Old Discussion Thread for all 3 motion controllers

[patsu]

I think there's a WiiWare title that offers Pictionary.

I can only find Sega's PictoImage.

Umm, look up 9 posts. LOL

Heh, I thought it sounded familiar.

 

[patsu]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...Reveals_Gingold_PlayStation_Move_Keynotes.php

Nintendo released a free Health app for DS:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/04/19/nintendo_health_app/

Almost Daily Health Notebook is, as the name might suggest, a health notebook where you record information about your health. You can store information about your physique, including height, weight and allergies. You can also keep a record of the illnesses you've had (up to 16) and the medication you're taking (up to 24). The app also lets you store more detailed information about HIV and influenza tests.

Seems one-off.

 

[Graham]

This is interesting, if exceptionally vague...

http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/3440...t+Recon/?sid=56ffe2fe7bd8aa4489013460439063a7

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will come with Natal-support

'You should be able to give orders by pointing.'

Although it's very vague and hand wavey statement (literally ), it would suggest Natal can cope with a player who is sitting with a controller.

It also may help reduce fears that Natal is too much overhead for AAA games.

 

[LightHeaven]

This is interesting, if exceptionally vague...

http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/3440...t+Recon/?sid=56ffe2fe7bd8aa4489013460439063a7



Although it's very vague and hand wavey statement (literally ), it would suggest Natal can cope with a player who is sitting with a controller.

It also may help reduce fears that Natal is too much overhead for AAA games.

I was hoping for that kinda of support for splinter-coop or a new R6, but if well done it will be a welcome addition to Graw3 too

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It also may help reduce fears that Natal is too much overhead for AAA games.

I wonder what the scalability of Natal tech is? Can it be set to track a single hand and reduce overhead, or will it be doing a full skeleton track in all circumstances? I'd imagine the latter, but it'd be nice to hear the devs have more options.

 

[LightHeaven]

I wonder what the scalability of Natal tech is? Can it be set to track a single hand and reduce overhead, or will it be doing a full skeleton track in all circumstances? I'd imagine the latter, but it'd be nice to hear the devs have more options.

Doesn't make much sense that natal would need to see you entire body every time since they allow you to play the game even when not totally in sight of the camera.

So, assuming it can track some parts of your body without having to track it entirely i guess tracking just a hand or something like that should be a option, unless it doesn't make a difference from a performance point.

 

[patsu]

It is possible to use a totally different set of motion tracking algorithm for different games. They will use different amount of resources.

e.g., They can overlay a transparent layer of buttons over each teammate in the field. If you align your hand gestures (or just finger) over one of these buttons, the soldier behind that button can be selected. Creature Feature has similar feature for its UI screen (although the buttons are static there).

You should be able to point to the screen and give orders to the media player to play a DVD (without the skeleton tracker) too.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So, assuming it can track some parts of your body without having to track it entirely i guess tracking just a hand or something like that should be a option, unless it doesn't make a difference from a performance point.

I'm guessing the identify the whereabouts of an arm requires a complete recognition of the player. Once identified though, the hand position could be tracked without regard for the rest of the body. I don't know how their skeletal system works though, and there may be interdependencies of limbs for recognition requiring a full skeleton identification. eg. To know the right arms orientation, you need to know where the body is and how it's aligned, which will need to consider the legs.

It is possible to use a totally different set of motion tracking algorithm for different games. They will use different amount of resources.

Yes, I was thinking that. In a very simple form, they could have a 2D interface a la EyeToy, but only trigger a button if the z-position of the underlying motion is less than a threshold. Basically it'd be a dead-simple 2D analysis of the captured depth-buffer. As all processing is on XB now, this raw data must be available to devs to play with without needing to call the interpretation libraries. If they want to go with more sophisticated gesture recognition, they could still do some work with visual methods without the skeleton tracking.

