Microsoft has predicted that games will be created for Project Natal for the next five years - and rubbished claims that the hardware is comparable to Sony's EyeToy camera.
When asked by CVG how MS felt about accusations that Natal was simply a "jazzed-up EyeToy" at X10 last week, Microsoft's director of product management for Xbox said:
"We obviously could have done a motion controller if we'd have wanted to do that, but we felt that would be a much more interruptive experience. We had an opportunity here to really do something that's transformative and brings a whole new category of experiences to life.
"Now we're saying to creators: 'We can see when you move your hand, when you move your feet, we can track your body. I can stand in front of this sensor and it can recognise my face and know if it's me, or my brother or my sister.'"
Greenberg then forecast a rosy five-year future for Natal:
"The richness of the technology is going to really enable experiences that never had existed before," he added. "And we're not just speaking about what we're doing this year, but I think two, three, four, five years from now as this evolves.
"Millions of consumers this Holiday will be able to experience Project Natal and this is just the beginning of something that will change the way consumers interact with entertainment and change way our publishing partners think about game development."
The full interview with Aaron Greenberg will be published later this week.
Not sure how something capable of detecting what you're doing with an air guitar/imaginary steering wheel/pedal etc etc is the same as something that has you batting some balloons around the screen by flailing your arms.
Whether it will WORK properly for everyone in all lighting conditions is another matter, but presumably one thats been studied.
As long as its not like those HP cameras which wouldn't recognise black people, and it doesn't require studio lights to work correctly, then colour me interested.
What they all SHOULD be doing is using some sort of Natal/3D crossover. Hopefully they'll come together at some stage and the multiple technologies will converge.
Trying to drive a wedge between the forats by virtue of their very technology will either really work or really really f*** up the industry.
It looks like were going to have to wait until E3 to get a proper look at what Natal can actually do .
I for one am in the glass half full brigade, it might turn out to be utter tosh but until I see what Devs are actually using it for then im going to remain optimistic.
the only thing I can think of that could be good in natal is head tracking, which is awesome on PC in games like armed assault and flight sims. That’s what would make me by Natal if games came out that had that. Imagine in a FPS being able to glance around quickly before making a run for cover. I think though that they need to keep the CPU usage within natal rather than use the xbox as this would mean games would have to compromise somewhere else in order to support Natal.
Wow Another where better than ps3's technology comment, eeeggghhh! no your not 5 more years of 360 then? oh dear its still a gloryified dvd player (A wank 1 at that) Natal will come out and i bet it dies or theres a mega problem with it the norm with anything M$hite touches, Aaron Greenberg Give your mouth a chance and go have a word with yourself!
the only thing I can think of that could be good in natal is head tracking, which is awesome on PC in games like armed assault and flight sims. That’s what would make me by Natal if games came out that had that. Imagine in a FPS being able to glance around quickly before making a run for cover.
Err.. so how would something like that work? You look to your left and nathal tracks that and the view will go left? How does that benefit your gaming experience? If you look to your left it means you're not looking at you TV! So you're not seeing anything. Well, maybe in the corner of your eyes but that doesn't sound like a comfortable way to play. Now actually getting up from your seat to look over an object, that might work. But also sounds tiring as hell.
I'm as excited by any new leap forward in gaming as the next gamer but I'm still not convinced that Natal is that leap. I also don't see any valid reason in MS's response to this issue when an Eye Toy comparison was put forward to them.
It senses body motion as did Eye Toy and there's not a lot you can do when playing games like Gears of War. Could you imagine actually running in front of the TV to make a Gears of War 3 character move? Doing air gunning from the characters third person perspective may seem somewhat awkward. If you need to use a joypad as well then what's the point (and hype) of the tech?
It's easy to see why Halo Reach isn't supporting the tech and it draws some concerns as to what the excitement is all about. I'd much rather use a Nintendo style device as they allow greater accuracy in games such as FPS's as well as merging regular analogue style movement.
Hard to see what will come off Natal but I predict endless party games and minimal uses in AAA titles.
I'm as excited by any new leap forward in gaming as the next gamer but I'm still not convinced that Natal is that leap. I also don't see any valid reason in MS's response to this issue when an Eye Toy comparison was put forward to them.
It senses body motion as did Eye Toy and there's not a lot you can do when playing games like Gears of War. Could you imagine actually running in front of the TV to make a Gears of War 3 character move? Doing air gunning from the characters third person perspective may seem somewhat awkward. If you need to use a joypad as well then what's the point (and hype) of the tech?
