BioWare Calls Project Natal a "Really Powerful Idea"

It could be several years before we see developers like BioWare incorporating Project Natal into their flagship projects -- development kits only landed in their laps a few weeks ago -- but one arm of the influential Canadian RPG studio has gone on record with GamesIndustry.biz about their interest.

[Natsu X FairyTail]

this means BioWare project X natal = 2010-2011

[dericb11]

Why are you commenting on every article on the site? I mean you seem to have something to say about everything. I find it weird to say this but please "Go outside and play". There is no reason to be on the site all day long. Its great site yes but they want us to get some sun. Please don't use Wi-fi or Iphone and call it go out there still.

Btw Natsu X FairyTail I was not the one to disagree with you. Weird I know but not me.

[Vortigaunt]

Mass Effect 3 using Natal for dialogue? That would be badass.

[JsonHenry]

Notice the quote did not say "great idea"..

[Captain Tuttle]

Wow. You're right. I guess they could have meant "Really Powerful" like a supervillian that wants to take over the world or something. Maybe they think Natal is Megatron.

[Bnet343]

Mass Effect 3 will use the facial recognition in Natal so you can have your face on your character. Similar to what they did in Rainbow Six Vegas. A bit surprised by this though. I wouldn't expect BioWare to credit Natal.

[leila01]

I enjoy Natsu's comments, he/she always has something worth reading.

On topic; that's good news. All the biggest games developers seem to love Natal.

[green]

That would be great for Mass Effect 3.I am currently playing ME again as a Vanguard and it is quite frustrating to always press RB,pausing the game if i want to use PUSH, BARRIER or LIFT capabilities.

It would be so cool if you could just lift your hands to use LIFT,trust your hands forward to signify PUSH,circle my hand round my head to signify BARRIER and so on and so forth.That would keep the momentum of the game going at all times.IMO the possibilities are endless.

[da720izcumin]

just because they like the idea of NATAL, does not mean, they'll make ME run on it.
bioware is full of intelligent, imaginative, and highly skillful people. I am sure, they'll come with crazy things.

[DG]

Natal has the potential to be a great extension to the amount of immersion you will have in video games if implemented right by incorporating voice, face recognition and body movement. Im hoping the devs will just use it as an accent to the controller as opposed to replacing the controller. Im more in to sports games so I honestly hope they use natal as a better version of six axis and facial recognition. Werent they talking about how after the live cam would come out every game would have your face in it. So far I know of only two off the top of my head why is that.

[N4PS3G]

Bungie, Suda 51, Epic , Bioware all onboard with Natal...but i thought Natal was just for casual games ;)

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

That dosent mean anything...plenty were on with the wii also abd we see how much third parties make from the wii/natal

[ArmrdChaos]

Wii forces you to use their motion controls. Natal can be used in parallel with existing controls if the developer so chooses. Most of these companies may be looking primarily at the recognition abilities with maybe some movement. I would expect them to still primarily use the gamepad at this point in time and use Natal mostly to do minor things to augment/immerse the player within the game.

[Omega4]

So much love for Natal, its seems as though no one can say anything bad about it

[mrv321]

It's glitchy :P

There's one thing and it's a fact.

It's in it's early stages but people are having a go at Sony's controllers look.

I've seen it fail 3 times in like 10 minutes of video.

[bjornbear]

Most has been just filmed / behind closed doors...etc

It's so far a GOOD IDEA, but thats all it is for now, I'm sure they'll bring out more and more of it over time but right now this "love" is coming towards the idea, not anything concrete IMO =)

However, i say the same for all the hate. No one's really used Natal other than reviewer "x" or celebrity "y", so i'd say hold judgement until ti comes out....

Me personally? I hate all motion controls xD

[mrv321]

I got 16 disagrees because if you don't point out a problem it doesn't reall exsist?

Becuase last I checked I can't see my avatars shoe

Look no offence, it's in the Beta, but to say there's no problems with it. Because I can name 3

It's not analogue, on burnout paradise that brilliant demo they showed the gas was either on or off not half on

Milo is not all that it seems, most people who've seen it has been saying that

It's glitchy, when the action get's fast it can often muddle up..

[cherrypie]

"Most has been just filmed / behind closed doors"

Nonsense. Some of the industry's most respected press -- BBC, Time, Joystiq, Eurogamer, MTV, IGN and more -- have given first hand accounts that Natal works as advertised, and is outright impressive if not suprisingly so.

Nothing has been hidden. Nothign has been "secret". You're talking about the entire press pretty much saying a collective "Wow".

The only thing wrong with Natal is that we dont have them yet!

[ape007]

natal looks to have big potential,they could use voice recogniton in some segments

imagine u playing gts and you are the gang leader,you just give orders to your homies,KILL HIM

you could change the story with your voice,sounds great

also use your hands in some parts,imagine defusing a bomb in mw2,time is ticking,your freinds scream and fight while u do,great

[Xi]

Bioware, you know what to do with natal, have it read people's inflection, and expression and allow them to make decisions by actually talking, and saying what they want.

[Kushan]

That's how the Milo demo worked. That's what the big fuss was about when people called it "smoke and mirrors". Milo didn't understand a word that girl said, but he could get a rough idea from her facial expression and tone. It's not too dissimilar to talking with someone who speaks a foreign language. You have no idea what they're actually saying, but in context, you could probably get a good idea.

[PotNoodle]

Natal isn't just for casual games, the perfect use for it in the core games imo, is just side actions.

