dwarf Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Yeah but were they too afraid to tell the great N'Gai before it happened or did they just not know?
Cube Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Yeah but were they too afraid to tell the great N'Gai before it happened or did they just not know? I don't really know. Now I've read an article it could also be that it may have to calibrate it slightly for different players - it does sound as if Tsunoda stood up and N'Gai took over straight away, meaning that the current settings were best suited for the person who set it up. There's really too many possible reasons to make a reasonable choice.
Tellyn Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 "Natal struggles to see black people" Possibly Dante's best headline yet.
McPhee Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 Can you imagine the Daily Mail headline? 'Microsoft develop Neo-Nazi camera, say it indicates the future!' 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. So you simply scale it at something like 1:2. The getting up to get a drink thing wouldn't be an issue presuming you don't teleport between the kitchen and your Xbox. Natal would see you walk away. It would also see you walk back. It wouldn't be that hard to adjust the positioning accordingly. Keeping your head perfectly still? It's not an issue in TrackIR so i really can't see how it would be an issue here. Presumably they'd just set the sensitivity so that the software doesn't translate small head movements in to on-screen movements. You lot need an imagination and to stop wanting this to fail. It's like every single time there's an idea there's some lame-assed (and usually wrong) reason why it wouldn't work.
Dante Posted September 7, 2009 Posted September 7, 2009 New information: Demos over Kudo switched his focus to the technology that makes Natal tick. The Natal sensor combines an RGB camera, infra-red depth sensor, multi array microphone and custom processor, making it possible to not only track the movement of up to four people, but also facial recognition and voice control. The RGB video camera delivers your standard image (that you get with the current Xbox LIVE Vision camera) and enables functionality including facial recognition - something which could be used to sign into Xbox LIVE. Presumably this will also supply video for video chat and other video and photo functionality. It's the depth sensor, however, that elevates Natal to something special - an infra-red projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor (a technology to capture images in digital form) allows Natal to see the room in 3D. What's more it can do this under any lighting conditions, meaning the days of requiring an unnaturally well-lit room in order to play using a camera should be a thing of the past. Add to this a multiarray microphone which Microsoft says will be able to locate voices around the room and extract ambient noise. This will bring voice control to Xbox 360 and enable users to chat on Xbox LIVE without the need to wear a headset. And all this is held together with a custom processor meaning the fancy motion tracking should not eat into the Xbox 360's horsepower - something demonstrated by the fact Burnout Paradise, a game not developed for Natal, is running with no perceivable negative impact on performance. Richochet over, Kudo moved onto a racing demo which uses a modified version of EA's Burnout Paradise. There's no controller or racing wheel in sight. Steering the car is a case of putting your arms forward as if holding a steering wheel, while a step forward (as if putting your foot on the gas) accelerates and the same foot back brakes. It seemed to work, but having missed out on the Richochet demo, I had to try it for myself. I shot up and stepped into the driving seat. My hands grasped around an imaginary wheel, I put my right foot forward and the car screeched away. Not actually holding anything in my hands the controls felt slightly unnatural, but amazingly lag was negligible (Microsoft claims a 66ms delay, which is the same as that introduced by a standard controller) and I was able to scream around Paradise City with no problems. Kudo even tried to make me crash by standing beside to me and pretending to drive - somehow Natal knew that it was my actions and not his that it had to monitor. It's all well and good to have this impressive tech, but what of the games. We've seen how a driving game could work, but how would something like a first-person shooter shape up using Natal? Kudo, obviously well rehearsed on the subject of the FPS, explained how you might one day be shooting down aliens using nothing but your body. For starters you'd position your arms and hands as if holding a gun and you'd aim by pointing the imaginary gun. To move forward you move the gun towards the screen, bring it back to move back. Likewise, moving the gun to either side would strafe. Jump by jumping, knife an enemy by making a slashing motion, throw a grenade by... well, you've got the idea. And what about firing your gun? Use the trigger finger, of course. It's too early to know if this will work when put into practice, but the possibility is certainly there. Natal needs to have a controller to hold.
Choze Posted September 7, 2009 Posted September 7, 2009 New information: Natal needs to have a controller to hold. Abit early so far. Once we see games we'll have a better idea. Its pretty much aimed at Casuals first going by what we have seen and the studios making dedicated games for it. The lack of controller is their claim to uniqueness so dont expect that to change.
mr_bogus Posted September 8, 2009 Posted September 8, 2009 It'll be great for casual games & sports/fitness titles, provided the players have a big enough living room. So long as it doesn't try take over from all genres & controllers, because that's when it'll fail. People don't want to thrust their gun forward to walk, it's unnatural. And moving your head to look around sounds nice on paper, but not when you're still trying to look at the screen in front of you. And i get a feeling that, given the choice of holding a plastic steering wheel in your hand, or gripping the air, majority would choose to hold the wheel.
