We're just at the beginning of see a entirely new way to engage the computer, in this case for gaming. After all, the QWERTY keyboard that we use today was really created back in the late 1800's and it really is time for a new interface. And in terms of games, both at home and in arcades, this kind of technology will continue what Wii started by bringing in people who might not have been game players before, as well as create new forms of game experiences that we haven't even thought of yet.
Remember, if you want to learn about multitouch, you can join us tomorrow night at Multitouch Maven at the Clo Wine Bar at the Time Warner Center at 7.
Looking around this morning, here's some of the coverage Project Natal received:
Dave Rudden over at GamePro got a demo of Natal and wrote about it at Preview : Milo, Burnout, and Balls: Body-on with Project Natal [Xbox 360] - from GamePro.com.
My first taste of Natal was Ricochet, the hyper-active block-breaking game, demoed by the face of Natal and former Fight Night developer, Kudo Tsunoda. Kudo gave us a brief intro and showed us the ropes before letting the press serve up some damage. I didn't quite get as active as the hyperactive Microsoft employee, or even the surprisingly nimble Kudo, but my first taste of Natal served as proof-this device works. It recognized how far I was from the TV, and limb and head movements were almost instantaneously recognized on TV. Plus, the game once again rocked Ratatat on the soundtrack-they're a very gaming-influenced instrumental band that are definitely work checking out.
CNET has a good overview of both what it can do and the challenges that Microsoft faces in getting Natal to the masses at Microsoft's Project Natal: What does it mean for game industry? | Gaming and Culture - CNET News.
So is Project Natal Microsoft's answer to the Wii-mote?"And beyond, yeah," said Forrester principal analyst Paul Jackson. "Obviously, we've all got, in the game industry...a huge debt to pay to Nintendo for shaking things up a bit with the Wii, and for moving beyond the 37 button controller. This is taking things to the next extreme. Because even with the Wii, you still have (several) buttons, start and select. It's still a physical controller."
Added Jackson, Project Natal looks likely to "remove that final barrier between you sitting in your room and...what's on your screen."
They also got a good quote from Steven Spielberg:
"I've been asking the crucial question: how can interactive entertainment become as approachable as other forms of entertainment?" Spielberg said. "The vast majority of people are just too intimidated to pick up a video game controller...Despite the size of (the video game) industry, still 60 percent of households do not own a video game console...The only way to bring interactive entertainment to everybody is to make it invisible." (BTW, here's what I said in '95 -- The first lesson for using any technology in marketing, he says, is to make the technology invisible and work on the content, not forgetting that people like to have fun. Not only do I sometimes look like him, I'm just as smart, damn it!)
Matt Peckham said Microsoft's No-Controller "Natal" Steals the Show - PC World. He continued:
What we saw today was unprecedented: True 1-to-1 motion tracking. Wave your arm and your onscreen avatar follows you precisely. Bend, yoga-like, to form cute animal shadow-shapes and a silhouetted image on a virtual canvas curls and contorts picture-perfectly. Shift toe-to-toe, tennis-like, anticipating objects hurled your way and whatever algorithms are intelligently sorting behind the scenes recognize your intentions, filtering out flailing limbs or ignoring unnecessary maneuvers.
Robert Winters has a good overview of how it works at Project Natal, how it could work and it's worth a quick review if you'd like to see some speculation about the technology and the various components involved.
They were equally as excited over at Gizmodo - Xbox 360 Project Natal: Full-Body Motion Control One-Ups the Wii - Project Natal, where they said:
What makes this so damned cool is that it lets you do more than just play games with it. You can also move through menus by swiping your hands back and forth. The camera allows for fun features like facial and voice recognition. When you have it running, your Xbox will recognize your face and sign you in automatically.You can start to imagine the possibilities already. Everything from Minority Report style menu control to Dance Dance Revolution games that require you to actually dance rather than just hit buttons to videoconferencing in your living room, the thing just feels like the future. And it already makes the Wii seem like a gimpy and outdated piece of tech. There's no way it can touch what this will do.
Project Natal: amazing Xbox 360 controller-free gaming (E3) - Computerworld Blogs.
Microsoft announces "Project Natal" motion controller for Xbox 360!.
Kotaku - Spielberg: Natal Changes The Way I Write For Games - E3 2009. E3 2009: Microsoft's No-Controller "Natal" Steals the Show - PC World.
Procrastineering - Project blog for Johnny Chung Lee: Project Natal.
Microsoft's 'Project Natal' Is Vaporware, At Least Until Their E3 Booth Opens (MSFT).
I read that the price would be around $99, and that it would be compatible with the current 360 hardware...
but maybe not backward compatible with older games
Posted by: dave | June 02, 2009 at 02:38 PM
Sincerely WII did not make me mad, just because when I'm playing a game I just want to relax. Use my brain is enough. And I for real gamers the only Physical needed to be done is the movement of the fingers. Even we will prefer no movements. Really Great innovation in Gaming could be just play games if the mind, meaning controlling everything with just your thoughts.
Posted by: programmi free gratis | June 05, 2009 at 12:03 PM
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Posted by: r4 nintendo ds | June 16, 2009 at 09:57 AM