Microsoft unveils new controller, Project Natal
Project Natal is set to offer a new kind of gaming experience, harnessing various types of sensors and cameras.
Project Natal appears to be a bit far from release at the moment, but is set to combine the power of new visual and motion sensors to track player movements, voice commands and object recognition. In short, it could pave the way for an entirely form of gaming.
According to Microsoft the finished product will be able to track a number of different objects and people at once, even being able to distinguish between different voices and colours. The system is already drawing comparisons to the interfaces seen in films like Minority Report.
Development kits are said to have already been shipped to developers so, while no release date for the system has been given, a release surely can't be too far off.
The most complete demonstration given of what Natal can do came from Peter Molyneux, who unveiled a new game that Lionhead has been working on called Milo. Hailed as a breakthrough in artificial intelligence and player interactions, this is likely the project that Molyneux was claiming would change the face of gaming not to long ago. There's little way to describe it other than to say that it's a virtual boy, in a virtual world, that players can fully interact with. Expect more details on both products soon.
Is Microsoft on to something good here, or did Nintendo get there first? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyWonder if it will take off without being bundled in at launch though.
May well be cool, and will be interesting to see what people do with it, but I can't see it assisting much for the type of games people currently play.
aren't you missing a word here? entierly new form of gaming.
Yes. It has multiple sensors, so it can detect and map your movements in full 3D. This means potential 1:1 between what you do and what your character does. It can also allow a player to reach out and "grab" elements of a user interface.
This is much more powerful than an Eye Toy, which can barely separate a human form from a static background.
Watching the demonstration video it looks like it would be very impressive if it works though.
Admittingly it looks interesting, i liked the idea of eyetoy but it was too simple/gimmicky. i may get this just for minority report style dashboard browsing and to play some mini games with the family :p
What on Earth are you talking about? A wiimote? What wiimote?! And slightly better hardware?
It is a much higher definition camera, that can identify, differentiate and track multiple items or people, and looks like it will offer the 1:1 movement that pimlicosound mentioned. Imagine the Red Steel trailers, where they made it look like everything you did happened in the game, rather than the reality where all Nintendo did was replace buttons with arm waggling.
Not only that, but I think the 360 hardware is significantly more than "slightly better" than the Wii's.
Trailers sure made the Wii look alot more accurate than it ended up being. So I'm a little skeptical
You the whole word, the whole thing.
I'll have to watch the video for this later tonight.
Exactly why I both sceptical and enthusiastic. This industry is known for failed promises, but on the flip side, I am sure MS noticed this, and will make sure they deliver everything they promise and more. In all fairness, I don't think there are any details officially released by MS about Project Natal at the moment, so it is hard to know exactly what to expect or hope for.
Sure its a bit of a gimmick aimed at reclaiming some of that casual market and sure its a refinement of the eye toy but none the less, it IS interesting, specifically the usage of it in the dashboard.
No kidding... First Microsoft Sight (Vista) and now this?