You will be sat there playing the game like you normally would, with a controller but there would be certain actions you would use natal for.

Say you're playing call of duty, you have the option to just swing your arm out infront of you to stab someone or if a grenade lands near you - you pretend to pick up it up and throw it away.

Now i know it wouldn't be for everyone, me included, but it seems like a pretty good way of integrating it into the core games.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Agreed. I am more excited about how this will enhance a game using a standard controller as well. I can excited thinking about the hybrid of standard controller and Natal for something like Mass Effect. Ohh man.. Being able to do a Milo type thing with the characters would add a huge level of immersion.

It's great to see dev's on board because the software is going to make or break Natal.

[PotNoodle]

Just thinking about it, imagine full 3D gaming WITH natal? That would be near total immersion.

[ZOMBIEMAN1]

than what would be the point in getting Natal , Natal is about using no controller at all so yeah the thing will be for casual no hardcore games for Natal you want to use a controller & camera get the PS3 motion controller

[All Time Greatness]

Games like Mass Effect and Fable are the ones with true potential to be amazing with Natal. Bioware + Natal = win

[Lilbambit]

imagine how sick mass effect would be with natal. imagine the voice recognition working in tandem with the speech system. scarily enough this will indeed one day happen.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

It seems the disagree fairies are out in full force. But I agree that has the potential to be very exciting.

[vox]

i'll believe traditional games will be supported by natal when i see it

[kaveti6616]

There's a great many things that exist in the world that you haven't seen. Enough to fill many libraries, but your statement of "I'll believe when I see it" is so very fallacious. An appeal to ignorance. I can't see it. It's not there.

[cayal]

"An appeal to ignorance. I can't see it. It's not there."

And blind faith is the smart thing to do?

You must believe in God.

[kaveti6616]

Way to turn it into a religious argument. The guy is showing pessimism simply because he doesn't know how Natal will be incorporated into traditional games. It's fairly obvious that if an experienced company like Bioware says something about Natal, maybe they have a better idea about what the tech can be used for instead of Vox.

There's a reason why some people become game developers and others just become gamers. Game developers have creativity and vision. They see hardware or software and they find creative ways to use it. People like Vox and I and other gamers do not have that kind of creativity. So we can't use our own ignorance of something as evidence of its failure, which is exactly what Vox is implying. He doesn't see how it can be used in traditional games so he is basically implying with his statement that it won't happen or cannot happen. That's called an appeal to ignorance.

"You must believe in God."

Okay. I guess my belief in a God makes me a narrow-minded theocracy-loving hick from the Southern United States. Boy wouldn't it be great if the world didn't have religion? / sarcasm.

Get off your high horse.

[TheIneffableBob]

It would be cool if you could do motion capturing with Natal for game development. Just hook it up to a PC and capture movement to use for characters. It would really help mod communities come up with more realistic animations for their characters.

[air1]

i bet sony wish they can get that kinda support for the eye thing..

[DelusionalSonyDroid]

But everyone is going to support the Sony mote, thats why all the developers are saying how cool they think the Sony Mote Plus is and no one likes xbox 360 or natal. Everyone is talking about the PS3 motion control.

Maybe you can use the Sony Mote Plus to dance in REAL TIME in PS Home. That would be the best.

I would always do the robot dance!! I think like a robot and dance like a robot too.

[vagisil]

it has support from norelco and remington, since it looks like a damn electric razor.

i think they need to do a eye toy bundle-

buy an eyetoy and get lectric shave for free!!

edit- to sony droid that's funny as hell.

so now i know what ultimolu, darkpower, morganfell, and the nelson kid look like. hahahahhahahhahaha

[I only have a ps3]

"Maybe you can use to Sony More Plus to dance in REAL TIME in PS Home. That would be the best."
I`d really enjoy showing my moves in home, if you know what I mean. HEHE

[DelusionalSonyDroid]

Like this:

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

hahahahha Poor M$ bots, everybody is talking about the PS3 mote, no one cares about Natal. This is all a joke, M$ is paying for all the developers to say this about Natal.

Poor M$

[Eiffel]

I wonder if the people who agree with you are unaware that you're being sarcastic.

[Obama]

@ Eiffel

Yes 2 weeks ago Mart and some other bots actually believed he is a sony fanboy and bashed him so.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

It's easy to be fooled because that is how they sound. Yes, many do sound that delusional(on both sides).

[leila01]

Hahaa, Delusional, you need more bubbles!

[Obama]

It's not easy to be fooled since it is blatantly obvious that he is a xbot. Whoever gets fooled is a retard period.

[commodore64]

You know why Delusional is so funny?

Because he satirizes all the hardcore Sony fans so succinctly.

bubbles up delusional!

[Stevie Ray Vaughan]

SonyDroid that was seriously funny. I laughed at the sony robot dance.

bubbles

[RealtorMDandDC]

....would M$ give me some sort of credit........???M$ has to b coming out with a new system because for Natal to work to it's full potential it has to have a large install base. The great thing about PS3 Eye...it's already out and they are games that are made especially for it....many already have a Ps3 eye......no ones has Natal.........how much will it cost...??..will M$ bundle every 360 with Natal...?......If there no large install base would it slow games in development for it?.....I so believe for Natal to work there is going to be a New 360+ w/Natal.

[Neo604]

Natal is only good for give Milo a hand job.

[Bluemaster77]

Great cant wait to see how they implement this into their future projects