Five Things I Want to Know about Project NatalAt E3 2009 yesterday, Microsoft blew the media away with Project Natal,
a motion sensing device that allows you to control video games and Xbox
360 menus with your body instead of a peripheral controller. Natal
gives you voice and full-body motion control over your on-screen avatar
using an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom
processor running proprietary software. Project Natal will work
with current XBox 360 systems. Microsoft also released yesterday the
Project Natal software development kit to game makers who want to
incorporate Natal functionality into their products.
Based
on what Microsoft was showing off at E3, Natal promises to open up a
new world of gaming, and bring us one step closer to a Minority
Report-style future--Microsoft's Natal demo included an appearance by
Minority Report director Steven Spielberg. But Microsoft is making some
big claims with Project Natal, and Redmond's demonstration left some
crucial unanswered questions about Natal and its future under the Xbox
brand.
When will Project Natal be available? Since
Microsoft has released a Project Natal SDK, the motion-control system
should be far along in the development process. But when will we see
the device on store shelves? So far, Microsoft isn't saying, and you
can bet they won't be releasing the hardware until you have several
games to use it with. So it's likely we're at least a year away from
seeing Natal-specific software and hardware on store shelves, but it
could be much longer especially if the technology encounters any
unanticipated difficulties.
Will Project Natal work as advertised? The Natal-specific games Microsoft showed off yesterday at E3 were very Wii-like
in their look and feel. One was a futuristic variation of Pong called
Ricochet, where you would smack bouncing balls with your legs and arms
against a wall; the other was something called Paint Party, where you
use your avatar to create murals against a virtual canvas. Both games
used very basic graphics and the movements required to play them were
not particularly advanced. That may be due to the fact that both games
were prototypes used as proof-of-concept software rather than
commercially available games, but it wouldn't surprise me if earlier
versions of Natal were rather limited in what they could do.
However, Microsoft also provided a video
showing off other uses for Natal including a martial arts fighting
game, a Pole Position-style racing game and some kind of Godzilla meets
Pokemon rampage fantasy. But in the Natal demo video Microsoft was
quick to state that the games shown were a product vision and that
actual features and functions may vary. Microsoft is famous for
these types of product vision videos where it shows off what it thinks
the future will look like. Those videos always look cool and are almost
never accurate. The difference here is that Microsoft has a physical
prototype accompanying its vision. But those disclaimers from Microsoft
make me wonder how functional Project Natal really is.
How much will Natal cost? Natal
looks like an exciting piece of hardware, but that excitement could
wear off pretty quickly if Natal peripherals are too pricey. Part of
the popularity of the Wii is not only its innovative motion control
gaming, but also its low price compared to the Xbox 360
or the PS3. Microsoft's device looks more innovative than the Wii, but
that doesn't mean the company should charge exorbitant amounts for
Natal.
There's also no word on how Natal will be packaged. Will
it only come in some kind of Xbox 360 bundle or will you be able to
pick up Natal to add to your current system? Also, how many pieces make
up Natal? Will Natal components be all in one box or will Microsoft
leave out some crucial component that you have to buy separately?
How complex can Natal games get? Microsoft
created Natal to lower the bar of entry into modern gaming to anyone
that can move his or her body, but will Natal appeal to the more
advanced gamer as well? Painting elephants and playing handball might
be fun, but what about crouching down in the brush to ambush enemy
soldiers, taking cover behind storage containers on a space station
loading dock or having a high-flying lightsaber duel against a Sith
Lord? That may be the inevitable future of gaming, but is Natal the
technology to do it?
If Natal really does end up having that
kind of functionality, I hope Microsoft is smart enough to give you the
choice of switching back to a conventional controller for those days
you just can't bring yourself to get off the couch.
Will Natal be backwards compatible with current games?Imagine if you could plop in your favorite edition of Halo or Call of Duty and start firing away without a controller? Backwards compatibility
is an important feature for many gaming systems that are within a
generation or two of each other. Backwards compatibility adds value for
the user with a stockpile of games at home, and makes it far more
likely that people will snap up the manufacturer's latest toy. Natal
may be one of those products that is so hot and so far advanced that
backwards compatibility with older games is either impossible or
unnecessary, but it sure would be a nice feature. So those are
the questions on my mind as we look toward the future of gaming. What
do you think? Will Project Natal work as advertised, or is Microsoft's
new non-controller controller just a lot of hype? Connect with Ian Paul on Twitter (@ianpaul).
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