First screen shot of Project Natal's River Rush

Here's the first actually good looking screen of Natal’s River Rush. It looks like some Pixar movie game to me, which isn’t a bad thing... as that's what Microsoft seems to be going for.

[Omega4]

Looks perfect for the Avatar art style, very colourful

[NecrumSlavery]

Very colorful.. Like a toon version of Uncharted....This would be a good game for 3D too

[captain-obvious]

so in this game we have to jump a lot ?
it'll be cool if it can measure the parson's weight then if the person is fatter then the boat acts differently than a small or normal sized person

but can natal do that ?

anyway im still thinking about old PPL
how can they play games like this ?
like it or not old PPL are casuals too
and a lot of wii owners are old PPL

[Aquanox]

The whole Natal Concept starts to take shape. When I see at this pic and imagine myself playing it I find it could be very vey fun with friends.

[Sitdown]

Just out of curiosity...did/do you ask the same old people questions concerning the Wii?

[Conloles]

Yawn can we get our hardcore non Natal game now plz kthx

[captain-obvious]

@Sitdown
most of the time when you play the wii
you don't have to stand most of the time
all you have to is reach the wii mote just like a normal TV remote
the wii takes alot more less effort to play than natal

im not talking about balancing boards in here
but the wiimote itself requires your hand movement only
everything we saw from natal so far requires your whole body to move

i mean think of it

[Hideo_Kojima]

drunk persons game...

imagine getting drunk than playing this with a friend you will be like go left no go right go left go back than you would drop down on the floor and forget your playing a game...

It would be fun though.

[Sitdown]

Its interesting that you say everything we have seen from Natal requires you to move your whole body........we have only seen one game. Or maybe I missed something...cause I have only seen people play the ball game; even then, its arguable that you have to move your whole body.

Anyway, your question was, how can they play games like this....my thought process would be, the same way they would play games like this on the Wii...which is the reason why I asked if you raised such questions concerning the Wii. If anything, Natal might be a little better for older individuals, as natal is suppose to do a better job of tracking individuals in space, as opposed to the Wii. But I guess even before all this, what age are you qualifying as older? My thought is that if you are talking over 65, then there is probably not that big of a casual user base to be concerned about...and if you are talking under 65, they should be in good enough condition to be able to play natal just as they would the Wii.

[JokesOnYou]

Imagine that a casual game that looks cool and isn'just a simple wii port.

JOY

[BeOneWithTheGun]

What about people who don't want to run in their living room after work? Or maybe, don't have the SPACE to jump around?

[THC CELL]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/...
Uncharted??????

Let me tell u this now
This game could have Nathan Drake running round
It still would not even come close to uncharted level of detail
Like most xbox games

The only thing this game will offer is

You will get fit lol

[JoySticksFTW]

"Or maybe, don't have the SPACE..."

Exactly, what I'm thinking

What about people living in apartments, not houses? When I was growing up, I wanted to play the drums. We didn't have the money to rent a practice space. Because I lived in an apartment I had to play "quieter" instruments.

My point is, where you live could effect how you play.

The person living downstairs from you is not going to like you and your friends laughing and jumping around above them.

Not trying to downplay Natal, but it really seems that there needs to be optimal conditions for play... or at least more variables than the other motion options to consider

[D4RkNIKON]

The screen shot looks awesome to tell you the truth. But the gameplay looks about as boring as jumprope.

"There's a rock coming up.. JUMP!!! Here comes another rock OMG, what are we going to do!?!!?)

[MisterNiwa]

Dance to your hearts content.

[WhittO]

Lmao!!

Ye, all Natal games are going to basically be quick-time events of pull right arm out, duck etc...

Not going to require much SKILL

[Inside_out]

River rafting...great concept. I'm sure it'll be part of a great outdoors type of game play package...

The graphics look very sharp at this point...I know M$ is pushing the Unreal engine for development purposes...More 720p 60 FPS incoming...Many Arcade titles would work great with Natal...ilomilo anyone...M$ just getting started...the reports tonight will be insane...

[asyouburn]

have fun with "river rafting" lol

[oldjadedgamer]

I hate to disagree with an opinion, but serious are you excited about this demo? Or are you just trying to defend "your" console?

This seems to be like a game I played at Disney Quest (orlando) years ago.

