natal
November 28th, 2009 at 11:30pm
Under Xbox 360
Speaking to a room full of executives focused on “the business of online video” at this year’s Streaming Media West trade show, it’s easy to understand how Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten could fall into hyperbole regarding the implications of Project Natal. “I believe that this will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control,” Whitten said on the subject, reports Yahoo Tech. “With the flick of my wrist I can change a channel … with the power of my voice I can start a movie.”
Aside from the more obvious implications to television using technology that can interpret voice and motion, he sees a future where Natal will recognize individual voices in a room and allow for a variety of human input – from “laughter” to “the number of people in a room” and everything in between. “Watching a movie is a passive input, but a TV should understand what you’re trying to do.” We don’t know about you, Marc, but we’re a bit worried about the implications of our television understanding what some of us are trying to do.
[Via Edge]
Microsoft’s Marc Whitten sees Natal replacing television remote controls originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: marc-whitten, natal, project-natal, remote-control, streaming-media-west, television
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Microsoft’s Marc Whitten sees Natal replacing television remote controls
November 17th, 2009 at 08:15pm
Under Xbox 360
While reports circulated last week that Project Natal would launch sometime in November 2010, Xbox UK boss Neil Thompson says the details were only rumors. Speaking with Eurogamer at a launch event in London for the console’s new social media applications, Thompson said the rumors “weren’t accurate” and claimed Microsoft has yet to determine “a lot of things” related to the launch of its new motion-sensing technology.
According to the rumors, Microsoft was set to ship around five million Project Natal units next fall, alongside 14 supporting titles at a price point that could go as low as $50 (£30). When asked about the rumored details and price, Xbox’s head of Europe, Chris Lewis, jokingly added, “Now you know better than to listen to that stuff! We will announce in good time.”
However, Lewis did remind Eurogamer that Microsoft is striving for “unique” and “compelling” experiences with the technology. “That has to happen and will happen,” he said. As long as whatever “happens” doesn’t follow Microsoft’s traditional Xbox 360 peripheral pricing scheme, we’ll be happy.
Microsoft: Natal launch details ‘not accurate’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: chris-lewis, europe, microsoft, natal, neil-thompson, pricing, project-natal, release-date, uk
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Microsoft: Natal launch details ‘not accurate’
November 12th, 2009 at 03:00pm
Under Xbox 360
Sitting on Time Magazine’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009 amongst notables like the world’s first AIDS vaccine (still in trials) and meat farms seems like an awkward place for Microsoft’s Project Natal. But that’s exactly where it resides, paired with glowing praise for its boundary-breaking implications.
“Since time immemorial … one barrier that has stood between gamers and total Tron-like immersion in their video games has been the controller,” the piece posits, going on to say that Natal will break that barrier by allowing the player one-to-one access between the game and the game’s controls. “You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand. It’s that simple. And that cool.” Though we’re excited for the many prospects Project Natal seems to offer, we’re a bit more intrigued by teleportation.
And yes, that’s seriously on the list.
Time picks Natal as one of 2009’s best inventions originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: 50-best-inventions-of-2009, awards, inventions, microsoft, natal, project-natal, time-magazine
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Time picks Natal as one of 2009’s best inventions
November 5th, 2009 at 01:29pm
Under Xbox 360
Wait a minute. Now we’re confused. We thought one of the major development incentives for joining the motion revolution was to conserve resources in the production department. When your players are busy flailing and flapping — surging with euphoric endorphins — they don’t exactly notice that you’ve scaled back on the fancy schmancy rendering and physics; all that excessive cutting edge tech. Heck, they’d barely notice if you repurposed and resold them a game you’d made 5 years ago.
Motion control, man, it’s about getting back to our roots — a simpler time — when games were, like, about connecting with our bodies, you know? So when we caught wind of a job opportunity posted by Ghostbusters developer Terminal Reality and calling for experienced Xbox Live programmers to create “an exciting AAA Natal title,” we were sorta like, whoa, guys, you’re kinda missing the point.
Check this: “If you have a passion to create seriously high-quality action/adventure titles, we’re interested in hearing from you!” Really … passion? That makes it sound like there will be sweat involved — that’s the players’ job now. You guys gotta dial it down, maybe dig up some of that old BloodRayne code, put a little “kick-punch-slap” control in there … Save. Press. Box. Ship. Done.
