Microsoft Xbox 360 Natal first play (Tech Radar)

Microsoft upped the stakes on Nintendo and Sony with their new Natal motion-sensing hands-free control system for the Xbox 360. Now T3's Rob Temple has had the chance to put the new gaming sensation through it's paces. Find out what he made of it.

[DS36]

Don't get me wrong NATAL does look interesting BUT look into the details.....
i see it tracks arms and legs hypothetically what about details like finger for some thing like trigger pulling....so with that said do i have to waved my arms and leg all day... no thanks thats why i never got and eye toy, but then again i now have a reason to

[TheMART]

Well you have the choice to use the normal controller if you want. It works both on it. You don't want a motioncam, you use the controller. You want to use motioncam, you leave your controller.

I would get both. I think putting my feet down on imaginary pedals to give gas or hit the brake must be fun.

[Chicken Chaser]

"T3 can confirm Microsoft's Project Natal for the Xbox 360 has changed gaming for ever."

:O

[Pennywise]

MS ruining gaming one day at a time. Thanks.

If this crap is changing gaming forever, I will quit gaming. Pretty simple. I refuse to stand up and flail around to enjoy my hobby.

[darthv72]

Penny....does that go for the PS3 rendition as well?

[Jinxstar]

I like the pic at least. "You are the father"

Truth is this is not new tech(MS, Sony or Nintendo). All this casual stuff is just rehashes of older stuff. "Now with natal go golfing with a real golf club!!! ZOMG J!Z IN MA PANTS!" I am not looking forward to it. The future looks meek. At least we ALL have some real games to look forward too.

[Pennywise]

Yeah, Darth... it goes for anything that prevents me from sitting on my couch and enjoying a game.

[Jockamo]

why don't read a damn book instead

[Sayai jin]

People always say they want innovation, but when new software or hardware (albeit Ninty, MS, or Sony who makes it) is introduced people start to complain. Gaming is changing. This tech will definitely not be for everyone, I am not so sure my self. I am pretty sure that games that are made for this type technology will not get rid of the classic controller play, but what they will do is give the gamer the option to use motion sensing or a controller.

[Pennywise]

Jockamo - Only one more insightful remark allowed from you in this thread... what a shame.

Is this News for Readers? Did I miss something?

[darthv72]

Looking at the sony idea, I think it would be better if it were a pair of gloves instead of the balls on sticks. I don't know where I read it but I recall somewhere it being stated that you can only use two "stick-balls" with one camera.

Not that it would change anything for the number of units, wearing gloves with the mo-cap sensors on it would be more like the minority report effect. The natal idea is really cool and I could get used to having the 360 turn on when I want just by looking at it. flip a few screens on the NXE and just say what I want and have it do it (provided it really works to that effect).

Sony's approach is more movie like. Next thing, sony releases special leotards with lots of mo-cap balls on them for people to really get into their games. Now it would work better to release "you're in the movies" on the ps3 to take advantage of their idea.

[Mike134nl]

So far everybody who tried it has been remarkably positive of nadal, interesting.

Calling it the future of gaming and knowing Microsoft owns the needed patents, doesn't exactly comfort me.

[Jinxstar]

@ Sayai jin.

This is NOT NEW AND INNOVATIVE.

Here go look at the thread on N4G and click on the youtube vids that are over 5 years old and done on the PS2.

http://forums.n4g.com/tm.as...

As for everything else like the girl talking abour dresses. Real time live demo or it didn't happen. It's vaoprware just like Microsoft Surface and just as useless...

I don't mean to pick on MS but all tis stuff is a joke. I WANT MORE HARDCORE. The whole idea of the 360 in the first place was to be for the hardcore now they are selling out AGAIN and this time to become more CASUAL. half there conference was on casual junk like painting... WTH

[siren]

You do realize that Surface has already shipped and is in use at multiple retail locations.

The first was AT&T over a year ago
http://www.microsoft.com/pr...

[ShinMaster]

PS Eye already does the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Also, pay attention @01:20

[ChozenWoan]

Wonder if Sony has ever done full body tracking?....
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

the future for Natal Gaming:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

And old road already well known to Sony. lol

[Sayai jin]

@Jinxstar - I realize that the PS2 had something similar and the technology has been around for a while. It has not worked very well so far, so if a company comes around and improves or perfects it, then great. I was speaking in general about changes in gaming.

[testerg35]

Dang, its not like you have to use Natal.

[eagle21]

Simply: I ain't impressed. :)

[really duh]

Yeah the eyepet blew my mind.

end/sarcasm

PS3 fan response on this level is good news for MSFT.

[lokiroo420]

BAM there it is!

[eagle21]

Eye Pet is amazing and only xbox fans can't see it. But deep down you do. The natal video in the link looks silly and cheap. :)

[lonz358]

How could you say Microsoft is ruining gaming forever? No it's fan boys like you that's ruining gaming, if you don't like it then don't use it.

I don't like the PS3 price so I won't buy it but I'm not gonna call it crap and say Sony is ruining gaming.

