Project Natal: MS Full Body 3D Motion Detection

Arwin said:
To be honest, I think it's a lot more likely that for 'proper' driving games we'll see you using the controller for braking and accelleration, and then you can steer by twisting the controller much like sixaxis allows now, and then maybe with added head-tracking for looking left and right as well as gestures for shifting (again, optional) and handbraking (optional). Something like that. For some things you just need buttons, and you just need to hold something. This is not going to be the area where Natal is going to excell I think - just holding your arms up is exhausting by itself, you'll already need to lean them on your knees or something very soon. Sixaxis steering worked well for me because in the end I needed only very subtle movements and could do it even in just one hand, still using R2 for accelleration (and x for boost). But if Natal could just bring headtracking to a game like Forza 3, that alone would be a big win for me. I really like that technology, especially in a cockpit view.
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Sixaxis worked well for me as well in F1 Challenge and Motorstorm 1 (MCs), not so much in Mater´s International. But did I prefer it instead of using the analog knob? No. Not to mention my logitech wheel (in games that support it).

The use of head-tracking to look around sounds like a great idea. I just wonder what it feels like to turn your head but still keep your eyes focused on the same point in front of you.
 
Quaz51 said:
yes and it would be hard to delimit the neutral point
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Sorry to keep being negative, I just can't get my head around 'eyetoy 2.5' - it would have helped if the Milo demo wasn't as staged - also we know how much Peter likes to hype and overpromise.

I think the tech is very good and interesting but still a few years away from performing to the standards MS seem to be promoting, I just think if we were that close Sony would be beating louder drums than they have been. I think they've realised the tech just is not quite ready yet.

I also think we're even further away from accurate finger detection, there's all too much to chance and I think gamers like me will find it frustrating like I have the Wiimotes.
 
Crossbar said:
The use of head-tracking to look around sounds like a great idea. I just wonder what it feels like to turn your head but still keep your eyes focused on the same point in front of you.
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Dont think it will work well at all for head rotation. For say peaking around things in an FPS it should work fine but for head rotation you really need a head mounted display. I guess the limeted nature of it is why we havent seen the face tracking ability of the PSeye put to any use yet, although maybe its just that sony dont seem to make full use of some of there tech ive been dissapointed with the lack of support for PSEye in general.

EDIT: thinking about it i guess the headtracking doesnt have to be used in a totaly realistic way, it just needs to be used to make it slightly more natural than a thumb stick.
 
Hmm, just thought of one type of racing game that could benefit greatly from this. Motorcycle racing where you could actually lean to the left or right.

I really think most people are missing the point of the Burnout demo though. I don't think it's meant to indicate that this is the type of game that will be targetted. More that it was just a proof of concept that it works with an actualy game about as well as a standard controller.

In other words, that there's no overhead with the X360. And more importantly there's no additional resources used. So as far as the X360 is concerned, it's exactly the same as the standard controller with no additional processing required other than what is in the game (with regards to memory and CPU resources).

And it was an easy way to demonstrate some of the things that you could do with it in a game that requires as least a bit of precision. In that it's better than an analog stick but probably worse than a dedicated steering wheel.

I mean how many current game types would be easy to pick up immediately with absolutely no instruction or training other than pretend your using a steering wheel and control forward and stop with your foot.

FPS? A bit too complicated I would imagine. A platformer? Not exactly intuitive. A baseball game? Perhaps, but not as universal as knowing how to drive.

A racing game was just the easiest current game type to demo using Natal in place of a standard controller. But I don't think racing games are the target for the system. :p

Regards,
SB
 
Inquisitive_Idiot said:
Yeah, I wonder what they are going to do to market this device? If its really expensive it might be hard to bundle it with games like EA and Nintendo are doing with Wii Motion +. They definitely need to get third parties on board, but I doubt that is going to be a problem for MS, it just up their own first party studio's and third party efforts to develop interesting games.
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If it works well it will sell and market its self. The main stream press is already picking up on project natal. It was on good morning america today and wednesday night Kudo will be on late night with Jimmy Fallon. The million dollar question is can the make it work well. It is going to be fun to watch either way.
 
What I want to see them do with the tech is do somthing like make American football into a physical game instead of the old "press x for slot receiver" Madden style gameplay. I mean you actually do the passing motion and Natal senses your arm angle and hand speed and translate them into a pass in the game.

It doesn't need to be full NFL game either (since EA would not risk the Madden franchise), just pickup style football will do. Plus add in other popular sports that translate movements well into a game, like Wiisports resort will be doing the 3 point shootout. That's something Natal could probably do better.
 
Interesting read. It's not entirely clear that they won't be targetting first half...