It's easy to see why Halo Reach isn't supporting the tech and it draws some concerns as to what the excitement is all about. I'd much rather use a Nintendo style device as they allow greater accuracy in games such as FPS's as well as merging regular analogue style movement.
Hard to see what will come off Natal but I predict endless party games and minimal uses in AAA titles.
That's more down to your lack of imagination, rather than the tech though. I really don't know why yourself and others keep bringing Reach/Gears into Natal topics. Greenberg himself stated Reach wouldn't be suited for Natal, which is why MS are looking to encourage developers to create new experiences built around Natal, rather than tack it on to existing IP.
Dont know why you all seem totally unexcited whenever i read a post re Natal, i think it looks really very good, and the fact it can can track 3d space is highly impressive tech. The biggest mystery is why the hell am i on this thread defending a microsoft product,sheesh i must be finally losing it.
Err.. so how would something like that work? You look to your left and nathal tracks that and the view will go left? How does that benefit your gaming experience? If you look to your left it means you're not looking at you TV! So you're not seeing anything. Well, maybe in the corner of your eyes but that doesn't sound like a comfortable way to play. Now actually getting up from your seat to look over an object, that might work. But also sounds tiring as hell.
Check out how head tracking works on the PC in the right games its amazing, like arma 2. You only move your head a little and the camera pans with your head so your eyes never leave the TV. Your head movement is exaggerated so turning your head slightly left tmoves the ingame camera alot more. Unless you have played a game like arma or the old operation flashpoint you'll never know how useful being able to just turn your head is.
If someone can share any ideas as to how Natal will revolutionise the way we play games, I'm all ears. What such experiences are there in an imaginary sense thats gona draw from the amzing range of games Im currently playing?
All Im saying really is, I havent seen much other than Eye Toy games outside Milo.
If someone can share any ideas as to how Natal will revolutionise the way we play games, I'm all ears. What such experiences are there in an imaginary sense thats gona draw from the amzing range of games Im currently playing?
All Im saying really is, I havent seen much other than Eye Toy games outside Milo.
Voice recognition, Facial recognition, Full Body 3D Motion Capture and Developer talent is what has me interested in Natal. Lets wait till we see what the Devs produce before trying to second guess them.
Five-year lifespan, eh? let's just hope it doesn't lead a mutiny on an off-world colony, come to Earth and promptly gouge its creator's eyeballs out...
Must admit that I too am on the sceptical side of the fence...
Perhaps I will be forced to eat my nice black Playstation cap but ultimately I don’t see enough innovation in the ordinary sense to warrant more of these wii-style gimmicks!
The last game to truly raise the bar IMO was Uncharted 2 – not only in terms of what can be achieved on a console but also in terms of cinematics, plot, etc etc. It just oozed production-values in a way that a lot of other games don’t...
And before I’m accused of batting in favour of Sony I’ll say that IMO the very first Halo was one such game which blew my socks off before the series became a McTrilogy...
That's a lame pun (is it even a pun?)! SVD's was much better!!
Not really - I was trying to make a point! I hope everyone starts to refer to Natal as NATAFAIL and people who buy it - are branded - part of the NATAFAIL club. Yes - good luck to the NATAFAILERS!
I find myself hoping Natal fails horribly so it dies as quick a death as possible and Microsoft will be forced to kick start the next generation sooner rather than later. Microsoft will hate to start over with the economy the way it is but I don't much care about Microsoft's economic situation provided they're able to give Nintendo and Sony some competition.
The XBox 360 feels like a dying console now, the notifications / pop-up's look horribly low res at 1080p, the NXE is a mess, XBox 360 games have hit a limit graphically and in terms of DVD storage. There doesn't seem to be very much to look forward to and XBLA coin-op conversions from the 80's appear to have dried up...
Microsoft has stopped moving forwards AND backwards on video games. The idea of flailing my limbs is contrary to the gaming experience I want in the future. No-one can hope for a new start if Natal succeeds, so I think it's better for all "old skool" gamers and for videogames in general if Natal fails as horribly and quickly as possible.
I didn't ask for Natal and I don't think video gamers did either. Microsoft made their decision based on the success of the Wii, yet Natal isn't anything like Nintendo's motion controller and I don't see that as a good thing. I lost belief in Microsoft's ability to innovate successfully - many years ago.