There is a difference between games that are fun for 10 minutes and games that are fun for years (aka Halo).

I wish you "gamers" would stop siding with whatever company is delivering the new product and actually think if you would enjoy it.

[socomnick]

Hopefully its like Deliverance and if you don't do well homosexual toothless hillbillies rape you and make you squeal like a pig.

[Bnet343]

The screenshot looks nice and you're right, fits the Natal art style. It's like a toon version of Uncharted. Hmm ok by me.

[Anon1974]

Kids are going to love this, but is this enough to sway new casual gamers away from Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart, etc?

Natal certainly looks like it has something going for it, but it's more about it's ability to stand up against it's competition. If the camera is priced at $150, or $200 as is being reported, that's the price of a Wii right there, and casual gamers have already spoken. They love the Wii and it's library of recognizable characters. I don't think Natal has shown anything that can counter that yet.

Time will tell.

[asphogears]

I like the art direction. I hope that you can use your own avatar in the game. That would be good.

[RedDragan]

Alot of CGI cutscene look good in games these days. Most games use them claiming it to be gameplay, I remember the days where gameplay was that part of a game you had to play.

[ActionBastard]

"I remember they days where gameplay was that part of a game you had to play."

[DelbertGrady]

*Looks at Heavy Rain*

[ActionBastard]

You gotta have a PS3 to look at Heavy Rain Soda. If you did have a PS3 and had you played HR, you'd know how desperate your comment sounds.

[asyouburn]

that comment makes you look kinda dumb. i heard in HALO, when you get your crosshairs over enemy, you have to hit RT to shoot! better call the QTE police

[secksi-killer]

my missus plays heavy rain. i dont even know if it can be classed as a game. i know fanboys love it coz it's the only button pressing interacvtive movie available so far this gen. but please, not everyone thinks that it is good. and as soon as the missus has finished it, it will be getting traded..

i dont want to ever spend time bored out of my skull, watching... well watching someone press some buttons whilst some rubbish story interactive movie is displayed on my screen

sorry fanboys. i hate it

[Anon1974]

Time and time again you've shown yourself as nothing but a bitter troll who exists simply to put down other gamers rather then adding to the debate. I have yet to see you actually add anything useful or intelligent to these forums.

Remember when you wrote these gems?

"everyone knows you are nothing but a pathetic sony loving turd."

"make sure everyone knows how many BILLIONS they lost because of the ps3."

" i have no problem paying for live either. but then i go to work, and dont have to mow the lawns for some money from my parents"

Here's a thought. How about trying to add something useful to the conversation? Think you could give that a try, champ? This is an article about Natal River Raft and you're using it to hate on Heavy Rain. Why do you think anyone would care for your opinion? All you seem to be able to do with your shiny, new N4G account is hate. Here's hoping for a quick debubbling.

[candystop]

He's responding to the guys trolling in this thread which is perfectly fine. Why don't you tell Action Bastard and the rest to stop trolling so gamers can enter a natal thread to talk rather than put up with immature rubbish. Here you are criticizing him yet your the one attacking him by trying to pick and choose phrases from his past. Just fyi his comment belongs here much more than yours. If you want to contribute yourself my advice is stay out of 360 threads. We all know you don't like anything 360 even though you sit there as if your giving it a chance.

OT: Game looks fun and may be a sign of newer looking much improved avatars.

[secksi-killer]

a boring brainless idiot like you seems to care enough. and care enough to read back throuch my past posts lol get a life or a girlfriend loser.

lol yeah they are gems. and no doubt strike a nerve with you darkie. your pathetic. go and write one blogs about microsoft losing money. go on, sony are always in need of a knight in shining armour. and yes i am still waiting for you to write on of your sleep inducing blogs about how much sony have lost.

but you wont write one of those, because that would be almost too painful to bear.

and dont worry about the debubbling, i'll just make another account. see ya dickride

edit @ candystop. have a bubble. he dont like me coz i called him out about his pathetic microsoft losing money blogs...but funnily enough you never see him writing the same about sony.

[Anon1974]

Sounds like it might be time to use the site's new options and start banning IP addresses. N4G doesn't need users who post for the sole reason of alienating other users and disrupting actual debate among gamers.

Gamers need to take this site back. The option to call out these jokers for obvious trolling is an excellent feature. Let's make sure we're all using it on those who exist only to negatively influence the gamer community.

