Microsoft's Project Natal demo video has us jumping with anticipation

We're itching to get our own, uh, body time with Microsoft's Project Natal real time motion-capture accessory for the Xbox 360, but until that happens we're eagerly soaking up every last bit of footage we can -- like this teaser video shown during this morning's keynote. Lots of little tidbits here, like voice and face recognition, custom texture scanning and mapping, video chatting, and all sorts of use-your-whole-body gameplay applications. Of course, we don't know how much of this is real and how much is TV magic, but it certainly seems like Natal's got tons of potential -- check the video after the break.

[Via Joystiq]

[Jocaju @ Jun 1st 2009 8:22PM]

This is very sad for a hardcore gamer like my self. "Driving with empty hands, really?"

[Aguiluz @ Jun 1st 2009 8:26PM]

Well, I guess some parts of "Back to the Future" is becoming real.

"You play it with your hands? That's like a baby's toy!"

[WixosTrix @ Jun 1st 2009 8:30PM]

then dont play that particular game. Is that so hard?

[TareX @ Jun 1st 2009 9:00PM]

I'm sure you can find "something" to hold on to, mr. hardcore gamer.

[inteller @ Jun 1st 2009 9:22PM]

I'd get this just to navigate the Xbox menus a la Minority Report.

[mr. tool @ Jun 1st 2009 9:47PM]

some of this looks pretty cool. but the skateboarding idea, pointless. it's like, hey you've already got the skateboard right there man! go outside! standing around, wiping your dirty shoes on the carpet, lookin' ridiculous. no thank you.

[wrabbit @ Jun 1st 2009 9:50PM]

I'm sure games won't have Natal as the only controller option, there will always be a controller option available since not everyone will buy Natal.

[darkstar @ Jun 1st 2009 9:59PM]

interesting. someone suggested Masterbation Hero earlier....

[Snife @ Jun 1st 2009 10:11PM]

I don't really like the term hardcore gamer but i don't see how it affects them. They already have the best catalogue of games on any console with the 360 and hell I love my Halo, GTA, Assassins Creed as much as the next guy but sometimes you just want some mindless fun and this looks like it delivers.

I bought a Wii and it was a fun party system - bowling etc with a bunch of people was a lot of fun but when by myself I would always choose to play the 360 so the Wii ended up never being played and I sold it but there are still some games that come out for it that I would like to play for the gimmick factor and this should provide similar games for the Xbox, it also might mean that motion based games might start to be made for a more adult/hardcore market - a fighting game like shown I think has potential in this format.

This is the best of both worlds - hardcore and casual, now we just need a release date.

Also, i'd take driving without a wheel to having yet another plastic peripheral that I have to store. I'm sure with time they can replace mics, drums, guitars with this and they are already showing it replacing boards and buzzers - thats all a plus in my book - one peripheral for everything and more. As I said in another post though, they just need to bundle this thing with zero markup to knock the wii off the top spot.

[mgsrocks1 @ Jun 1st 2009 10:36PM]

I don't get you. I'm a hardcore gamer and I'm super excited by the possibilities. I'm just glad people like you aren't deciding for the rest of you us.

[Col. Readily Apparent Upon Cursory Inspection @ Jun 1st 2009 11:21PM]

@Greg

I see what you did there.

[Phenoum @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:04AM]

ZEKE!!! I see you there brother, but where are your arms and legs?!!?!

[Brian Yorks @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:51AM]

I think the driving part wouldn't be fun, just like it's not with the Wii. I want either a controller or an actualy steering wheel such as the 360 wheel.

[Jon Graft @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:19AM]

I'm a hardcore gamer...and I have a PS3.

[JoeN @ Jun 2nd 2009 4:25AM]

pr0n... you could discuss Star Trek... but no. Guess Master Chief will have to take a seat, cuz Leisure Suit Larry is the new BMOC.

[superhobo @ Jun 2nd 2009 7:24AM]

That video...is seriously...ridiculous.

Expect epic lawsuits, Microsoft. People kicking over furniture and babies.

[Nicole @ Jun 2nd 2009 11:20AM]

But air guitar players everywhere are rejoicing.

[OneLove @ Jun 4th 2009 3:42PM]

Wait, how does the sensor tell the difference between 4 people sitting/moving next to each other?
Or how does it tell who's player 1 and player 2?

[HZ @ Jun 1st 2009 8:23PM]

"actual features and functionality may vary"

meaning that all the impressive and simply awesome stuff this idea has wont be in the final product, haha.

i hope i'm wrong tho.

[Boards of Canada @ Jun 1st 2009 9:03PM]

mmm... I know this video is only showing rendered stuff but the company Miscoroft buyed last year had a pretty impressive device. It was really "real-time" feeling... just like the video. Expect something similar.

aaargh must find the link!

