Natal Motion Control/Recognition (360)

[Dan_Dare]

I think a few games could mix this with normal controls pretty well. Somebody already mentioned ducking and weaving on an fps- if you control most of the game with your pad then map a few functions to natal it could be quite good.

[Pantsu Man!]

In the case of Tennis and Golf, the technology would probably work just as well if you gripped something. You could play tennis with a dildo.

I would like to see a video of this.

If this has that sort of recognition, where you can use objects instead of just air, then most people might already have controllers for most games.

An FPS fanatic might already have a small collection of BB guns. Imagine the device knowing what type of gun it is in your hand and then registering that in the game. So in effect you have a toy gun in your hand, which on screen shoots like the real thing, all this whilst playing COD12.

If you have room to manouvre you could possible use a real tennis racket to play tennis. If you've got a real tennis racket you should be outside playing with it anyway, but it's an idea.

Not sure if it was mentioned but it popped in my head.

[McPhee]

I would like to see a video of this.

If this has that sort of recognition, where you can use objects instead of just air, then most people might already have controllers for most games.

An FPS fanatic might already have a small collection of BB guns. Imagine the device knowing what type of gun it is in your hand and then registering that in the game. So in effect you have a toy gun in your hand, which on screen shoots like the real thing, all this whilst playing COD12.

If you have room to manouvre you could possible use a real tennis racket to play tennis. If you've got a real tennis racket you should be outside playing with it anyway, but it's an idea.

Not sure if it was mentioned but it popped in my head.

 

I'm thinking it won't recognise what the object is, but it would recognise what your hand is and that it's holding something (they already demo'd the ability to tell the difference between an open and closed hand). You could play Natal Golf with a Katana if you felt like it. Might loose a toe or two though

[mr_bogus]

An FPS fanatic might already have a small collection of BB guns. Imagine the device knowing what type of gun it is in your hand and then registering that in the game. So in effect you have a toy gun in your hand, which on screen shoots like the real thing, all this whilst playing COD12.

 

After the presentation on Monday, it'd definitely be technically possible... depends if the developer takes the time to add recognition of certain types of objects.

 

Microsoft would obviously supply the libraries to recognise body parts, gestures etc, but how much work would it be for the developers to add recognition of other items to that?

[dwarf]

Just had a thought, if you were playing an PFS game, you could just use the normal controller to shoot and move etc, but you could use it in conjunction with Natal to grab and throw objects and melee etc. No?

[Jamba]

The more I think about this the more I want it. Sony's controller seems like such a me too device and gives me no real impetus to get it as nothing new is going to come out of it. But this could really push boundaries....

 

Especially with Patcher from Webush Morgan claiming that it's likely to cost $50-$100. That's fracking awesome.

[Aimless]

Emphasis on "could". These things always conjure up exciting possibilities, but personally I don't think Microsoft have demonstrated anything that extends beyond the 'party game' bracket. The technology is cool, sure, but this is a companion to the traditional controller at best.

 

I'm certainly not saying the tech is worthless — personally I'm interested in the possibilities of multi-touch style games — but at the moment there are far too many questions surrounding even the capabilities of the device, let alone its viability as a games playing device. Hopefully Microsoft will show off a Wii Sports/Play style compilation that really shows off what the thing is capable of.

[Jamba]

Oh yeah sure, my point was more that this could lead to more of an expansion compared to the PS3 motion controller which is likely to simply make more games like the Wii ones.

 

As you said, time will tell. I'd love to play a point and click adventure with this. I can also see it having games where they don't really tell you how to do stuff, you just have to figure it out.

[McPhee]

Imagine playing Gears of War 3 and holding B to rev up the chain saw. The camera pans in close, tunneling your vision and then you have complete control over the movements of the chainsaw (until you let go of B). They could even allow you to side-step and dodge, bringing in some realy good chainsaw duels.

 

This is the sort of thing i want to see and i do believe it should be possible.

[Jamba]

Imagine playing Gears of War 3 and holding B to rev up the chain saw. The camera pans in close, tunneling your vision and then you have complete control over the movements of the chainsaw (until you let go of B). They could even allow you to side-step and dodge, bringing in some realy good chainsaw duels.

 

This is the sort of thing i want to see and i do believe it should be possible.

 

But to me these are the last type of game that should be using it. Gears is fine how it is and I don't think that transposing it onto Natal entirely would work at all.