Edit: Really the only people that won't like this are people that's too lazy to get off the couch, small apartment and FAN BOYS...Most of the time they like it but they can't let it show because their a FAN BOY

[Pennywise]

I wont. Trust me on that.

When I game I really want to play comes out and you can only play it by standing up and flailing around my living room, I am going to be pissed!!

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

if we interact in our Mature games with this thing?...

it'll just further push interactivity in violent/crude behavior and will have you simulating it/acting it out in a more life like manner.

Mature games will most likely never release if this kind of interactivity is allowed in them!

[peeps]

I guess i wonder what sort of games this will work well with. I don't own a wii personally but from what i've read in reviews about some of it's biggest games, the standard 'classic' controller is actually better e.g. recently with punch out. From what reviews are saying, u can use the wiimote and nunchuck but it's much easier with the classic, especially the harder levels

[KampferZeon]

For now, I only see an updated "Eye Toy" with dual cameras providing stereo vision to detect depth plus an Infra-red sensor to detect body heat so it won't lose the human body target.

A lot of people says Natal could track your whole body movement.
Microsoft implies Natal can do that but they never really say it.

It can track the head, body, and the limbs quicker and more accurately than the PS2 EyeToy. Not sure how it compares to the PS3 HD eyetoy though.

Anyway the Natal demo never showed me palms and individual fingers tracking. If Natal can track finger movements, then I am more convinced.

Say a demo showing recognizing a Star Trek's Spock's Hand Signal would be nice.
Or a game of Paper, Rock and scissors.
Or even Sign Language if it's so almighty powerful.

[Xi]

the infared is used to determin the position.

An infrared light is emitted then the camera picks it up again, sort of like echo location. It's nothing like the eye toy which just uses cameras to estimate the 3d world.

And it can track fingers, google Zcam, this is the technology Natal is using.

[benny o klaatt]

.

[KampferZeon]

To Xi

That's the point I am talking about!!
I don't want to google it. I don't want to convince myself.
I want Microsoft to show it to me and convince me!!

Back to Infra-red emitter. OK. That could work.

But doesn't it mean anything that can emit infra red would cause interference to the IR camera? like a radiator, or just the sunshine through the windows?

Also, since it's not using sound wave which can scan multiple targets in a single sweep ( like a submarine ), it doesn't work like sonar, does it?

I would imagine using light means the infra-red has to be projected out from the emitter in a spanning manner. more like a radar? Maybe it's scanning the room from left to right 60 times per second?

If it's all true, than the tracking software is going to have a hard time, isn't it? So much imperfect information to judge.

[siren]

You do realize that you can generate a constant IR image that can blanket a room and then be watched by an IR camera.

I don't know what they are doing, but assuming they are using IR to acquire significant information, I could see them using it to get basically a 3D model of the entire room and then from that they could determine human location seperate from everything else.

Note, stuff like Sony's EyeToy had a horrible time differentiating between people and objects in the room. Yet Natal has already proven that someone sitting on a sofa can play Burnout Paradise by moving even their feet which would be right next to the sofa. This is precision that EyeToy could never generate. Combined with the 3D view from both cameras you can do stuff they describe like simply moving a foot forward an inch (not side to side) can cause an effect in the game (IE gas pedal or break).

One big restriction that Sony's and Nintendo's solutions to motion control have is that each action point has to have a device. With Microsoft's you could have as many action points as you want to watch for movement.

[mrv321]

The video is awsome. Basically

These are ideal conditions no gamer really has, and these aren't actors there bad ones. C'mon it's like the Wii adverts you know that isn't in anyway going to represent what will actually be done or how people do it.

I love there two best things the bouncing thing game which looks very Eyetoy and the painting thing can both be done on the Wii/ PSmotion and don't say they can't. One of them is simple your hands and feet are the paddles. So what like Wii tennis? And that paint thing seemed a tad innacurate well never mind thanks for lowering standards of production, reducing your first parties, buying exclusives and now devolving gaming to pre button and thus ruining people like me, who use buttons to play games.

[Dead_Cell]

I mean,if you're going to bounce around with (or without) a control playing virtual tennis,to have it feel and play exactly like virtual tennis...
Why don't you actually go outside and play REAL tennis?
They're beginning to cross that line now that makes actual gaming pointless,and as much as I appreciate the efforts of Microsoft Sony and Nintendo to try and get this technology going it's actually defeating the purpose of playing games in the first place.
This is why they are called gimmicks,they will be brought by people who think "hey look I can play tennis on my screen,put all the same effort I would have into playing tennis,but without having to actually play REAL tennis,that's amazing"

[NowGen]

how can you not like progression? everything that they said it can do sounds great to me. if it works! as long as they dont say that this is replacing how i play games and that i can still use the classic controller than no harm.gaming machines just by the times that we live in are more than just gaming. i use my 360 and ps3 for all kinds of things outside of gaming. and if Natal can bring me more new experiences than i say bravo Microsoft.