By supporting Natal you are supporting the end of video games as you've known them. I won't support Natal. I sincerely hope you won't either.
I fully expect at least some developers to be far more imaginative and open-minded about Natal than the severly blinkered view of a lot of people on this forum. Same goes for Arc.
I'm not a game developer, so if even I can think of ways to implement it into the games I love that would make me further immersed, then I'm damn sure the professionals can. And then some.
That's a lame pun (is it even a pun?)! SVD's was much better!!
Not really - I was trying to make a point! I hope everyone starts to refer to Natal as NATAFAIL and people who buy it - are branded - part of the NATAFAIL club. Yes - good luck to the NATAFAILERS!
I find myself hoping Natal fails horribly so it dies as quick a death as possible and Microsoft will be forced to kick start the next generation sooner rather than later. Microsoft will hate to start over with the economy the way it is but I don't much care about Microsoft's economic situation provided they're able to give Nintendo and Sony some competition.
The XBox 360 feels like a dying console now, the notifications / pop-up's look horribly low res at 1080p, the NXE is a mess, XBox 360 games have hit a limit graphically and in terms of DVD storage. There doesn't seem to be very much to look forward to and XBLA coin-op conversions from the 80's appear to have dried up...
Microsoft has stopped moving forwards AND backwards on video games. The idea of flailing my limbs is contrary to the gaming experience I want in the future. No-one can hope for a new start if Natal succeeds, so I think it's better for all "old skool" gamers and for videogames in general if Natal fails as horribly and quickly as possible.
I didn't ask for Natal and I don't think video gamers did either. Microsoft made their decision based on the success of the Wii, yet Natal isn't anything like Nintendo's motion controller and I don't see that as a good thing. I lost belief in Microsoft's ability to innovate successfully - many years ago.
By supporting Natal you are supporting the end of video games as you've known them. I won't support Natal. I sincerely hope you won't either.
pinning their hopes on this rubbish to last it up until ps4.
microsoft is going to have... post-natal depression
Nice svd...possibly the funniest thing you have said in ages.
HEADTRACKING....I note people are still pondering the usage of headtracking and stressing the redundancy of this, if you check other posts on this subject you will understand that you only turn your head slightly for a full turn on screen....so you can still see the telly without having to look away.
Natal is gonna be good, mark my words, speculate all you want but I would prepare yourself to be pleasently suprised....whilst I am mostly considered a non fanboy and potential fence sitter, on this occassion I believe the Arc will have its work cut out to do the kind of things already seen with Natal, the only thing going in Sony's favour is the wand is physical...like Nintendo and we all need something to hold....don't we??
I fully expect at least some developers to be far more imaginative and open-minded about Natal than the severly blinkered view of a lot of people on this forum. Same goes for Arc.
I'm not a game developer, so if even I can think of ways to implement it into the games I love that would make me further immersed, then I'm damn sure the professionals can. And then some.
I guess that depends on the games *you* love. If you love party games, good luck to you, I won't buy that crap...
Other than Nintendo's own efforts (Mario and Zelda), I haven't seen more than 5 games on the Wii that might appeal to me. I tried Resident Evil 4 and hated the controls. The Wii is the best selling console this generation with the most potential to sell games, but only Nintendo games really sell well and other developers struggle with it.
In case you hadn't noticed, there isn't much innovation in XBox 360 games. FPS's, 3PS's and racers for the most part because they're the appealing genres of the user base. None of those will work well on Natal. XBLA retro games are no use. What / who is Natal good for then?
NATAFAIL has the potential to split the development base working on the XBox 360 and waste a lot of people's time and money in the process. Developers are better off investing in snake oil, because it would waste less time.
StonecoldMC, as the resident Microsoft XBox protector, I challenge you to actually come up with a compelling argument as to why Natal will last 5 years.
pinning their hopes on this rubbish to last it up until ps4.
microsoft is going to have... post-natal depression
Nice svd...possibly the funniest thing you have said in ages. HEADTRACKING....I note people are still pondering the usage of headtracking and stressing the redundancy of this, if you check other posts on this subject you will understand that you only turn your head slightly for a full turn on screen....so you can still see the telly without having to look away.
Natal is gonna be good, mark my words, speculate all you want but I would prepare yourself to be pleasently suprised....whilst I am mostly considered a non fanboy and potential fence sitter, on this occassion I believe the Arc will have its work cut out to do the kind of things already seen with Natal, the only thing going in Sony's favour is the wand is physical...like Nintendo and we all need something to hold....don't we??