 

[patsu]

Yes, I was thinking that. In a very simple form, they could have a 2D interface a la EyeToy, but only trigger a button if the z-position of the underlying motion is less than a threshold. Basically it'd be a dead-simple 2D analysis of the captured depth-buffer. As all processing is on XB now, this raw data must be available to devs to play with without needing to call the interpretation libraries. If they want to go with more sophisticated gesture recognition, they could still do some work with visual methods without the skeleton tracking.

I am curious to see something like DMC4 using Move, Wiimote+ and Natal: You can aim and grab enemies from a distance into your hands to beat them up.

 

[Rolf N]

I don't think there's a clear solution to what's supposed to happen in a 3rd-person game where the player can walk towards the camera. How do you "1:1" when the avatar's right arm is on the left side of the screen and vice versa?

 

[scently]

I am curious to see something like DMC4 using Move, Wiimote+ and Natal: You can aim and grab enemies from a distance into your hands to beat them up.

That would be quite interesting.

 

[goonergaz]

This is interesting, if exceptionally vague...

http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/3440...t+Recon/?sid=56ffe2fe7bd8aa4489013460439063a7



Although it's very vague and hand wavey statement (literally ), it would suggest Natal can cope with a player who is sitting with a controller.

It also may help reduce fears that Natal is too much overhead for AAA games.

this sort of thing smells of sixaxis - limited poor implementation for a could of games and then everyone will forget about it.

 

[goonergaz]

did anyone see last weeks gadetshow? they were playing a PS3 (I assumed as I could see what looked like the PSEye) fighting game - looked a bit like streets of rage - using the camera to put you in the game, he said it was clever enough to know who was actually playing and to ignore everyone else including the front room. he did mention Natal, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't Natal - yet is basically did similar things (ie know know was playing, ignored everything else and put you in the game).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

did anyone see last weeks gadetshow? they were playing a PS3.

Was it PS3? I thought it was something proprietary for the arcades.

 

[goonergaz]

Was it PS3? I thought it was something proprietary for the arcades.

I don't know exactly what it was - but it was a PSEye on the TV from what I could make out. I thought it was odd he mentioned Natal and then about it being clever enough to remove everything bar the player even without greenscreen

 

[patsu]

I don't think there's a clear solution to what's supposed to happen in a 3rd-person game where the player can walk towards the camera. How do you "1:1" when the avatar's right arm is on the left side of the screen and vice versa?

Can't the motion control system flip the user's limb inputs ?

I think there are a lot of rooms for innovation in motion controlled UI. e.g., Natal doesn't really need to stick to PSEye's 2D motion menu; they could create a custom menu of soldiers that are spaced further apart to accommodate Natal's coarser 3D pointing granularity.

At the same time, Move/Wiimote+ type of system may focus more on direct, in-game picking. It doesn't always need to work that way though. e.g., The in-game pointing scheme will have problem if the target is behind the user (The user has to turn around to select the target).

 

[goonergaz]

Was it PS3? I thought it was something proprietary for the arcades.

Here you go - it'll be on PS3 and X360 by the looks of it:

http://www.virtualairguitar.com/games/kung-fu/about/

I'm certain the PS3 version was being played

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Good find! It probably was the PS3 version then. Edit : Actually could well be the PC version, as that'd be most readily to hand. Edit 2 : Found YouTube clip. Definitely PS3!

This shows trouble with the background removal, but that's due to the low contrast. Natal should be pristine in all circumstances (then again, how will it cope with flowing clothes?). Looks like a quality title and fun game to boot.

 

[Arwin]

Oh dear ... well, that's clearly a regular, 2D title that just uses the basic webcam, no 3D or motion controls. Could have been a PS2 title 6 years ago! I think this kind of stuff should be left to XNA type platforms to be honest, but opinions clearly differ!

 

[Billy Idol]

Here is a video with some detailed view of the Move controller:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...2011645707_video_sony_ps3_move_demo_plus.html