[lonz358]

Yea I know you won't because your a Sony fan boy and you don't wanna go near a console other then a Sony product right? Yea I like 360 more but that don't stop me from enjoying the full gaming experience all systems have to offer. Your holding yourself back by being a fan boy and so are most people nowadays because Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have great games so stop limiting yourself.

LOL REPORTED LOL THE TRUTH HURTS DOES IT?

[Pennywise]

Reported AND you need to learn to push reply. I am done with you.

I wont have Sony's motion or anyone elses.

[Dread]

"reported"

lol

lonz u pissed pennywise off. I dont get it but u did.

and pennywise stop being such a fanboy, and by the way i agree with u about all this stupid motion contraptions.. controller foreve

peace

[scott182]

But I don't understand how it's ms that is "changing gaming forever". Sony already has this and has had this for some time, the only thing that the pseye can't do is voice recognition. What sony added was a wand to play sword fighting games and shooting games and such.

[Godmars290]

That when the Eyetoy first came out it was called a useless waste. The Wiimote a gimmick.

So far Natal has shown nothing really different from either and yet "has changed gaming forever."

[Foolsjoker]

I fully agree. Motion detection is nothing new, the tech is just getting better. Milo may, if anything, be a milestone or a goal but is far from "changing gaming forever". Anyone remember the NES U-Force ? Nintendo "changed gaming forever" in 1989, milo is just an advancement of an existing idea.

[Godmars290]

Milo's going to depend heavily on context in how it changes gaming.

If you actually look at the video, Molyneux is literally holding the viewer's hand through the reactions they should be having. More than suggesting that Milo is reading facial responses and not just going through a script. And yet his actions were clearly predetermined. We need to see the live, backdoor demo before coming to the conclusion that what we saw was some pseudo AI or something that's just a step up from Dragon's Lair.

[maniacmayhem]

Remember the Odessey, the first gaming console way back in i think 1974.

Do you think that video game consoles have gotton better or do you think there's still nothing new or revolutionary since 1974?

Just wondering since we're comparing technologies from different points in time.

[PtRoLLFacE]

i see a difference in one hand u use a controller in the other hand u dont use controller5s so yeah there is a difference

[Godmars290]

Depends if you're comparing it to the Atari 2600.

MS and most reviewers are treating it as if its a full blow innovation and not just a take on a current technology with more development time.

Heck, it should say something that with Wii motion Plus Nintendo is delivering what they promised with the Wiimote. That they probably thought it was enough until this E3.

It should also be said that w/o the Wiimote we likely wouldn't see either.

[rupi]

LOL. the competition is simply screwed!!

[Power_Of_Flops_]

It's cool to see of those MS fanboys jumping like they just got laid because of natal. Motion controls are gimmicks, plus Wii has already taken the crowd.

Natal has absolutely ZERO chance of success:
- price 200 $
- can't play anything hardcore without controller
- lags 1 second (lol)
- lacks complete precision : the leg that moves is not the good one and so on...
- devs already said they prefer Sony's motion control (Tony Hawk, EA boss)
- mothers and families already bought Wii, they won't change tomorrow for something worse and more expansive

There's absolutely NOTHING interesting you can make out of this Eyetoy Ripoff.

If anything, Sony's controller has a much better chance since they work on Eyetoy / PSEye for years, it has real buttons, and it has no lag...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's too funny.

EA boss already said they thought Sony motion control was better, you tool.

[Munky]

I was just wondering if it was possible to develop games to use the standard controller and Natal at the same time. If true the possibilities are endless, just imagine being able to control your character with the controller (and basic features), but also being able to pull up your inventory (similar to Minority Report) with Natal using hand gestures. By the developers having Natal as a option it can potentially give the user so many more options in terms of gameplay, which is the most exciting part about Natal. Anyways, if 2011 is the target release date, the developers who are going to be using Natal have tons of time to fiddle around with it. Good gaming.

[green]

"There will still be games that use the controller, games that use only Natal, and games that use a COMBINATION."Don Mattrick, senior VP of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business:
http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-...

[Munky]

Thanks for the find.

Bubble up*

[Foolsjoker]

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Ad from 1989:
"Introducing U-Force, the revolutionary controller for your Nintendo Entertainment System. So hot, no one can touch it. Now you can feel the power without touching a thing. It's U-FORCE from Broderbund - the first and only video game controller that, without touching anything, electronically senses your every move, and reacts. There's nothing to hold, nothing to jump on, nothing to wear, U-FORCE creates a power field that responds to your every command--making you the controller. It's the most amazing accessory in video game history - and IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES FOREVER. It's the challenge of the future. U-FORCE. Now nothing comes between you and the game."

[rupi]

there is a massive difference between technology in 1989 and 2009. natal is so much more advanced, i don't even know how you can compare the two.

[Ninjamonkey]

I dont mind natal as long as I can still use a controler if I like.

Not everyone wants to play games jumping around all the time... some peoeple like their sofas XD

[timmyrulz]

if you watched e3 there were two on stage working demos and the lionhead milo demo