200°

Microsoft wants more realistic characters in games

OXM UK: A Microsoft job posting suggests that the company is focusing on creating more realistic game characters in its first-party games.

The job ad is for a Technical Art Director at Microsoft's UK office, which means it'll be working at least in part with Lionhead - creators of E3 show-stopper Milo.

qface645463d ago

i don't know about the rest of you
but there have been so many articles that have a picture of peter molyneux lately anyone else getting a bit annoyed at that?

Jonty5463d ago

You can't stop the Molynator.

qface645463d ago

i actually just pictured terminator 2 with molyneux .__.

Hellsvacancy5463d ago

Take a look at Heavy Rain baby (im all over it)

CrazyOrange5463d ago

but you wasn't annoyed by killzone 2 article before its release 6billion articles/sec

MisterNiwa5463d ago

Marcus Fenix and Master Chief.

jwatt5463d ago

Yea I think Sony has done a great job with games with realistic characters like Snake, Nathan Drake, Nathan Hale, Cole, Nariko. Yea some of them had great abilities but they all seem like your average person.

Darkeyes5463d ago

Kratos, Nathan Drake and all Heavy Rain characters say hi to M$.

Foxgod5463d ago

Kratos = realistic ?

*frowns forehead*

Hes a white negro that kills gods, for gods sake.

CrazyOrange5463d ago

snake isnt sony character.

and i loved nathan drake

Foxgod5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

True, snake was around before sony even had a gaming platform.
Sony did produce msx's, but that was just a collaboration they had with Philips and MS, who where the producers of the hardware/OS

sniper-squeak5463d ago

..characters in games like The Last Guardian?

Making gaming more realistic.

Foxgod5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

You people are confusing looking realistic with acting realistic.

It doesn't surprise me that people on n4g actually misinterpreted someones vision tho.
It would actually shock me if you people understood something for once.

The good man here isnt talking about Gfx, hes talking Artificial intelligence.

@below
Hes working on Natal, if you seen the demo youl know its more about AI then Gfx.

Gorgon5463d ago

"The good man here isnt talking about Gfx, hes talking Artificial intelligence"

What does an Art Director who's job will include "manipulation of motion capture data, facial animation creation/capture and rigging being specific interest areas" has to do with AI? Obviously the objective is creating more believable looking characters and animation to go along with AI, not AI per si.

ArmrdChaos5463d ago

Natal is not just about control...it's about connecting a game to a real world environment. Imagine with Natal's face recognition you will be able to say your name at the beginning of a FPS session and have the characters speak to you by name and look directly at you as they speak to you, thus further immersing you in the story. Even multiple people playing co-op on the same system could be singled out distinctly by the characters and given orders or asked what they want to do. For that matter you could actually give gestures to AI groups to have them silently take action. There is a lot of different ways to employ this besides control. That is what Molyneux is refering to.

KKanjiAnkh5463d ago

Then by all means Mr Molyneux go make movies, please.

This is the same guy who said Too Human was outstanding, then retracted his statement after the review, having not played the game.

What majority of games/genres will spend the amount of time/effort to fully give the player that well fed experience?

I was tired of this in the 90's, when it was called Virtual Reality, check the trends.

Most importantly who all will be working on/with this project, I know time will reveal but in no way will this replace my controller.

Christopher5463d ago

AI is in regards to how they interact with the world. Physics is what makes them look more realistic.

Problem? The 360 will need to have software developed for it that will circumvent the processing and bottleneck issues. The VRAM of the 360 is big enough to handle larger textures, but the SPEs of the PS3 allow it to process a lot more data at once, which is primary for AI, Physics, and particle effects.

AAACE55463d ago

Heavy Rain is beautiful and is one of the most realist looking games, but you can still look at it and see that they are videogame characters with lifeless eyes, and movie quality acting.

I think what Molyneux wants is for you to feel like you are interacting with a real person.

The human eye is an incredible thing. Even the eye of an animal is extremely hard to recreate. You can tell the difference when something has life in it and when something doesn't.

Well, i'll keep it short... I think thats what he means!

ChozenWoan5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

" 1.1 -
You can't stop the Molynator. "

You say Molynator
I say Molyster
but still the same.

It's funny the way he makes it sound like no one else has been working on this. Game studios have been getting better and better every gen, but the tech is still a long way off... even for computer games.

MIT and several other universaties and institutes (Sony included) have been working on making a single AI that can fully engage a person. Unless he is willing to leave game making and focus on this one goal, He is just blowing hot air. Until you can make one "believable" AI, it's impossible to try and make a game filled with them.