 

But a possibility that most people are missing is that the voice recognition could be used in conjunction with a lot of classic style games to give commands, change weapon type or even interact with a computer. Even asking an elevator to take me to a certain floor by voice would make me shiver.

[Mundi]

One thing I though about was that you doing a button sequence (Let´s say it´s to unlock a door) on the controller in a third person game and every now and then you have to swat away thing that are flying towards you to keep them away from distracting you.

 

Only problem is punching people next to you.

[Will]

Haven't games used voice commands for a while now though? I can see the attraction of Natal but I don't really see what its going to do for games other than being an advanced EyeToy.

[McPhee]

But to me these are the last type of game that should be using it. Gears is fine how it is and I don't think that transposing it onto Natal entirely would work at all.

 

But a possibility that most people are missing is that the voice recognition could be used in conjunction with a lot of classic style games to give commands, change weapon type or even interact with a computer. Even asking an elevator to take me to a certain floor by voice would make me shiver.

 

I didn't say the controls in Gears should be moved entirely to Natal. If it's sat there under the TV though then why not use it in situations where it'd do something fun?

 

I'd like my games to stay on the controller but at the same time the odd bit of motion capture could be really cool.

[Jamba]

Haven't games used voice commands for a while now though? I can see the attraction of Natal but I don't really see what its going to do for games other than being an advanced EyeToy.

 

But what's wrong with that?

 

Plenty of people enjoyed the EyeToy on the PS2 but the one on the PS3 has been almost abandoned. MS are looking at using this to interact with the 360 across the board, front end and all, just to make it more accessible to non-gamers.

 

And by advanced EyeToy, you me one with facial recognition, body tracking and voice recognition. That's some pretty heavy software just from the get go.

[Will]

Oh there's nothing wrong with it at all. Like many others I loved the original EyeToy games. I just don't see what this is going to do above and beyond that to live up to the hype. For all it's great efforts EyeToy was generally something used a few times as a novelty and then put away never to come out again. I can see this going the same way unfortunately.

 

It's a bold move for Microsoft to put the gamer right in there as the control method, I just don't see that the realworld advantages of it are as big as people might think. I certainly wouldn't want to play a traditional game using this and I'd rather use a remote to play my movies.

 

Sometimes what's already established doesn't need to be improved upon.

[Aimless]

For all it's great efforts EyeToy was generally something used a few times as a novelty and then put away never to come out again. I can see this going the same way unfortunately.

Microsoft's advantage here is that it's looking to integrate the device into the front end of the machine, thus encouraging everyday use. You plugged in the EyeToy to play EyeToy games, and then you put it away; Natal is more like the Wii's sensor bar.

 

I'm fairly optimistic about the possibilities of software designed around Natal — bring on the adventure games! — but for 'regular' titles it's almost irrelevant. Not that that's a bad thing, per se, I just feel people are getting a bit too caught up in some of the ideas being thrown around to actually wonder if they're, you know, actually any good. No one likes forced motion controls whether they be on the Wii or using the SIXAXIS, and no ones going to like them with Natal. It's about surpassing the functionality of a controller, not supplanting.

[Shino]

I'd like this for head tracking in FPS, way more practical to look around.

[Aimless]

I'd like this for head tracking in FPS, way more practical to look around.

Apart from it can't be one-to-one otherwise you'd end up not looking at the screen. And you'd have to keep your head perfectly still to keep the view steady. And if you got up to have a drink you might end up spinning in circles when you unpause due to your head being in the wrong position.

[dwarf]

Yeah I would've liked to de-construct that idea because it is possibly the worst I've heard yet.

[Dante]

Natal struggles to see black people?

[Shino]

Natal struggles to see black people?

 

Hahahaha!!

[Daft]

Natal struggles to see black people?

 

That's pretty funny. Must have been pretty awkward when they found that out.

[Gizmo]

Hahaha. All the nerdy white/asian guys that work for MS never thought about that one!

 

Natal to be bundled with white gloves?

 

[dwarf]

Can that actually be fixed easily or is it a serious flaw that will mean it needs to be re-developed ? Pretty funny!

[Cube]

Can that actually be fixed easily or is it a serious flaw that will mean it needs to be re-developed ? Pretty funny!

 

I would be surprised if they didn't know about it months ago and that it's something they can't sort out.