Jimbo 175 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8077369.stm Microsoft has unveiled its new control system for the Xbox 360 console, at E3 in Los Angeles. Project Natal is a fully hands-free control system that will use face recognition and motion sensors to allow users to play games. Film director Steven Spielberg, attending the launch, said it was "a window into what the future holds". Although still in the early stages, Microsoft has sent prototypes to all the main game developers. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Spielberg said he had always stated that "the main barrier stopping people getting into video games was the complexity of a games controller," and that Natal was "a whole new world". "There is technology now that recognises not just your thumb, it recognises your entire person. The technology knows who you are," he said. Mr Spielberg drew an analogy with the film industry, saying it was evolutionary step for games. "It's like the square screen we saw all of our movies on in the early 1950s. Then The Robe came out in Cinemascope. And then came CinRam and Imax followed. That's what [Natal] is. I think the technology looks very interesting but its success depends on the content and how easy it is to use Piers Harding-Rolls, analyst During the demonstration, British developer Peter Molyneux showed how Natal could not only recognise faces, it could recognise facial expressions to determine what mood a player was in and react accordingly. Mr Spielberg said this offered new opportunities for game development "The video games industry has not allowed us the opportunity to cry, because we were too busy putting our adrenalin rush into the controller, or wherever we swing our arm with a Wii controller to get a result," he said. "Because of that, there is no room for a video game to break your heart. We now have a little more room to be a little more emotional with Natal technology than we did before." Speaking to the BBC, Piers Harding-Rolls, senior analyst with Screen Digest, said the success of Natal depended on a number of different factors. "I think the technology looks very interesting but its success depends on the content and how easy it is to use," he said. "The other aspect is cost and how they will get it out to the user base," he said. "That said, I think Microsoft would like to get it out sooner, rather than later. "Sales of the Xbox 360 hit their peak in 2008 and are now expected to decline, in terms of console sales, so you would expect them to get it out as soon as possible to rekindle interest in the platform." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyff 0 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Looks absolutely amazing. Going to take the casual gaming market to a whole new level, and that thing from Lionhead Studios is so good it's almost creepy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7025 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Tbh its not that amazing. The Wii has been doing similar stuff for 2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 175 Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Tbh its not that amazing. The Wii has been doing similar stuff for 2 years *cough cough* Playstation Eye Toy tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13857 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Tbh its not that amazing. The Wii has been doing similar stuff for 2 years like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bias 3 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Looks really good. To have your whole body moving without holding something in a game would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7025 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Tbh its not that amazing. The Wii has been doing similar stuff for 2 years like? Did you watch the video? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13857 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Aye but if you can show me a Wii game that picks up your whole body and has voice recognition, I'll concede the point. Like Jimbo says, it's much more like the Eye Toy with advanced technology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acid 0 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 It looks beast, Microsoft and 360 is going to be the shit in the years to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7025 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) Aye but if you can show me a Wii game that picks up your whole body and has voice recognition, I'll concede the point. Like Jimbo says, it's much more like the Eye Toy with advanced technology Alright then, the Playstation Eye Toy has been doing this for years. Either way its not exactly revolutionary. I played on an arcade game at Universal Studios 10 years ago that did exactly the same. It was a special version of Virtua Fighter 3 iirc And Nintendo DS has been using voice recognition for years Edited June 5, 2009 by Kid Dynamite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul 0 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Looks amazing, although I'd feel a bit of a tit talking to the tv like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10849 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I'm forever shouting at the screen when I'm playing games. When the AI doesn't quite get what you meant by "Short pass diagonally up and right" and instead passes directly ahead of you, into space, for their keeper to pick it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14011 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 That looks insane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriendlyMackem 0 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Seems to becoming more and more like the Wii, Avatars, now this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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