Milo only worked for a sec due to his input into the experience... well his and the "man behind the curtain". If he wasn't there using his Sith Lord "jedi mind trick" powers during Milo demos, I'm sure no one would have believed it for a sec. Until he can create one AI that can stand on it's own interactivity, there is no need to shine any more light on his behind. He's not the first dev to push the limits, wont be the last.

Now back to some real gaming new plz!

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dogmeat eater5463d ago

Would start to make good games again. His newer games are kind of mediocre.

Downtown boogey5463d ago

Haven't played his games but they've been received well as far as I know.

Qdog5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

While under Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios has done an excellent job of making games... though they arent as adept at keeping promises. To me that says that they are ambitious and perhaps ahead or their creative order. Lionhead brought us the Black and White games first, then the Fable games, both were very ambitious titles, and I think the biggest problem, was that the hardware was not yet powerful enough to fulfill Lionhead's obligations, so it left the games under-recieved and over promised. What Mr. Molyneux is doing with Milo, I'm pretty sure he wanted to do half a decade ago, when he made such grand promises in regards to Fable.

Serg5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

Peter Molyneux is a visionaire, not a PR guy, he should stop talking about his games and people would see the games for what they are, instead he describes them as gods gift and people get disappointed because they were expecting something better.

Hardware not beeing enough is certainly not true for Fable. We have seen a fully open world game and how well it works through the game Gothic. Fables world consists of tiny little pieces each one a 10th the size of a decent FPS games level. Still no open world in Fable 2. Also the scripted events in 1 were killing me. And don't even get me started on the unbalanced monsters, if one of the Golems has managed to knock your character off his feet, kiss you a s s goodbye as you will not be able to stand up again. Overall it was fun but certainly not groundbreaking.

Freak of Nature5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

Qdog hits it on the head of the nail....Bubbles to you...

As Qdog mentions "that the hardware was not yet powerful enough to fulfill Lionhead's obligations, so it left the games under-recieved and over promised.".......... This is the problem,the vision is there,but the systems ceiling is still too low to get to where the vision/ideas are.

The systems have come along well enough,but not there yet power wise.They still leave room for improvement.Devs such as myself go through this everyday.Thats why I like working on cinematics still,where I can give it all my attention,high details and no short-cuts,or compromising my work.

Sometimes working on in game assets for talented high end artists is like asking Monet to draw with crayons instead of oil...

About 15 to 20% of industry friends I have made through my 20 years in the industry are now working on the next games for the next systems,besides the movie industry of course...

The next round of systems cannot come fast enough for high rez artists and designers such as myself.

Hyper realism is boring,we get that in our real lives everyday.

Give me the World of "caricatures/toons,or even realistic toon/caricatures over hyper boring real people.... Mario's,Ratchet's,Banjo's,Sack boys,Oddworld inhabitant creations anyday.More stylish,quirky,creative,fun.

Let me tell you when a studio asks me if I want to create a real life horse or space marine, or a troll/dwarf,which one do you think I want to do? Or a World/set piece from the real World or a fantasy creation like halloween town from Nightmare before Christmas,which do you think most people want to do,or see?

Realism has it's place,a major place,but I still like fantasy,style and creative art....

dogmeat eater5463d ago

But he always makes big promises that never turn out to be real. Like the fable games with there choices.

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Perkel5463d ago

btw awasome idea why soo late ?

Midgard2285463d ago

guess peter is gonna have to stop making characters that fart and burp for a minute straight lol.

realistic wud be cool but i still luv my fantasy

Halo3 MLG Pro5463d ago

Seems like they're starting to get some new projects working with Natal. The future is really looking good for the 360. I expect insane next gen AI in the near future for us 360 owners.

red2tango5463d ago

Sorry, but don't get caught up in the hype. N4G also has an article up that the demonstration was possibly fake.

beans5463d ago (Edited 5463d ago )

This could become a reality for 360 owners, but I'm thinking this is stuff we will see implemented well in the future. The next xbox will take advantage of it but really it's not about 360 owners. It's really about gamers and grabbing the casual market along with keeping the hardcore extremely satisfied. Just like in fight night did where you could choose to use the sticks I'm sure MS will do natal or a controller.

"Sorry, but don't get caught up in the hype. N4G also has an article up that the demonstration was possibly fake."

