LOS ANGELES--About halfway through a closed-door demo I was in this afternoon of Microsoft's just-announced full-body motion-sensitive control system, Project Natal, another reporter told our host that he was skeptical of what he was seeing.
A minute later, after taking the virtual controls himself of the game "Burnout Paradise" and giving Natal a test, the reporter walked back over to where I was standing and when I asked him if he was still skeptical, he gave me a chastened look and said, "It's interesting."
In other words, he was won over.
Project Natal, as you probably know by now, was Microsoft's big announcement at its E3 press briefing here. It has gotten a lot of attention because of its promise to make it possible to incorporate all kinds of hands-free control into a wide variety of games: racing games, painting games, shooting games, sports games and so on.
(Credit:
Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)
But until now, I hadn't seen the technology close up. I was part of a small group that got the demonstration deep inside Microsoft's cavernous E3 booth. We were allowed to ask whatever we wanted, but we weren't able to take video or photos of the technology.
One thing that came out of the presentation: Tsunoda said unequivocally that the software behind Natal was developed entirely in-house at Microsoft. But he wouldn't address the question of where the hardware came from, or specifically, if it came from 3DV Systems, a company that has been working on this kind of technology, and which Microsoft recently acquired.
Having seen the 3DV technology a couple of years ago, I can say that what Microsoft is showing today is very much the same but with a much more user-friendly front end. In other words, I would bet that 3DV is the source of that hardware.
Here's my quick impression: Natal is for real, and it may well change the way people experience video games, as well as anything else that is run through an Xbox 360.
Tsunoda began our demonstration by explaining the problem Microsoft had set out to solve: To make the gaming experience fun for everyone, while not alienating the core Xbox 360 fans.
"The control system is simple," Tsunoda said of Natal. "People can just jump in and have fun. (But there's) an extra layer of fidelity for core gamers."
Project Natal (see video below) is designed to be a one-to-one avatar control system, Tsunoda said. Wherever you move your hands, your body or your legs, the system captures it and mirrors it on the screen and in whatever game you're playing. "No (other) controller in the world allows you to control your whole body," he said. "Every part of the body is in play."
One interesting thing that came up in the demo is that when a woman stepped up to use it, the system recognized she was female and represented her on-screen as a female avatar with long hair. Tsunoda said that ideally, Natal will recognize users and be able to grab their existing Xbox avatars, but that in such a demo environment, it simply represented her the best way it could, given what it could see of her skeletal structure.
Another interesting point was the way Natal recognizes people's skeletal structure and analyzes how we move. Tsunoda made the point that Natal will continue to work even if someone walks in front of a player because it knows how the human body works. So, if a player had his or her arms blocked, but Natal's cameras could still see part of their arm, it can fill in the rest based on algorithms that tell it how that arm should look.
And it's the software, Tsunoda said, that's the "magic" behind Natal, and that allows the technology to "extract the human skeleton."
Natal is designed to work whether someone is standing up or sitting down, and can recognize users very quickly. We saw that in action when, one-by-one, we were invited to step up and play either a kickball game or a driving game. With a couple of exceptions where the player didn't stand in the right place, Natal did seem to almost instantly recognize that a new person was playing and, then, respond to their movements.
This may have been most impressive during game play of the racing game, "Burnout Paradise," when it was clear that Natal was doing a fine job of translating the player's hand movements--mimicking holding and turning a steering wheel--into moving the car on-screen.
Tsunoda said the technology behind Natal includes an RGB camera, an infrared camea, a multi-array microphone and a depth map. These features allow the system to track a player in 3D space, as well as to capture spoken commands from multiple people, none of whom have to wear a headset.
Asked how Natal differs from the many other motion-control cameras that have come along over the years, Tsunoda simply said that nothing that has ever come along before has been able to instantly work when a new player steps up in front of it, or when the lighting conditions change, or when someone else steps in front of a player.
"Ours, you can play any way you want," he said. "This just works the way you want it to."
Clearly, Microsoft is banking heavily on software developers--who are just now getting development kits--being able to utilize Natal in their games in such a way that players don't have to do any kind of configuration or tinkering in order to get it to work. Absent that instant-workability, the system loses a lot of its allure. But Tsunoda was insistent that that is Natal's value proposition and that developers will have no trouble making it work that way in their games.