[Boards of Canada @ Jun 1st 2009 9:07PM]

It was in reply to the post below but here we go;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_yWZFcgPPk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOY9vlibxfg&feature=related

[Decoy @ Jun 1st 2009 9:10PM]

'Buyed'


(head in hands)

[Greg @ Jun 1st 2009 9:33PM]

This is Microsoft we're talking about. When haVe they ever hyped a product that dIdn't come out looking exactly like they Said iT would? They wouldn't do thAt!

[Mike @ Jun 1st 2009 10:14PM]

just like how the first WII video came out, it looked pretty awesome, but in the end was just alright.

[solmar @ Jun 1st 2009 11:21PM]

It's a bit *too* good to be true. With sensor and camera technology as it is today, it would be very hard to do accurate motion capture at a good frame rate in a normal home environment that is usually very dim. Normal motion capture is done with a lot of lighting, little pods stuck on your body, and with really expensive equipment. So, I think there will be a lot of guessing, and hence a lot of errors. Even the voice recognition is too good to be true, since voice recognition has come far, but not that far.

Of course, I'd love to be proved wrong, but with words like "actual" "may vary", I doubt it.

[CaptCaveman @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:56AM]

@Mike

Nintendo is all about cost savings though. They want to produce something that won't cost them or the customer a lot of money. Microsoft is more along the lines of: Well, we can make it do this, but it will cost extra.
Some of the hardware that Microsoft either produced or stamped their name on in the past did exactly what they said it would. But at a premium price. Like the Harman/Kardon Take Control TC1000 (http://www.remotecentral.com/take/index.html). $350.00 for that puppy. It worked good and could stand up with all the other high end remotes on the market.
Or the Microsoft Cordless Phone System. It worked well.

My only problem with Microsoft is that they tend to sometimes abandon hardware without any warning or reason. I had the camera for the xbox 360 (until the dog decided to chew the cable up). Which really didn't matter since not a lot of things took advantage of the camera. Unless you call adding your picture to your profile and a hand full of games taking advantage.

I don't see this add-on coming in at a must buy price. So my worry isn't will it work. My worry is will anyone support it.

[xValentine @ Jun 2nd 2009 9:15AM]

@Greg

I see what you did there.

[Tim @ Jun 1st 2009 8:24PM]

prepare to be disappointed...

[Bill @ Jun 1st 2009 8:42PM]

I agree. Plus, a few of those movements looked like the tv was doing it first, with the kid and lady barely behind -like it was scripted, not true motion capture.

[pczuneman @ Jun 1st 2009 9:04PM]

Did anyone actually watch E3? All of this motion capture tech is REAL and was demoed live at E3. It was quite amazing, the level of detail and realism tied into the technology was exhilarating.

If you don't believe me, check out this video of the live demo at the keynote this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTtlM0v7iLs

[Jeremy @ Jun 1st 2009 9:52PM]

The worst part about all this is that we're going to have to listen to the endless complaints when this thing isn't as good as people are making it out to be. I'm sure it will be pretty fun (just like the Wii), but it's going to be a novelty to most people (just like the Wii). The motions these people are making in these videos are very grandiose and lack the kind of control that would really be needed for many games.

I might get voted down, but at least I won't be disappointed when this thing fails to deliver some revolutionary gameplay. 3 months after owning one I'd love to hear how much time people spend with this device over their tried and true game controller. Might be worth the cost, but I don't think it will live up to this hype.

[Iridium @ Jun 1st 2009 10:03PM]

My favorite part of Microsoft posts is all of the paid Microsoft bloggers that show up to talk up the products. They show up in Sony posts to crap all over anything Sony makes.

Microsoft, trashing the competition and making crap since 1975.

[Nohone @ Jun 1st 2009 10:39PM]

My favorite part of Microsoft posts is all of the paid Apple, Sony, Google, etc. bloggers that show up to crap all over anything Microsoft makes. They show up in Apple, Sony, Google, etc. posts to talk up anything Apple, Sony, Google, etc. makes.

Microsoft, being trashed by the crap making competition since 1975.



In other words, just because people do not agree with you does not mean that they are on the Microsoft payroll, just like anybody who talks negative about Microsoft is not on Apple, Sony, Google, etc. payroll.

[Quix @ Jun 1st 2009 11:49PM]

@ Nohone:

Yet say anything bad about Microsoft in the Engadget comments section and get voted down, say anything bad about Apple/Sony/Microsoft Competitor X, get voted up. It's been this way for at least the past 6 months to a year, a very noticeable change from the way things were on Engadget before.

Aye, the pungent aroma of Redmond astroturf is thick around here these days.

[bjsguess @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:25AM]

Consider it checks and balances. The vast majority of readers are supportive of Microsoft. The editors tend not to be so. Then you have guys like Paul Chappel spamming every single post and it gets Microsoft people fired up. That leads to a lot of thumbs down on STUPID COMMENTS. Thoughtful comments critical of Microsoft are treated fairly.

The fact is that a certain segment of the population hates Microsoft with a passion. If the video was redone this time with a PS3 logo or an Apple you would have the Microsoft haters praising this as the coolest thing ever.

This is cool technology. I don't care who is making it.