Cube Posted September 8, 2009 Posted September 8, 2009 And i get a feeling that, given the choice of holding a plastic steering wheel in your hand, or gripping the air, majority would choose to hold the wheel. One thing with Natal is if you do want to hold something, you can. It can be a plastic wheel. A plate would probably work, too.
jayseven Posted September 8, 2009 Posted September 8, 2009 Will the facial recognition work with TWINS!?!!?
Ganepark32 Posted September 8, 2009 Posted September 8, 2009 ^ It's a tough one that. Personally, I can't tell them apart and perhaps Natal will have the same difficulty :p I think that it should be able to tell the difference. It'll most likely go off of who is more central to the camera or something like that or whoever the camera sees first.
Ashley Posted September 8, 2009 Posted September 8, 2009 Will the facial recognition work with TWINS!?!!? More importantly, will it blast out Daphne and Celeste's 'UGLY' when jayseven uses it!?!?!!?
Dante Posted November 11, 2009 Posted November 11, 2009 MCV: Natal Launch Details Leaked MCV can this week reveal first details regarding the launch of Microsoft's Project Natal. Our sources say the innovative controller-free 360 camera will be released worldwide in November 2010. This and other details have emerged following a behind-closed-doors Microsoft tour of UK publishers and studios – the format-holder has been demoing the tech and detailing its 2010 plans in order to spur more development support. Microsoft is planning to manufacture 5m units for day one release, with a mix of console and camera plus solus SKUs expected. The device should cost under £50 when sold solo. One publishing source says Microsoft is “trying to get as close as possible to ‘impulse buy’”. Another even says the camera could even retail for just £30. 14 games are being readied for launch.
McPhee Posted November 12, 2009 Posted November 12, 2009 Sounds more like what I was expecting. The estimates of £100+ earlier in the year were ridiculous, it'd be a waste of Microsoft's time and money to try launching such a device at that price point. Well, I guess that means that another 6 months down the line we'll start seeing some hands-on reports and hopefully some idea as to whether or not it's any good.
Cube Posted November 12, 2009 Posted November 12, 2009 Sounds more like what I was expecting. The estimates of £100+ earlier in the year were ridiculous, it'd be a waste of Microsoft's time and money to try launching such a device at that price point. That price point would do well for Arcade console + Natal.
Daft Posted November 12, 2009 Posted November 12, 2009 My 360 is pretty much in purgatory with the crappy HDD options. I wish they'd sort that out. God knows I already paid £60 for the stupid wireless.
flameboy Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 (edited) Time.com has put forward Project Natal as one of The 50 Best Inventions of 2009. The online arm of the famous US magazine said traditional controllers have stood as a "barrier between gamers and total Tron-like immersion" since the invention of Pong. "This year Microsoft demonstrated a technology codenamed Project Natal that enables players to control games using only body movements and voice commands, no controller required - the gamer's body becomes the controller. "Project Natal uses several cameras, plus a highly specialized microphone and a lot of fancy software, to track the gamer's body and interpret his or her voice. You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand. It's that simple. And that cool," stated the post. Natal shared the Time-light with such inventions as The Eyeborg, The Newest Cloud, The Edible Racing Car, Wooden Bones and Vertical Farming, to name a few. The full list can be found on the Time website. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/time-hails-natal-as-bright-spark-of-2009 Well I'm hailing this as bullshit...Its yes exciting technology but its still largely unproven and not even out yet. I guess an invention doesn't need to be a final to market product and indeed many of the inventions on such lists are not even set to have releases to the public... EDIT: Even more bizzarely it came above teleportation. Edited November 13, 2009 by flameboy
Guest Captain Falcon Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/time-hails-natal-as-bright-spark-of-2009 Well I'm hailing this as bullshit...Its yes exciting technology but its still largely unproven and not even out yet. I guess an invention doesn't need to be a final to market product and indeed many of the inventions on such lists are not even set to have releases to the public... EDIT: Even more bizzarely it came above teleportation. It's number 5 on Time's list but it's only ranked 29 by the viewers of the site. If there have only been four better inventions than Natal this year then it's been a poor twelve months for the science and technology sectors.
flameboy Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 It's number 5 on Time's list but it's only ranked 29 by the viewers of the site. If there have only been four better inventions than Natal this year then it's been a poor twelve months for the science and technology sectors. http://wp.me/prELS-50
Ashley Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Time is published by Time Warner who do business with and have partnerships with Microsoft. Just saying I'm curious about the edible racing car.
flameboy Posted November 13, 2009 Posted November 13, 2009 Time is published by Time Warner who do business with and have partnerships with Microsoft. Just saying I'm curious about the edible racing car. It sounds better than it actually is; If it's impossible for a race car to be "good" for the environment, maybe it can at least be a little friendlier. Meet the WorldFirst F3 project, a Formula 3 race car developed at England's University of Warwick: it has carrot fibers in its steering wheel, potato starch in its side mirrors and cashew-nut shells in its brake pads. The whole thing runs on a biodiesel mix of chocolate and vegetable oil.In a small effort to make the car even greener than it already is, the designers coated the radiator in a substance that converts ozone emissions into oxygen Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933986,00.html#ixzz0WmLVcOLG
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