[Via Shogun Gamer; thanks, Ian]
Terminal Reality seeking programmers for ’seriously high-quality’ Natal project originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: aaa, jobs, natal, project-natal, terminal-reality, tri, xbox-live
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Terminal Reality seeking programmers for ’seriously high-quality’ Natal project
October 21st, 2009 at 07:55pm
Under Xbox 360
Shocking absolutely no one, Peter Molyneux has confirmed that Fable 3 will support Project Natal in some fashion. The confirmation came during a lecture at BAFTA in London. The news was confirmed by Eurogamer’s Johnny Minkley, who tweeted the info during the event itself. Molyneux also reportedly showed off Milo and proved that Natal is capable of scanning objects (people, presumably) in bad lighting.
Molyneux himself hinted at the possible inclusion of Natal in Fable 3 as recently as two weeks ago, though he neglected to confirm it for fear of a quick, sniper-borne death.
So that’s that then: Fable 3 will use Project Natal. Of course, we don’t speak for everyone, but we can’t wait to pretend to fart in front of a crowd of adoring, virtual townsfolk.
[Via VG247]
Molyneux confirms Natal support in Fable 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: fable, fable-3, microsoft-game-studios, natal, peter-molyneux, project-natal
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Molyneux confirms Natal support in Fable 3
October 16th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Xbox 360
Over at IndustryGamers, everyone’s favorite video game predicterer (we’re still working on that one) Michael Pachter has taken the reigns of the site and offers his own extensive diatribe on the future of Sony and Microsoft’s upcoming new tech: Project Natal and the PlayStation Motion Controller (rumored to be called Sphere). Pachter’s assertion is that price will be Natal’s biggest selling point and Microsoft will try to expand upon its market of established Xbox 360 owners by offering the device for $50. For Sony’s doodad, Pachter says the company is “trying to create an answer to the success of the Wii.”
Pachter even likens the future state of a Natal-enabled Xbox 360 to the current state of the iPhone — with features like Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Facebook inside Microsoft’s box and its intuitive interface, he says casual or non-playing members of Xbox 360 households will become interested. And then when it’s bundled with all new Xbox 360s, he says that’ll expand Microsoft’s reach even more.
For the motion-controlled competition, Pachter says he’d be surprised if Sony’s asking price was over $100, and stresses that both Microsoft and Sony need to keep “the consumer’s cost relatively low in order to achieve broad penetration.”
[Update: Corrected Pachter's belief that the motion controller would be no more than $100. We sincerely apologize for the misinterpretation and the consequent misinformation.]
Pachter: Project Natal will cost $50, ‘Sphere’ no more than $100 [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Pachter: Project Natal will cost $50, ‘Sphere’ no more than $100 [update]
Tags: facebook, iphone, last-fm, michael-pachter, natal, netflix, pachter, playstation-motion-controller, project-natal, sphere, twitter
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Pachter: Project Natal will cost $50, ‘Sphere’ no more than $100 [update]
October 15th, 2009 at 03:30pm
Under Xbox 360
digg_url = ‘http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/15/microsoft-discusses-wii-esque-project-natal-branding-strategy/’; While we may be nervous about Microsoft’s Project Natal branding strategy — remember, that’s just a codename — the suits in Redmond share no such concern. That’s because the Natal project is following Nintendo’s lead in more ways than just easy-to-play, motion-based technology. It’s also following Nintendo’s branding strategy.
On May 11, 2004 Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced the “Nintendo Revolution” to the E3 audience and, while he didn’t show off the motion-based controller (we wouldn’t see that for another sixteen months, at TGS 2005), he did promise “an unprecedented gameplay experience.” The Revolution would offer “something no other machine has delivered before.” The following May, over two years after first announcing the “Revolution,” Nintendo revealed the product’s final name just before E3: Wii.
When we asked Microsoft’s Robbie Bach, “When can we stop calling it Natal?” at a recent Open House event, the exec wasn’t shy about comparing the company’s strategy to Nintendo’s. “When Nintendo came out with the name ‘Wii,’ people sort of said ‘Oh gosh, that’s kind of a goofy, weird name.’ I haven’t heard a comment about it being a goofy name since the week after they announced the name,” Bach said. “And suddenly, people just called it the ‘Wii’ and moved on.” And, specifically, they’ve moved on to buying them en masse.