[oldjadedgamer]

@Soda

I feel like you arn't as ignorant as you seem. I have read some great points that you have made through out the months that I have just been reading N4G.

But I just don't understand why you make dumb comments that don' have to do with the article at all. Who cares about Heavy Rain? I doesn't have anything to do with this discussion.

And before the he said, she said argument, just try to be the more informed consumer. Usually you will be right.

[DemiT]

Darkride66 is inciting other users to debubble a fellow user.
That's against N4g TOU.

Can a mod please get onto that guy and tell him to cool his jets.
He is doing no one any favours.

Every user on here has a right to express their opinion without Darkride66's approval and consent.
We don't need him to tell us who should be debubbled.

@ candystop and SK
Don't let that jumped up kid worry you.
He's a sad little Sony fanatic who bashes anything MS at every turn.
His comment history says it best.
If I am not mistaken, he is currently busy bashing and trolling Natal articles... while calling himself a gamer.. the worst kind of troll!

I am thinking the mods need to ban his IP for inciting others to debubble a fellow user, because that's precisely what he did above and it's precisely against TOU.

You catching this mods?

[demonddel]

I know huh the PS1 and PS2 did that alot right

[RedDragan]

Everyone is guilty lol.

I remember it started with the PC games, you'd look at the back of the box (RIP big cardboard boxes) and see these awesome looking pictures. They were either loading screen backgrounds or cutscenes hahaha.

[Unknown]

for doing that crap. I'll never for get the Final Fantasy 7 commericals and everyone was like ole crap...PS1 looks soooo much better than the Saturn and then you play it and it looks nothing like the commerical. Disagree all you want but the facts are there. Go youtube it. Everyone likes to bash MS for their marketing but SONY was pretty good back in it's younger years because they sure had people thinking the PS1 and 2 could do PS3 graphics back in the day.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

He only use the only bubble he got to troll or say something incoherent.

[avengers1978]

Holy Crap something besides balls in the face.

[Elginer]

Yeah but I'm sure we're still gonna see a lot of ball games haha.

[52pickup]

Don't speak too soon! There might be bush indians who pop up from the sides and throw red balls of death which you then have to frantically smack before they sink your boat.

[Elginer]

that would be a good use of the ball game haha

[hennessey86]

i cant wait for natal but that was comedy genius my friend i coudnt stop laughing when i read your post quality

[D4RkNIKON]

River Rush = First of many games on rails.

[Tommykrem]

RedDragan: That looks real-time, if you compare it to videos from the game.
The gameplay looks crap, but it still looks better than that Move slider game.
The great thing about this picture? You can see the bottom of your Avatar's shoe. Bam, there it is!

[RedDragan]

The thing is I have to remain sceptical because I have studied the picture because I liked the amount of details in it... the tecture on the water is beautiful. But I cannot see any jaggies... at all.

Even Crysis in 1080p 4xAA @ Very High has jaggies. I should know, I recorded it and put it up on youtube but didn't make a point about the jaggies... I just wanted people to see what it looked like without being squished by Youtubes video resolutions.

OT: Since doing that... I don't believe 99% of the Crysis video's on Youtube. It is nigh on impossible for those videos from 2008 to be running at 1600x1200 @ very high with 8xAA and still be FRAPS'd. I find it funny they have mysteriously stopped uploading Crysis videos with their wild claims since youtube introduced 1080p compatibility lol...

[Tommykrem]

Well, the most impressive Crysis videos are frame-by-frame, and that's usually written in the sideb... err underbar. Sure, they might have went over the picture a little bit like they did vith GT PSP, but if this is concept art or CGI, then they suck at concept art or CGI. This is definetly doable. All in all the game looks pretty much like HAZE in graphical quality (not in art style) and if the pictures of this is as representive of the the final products graphics as HAZE, then this game will go down steep waterfalls and land in the sea of forgetable games.

[DaBadGuy]

My dream Natal game is Cops and Robbers, where you acutally have to aim amd make the gun firing motions with your hands like I used too when I was a little sprout. Except this time, there's no goddamn black magic and none of this you only hit my shirt bullshit. I GOT YOU MOTHER FUCKER!

[eggbert]

I've got a cloak of invincibility

fool

[DaBadGuy]

I've got wind powers that will blow the cloak off.

