biggest news for me. The rest was known or expected. I do think they are milking the Halo universe a bit much with something every year.
Wow, the show was indeed good. I managed to got my wife interested in the free racing game.
We're both interested in the motion thingy, that's neat (I just hope dev won't pass on standard games).
My wife is telling me that natal is getting quiet some coverage in US new website and she likes it (actually more than me, I'm more attracted for the non gaming part the tech bring).
It's amazing if it works anywhere close as it intended to
The potential for this tech is outstanding, really easy to demo on top of that. Ms will have to make sure that there kiosque available in every Wallmart/supermarket world wide.
I agree with TheChefO I can see a relaunch for the 360 in 2010, a slim version + Natal and some lame casual games could make wonders (vahalla could be available by this time?).
But actually if the thing is accurate enough it could support some gaming genre pretty well, Imagine a RTS where you move your units as chess pieces, that would be cool.
A driving game where you use the standart controler as wheel.
Full body motion recognition is intended to woman and kids than gamers, some gamers just don't want to move that much (I don't if I want to do sport I move my ass from my place).
Really good show. Ms have games for this fall + new services andfuture seems even brighter.
We're both interested in the motion thingy, that's neat (I just hope dev won't pass on standard games).
My wife is telling me that natal is getting quiet some coverage in US new website and she likes it (actually more than me, I'm more attracted for the non gaming part the tech bring).
It's amazing if it works anywhere close as it intended to
The potential for this tech is outstanding, really easy to demo on top of that. Ms will have to make sure that there kiosque available in every Wallmart/supermarket world wide.
I agree with TheChefO I can see a relaunch for the 360 in 2010, a slim version + Natal and some lame casual games could make wonders (vahalla could be available by this time?).
But actually if the thing is accurate enough it could support some gaming genre pretty well, Imagine a RTS where you move your units as chess pieces, that would be cool.
A driving game where you use the standart controler as wheel.
Full body motion recognition is intended to woman and kids than gamers, some gamers just don't want to move that much (I don't if I want to do sport I move my ass from my place).
Really good show. Ms have games for this fall + new services andfuture seems even brighter.
silhouette
Regular
The Natal is not coming in 09 (confirmed by Kudo Tsunoda at the brief after press-conf interview with G4), and honestly I do not expect it before 2010-Fall as well. My impression is it is doing an excellent job in what it is doing: face recognition, facial gesture recognition, full-body motion recognition, voice recognition, heck Peter even claim it recognizes emotios from voice. Many of these things are still in research stage in colleges and it is amazing that they can demoed some of them on stage.
There are two things however that needs to be satisfied for this to be very useful: 1- Can it capture everything on real-time? From the videos I see, there is definitely a 0.5-1 second lag between the person doing the motion and the game avatar doing the same in the game. I think more than 0.1 second is not acceptable at all especially for a gaming scenario. 2- Can it do it with very small computation? This is not that important for simple casual games, but if you block 2 of the cores to do gesture recognition in real-time, obvously we do not see this any of this in Halo.
I think they still do have at least a year ahead to optimize things. But, at least they can start manufacturing the hardware right away (if it is ready), let the software catch up meanwhile, and can make a big launch with games around E3 next year.
And, yes.. I want one!!!
There are two things however that needs to be satisfied for this to be very useful: 1- Can it capture everything on real-time? From the videos I see, there is definitely a 0.5-1 second lag between the person doing the motion and the game avatar doing the same in the game. I think more than 0.1 second is not acceptable at all especially for a gaming scenario. 2- Can it do it with very small computation? This is not that important for simple casual games, but if you block 2 of the cores to do gesture recognition in real-time, obvously we do not see this any of this in Halo.
I think they still do have at least a year ahead to optimize things. But, at least they can start manufacturing the hardware right away (if it is ready), let the software catch up meanwhile, and can make a big launch with games around E3 next year.
And, yes.. I want one!!!
That's a pretty large sweeping statement to make just because the Wii is successful.
The iPod is extremely successful, how is the Zune doing? Certainly since the market is there, and the iPod is a smash hit, the Zune should be to, right?
It's just not that simple.
It´s different and I think you can do great things with it, the camera is a true differentiator no doubt, but it will not be better at everything that the Wii can do. Some game control may be very awkward to do just by body movements or voice control (just imagnie localising a voice controled game). The Wiimote certainly has some advantages for certain control schemes in comparison to Natal just like PC Gamers find gamepads limited in comparison to a full keyboard.
Natal will allow for some sweet niche games, just like the Wii does, but within a new space that may have a large casual market. I would like to compare its potential to Wii Fit, which was introduced later and now has sold what? 20 million or so.
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Playing a racing game without force feedback or rumble or any sort of tactile response other than holding your hands in the air grasping nothing really looked lame.
The skateboard demo didn't look any better.
Then again, I think the Wii is ridiculous so I'm clearly not the target.
The skateboard demo didn't look any better.
Then again, I think the Wii is ridiculous so I'm clearly not the target.
The control is no doubt limited, but I think that's the point.
The thing that gets me is the interface is so different and so complete compared to everything on the market now that I really think it can't succeed as a add-on.
People won't get it.
It needs to be a separate package that can be added to hardcore boxes ... not the other way around ... Hardcore are the types of consumers to do the research and know the ins and outs of an add-on like this.
Casuals just want to plug and play.
Demoing this thing in a store environment may be difficult technically. There are so many variables and typically on something like this, there will be multiple people gathered causing issues with facial rec and room to play properly ...
Expecting similar results to WiiFit is unfair I think. Wii owners are casual and "fit" lines up with that demo perfectly.
xb360 owners are hardcore ... not as many will line up to get a fancy dashboard remote interface.
I agree it smells gimmick but the pad could be used as the wheel, if you have a 360 try to hold the pad with buttons/sticks toward the tv (the baterry toward you), it's pretty confortable and triggers could be used as accelerator/brake mimicking the shift sitck would not be to gimmicky imo.
The video screams fake anyway, we will see next year, Rare has some work on the table now
exactly.
MS trying to tie these two markets will not be easy.
In fact, it should be avoided.
Marketers want a clear identity for who they are trying to reach and sell to.
With xb360, that market is pretty well defined as evidence by the big sellers on the platform.
I think Sony is having difficulty identifying their userbase right now which is leading to surprising sales results on big investments.
Nintendo knows their userbase well. If MS is looking to tap it (all signs point to this), then they need to do what N does better than N.
Thanks for the tidbits.
E3 CAN END NOW!!! CRACKDOWN 2 has been announced!
I certainly agree with this.
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