Microsoft's Project Natal demo video has us jumping with anticipation
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 1st 2009 8:18PM
posted Jun 1st 2009 8:18PM
[Via Joystiq]
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This is very sad for a hardcore gamer like my self. "Driving with empty hands, really?"
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!"
then dont play that particular game. Is that so hard?
I'm sure you can find "something" to hold on to, mr. hardcore gamer.
I'd get this just to navigate the Xbox menus a la Minority Report.
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.
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.
interesting. someone suggested Masterbation Hero earlier....
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.
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.
@Greg
I see what you did there.
ZEKE!!! I see you there brother, but where are your arms and legs?!!?!
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.
I'm a hardcore gamer...and I have a PS3.
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.
That video...is seriously...ridiculous.
Expect epic lawsuits, Microsoft. People kicking over furniture and babies.
But air guitar players everywhere are rejoicing.
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?
"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.
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!
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
'Buyed'
(head in hands)
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!
just like how the first WII video came out, it looked pretty awesome, but in the end was just alright.
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.
@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.
@Greg
I see what you did there.
prepare to be disappointed...
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
@ 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.
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.
@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.
@ Quix: What's this then?
/s
i40.tinypic.com/2itphec.jpg
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.
"....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.
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)
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.
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.
Can't wait for the Kool-Aid making game.
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.
The kool-aid making game is only available for apple products.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Oh good god.
Oh yeah, it's all real! I can't wait to get my hands on that game in the demo called Call A Friend And Video Chat While Picking Out Virtual Clothes For The Party!
/facepalm
@ TareX: "insanely accurate and extremely amazing" huh? You forgot to add "the technology was exhilarating" like PCzuneman above. Minus two astroturf points for you.
Apple horse, eh? Sure. Keep riding that Redmond pony, dude.
Oh, and I can't wait to see Microsoft's official Stage Lighting Kit: Home Edition (TM) to get you the camera accuracy you were "seeing" on stage.
Quix - Wow I can't believe that never came to mind.. I was sitting here thinking I just saw what video games are going to be like in 5 years, but what the hell are they going to do about lighting?? I NEVER play video games with the lights on (mostly because I play on a projector system) and while I might change that for the sake of trying something new, I gotta say I see it as something that would dramatically hold back it's "stay" power.
On a side note, I wouldn't mind wearing some sort of special outfit and/or wrist/ankle bands if it increased the accuracy and let you play in low/no light.
[I'm not sure why my above comment was low ranked, I mean obviously I'm stoked for something like what we were shown but I'm also not gullible enough to think v1.0 is going to be anything even CLOSE to that. I'm just being realistic]
i think they're referring to the stuff that wasn't demoed live, like that whole outfit scene where it applied the dress to her figure.
"I'm not sure why my above comment was low ranked" - utahnkid
Because you dared question a Microsoft product rather than slobbering all over yourself and showering your comment with superlatives like "extremely amazing." Welcome to Engadget.
Me, I see a product with more questions than answers. And, of course, no release date. But those are, ahem, "irrelevant" to the Microtools who infest this blog.
Slap an Apple logo on this thing and watch their opinions change instantly.
it all depends on the games coming out that makes use of this new technoogy. I was jumping about when i first saw the Wii and now it catching cob webs in the corner of my room...wait wait where the hell is it
even though the game catalog may or may not suck, i think the new voice/facial/gesture interface for controlling the xbox is hella awesome!! i have to be honest, i bought my xbox as a media center extender and watch ALOT of hulu (playon), netflix, dvds, and cable tv through it... and the idea of sitting there and waving my arm to move the choices and talk to my xbox is pretty cool!.... and if it replaces the typing in chats, and is that smooth on the video/application sharing part, im very very psyched about ALL of it...
can it really be that good? for that cheep?
What part of "Product vision; actual functions and features may vary" don't you understand? I half expected them to be playing Duke Nukem Forever at the same time.