Chump

[COINTELPRO]

Joe is that you?

[bobdog626]

Don't Hate just sit back relax and watch the Show

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Where I saw that Slogan, ''will change everything''

Hmm, and is not coming from Natal.

[southernbanana]

From what I have read about this game it seem like it would be fun to play a few times with friends. Unfortunately it may have the potential to become boring like a lot of Wii games do. Don't take this as me being negative because I am more exited for Natal than Move. I do plan on buying both though.

[UP]

guys dont get too excited for this game
http://www.youtube.com:80/w...

[VladimirK]

If I ever play that, remind me to shut the curtains so that nobody will ever see me.

[karan8624]

First image leaked?

Apparantly an entire video has already been leaked

[unrealgamer58]

looks great lol

[Unknown]

MS can show the exact type of games as PS MOVE and they will still get ridiculed by delusional fan boys. MS has clearly stated that their intial intent for mo tech is to expand their casual market...how they supposed to do this? By releasing a hardcore game that would take the average soceer mom hours to get past the first stage? Use your brain. PS and MS aren't going to have too many hardcore games at first because for one 1) Most of you are already whining about, "Bu bu but I can't game without my controller." 2) So if the majority gamers are whining about that then both companies say, "Fine, I'll get you to believe in this mo tech stuff later. I'll make some good ole fashioned games for ya while at the same type I'm going to capture a new audience with these simple games." That just how it works folks. Besides...MS just showed ONE game and not even that. A picture leaked and people are already bashing the game. The game could really look that good in realtime but people are already riping the game apart. Jeesh...I thought E3 was a time for all gamers to rejoice, it seems there is no end to this senseless "war".

[hennessey86]

someone with some intelligence bubble for u

[Focker420]

SOCOM 4, and GT5.... ya those are casual.

:rolls eyes:

[Halochampian]

And Fable 3, Metal Gear, and Ghost Recon are?

[Biggest]

Wasn't it Surfer Girl or Bikini Girl that "confirmed" Metal Gear with Natal? It's not cool to spread random lies as truth. Just sayin'.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

That doesn't make sense. Natal can't do everything Move can. Move has a massive advantage.

[absolutecarnage]

Very well said bubbles for yeah, hopefully tonight Natal will show some awesomness, but even if Natal is awesome it will never be good enough for the ps3fanboys

[hennessey86]

to see what they have got up there sleaves i reckon were gona see gears 3 played using natal at e3

[GeneralCole]

Sorry it's for casuals, that means no shooters

[NateNater]

Its nice to see something besides the same ricochet demo MS have been showing for a whole year.

Can someone answer a question I've had for the past few days? Bubbles to all responders.
Where can I find a live online stream of Microsoft's Natal event today (Sunday)?
Thanks in advance :)

[Unknown]

I'm willing to bet the MS will stream from LIVE and you can always check here for post about news and more likely than not the site that the news got it from will be streaming or atleast have an abundance of news. Hope you enjoy it.

[Focker420]

I would say gametrailers.com or g4tv.com

[pillu]

I bet this game and the ball hitting game belong to the same game with a bunch of other games. The screenshot shows a same kind of "A" logo as a ricochet video I saw earlier

[Xi]

It's likely going to be the free shovelware package that the hardware gets, I'm guessing paint party, boxing, and some Frisbee or something will also be included.

Just like wii sports and that move champions game.

[crapgamer]

They want to try to appeal somewhat to the 40+ million current console users. The fact that Metal Gear, Fable 3 and Ghost recon are Natal compatible is a solid start IMHO. About this game, it already looks better then anything out on Wii right now. I am liking the colors and things like that. To be honest we don't see a lot of colors these days in games, we get caught up in graphics, but the environments are so colorless and bland. Lately I've been playing some early 360 games, like Viva Pinata and Kameo and those games were so vibrant...Kind of lush like this river game. I just wish more people used the colors they have available.
Overall though, we expected a lot of party games on Natal and Move. No matter how you slice it, who didn't think these items were an attempt at Nintendo's casual market? come on now.

[Biggest]

I hear Fable 3 might have Natal compatability. But who said anything about Metal Gear (I assume you mean Rising) and Ghost Recon? Are you making things up right now? Can someone provide actual information of this?