HEADTRACKING....I note people are still pondering the usage of headtracking and stressing the redundancy of this, if you check other posts on this subject you will understand that you only turn your head slightly for a full turn on screen....so you can still see the telly without having to look away.
That's NOT the way headtracking should work.
Agreed. Rather than reading other posts on the subject, look at the examples showing implementation.
HEADTRACKING....I note people are still pondering the usage of headtracking and stressing the redundancy of this, if you check other posts on this subject you will understand that you only turn your head slightly for a full turn on screen....so you can still see the telly without having to look away.
That's NOT the way headtracking should work.
Agreed. Rather than reading other posts on the subject, look at the examples showing implementation.
e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWpGQuATnHs
Exactly. Why do so many people assume it will be like the TrackIR method, which is simply horrendous.
Oh Lordy, it is not my job to 'convince' you of Natal's worth, thats up to the Devs. Why dont we wait util E3 and see the Games coming for Natal rather than guessing about what they may or may not do with the tech?
Then again, I could guess and make up counter arguements just like yourself ... nah ... ill just wait and see what they produce before guessing .
Oh Lordy, it is not my job to 'convince' you of Natal's worth, thats up to the Devs. Why dont we wait util E3 and see the Games coming for Natal rather than guessing about what they may or may not do with the tech?
Then again, I could guess and make up counter arguements just like yourself ... nah ... ill just wait and see what they produce before guessing .
What games? You have no argument then... You can't convince me and nor can Microsoft, my mind is already made up.
I am 100% against waving my arms and legs at a camera to play video games. When playing on the Wii, I prefer to sit and only flick the Wii-mote if necessary. That isn't going to work for many Natal games, is it?
I find it strange that you don't seem to need any convincing of its worth, but then perhaps even you - a stalwart Microsoft defender - are not inclined to buy it either...
well lordvon if the 360 is failing how do you explain the ps3 games selling below par while the 360 versions sell wayyyy more? neither console will die out so, live with it
well lordvon if the 360 is failing how do you explain the ps3 games selling below par while the 360 versions sell wayyyy more? neither console will die out so, live with it
Fanboy Alert!
Some games sell more on 360, some sell more on PS3. It depends on genre and location. Examples: FPS games sell better on 360, MW2 is the latest good example of that. MW2 - 360 9,518,005 MW2 - PS3 6,780,489
EA sports games normally sell better on 360, but most are American sports so thats why. Soccer however is not so popular in America when compaired to Europe so FIFA sells better on the PS3.
FIFA 10 - 360 2,279,087 FIFA 10 - PS3 2,944,189
Action games seem to be more popluar depending on content. Bayonetta sold better on the PS3, although Assasins Creed 2 sold better on the 360.
fanboy alert Only_77 bayonetta only outsold it cause its a japanese based game and 360 didnt do well in japan.
fifa is a game from last year and its a chavvy game so obv going to sell well on ps3 and that was included in a bundle with ps3 slim so that includes that but fifa nowadays is higher in the chart for the 360, another example of a sports game out selling the ps3 in recent times, mx vs atv reflex enterrd the top 40 for 360 but not for ps3 same with vancouver 2010, software sales are poor for ps3 you just have to accept that most people bought it for a cheap blue ray player
fifa is a game from last year and its a chavvy game so obv going to sell well on ps3
Fail. You couldn't of highlighted your fanboyism anymore if you tried.
but fifa nowadays is higher in the chart for the 360, another example of a sports game out selling the ps3 in recent times
But it still not has sold as much, so I don't really see what your saying.
mx vs atv reflex enterrd the top 40 for 360 but not for ps3 same with vancouver 2010
Wow, you picked some really good games there to prove a point! You seemed to of missed Dante's Inferno which entered the charts this week but sold 11,000 more copies on the PS3!
software sales are poor for ps3
Of course they are, but why this week did the PS3 sell 171,131 software units compaired to the 360's 147,850. Really you should get your facts right before you walk into an agrument only armed with fanboyism.
ye im a 360 fanboy but its obv youre a ps3 fanboy so least i can admit it. dantes inferno didnt sell well on 360 because of a lil something called mass effect 2 which people were still buying, and u want a more popular games okay bioshock 2 is number 1 and ps3 version is number 3, and army of two the 40th day outsold the ps3 versionby 120000 copies. and yes the software is only outselling because of some big rpgs getting released in japan which this always happens around this time
FIFA is a old chavvy game is it??? Bloody hell!! So are we now discounting months/weeks of continued sales in favour of weekly trends?