Thats super HOT!!,i might just change from being a sony fan just because of this =D
so u don't need wiis anymore
oh yeah by the way it looks pretty awesome
You mean your wii that is collecting dust or your wii that is collecting dust? =O
Jokes aside, I'm fairly impressed but not enough to believe it all 100% until it happens (remember how awesome the game lineup for the wii was?). If it does happen I'm going to be on-board with the 360 cuz I like fun gimmicks like this. I am saving up for either 360 or PS3 but if this thing proves to be as awesome as in the demos, then I'm stoked.
Now seriously, I need to dust off my wii and use it once and a while.
Doesn't really interest me but its good to see that Microsoft did not sleep on their laurels! Way 2 go Microsoft 30 million Xbox sold.
*slow applause for a company getting its ass kicked in the market not "resting on its laurels"
That would be the Windows team's job.
Ballmer: "Ninten...who? What? Never heard of them..."
The tragic end for the Wii is coming around the corner.
You mean that because of this new thing, Nintendo will all of a sudden stop making fun games?
Or that a new piece of hardware all of a sudden means that Microsoft knows how to make fun games?
Success is in the software.
Actually, it might force Nintendo to do something with their system. They've been resting on their laurels since Day 1.
XBox has better graphic, better control (body sensor), movie services (1080p), many more developers working for them.
why cant i be in that family?????
I'm personally glad my father isn't a total dork.
Unless you don't have a father. Then I'm just being an asshole.
Don't be silly, everyone has a father. Some better than others.
Just buy a Natal and your family will play games with you and you will all be happy because you will have so much fun together and there will be sunshine lolipops and rainbows everywhere.
Because you wouldn't want to bone your mum. She's hot.
I WAS in that family. Muhahahah. Skateboarding was fun:)
That's really cool, coming from an avid gamer myself, though, i wonder what the range on the camera is.
I'm sure I could jump around and yell at the TV like "Ian"... I'd feel like such an idiot.
I'm Ian. I felt excellent.
I own a 360 and all but when I see this, I say: "Really? Too good to be true?".
I mean, I doubt it works 100% like the video, not everyone in earth acts the same way, and if the Wii-Mote had accidents... now I can start hearing about Natal Accidents too...
Natal Accidents Confessions:
" Man I can't believe I was playing Ninja Gaiden 2 on Natal and I kicked My Grandma. "
" Natal is awesome man, though mom grounded me and I can't play it. Why? I broke the ceiling fan thinking I was spiderman. "
Well, I would assume that some sort of training will take place to ensure the best results.
I used Dragon Naturally Speaking, and it was only ok until I did the calibrations that made it near perfect.
Better than sitting on a sofa waggling a remote :D
I don't know about that, personally I find it pretty fun waggling my remote ;)
This is simply awesome. I really want an Xbox 360 now. Hopefully developers will do some interesting things with this. This couldn't potentially create a lot of exclusives for the 360.
Gaming's answer to the concept car.....
It may come out some day, but most likely it won't be as cool.
I'm a apple/sony fanboy but this is simply way to cool, props to ms.
too cool to be true
While in real world, things take a turn for the pathetic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmY0JNRIPOU
This looks pretty much like a MS version EyeToy, and my bets are it's going to meet the same fate.
Uh, what exactly was that even about?
Sweet Scrooge McDuck!
If this thing works like that, I'm upgrading my Gamecube to a 360!
don't you mean your gamecubes and their duct tape?
hahaha...how many pushups can chuck norris do?
The Chuck Norris question is a trick question. Chuck Norris can do an unlimited number of push ups but he does them one handed using his pinkie with 2 tons on his back.
No, Chuck Norris doesn't do any pushups, he doesn't need to.
microsoft can't count that high
Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups. He pushes the world down.
Chuck Norris doesnt push UP, he pushes the earth DOWN
Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups. Chuck Norris lies down and the Earth pushes up from him. :D
hmm. not bad, not bad at all
i kinda wish i had a 360, but hopefully sony comes out with something similar
OR EVEN BETTER!
They did ages ago EyeToy. MS just dusted off the idea n added voice commands. Wonder if it'll sell any better.
Eyetoy = 2D shadow recognizing borders of the body
Natal = 3D field of sensory perception that recognizes movement and position
Sssssssssssslight difference.