[asyouburn]

"looks better than anything on wii right now"
now lets break this statement down. i do have a wii (which i barely play) but you must not. river rafting is NOT better than no more heroes. river rafting is NOT better than muramasa (not many games are, though), river rafting is NOT better than maD world, hell, punch out is better and deeper than this game. if this is how you feel about gaming, you need to WAKE UP MAN! there are some great games out there on all platforms. i might suggest to you a different hobby.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

There's no color in God of War 3, Uncharted 2, Mod Nation Racers, or Super Mario Galaxy 2.

?!?

[zeddy]

cany wait for the conference tommorow, i think microsft av got some suprizes up their sleeves.

[Subzero200x]

lol move is doomed Nintendo already has that market sorry sony.

[UP]

this is about Natal not move.

[Ingram]

lol Yu-gi-oh is doomed, Magic the gath-...I mean Pokemon, Naruto and other absurd posh pseudoanime shi** already has that market.

[alb1899]

I feel real good because all is just happening for us gamers and people that follow the technology. I think this E3 will be the most competitive of all times and excited!!!!

[alb1899]

i think too that MS will surprise us because they just have show the freaking ball and thats just a demo so you can see is real but after tomorrow will be something different. i hope even to change channel with gesture with the Natal!!
Let see what they bring i just hate tv remote controls!!!

[m23]

The graphics don't look bad at all, I think this is the obstacle game they were talking about. I guess it could be fun with some friends, we'll have to wait and see. I hope someone accidentally talks about the event tonight.

[prettyboy1]

i prefer something in my hand and as ms can see so does the 70 mil people who have a wii.fukin waste of time and money.can someone explain to me why ms does not put this much efort into thier games?they might actually be a threat to sony.anyways peace and gaming

[jalen247]

Graphics looks pretty good for this kind of game. I like the art style.

[theonlylolking]

More proof that NATAL is for children.

[asphogears]

Could be fun. I do hope though that Natal will have some hardcore games. I'll still be getting it though.

[aviator189]

Of course this is aiming towards the casual audience for its launch. My family is always saying that my Xbox 360 always plays very bloody and violent games. However, after getting this, I hope that we can all enjoy some fun games such as this river rush game as a family. Although, the price tag of $150 is pretty steep.

[asphogears]

I hope the price is not $150. If Microsoft during their conference says that it will sell for under $100 I'm sold.

[CobraKai]

Looks good. The only thing that will look bad about this game will be the people playing it.

[danielle007]

but it does look pretty. Let's see what's announced at E3, and how completely stupid people look playing the demos.. It'll be fun no matter what. :)

[bviperz]

I really don't want the 360 to go the way of the Wii. Two hardcore games out of a hundred casual games a year (if that). And only one of them is any good. I'm exaggerating of course, but after reading majority of the comments above, I'm sure this is this is the level of acceptance MS wanted when they chose to only show the dodge ball game for so long. Show something better then the hardcore will slightly accept Natal more and more. I hope this isn't the direction MS is going. Natal is great, but just keep the great hardcore games coming too.

[Kev2077]

a boxing game would be great

[TheMutator]

ohhh gos Toobin 2

[Masteryodi]

Natal is a joke! EyE Toy was second in the motion control but first on consoles! Back when i was stationed in Italy (Air Force) 2000 there was an Arcade shooter that was far ahead of its time that was doing 3D motions; move left your char moved left and same for any movement you did. only thing was u needed a "light gun" like time crisis to shoot. I've wondered why they still haven't implemented this yet in consoles unless it has something to do with the cost $$$$! If anyone out there was stationed in Aviano Air Base in Italy 1999-2003 and know the name of the game please let me know I've forgot the name.

[earbus]

At above i think it was called musolini missle if you hate natal or kinect cool just ignore it and it will go away or vent your disgust on a ps3 related article.

[-IronMan-]

No thanks. Whoever wants this must be 10 yrs old or less. Btw isnt it past ur bedtime.

[1PC2PS33360]

right here

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Remember who gave it to you....and use it wisely...and OFTEN!

[hesido]

I don't understand why non-trolling simple comments telling positive things about an Xbox game gets so many disagrees. :\

[PXSausage]

Not a game that really interests me, but it is at least colorful and... I'm a sucker for games that use avatars.

[djsean]

Graphically it looks great, but will it be any fun?