Mokong Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 http://www.destructoid.com/wii-hacker-johnny-lee-is-working-on-project-natal-134511.phtml The title says it all. Well damn, I'm shocked Nintendo never hired him after his Headtracking Wii thing, missed opportunity indeed
Dyson Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 or play R6:v3 stabbing an imaginary needle into shorty's eyeball. *is annoyed* That sounds AWESOME. *is pumped*
Strange Cookie Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Technically, this is mighty impressive... but at the moment I see this becoming nothing more than an Eyetoy-device. I'm extremely sceptical about some of the videos shown, though. At one point, someone walks in front of the television, and the character on-screen follows the passer-by with his head... which doesn't make sense on a 2D-surface. If a person tilts his head to the left on a 2D-plane, that person never looks directly at anybody, a anywhere near the tele. The only way someone can stare at you from a TV-screen, is when he's looking straight at the TV-screen. It's the poster-effect: when someone looks straight at the lens, it's like that person is watching you wherever you go. In short: rules of perspective dictate the character shouldn't be turning his head at all. Otherwise he's not looking at the passer-by.
flameboy Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I think this is impressive but a lot more of Natal and Mylo in specific is software based and I'm sure it can be done by other people with a camera. I mean why were people so impressed that you could see your reflection in the water...eyetoy has been doing that kinda thing for ages. Plus eyepet which was shown off GDC last year (I think?) was showing off picture recognition a while back... Also they said his understanding of language is in a way an illusion and that he doesn't understand it, its based on the Windows 7 voice recognition apparently. This tech isn't really related to Natal though anybody with a mic could work on such material, I guess putting it together in one package could be an inspired move. I think the promo reel they showed impressed people but for me the stuff they actually showed was less impressive...Whereas Sony showed tech demos that perhaps weren't as impressive but a clearer indicator of where they are really at. I think its clear both MS and Sony are taking very different approaches. Sony clearly think for now there isn't a future in purely gesture based controls and think there needs to more than "just" the motion controls of the Wii but with integration of a motion device as well as a camera.
Daft Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I think Microsoft and Sony are approaching the whole thing from two different directions and I really think (and hope, for the games' sake) they will reach the same conclusion; a combination of camera technology and control pads.
Zechs Merquise Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 This just in, according to fanboys, motion sensing suddenly turned hardcore. Shino, you are the man! All the knobheads who have hated on the Wii and the Wii Remote are now queuing up to support Microsoft's and Sony's motion sensing control schemes.
Emerald Emblem Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 It looks pretty cool, but afraid with the size of my room this would be a wasted investment.
flameboy Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Shino, you are the man! All the knobheads who have hated on the Wii and the Wii Remote are now queuing up to support Microsoft's and Sony's motion sensing control schemes. God talk about a sweeping offensive statement...It's no different to all the Nintendo fans who said yeah we don't need graphics we've got motion controls, that stance will soon change once Wii HD hits (and it will at some point) Sony have had motion controls in their console (yes they jumped on the bandwagon) since day one and whilst there has been plenty of dodgy implementation (much like the Wii) when its right its right. MS (who I'm no fan of) are clearly taking a different approach with its lack of controller and I think thats whats got their fans excited.
spirited away Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Eurogamer's impressions has convinced me that it has the potential to be great. We'll just have to see if it can live up to that. Burnout apparently works great with the Natal.
Emasher Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Most people I've talked to have had the same reactions to this as we all did back at TGS 05 with the Wii Remote. Although, the fact that Johnny Lee is working on it must be a bit worrying to Nintendo I would think.
mr_bogus Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 My favorite part of the Wii remote is the pointer. Technically impressive as it is, i'm a bit disappointed that they got on the "jumping around the room waving your hands in the air like a twat" bandwagon. Ironflame wins the thread
dwarf Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 Shino, you are the man! All the knobheads who have hated on the Wii and the Wii Remote are now queuing up to support Microsoft's and Sony's motion sensing control schemes. Oh god that is desperate. Pretty much everyone was in agreement that the controller was good, I was always saying it would be great if the PS3 could use the Wii remote and it looks like there's something like it now. Sad one-upmanship, noone 'hates' the Wii, and it's not like Natal is anything like the Wiimote anyway.
Daft Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 This just in, according to fanboys, motion sensing suddenly turned hardcore. This just in, Wii fanboys needing WM+. The "revolutionary" motion sensing you had already not good enough for you?
Ganepark32 Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 ^ you've clearly taken that the wrong way. It's clear it was implied as a joke but it goes to show that the attitude towards motion control has changed since Microsoft and Sony have shown their WIP controls.
Shino Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 This just in, Wii fanboys needing WM+. The "revolutionary" motion sensing you had already not good enough for you? Hmmm... ^ you've clearly taken that the wrong way. It's clear it was implied as a joke but it goes to show that the attitude towards motion control has changed since Microsoft and Sony have shown their WIP controls. What he said.
Daft Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 (edited) ^ you've clearly taken that the wrong way. It's clear it was implied as a joke but it goes to show that the attitude towards motion control has changed since Microsoft and Sony have shown their WIP controls. Hmmm... What he said. I wasn't mean as a response to Shino. Just a response to Zechs. Which is what I really should have quoted, silly me. Edited June 4, 2009 by Daft I can't spell...
McPhee Posted June 4, 2009 Posted June 4, 2009 I don't think attitude towards motion control has changed at all. Personally my problem wasn't the concept, it was the Wii's lame implementation of that concept. I expect Motion+ will have changed that but it's a bit late now, i've lost interest in the Wii.
mr_bogus Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Just had a thought... Waving your arms around playing Cosmic Smash style games - works. Interacting with your pet virtual boy (not the console!) - works. Fighting game - (assuming you're mobile & coordinated enough to do the moves, and have the living room space) works. BUT... FPS - what you gonna do, run on the spot, point your finger and shout "Pow"? Or would you rather hold a remote in your hand, point it at the screen & pull the trigger? Silent Hill style torch game - would you rather grip a remote in your hand, or just wave your empty hand around? Tennis game - would you rather grip a remote in your hand, or just wave your empty hand around? Golf game - would you rather grip a remote in your hands, or just swing your empty arms? Hmm, starting to see a pattern here. So, in some instances, surely not having a controller is actually DETACHING the player from the experience?
Cube Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 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.
Dan_Dare Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 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! Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 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 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 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 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 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 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 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 Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 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.
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