[Nohone @ Jun 2nd 2009 12:51AM]

@Quix:

Yep, it is called personal opinion. If you have 1000 people coming in and voting up pro-MS, anti-Apple comments, and voting down anti-MS, pro-Apple comments, while only 100 people do the reverse, you get the trend you are crying over. The fact is, people vote the way they think is right. I don't care if you like it or not, that is the way it is, people excercising their opinion. And I am not going to change the way I up or down rank people's comments just to make you happy and feel better about yourself.

You can't tell me that there has never been an Apple employee that has stumbled across Engadget and ranked some comments one way or another. Just the same, I am sure there has been Microsoft employees have ranked a comment one way or another. But those people are still voicing their opinion. Should we point out only Microsoft doing it, and ignore Apple people doing it?

It all comes down to, if you want Apple comments ranked higher, and Microsoft comments ranked lower, then get more Apple people here. Until then, man up, grow a pair, and deal with it - or see a shrink to help you through your inferriority problems.

[Decoy @ Jun 2nd 2009 1:37AM]

@ Quix: What's this then?
/s


i40.tinypic.com/2itphec.jpg

[Templarian @ Jun 1st 2009 8:25PM]

Every time I see this I laugh since I know that dude.

Can't wait to try it out myself, he said its pretty decent.

[TareX @ Jun 1st 2009 8:26PM]

"....we don't know how much of this is real and how much is TV magic.."

Well if you got off your Apple horse for a second and actually SAW the Microsoft event you're blogging about, you'd know that they had a model on stage actually playing a game with her whole body. And it was insanely accurate and extremely amazing.

[Templarian @ Jun 1st 2009 8:35PM]

I know the guy in the video and he told me its very accurate. Like navigating the 360s panels is extremely well done, along with the way the games function and work with the new hardware.

(he did mention the skateboarding part needed work)

[Nilay Patel @ Jun 1st 2009 8:41PM]

Dude, we had three editors there, plus the Joystiq team, and the rest of us watched it on video. We saw it in action, and while it was impressive, it was definitely choppier than this. Are you seriously accusing us of bias because we're slightly skeptical of a perfectly-executed demo video that has a prominent disclaimer?

Breathe.

[TareX @ Jun 1st 2009 8:46PM]

Are you talking about the event where the guy kept talking to the audience, then he would say a COLOR in the middle of his talk, and the XBOX would hand him the color in his hand, which he would splash on the screen, in a move depending on the fine speed and direction of his arm's swing? That one?

I don't think it warranted a line that addressed any misinformed viewers' fears (most people didn't get to watch it live). MS did WAY TOO MUCH to show that yes, it was THAT GOOD.

[Andir3.0 @ Jun 1st 2009 9:06PM]

Can't wait for the Kool-Aid making game.

[macserv @ Jun 1st 2009 9:19PM]

I did see the whole conference. I also saw it do perfect facial recognition on a guy whose eyes were completely covered by very large sunglasses, so some of it was probably canned. The block breaker demo had to be real, though, and it was very cool. I've done very similar things with games for my PS3 eye, but Natal goes way beyond that. It's competition, and competition is good.

[something clever @ Jun 1st 2009 9:42PM]

The kool-aid making game is only available for apple products.

[VanillaSpice @ Jun 1st 2009 10:00PM]

Nilay, don't go blasting the commentators with things like the truth and honest opinion, man, that ain't fair. TareX only has their Apple-hate and their "Engadget bias" conspiracy theory to argue with, and you come packin' facts and considered opinions, it just isn't a fair fight.

[crescentdavid @ Jun 1st 2009 10:08PM]

That would be so unappletizing. Fear & loathing in lost wages. iDiots don't want to break out of their boxes. They're too damn pretty.

[utahnkid @ Jun 1st 2009 10:14PM]

If Engadget is on an "Apple horse", despite the fact they clearly aren't if you're actually a regular reader, then you must be Microsoft's personal set of anal beads. Settle. The. Fuck. Down. This was clearly meant to be a "look what it COULD be someday" not a "look what's coming out next month" video. Matching basic kicks and punches is FAR from the absolutely perfect motion capture required to pull off the skateboarding demo for example, and if you're expecting an experience verbatim to the one shown, you're obviously biased yourself (or just stupid). Modern technology can barely pull that off with full motion capture body suits, so calling someone biased for not blindly drinking the kool-aid poured from a marketing video is the epitome of hypocrisy.

[DirtyVegas @ Jun 1st 2009 10:27PM]

I work in the consumer electronics industry, and I know that many of these demos are fudged.

Project managers set insane deadlines, software engineers usually don't meet them, and a night before the demo the team HAS to freeze the codebase and cut a label/release. So some features are deliberately hardcoded. Not saying this one is, but until you get a hands on, company led demos always need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

[sanriver12 @ Jun 1st 2009 10:32PM]

I agree with Tarex,
hey N.Patel why dont you stfu and watch this, i guess your 3 editors missed it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTtlM0v7iLs