Project Natal: MS Full Body 3D Motion Detection

Phat it's not so simple, if you consider the shutter as having infinite slew with a random jitter in timing of 1 ns then yes ... but if on the other hand it shuts in 1 ns but it's transparancy profile over time while shuttering is reproducible to a precision of say 10 ps then the precision is not limited by that 1 ns shutter time.
 
I've personally never been against motion controls or any kind of controls (steering wheels, music game peripherals, mouse and keyboard) that were suitable for the intended purpose. I am against bad controls and some of the early Sixaxis controls seemed like they were created just because they felt they had to include them. Even then there were some good implementations (Warhawk, Heavenly Sword).

Clearly the biggest obstacle with any of these (non-Nintendo) devices is the need to develop a killer app. People have shown a willingness to spend $90 to $100 on peripheral + game bundles in the case of the Wii Fit board or a Guitar Hero + guitar game because the game sold the peripheral. In order for either the Sony or MS products to take off they need to create an experience that is not only unique to that device but is appealing to large numbers of console owners.

I would suggest that arguments over tech are missing the point. The Wiimote really isn't THAT technically impressive, yet became the defining feature of the most successful console this gen. It just happened that Wii Sports utilized those controls to create a unique and appealing gameplay experience. Sony and MS need to find their own Wii Sports. Given Sony's lack of major success in its attempts thus far with alternate control mechanisms and MS's own lack of success in delivering appealing (to the masses) non-traditional gaming experiences, I think a little skepticism is reasonable. All it would take is one success, though, to change things.
 
Simple -- immersion and intuitiveness.

Sixaxis was awful because it doesn't address immersion. It's just a twitchy tilt controller that has very, very few legit uses.
exactly steering a car with an imaginary steering wheel (like in the natal video) is much more realistic/immersive that using a an actual wheel or joystick

u want evidence?
PS2-Logitech-Wheel-G25.jpg

vs
cruisin_by_dp_designs.jpg
 
Clearly the biggest obstacle with any of these (non-Nintendo) devices is the need to develop a killer app.

I know what this game is! You punch and kick someone until they fall unconscious. They don't even have to fight back, but maybe cower in fear. You know that's where all this motion control is headed, so you may as well give it to people now. Add in the ability to scan photos to put a face on your enemy (victim) and you'll be punching out your boss, husband, mailman, inlaws, most hated celebrity etc in no time.
 
While thinking about what game people (I mean besides the gamers who are already dying for anything MS does) would like to play with Natal like motion recognition I finally find the answer: highly detailed 3rd date (aka Porn) sims

Seriously, is there a better application for zbuffer outputing cameras? It would be health friendly as hell too.
I can see this being the break MS needs in Japan.
 
While thinking about what game people (I mean besides the gamers who are already dying for anything MS does) would like to play with Natal like motion recognition I finally find the answer: highly detailed 3rd date (aka Porn) sims

Seriously, is there a better application for zbuffer outputing cameras? It would be health friendly as hell too.
I can see this being the break MS needs in Japan.

ha ha ha, there might be some disturbing games in Japan.

By the way, nice post, Zed.
 
For me a combination of controller + Natal would be absolutely fantastic for hardcore games. However, for casuals and even certain game types for all users, I'd love to see no controller, Wii Sports, sports and activities like games.

I don't think motion control works for complex games. Basketball in particular - the energy level required for the moves would be too much for most gamers. Fighting games like street fighter... I don't think its possible to control with motion. Even if it was, the advantage would go to the player using a regular controller since pressing a button is faster than executing a motion.
 
One thing that I think could help make Natal a killer app is quick integration of SDK support into XNA. If community games can go wild creating applications for this and the SDK is good enough, then this could lead to a wealth of brilliant new ideas for it very quickly.
 
Very true. Open it to XNA and MS won't need to lift a finger! This also benefit the PC platform and adoption of the tech.
 
One problem with too early XNA exposure is that you may end up with a lot of obvious ideas implemented and abused, while MGS is trying to develop their killer game based on the same idea. For example Rare's ultimate boxing game may become irrelevant because of 10 other XNA games.
 