It's not about getting caught up in the hype, but more about hoping Natal lives up to it's promise. There's nothing wrong with being a skeptic either until you try it or at least see the thing in action. What's wrong is when you deliberately want it to fail due to ignorance and blind fanboyism. Anybody saying it's fake is nothing more than your typical negative fanboy and shouldn't be taken seriously. Yeah don't get caught up in the hype, but at the same time shut up and let's see or give it a chance.

Show all comments (52)
500°

Kinect Technical Specifications & Xbox 360 Requirements Revealed

The most notable reveal would perhaps by the requirements of the Xbox 360 console itself. While Microsoft has insisted since the original unveiling of Kinect at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2009, then known as Project NATAL, that the device would be compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles, the revelation of a dedicated port included on the newly redesigned Xbox 360 model has sparked rumours of incompatibility, which were quickly debunked.

Read Full Story >>
electronictheatre.co.uk
5075d ago Replies(12)
lzim5075d ago

odd, i was led to believe it lacked an internal processor and so also needed a core to itself, if not 1-2 processing threads.

Wikkid6665075d ago

The article says nothing about whether the processor is internal or it uses the 360s.

darthv725075d ago

Also, the notion of a dedicated port really lends nothing to the idea of older units being incompatible. I believe the kinect port is a custom usb port (think the original xbox controller ports) but one that will feed power and data.

Older models will require a splitter that will run off a single usb port (prob the back one) that will work for the data but not the power. That is why they keep saying it will have an external power for those systems.

As for the processor, combo of both makes sense. Using 360 cpu/gpu power to help calculate the finished product on screen along with the cpu in the kinect.

Remember people...this is not a cheap usb web cam (like the original live vision).

Inside_out5075d ago (Edited 5075d ago )

They say they are using 10-15% of one 360 P4 cores. I know that the Kinect we see today is a watered down version of the patented tech they bought and own. Maybe one day the " real " tech will be cost effective. It still is very impressive tech even without a super computer running it.

wicked5075d ago

No, the previous artical said they removed a processor, but I would guess that it had more than 1 to start with. So it will have some form of processor still within it. Arm9 or Cortex M3, all dirt cheap now but powerful.

IdleLeeSiuLung5075d ago

Does it matter? They showed Forza Kinect that looked amazing working with Kinect real time!

callahan095075d ago

Are you just talking about how the graphics are able to look amazing while working with Kinect? If that's what you're talking about, ok. The game itself, though, well... I think I'll stick with the real Forza, with an Xbox 360 control pad. The limited-control Kinect Forza they showed doesn't look like it's worth any attention, in my opinion. Why would anyone want to control a car like that, with hands held out and holding onto nothing, with no control over acceleration or braking? Just seems totally pointless to me.

CrawFail5075d ago

lol real time? I don't quite think it was real time.

Bigpappy5075d ago

You guy know that the motion tech is from prime sense right? Please go to their web site primesense.com,and have a look at what they say the tech can do. It can read fingers well enough to type with each finger and can be used while sitting. No one ever said it has to scan the entire body to work. What we have seen from kinect so far is not all it is capable of.

Reading these specs and trying to compare them to PSeye is pointless, because they are different types of cameras and provide completely differnt types of info to the consoles (Kinect is a 3D camera and provides 3D images. PSeye is a 2D camera and provides 2D images). Per Primsense, the camera is capable of providing video at 60fps, but the 3D is 30fps. The specs for 2 players active is for full body scans. There are no specs given for people sitting and just using their hands.

This tech is obviously a work in progress and has yet to be fleshed out. I suggest all you N4G Kinect experts, research before you post you doom and gloom so you atleast have solid facts for you skepticism. You can also relax and see what M$ does with the tech insteat of pretending to know more that the people developing the tech.

IdleLeeSiuLung5074d ago

The game was available for people to try on the show floor at E3 so yes it was real time. Wetter you like it for Forza or not wasn't my point.

That is up to the developer to figure out.

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Apolloeye5075d ago

So pretty much the same spec as the PS Eye, although I thought the eye went up to 120 Hertz...

Theonik5075d ago

The eye goes to 60Hz i think. Regardless the eye should be capable to do any Kinect shown so far with less lag. (they revolve on a 2D axis and only use the depth tracking to separate players.) I am really disappointed by the tech and how it is utilised thus far.

shoddy5075d ago

More or less powerful we need to see the product.
So far it seem the pseye can do anything kinect can do.
2d 3d I not yet see the advantage.