The split between sales can often be seen regionally. Japanese developed games often seem to sell more on PS3 (Resi 5 and SF4 spring to mind without looking stuff up). Nintendo just clean up everywhere though of course!
Although he's probably right about Bayonetta to some degree. It's been out in Japan since October/November and only for a month in the rest of the world. I don't know how much the PS3 version outsold it by and if that is enough to make a difference though.
Oh well, much to Lord and dorian's probable annoyance, everything's ticking along nicely, sales-wise, for all concerned.
FIFA is a old chavvy game is it??? Bloody hell!! So are we now discounting months/weeks of continued sales in favour of weekly trends?
The split between sales can often be seen regionally. Japanese developed games often seem to sell more on PS3 (Resi 5 and SF4 spring to mind without looking stuff up). Nintendo just clean up everywhere though of course!
Although he's probably right about Bayonetta to some degree. It's been out in Japan since October/November and only for a month in the rest of the world. I don't know how much the PS3 version outsold it by and if that is enough to make a difference though.
Oh well, much to Lord and dorian's probable annoyance, everything's ticking along nicely, sales-wise, for all concerned.
You can add an extra sale for Bayonetta once I've got through my back-log - I just hope that happens before Red Dead Redemption comes out. Level 25 on Forza now - it's going to be a hard slog, methinks...too many games, such little time.
On topic: I'm certainly not going to write Natal off just yet. I wouldn't say that it's something I'm excited about, but I am curious about the possibilities. It's all down to how it's incorporated in the games - it's nigh-on a certainty that we will get the obvious 'party' games to start off with, but I really don't think that MS will be releasing it purely for that.
If I were a betting man, I would think that Natal will start to show its potential (fully) over the 6 months following release.
I'm certainly not going to judge it until I've seen it in action and I'm definitely not even considering a boycott. That's just stupid.
well lordvon if the 360 is failing how do you explain the ps3 games selling below par while the 360 versions sell wayyyy more? neither console will die out so, live with it
Fanboy Alert!
Some games sell more on 360, some sell more on PS3. It depends on genre and location. Examples: FPS games sell better on 360, MW2 is the latest good example of that. MW2 - 360 9,518,005 MW2 - PS3 6,780,489
EA sports games normally sell better on 360, but most are American sports so thats why. Soccer however is not so popular in America when compaired to Europe so FIFA sells better on the PS3.
FIFA 10 - 360 2,279,087 FIFA 10 - PS3 2,944,189
Action games seem to be more popluar depending on content. Bayonetta sold better on the PS3, although Assasins Creed 2 sold better on the 360.
Regardless - it's hardly a "dying" console, with those numbers.
well lordvon if the 360 is failing how do you explain the ps3 games selling below par while the 360 versions sell wayyyy more? neither console will die out so, live with it
Fanboy Alert!
Some games sell more on 360, some sell more on PS3. It depends on genre and location. Examples: FPS games sell better on 360, MW2 is the latest good example of that. MW2 - 360 9,518,005 MW2 - PS3 6,780,489
EA sports games normally sell better on 360, but most are American sports so thats why. Soccer however is not so popular in America when compaired to Europe so FIFA sells better on the PS3.
FIFA 10 - 360 2,279,087 FIFA 10 - PS3 2,944,189
Action games seem to be more popluar depending on content. Bayonetta sold better on the PS3, although Assasins Creed 2 sold better on the 360.
Regardless - it's hardly a "dying" console, with those numbers.
well lordvon if the 360 is failing how do you explain the ps3 games selling below par while the 360 versions sell wayyyy more? neither console will die out so, live with it
Fanboy Alert!
Some games sell more on 360, some sell more on PS3. It depends on genre and location. Examples: FPS games sell better on 360, MW2 is the latest good example of that. MW2 - 360 9,518,005 MW2 - PS3 6,780,489
EA sports games normally sell better on 360, but most are American sports so thats why. Soccer however is not so popular in America when compaired to Europe so FIFA sells better on the PS3.
FIFA 10 - 360 2,279,087 FIFA 10 - PS3 2,944,189
Action games seem to be more popluar depending on content. Bayonetta sold better on the PS3, although Assasins Creed 2 sold better on the 360.
Regardless - it's hardly a "dying" console, with those numbers.
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