Shane Kim: Yes – not 2009. That's the only thing we're saying.
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However, the implication is pretty strong that we can infer they probably aren't...

Two is, we're going to launch when we feel like we have the entire program ready to go, including the experiences and support from third parties. It's not a lot of time between now and the spring, considering it was just unveiled.
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So basically as soon as they feel they have enough support. However, considering how big they want Natal to be, and the need for a broad range of applications and support. It's probably a good bet that it'll be around the Holiday 2010 area.

And sounds like they aren't (as many have guessed) targetting the core gamer. In other words it's meant mainly to attract people that don't currently own a console of any type. Although I'm pretty sure they probably mean people that don't own a X360 or PS3.

Shane Kim: I do think that Natal is going to create enhanced gaming experiences for core gamers, but it really is about the new frontiers.
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And this bit where the question was regarding if ALL MS internal studios were working on Natal porjects or incorporating Natal controls into their games...

Shane Kim: Yes, absolutely. The role of Microsoft Games Studios has always been to obviously be the first-party game team for Xbox 360 and lead the way, to showcase the platform. You can't rely on third-parties to do that.
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So apparently a huge push withing MS itself (first party devs) to incorporate Natal into all current games in dev and games just starting developement...

Interesting...

Regards,
SB
 
Silent_Buddha said:
So apparently a huge push withing MS itself (first party devs) to incorporate Natal into all current games in dev and games just starting developement...

Interesting...

Regards,
SB
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Exactly.

Now all the developer shake up at MGS a while back makes sense.

And sounds like they aren't (as many have guessed) targetting the core gamer. In other words it's meant mainly to attract people that don't currently own a console of any type. Although I'm pretty sure they probably mean people that don't own a X360 or PS3.
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This too.
 
Did you read this bit, TheChefO?
Q: So what's been the early reaction from your publishing partners and independent developers?
Shane Kim: Great excitement because they see the potential of the technology, but they are also excited from a business standpoint because it's going to be compatible with every Xbox 360 we're ever sold. We already have a 30 million installed base today, by the time it launches it will be much bigger than that and it's a great thing because it's an addressable installed base immediately.
It's not like launching a brand new console, where partners make business decisions of when do they decide the installed base is big enough. This is something where we're going to have a lot of customers pretty quickly and we're focused on magical launch experiences to get this ball rolling right from the get-go.
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Doesn't look good for your 'new-brand' plan!
 
Crossbar said:
Nice interview with Shane Kim.
They are clearly not targeting the first half of next year for the release of Natal.
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I mentioned that after looking at the videos
it will be shown next year at E3 (the press wont be so accepting this time, then again this is gaming press, so anythings possible), perhaps a launch in 2011 with lots of ppl going WTF (ala eyetoy part2) :LOL:
actually the best odds are it wont be seen on the xbox360 at all, but make its first apparence on its sucussor, which is a much better strategy
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Did you read this bit, TheChefO?
Doesn't look good for your 'new-brand' plan!
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Ahhh crap!!!

Well, he did say magical launch experiences ... whatever that is...

And besides, the separate-but-same platform idea would still fit this business plan.

Ugh, I hope they don't screw this up ...
 
The good thing I did notice is it seems they are intent on growing the Natal userbase very quickly. If they price this thing low enough (and take a hit on each unit in hopes it will come down in price quickly and that they can make the money back on software and "other" ventures) then they may be able to push this thing into success...

I see the intent of MS trying to push this thing, but I'm not sure they have the right gameplan...
 
The best bit I see from Shane Kim is they approach towards the games. They're insisting on making games for Natal, not having Natal be used for current games, which is exactly the right approach. A bit of a relief to hear that part, honestly.
 
TheChefO said:
I'm not sure it's ready for prime time. Could just steer sales into Wii as people go to the store looking for the "body motion game thing" and clerks point at Nintendo.
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It's already been on Good Morning America. I think they're trying to plant into people's mindset as it still has the "new toy coming" buzz. That way, it's easier to introduce it later. Laying out the groundwork. I think it's a good idea as long as it doesn't screw up during these shows. I saw the GMA segment and it performed well. One of the hosts was trying to be "funny" and doing silly poses. Natal picked them up.
 
RobertR1 said:
It's already been on Good Morning America. I think they're trying to plant into people's mindset as it still has the "new toy coming" buzz. That way, it's easier to introduce it later. Laying out the groundwork. I think it's a good idea as long as it doesn't screw up during these shows. I saw the GMA segment and it performed well. One of the hosts was trying to be "funny" and doing silly poses. Natal picked them up.
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Here's the video...

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7791505

Tommy McClain
 
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