IHateYouFanboys5075d ago

no, the PSEye cannot do 3D tracking. Kinect can.

the PSEye does 2D motion recognition, Kinect does 3D motion tracking. they are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT things.

Sheikh Yerbouti5075d ago

Going from alkaline to lithium was a significant step for batteries, but at the end of the day it is just a battery. PSEye and Kinect are kind of the same way. At the end of the day it is a game camera - with camera games.

IHateYouFanboys5075d ago

@Sheikh Yerbouti: your example is not really on the same scale of difference as PSEye/Kinect.

a better example using batteries would be the jump from standard batteries to rechargable batteries. theyre both doing the same thing - being batteries - but one of them does things that the other one cannot possibly do, which is be recharged and used again. it does everything the standard battery does, and more.

Kinect does everything the PSEye does (2D motion recognition), and more (3D motion tracking). no amount of software updates can change the hardware in the PSEye, and the hardware is not capable of 3D motion tracking as it lacks infra-red.

IaMs125075d ago

Yes i see your point but how you guys feel about the PS3 can be said the same way.

The PS3 may produce better graphics and be more powerful then the Xbox360, but by the end of they day its still only a console. Also inferior to PC :)

PirosThe4th5074d ago

... PSeye can do 3d as you say... even eyetoy... they used shadows and other stuff to recognize it.
Move is also 3d...

Sheikh Yerbouti5074d ago

Lithium batteries are rechargeable batteries.

Kinect isn't a true 3D camera - it can't render a picture of your butt if you are always facing front. It makes an approximate 3D model using visual cues. The PSEye can do the same, although it will be cruder.

Plus, just because the technology is different, doesn't necessarily mean gameplay will be.

@lams12
Yes, you're right. Similarly Kinect will have some good games, different from PSEye, only if Microsoft makes them. But they haven't made games too different from the PSEye.

Theonik5074d ago

Which is what i meant from the start. None of the games they have shown so far could not have been on the PS Eye.

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Xwow20085075d ago

"Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players"
I think now its official that just 2 ppl can play at the same time.

Godmars2905075d ago

Love that you're quoting something and you're getting disagrees.

Sheikh Yerbouti5075d ago (Edited 5075d ago )

Only room for two anyway when you think about it...
but it can keep track of six people during a game in regards to facial recognition. I think that's impressive.

I would love to have Kinect built into my laptop, so only I can get in even without a password. Why is Microsoft wasting this on the XBox again?

Ilikegames765075d ago

still couldn't play it sitting down. Honestly, some guys are so easily impressed by copy cat technology.

blackpanther255074d ago

i was at the engadget show and kudo showed its 3d tracking and when two people where on screen......one person would be red while the other would be green.......but as soon as a third person steped into the camera view two people automatically turned gray and it couldnt read their movements well.

what i took away from that event is that the kinect is pretty kool but for right now it can only work with two people(they could still be working on it)

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150°

Kinect Re-Appears on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon & Miranda Cosgrove

Xbox Evolved:

"Microsoft is holding no breaks in making sure the general public knows all about Kinect. What cooler spot to also show it than with Jimmy Fallon? "

Read Full Story >>
xboxevolved.e-mpire.com
Coded-Dude5083d ago

although i usually watch fallon. i'll have to catch an internet clip of it later.

ProA0075083d ago

it's nothing you have to see. trust me. zzzzzzz

tokoshix5083d ago

I'm sure it's just the usual marketing stuff, so nothing really interesting. Pretty much learned everything about the device at E3.

Tony P5083d ago

The more I see this targeted at non-gamers, the sadder I get.

I want a Kinect game I can be *proud* to own as a gamer. One day.

sonarus5082d ago

I saw it full of lag. The girls was standing there and her character just started twitching out of control.

Plus you can clearly see the game is full of Lag. Regardless though i don't care...its a piece of tech directed to casual gamers so kudos to MS for this. Unfortunately i don't fall into the casual crowd so this does not interest me one bit.

What does interest me though is a cheaper 360 slim with a hard drive and wifi capablities for 50 or maybe 100 bucks cheaper

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Blaze9295083d ago

was pretty funny. same demos they showed at E3 though. Nothing new. But they sure are marketing it quick.

AridSpider5083d ago

Yeah they did the same thing the day after they announced Natal last year with Good Morning America and Fallon back when it was called Natal. No doubt this thing will sell I suspect. Will it succeed technically though is the question

ProA0075083d ago

well they did say they are launching this like the launch of a new xbox.

AridSpider5083d ago

Well they price has not been 'confirmed' yet by anyone....