If that's true, then it would seem that Microsoft has a real winner on its hands. As I wrote Monday, any success depends, though, entirely on price point, and how users get their hands on it. But right now, having seen Natal close up, I have to say I'm a believer.
The big news from Microsoft' E3 press conference was clearly its "Project Natal" motion sensing technology.
We're pretty sure that it is based on technology from 3DV systems, an Israeli start-up that we wrote about some time ago. I'm hearing that Microsoft has in fact, acquired the company, as has been reported. I have yet to get that 100 percent confirmed, however.
In any case, here's a video from Microsoft showing the technology in action.
The video game world is centered on the Galen Center at the University of Southern California Monday morning, as Microsoft prepares to start is annual E3 press briefing.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)LOS ANGELES--It may be an off-year in the video game console, but you wouldn't know it by the lines outside the Galen Center at the University of Southern California, where Microsoft is having its annual E3 press conference.
Expected announcements include some form of motion-control system; new features and offerings for its popular Xbox Live service; and several hot new games, both from its own publishing outlets and third-parties. Among them is "Halo 3: ODST."
This blog followed Microsoft's announcements--including its new motion-control system, upcoming games, and several new features being added to the Xbox Live service--as they came throughout the 10:30 a.m. keynote.
Beatles: Rock Band will feature 45 in-game songs. Full albums will also be available for download.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)10:33 a.m.: Microsoft opens the press briefing with a lovely video from the much-anticipated and forthcoming "Beatles: Rock Band."
The game will feature 45 Beatles songs, including: "I saw her standing there," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Said So," "Day Tripper," "Taxman," "I am the Walrus," "Back in the U.S.S.R.," "Octopus' Garden," "Here Comes the Sun," and "Get Back."
It will also feature never-before-heard live studio chatter from the members of the Beatles. And in addition to the in-game songs, players will be able to download songs and albums. That feature will commence with the entire "Abbey Road" album. Further, the song "All You Need is Love" will be available solely on Xbox Live.
Then, in a big surprise, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr come out on stage. "The game is good," said Starr. "And we were great."
"Who ever thought we'd end up as androids?" jokes McCartney.
Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr come on-stage at the Microsoft Xbox E3 press briefing to announce Beatles Rock Band.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)10:49 a.m.: Next up on stage is world-famous skateboarder Tony Hawk, who unveils "Tony Hawk: Ride," a new skating game that features a skateboard-shaped controller. Players of the game will "ride" the board, allowing complex maneuvers and a (somewhat) realistic skating experience.
To be sure, the new controller is highly reminiscent of Nintendo's Wii Balance Board. Xbox has needed something like this. But one wonders if the board controller will have the wide range of applications that Nintendo's Balance Board does.
Famous skateboarder Tony Hawk introduces Tony Hawk: Ride, a new skating game for Xbox.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)11:00 a.m.: The next big demonstration features Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama showing off the first preview of "Final Fantasy XIII" for the Xbox 360. They say the game is targeted for a spring 2010 release.
11:22 a.m.: Microsoft Corporate Vice President John Schappert spends the next 20 minutes introducing the developers of a series of upcoming games for the Xbox platform--and the games themselves, of course.
Among the titles that were showcased were "Joy Ride," from newly-acquired Microsoft Games Studio addition Big Park; "Left for Dead 2"; "Splinter Cell: Conviction"; and "Forza Motorsport 3."
11:32 a.m.: Perhaps the most-anticipated new Xbox game is up next: "Halo 3: ODST." The game, which takes place weeks before the start of "Halo 3," puts players in the role of a rookie solider separated from his team.
The goal of the game is to survive, covering a lot of ground, staying alert for unexpected help. But players will have new Halo weapons to work with, including a new low-light vision mode.
"Halo 3: ODST" is expected to be released September 22.
But Halo fans will have more to look forward to. Bungie Studios, the franchise's developer, is also working on another Halo title, "Halo: Reach," which is expected to be released sometime in 2010. "Halo 3: ODST" players will get an exclusive invite to the new title.