Continue reading Microsoft discusses Wii-esque Project Natal branding strategy
Microsoft discusses Wii-esque Project Natal branding strategy originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Albert-Penello, branding, microsoft, naming, natal, project-natal, robbie-bach
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Microsoft discusses Wii-esque Project Natal branding strategy
October 5th, 2009 at 10:00pm
Under Wii / Nintendo
Terence Lee, creator of Storm, joins the growing list of independent game developers lucky enough to find a publisher. His game, created specifically for an independent games competition at 2BeeGames.com, will find refuge on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, WiiWare and iPhone next year via a new publishing deal announced by Zoo Games. We talked with Lee about the indie games scene, and what we can expect from the console version.
What is Storm? How did the concept come about?
Storm is a game where you use weather elements, like wind, rain, and lightning, to solve physics puzzles. I had been playing around with some physics sandbox games, like Garry’s Mod, and I found that these games were all based on experimenting with mechanical interactions. I wondered if an organic style could also be fun. And what’s more organic than a storm? Plus storms bring lightning and every game needs explosions.
Continue reading Indie game ‘Storm’ strikes XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, iPhone
Indie game ‘Storm’ strikes XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: 2beegames, indie, natal, psn, storm, terence-lee, Wii / Nintendo, wiiware, xbla, zoo-games
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Indie game ‘Storm’ strikes XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, iPhone
September 25th, 2009 at 03:30pm
Under Xbox 360
Speaking to Destructoid, Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda had some bad news for gamers hoping to see old Xbox 360 game updated with Natal controls. The Natal team has been able to effectively implement motion controls in older titles — like Beautiful Katamari and Space Invaders Extreme — but Tsunoda intimated that it required large portions of code to be changed. According to Tsunoda, it’s not something that developers could easily patch into older titles. In other words, if you want your favorite pre-Natal title to support motion control, you’ll have to hope for a full-fledged re-release from the publisher.
That’s definitely a blow for those hoping to enjoy some of their favorite games with motion control, especially considering Sony can patch motion control into older PS3 titles. Here’s hoping Namco sees the light and releases Beautiful Natal-amari once Project Natal hits retail shelves.
Don’t expect old 360 games to add Natal support originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: kudo-tsunoda, natal, project-natal, tgs-2009
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Don’t expect old 360 games to add Natal support
September 25th, 2009 at 11:01am
Under Xbox 360
Explaining Project Natal’s mantra of fun and accessibility can’t be the easiest task in the world, especially since it has to be done while ricocheting about in front of a motion-detecting camera. And despite that, creative director Kudo Tsunoda makes it look easy, calmly elaborating on Natal’s goals and features while he dances about in a room full of journalists.
We’ve heard it before: Natal is Microsoft’s sledgehammer, swung straight into the walls that years of button pressing and circle strafing have slowly erected around traditional gaming. We’ve seen similar attacks from Nintendo’s Wii, as well as from the massive genre of the Instrument Protagonist, but Microsoft is hoping for much more than a dent. In the wall. Do you get it? It’s like a metaphor and stuff.
The bizarre problem with Natal in its early state is that it, um, works. The technology is clearly functional — heck, it’s vaguely magical — which makes the absence of truly compelling software almost immediately disappointing. Anyone can simply hop in front of the camera, which never seems to stop and ask, “Who are you and where did you come from — and why are you so fat compared to the last person?” You’re recognized within seconds and can start playing a moment later. And then you slap flying balls.
It’s a bit of an unfair demand considering the product’s not due until 2010, but the impatience is testament to the convincing nature of the technology itself. In the meantime, Microsoft is exploring Natal’s tricks in two existing games: Beautiful Katamari and Space Invaders Extreme.
Continue reading TGS 2009: Body-on: Project Natal (with Space Invaders Extreme!)
TGS 2009: Body-on: Project Natal (with Space Invaders Extreme!) originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: beautiful-katamari, kudo-tsunoda, natal, project-natal, space-invaders, space-invaders-extreme, tgs, tgs-2009
By Mister-X
Continue Reading TGS 2009: Body-on: Project Natal (with Space Invaders Extreme!)