AridSpider5083d ago

wow first that girl's co-worker hosts the Kinect event and now she's her playing it. I see the audience Microsoft is definitely going after with Bieber, Cosgrove and McCurdy - teenage pop audiences.

Cueil5082d ago

it's that female crowd that they would love to hook into...

JasonXE5083d ago

She's kind of hot.

/pedobear

Boring show.

SpaceSquirrel5083d ago

Interesting. They did the same last year as well.

Show all comments (31)
200°

Hey Microsoft, Where Are The Core Games For Kinect?

Meodia writes, "So about a year ago when Project Natal was first starting off, many Xbox 360 and even other gamers were worried about the future of their console. A local shovelware dumping ground didn't sound quite appealing and Natal looked like it would serve extra servings of it. But Microsoft reassured us, holding our hands and telling us that everything would be alright. Since then, nothing has changed. After that "conference" at E3, we were shown nothing but how to please little girls."

xHarvey5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

Kinectimals. Raising a tiger isn't hardcore? lol

ipwnall5087d ago

Bubbles to you sir.

I'm extremely aggravated about this Kinect business. I mean, look at the image in the article. Those are the games for Kinect's future. Do we want to be playing those?

B-Real2065087d ago

They told you to wait till gamescom and now you will wait.

005087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

But you won't be when that tiger mauls you.

ShinMaster5087d ago

"Wait till E3" they said.
Well E3 has come and this is the result.

Moonboots5087d ago

LOL! +bub for funny on that one!

PS: I love you Skittles! Don't eat me!!!!

BiggCMan5087d ago Show
HolyOrangeCows5087d ago

"Wait until E3"
"Wait until Gamescon"
"Wait until release"
"Wait until next E3"
"Wait until...."

So if we want core games, the best option is the waiting game?

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Alcon Caper5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

hey ms remember this list from tgs 09?

Activision Blizzard, Bethesda Softworks, Capcom Co. Ltd, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, MTV Games, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ Inc. and Ubisoft

>:(

Imperator5087d ago

Behind closed doors being shown to paid celebrities who could care less about gaming.... if there's even any at all.

Mr Logic5087d ago

It needs buttons. There is only a limited a limited amount of things you can accomplish through gesture recognition.

Inane_Asylum5087d ago

I heard Kevin Butler say buttons existed in the future...

...I believe him...

Moonboots5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

Obviously Kinect is a casual device designed for those gamers first and foremost and that is the message MS wanted to send at E3 much to the angst of the core. And they have been saying all year that is what to expect.

I am going to give it some time because I don't think MS are going to ignore their core for long. And in the mean time enjoy my controller on games like Gears 3, Reach, Fable 3, Kingdoms, Black Ops, etc etc on the 360.. Not even going to mention my plate for the other systems I own.. There is just no time to play it all. (heaven?)

Redempteur5087d ago

Don't you see ? hardcore games are coming ..just now they annonced .. BURGER KING !!

............

neverming .

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Arnon5087d ago

It's funny because after the Microsoft conference, we actually saw some. In fact, I'm surprised that they showed off the shovelware they did, and then an hour later Sonic Freedom Riders and Child of Eden were shown off and completely destroyed what Microsoft displayed.

Imperator5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

Child of Eden is a multiplat, and do you have any gameplay vids of Sonic (I honestly want to see how it works).

@Orange Juice, Ah, I see. Looks kinda simple though. wouldn't really call it a core game.

@Arnon, if that's the case then Kinect really does have the edge in that game... but that's just one game. MS needs to show a LOT more.

Orange Juice5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

http://n4g.com/news/546595/...

There you go

EDIT Now that I watch the gameplay closely its most likely a game for kids. I couldnt see an adult "hardcore" gamer playing this game for an extended period of time.

Erotic Sheep5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

Eyetoy Antigrav says hi..

Arnon5087d ago (Edited 5087d ago )

Child of Eden is multiplat, but it's exclusive to Kinect in regards to motion controls. The developer Tetsuya Mizuguchi does not have a dev kit for Move.

http://www.computerandvideo...

HaVoK3085087d ago

If core gamers are anything like me they could careless about them.

pimpmaster5087d ago

gotta agree, MS is exactly like nintendo 2 years ago. hey, what ever happened to that dumb ass vitality sensor.

gynecologistcobra5087d ago

Like Nintendo two years ago? As in, raking up a fuck ton of cash?

pimpmaster5086d ago

as in having nothing to offer for the hardcore audience. and only for casuals

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