Perhaps the most anticipated game for Xbox is Halo 3: ODST, which will release on September 22.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)11:44 a.m.: Of course, no Microsoft E3 press briefing would be complete without a bunch of new Xbox Live announcements. And, intent on not disappointing the faithful, Schappert says Microsoft has been working on a series of improvements to the service.
First up, Schappert announces a new partnership with Last.fm, which will bring millions of songs to Xbox Live members. Xbox Live Gold members will be able to access the service for free. He doesn't say what the cost would be for other members. (Disclaimer: Last.fm is owned by CNET News parent company CBS Interactive).
Schappert also says Microsoft has updated the way Xbox Live members will be able to access movies and TV shows. To begin with, he says U.K. residents will now be able to access movies and TV shows through a partnership with Sky TV, all with no additional hardware.
Here in the U.S., meanwhile, Xbox Live members will now be able to watch their TV shows and movies with no downloads and no delays. In other words, they will be available instantly, and in full 1080p high definition. And that's why Microsoft is calling this part of Xbox Live "InstantOn 1080p HD."
Finally, Xbox Live members will now be able to interact with both Facebook and Twitter through their consoles. They'll be able to share photos with Facebook friends via Xbox Live, and be able to see their lists of Xbox Live and Facebook friends simultaneously.
As for Twitter functionality, Xbox Live users will be able to post tweets directly from their consoles, without a PC.
12:05 p.m.: But the big news, as always, comes last.
Microsoft finally unveils its new full-body motion-sensitive controller. Called by its code name, Project Natal, the new technology sits near the Xbox 360 console, and allows Xbox users to control their games, movies, and other Xbox media without touching any hardware.
During a video presentation, players are seen interacting with games and movies simply by waving their hands, jumping up and down and doing other things with their bodies--but not ever touching the controller.
Microsoft Xbox Senior Vice President Don Mattrick says that Natal will work with all Xboxes, including those that have already been sold, and any that will be sold in the future.
To demonstrate interactive media and entertainment industry acceptance of the new technology, Mattrick brought legendary film director Steven Spielberg on-stage to talk about Natal.
"I've been asking the crucial question: How can interactive entertainment become as approachable as other forms of entertainment?" Spielberg said. "The vast majority of people are just too intimidated to pick up a video game controller...Despite the size of (the video game) industry, still 60 percent of households do not own a video game console."
Film director Steven Spielberg came on-stage during the Xbox briefing to wax rhapsodic about Project Natal, Microsoft's new motion-sensitive control technology.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)Mattrick didn't say whether Natal had, in fact, come from 3DV Systems, or whether it had been developed in-house.
12:07 p.m.: A live demo the technology features a woman playing a game called "Richochet" on-stage. It allows her to kick a series of onrushing balls solely by kicking her legs in the air.
A Project Natal video shown during the briefing demonstrated that users can literally interact with their Xbox by reaching out to it. The technology recognizes human body movements and translates them into complex maneuvers on-screen.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
The ZCam, from 3DV Systems, which is rumored to be in acquisition talks with Microsoft.
(Credit: Jared Kohler/CNET Networks)Microsoft hopes the acquisition of a virtual reality start-up will give it another trick up its sleeve in the game console wars, if one report proves true.
As anyone who has been following the video game industry over the last couple of years knows, Nintendo's Wii console has been the runaway sales leader.
In the early going of the so-called "next generation" of consoles, which began in late 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and continued a year later with the launch of the Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3, each company tended to refer to the "console wars" as being a battle between the three.
But more recently, as the Wii has vaulted far ahead of either the Xbox or the PS3, Microsoft and Sony have recast the console wars as being just between the two of them; They argue, instead, that the Wii is a very different kind of machine and that, in fact, many Xbox or PS3 owners also own a Wii.
Semantics aside, it's clear that Microsoft and Sony have long since determined that their consoles might never catch up to the Wii in total sales, especially if they don't do something drastic to compete with the Wii's intuitive motion-sensitive controller, the Wiimote.
That might explain why Microsoft is in negotiations to spend around $35 million to buy Israeli start-up 3DV Systems, as is being reported by the Israeli daily Haaretz.
With its ZCam, a 3D camera that connects directly to a PC, 3DV was already hoping to be a player in the video game space, since the camera was designed to let players control games entirely with their hands.
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