I still do not comprehend the obsession with Molyneaux. There was a lot of content presented aside from his usual hyperbole. Milo will never be a shipping product, I think we all know that. Time spent arguing about it is time wasted.
I do understand... and I'm not sure it's worst an explanation...
 
Well you can't see yourself when you've turned around anyway ... :p
 
Ha ha ha, obviously not what you'd like to see happen during a live demo.
what part? the major glitch at the end?

download the video + check out how many errors in the few seconds
A/ 0:0, real life guys arm is pointing out to the right, characters arm is hanging downwards
B/ 0:1, guys left leg hardly goes off the ground, characters hand has nearly grabbed his left leg
C/ 0.2, guys right hand is dangling, characters hand cups his balls + gives them a squeeze (Im not kidding :) )

now ppl were talking about detecting finger movement to do a guitar game, but like I said how is that possible when it cant even accurately do full arm movement!

So whens this meant to release? based on what Ive seen, its gonna be at next years E3
 
what part? the major glitch at the end?

download the video + check out how many errors in the few seconds
A/ 0:0, real life guys arm is pointing out to the right, characters arm is hanging downwards
B/ 0:1, guys left leg hardly goes off the ground, characters hand has nearly grabbed his left leg
C/ 0.2, guys right hand is dangling, characters hand cups his balls + gives them a squeeze (Im not kidding :) )

now ppl were talking about detecting finger movement to do a guitar game, but like I said how is that possible when it cant even accurately do full arm movement!

So whens this meant to release? based on what Ive seen, its gonna be at next years E3

I think it would be at next years E3 regardless. I haven't read any reports about problems like that from people that played the "breakout" demo. Some mentioned lag, some didn't.
 
That gizmodo article was a nice read, both pointing out the positives and negatives...

For example...

The first thing I noticed was a slight lag I hadn't intended. It's not horrible, but my avatar moved a hair more slowly than I did. That didn't stop me from reaching up, spiking the imaginary ball at a wall imaginary bricks, and then flailing around to keep up with 2, 3, 4, 5 and more spheres flying at me at once.

So a bit of lag to work out there. Inherent to the system or all the processing and debugging that could be happening at the same time. However despite that...

My real movements translated exactly how I expected them to—the precise position, velocity—90 percent of the time, no matter how ridiculously I moved, and some of the other 10 percent might've just been my own bad timing. But the result is a remarkable sense of control. Immersion.

Wheee...And the important bit...

But turning my air steering wheel, I felt completely in control. A lot of that was the software—it registered even the smallest pivots of my elbows that sent my forearms right or left—but the way it responded exactly how I expected it to is what made it feel so natural. Which is the real key here. It feels natural.

The key part bolded for emphasis.

And that still despite

Microsoft had clearly tweaked the Burnout code a bit, forcing the car to feel a bit more like a powerful sedan than a street illegal beast out of some Fast and Furious sequel. And I'm guessing that Natal's ever so slight control delay was masked by the feeling of a looser-driving steering wheel that we find in more standard cars.

So yes, it obviously still needs work. The consumer camera system still isn't finalized. But even at whatever % of done it is at.

It feels Natural to those that have actually tried it. And for pretty much everyone that has tried it they mentioned an unmatchable sense of immersion using it.

That's the key here. At least for me. Not only is it showing the potential of what could be done. Or even the fact that it's actually working minus some obvious bugs.

No the key here is that people that have used it have almost always mentioned how "natural" it feels (there's absolute no learning involved) and how incredibly "immersive" it is.

I think Burnout Paradise also shows how relatively easy it appears to be to implement the body control into any existing game a dev wanted to.

Regards,
SB
 
Again, I urge everyone not to trust the 'press' on evaluating new tech. Just look back to how critical they were of OnLive!

Mind you, I'm not denying that the system could easily work like we saw at the E3 presentation, I have no information (Milo, though, yeah, I'm doubting that).
 
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