The Project Natal. The Revolution has Come!

Posts Tagged ‘Project’

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything regarding Braid developer Jonathan Blow’s next project, The Witness — however, if a recent post on Blow’s blog is any indication, the “philosophical, and quiet” game might be moving in an unexpected direction. According to the post, Blow is “hiring another programmer into the new company, to do very interesting work with full-body motion tracking.”

We contacted Blow to see if this new hire would be working on The Witness, and whether the motion tracking technology mentioned is Project Natal. He responded by saying he “can’t talk about this right now,” and added, “it may not even actually happen (depending on whether I can find someone qualified to do it!).”

So, there you have it. If you’ve got experience with body movin’ (body, body movin’), it sounds like Blow could use a hand. And an arm! And a torso. And a … yeah, you got it.

Jonathan Blow hiring ‘full-body motion tracking’ programmer originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In an interview with Joystiq, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Project Natal integration in Fable 3. Another person who wouldn’t be surprised? The guy in charge of Fable 3. Peter Molyneux told Game Kings that he was “leaving the most exciting gameplay stuff for later.” He then added, “I am going to say it’s going to use a controller, but I’ve never said it’s not going to use Natal.”

“And obviously what would probably happen if I started talking about this is you would see a little red dot appear moving on my forehead,” Molyneux continued. “And then as I would start to speak the words then there would be a shotgun fire, and I would be assassinated. Quite clearly, it is that sensitive.” But not so sensitive that he can’t quite nearly confirm it in the next breath.

“Do you really think, knowing me, as maybe you do over the years, I wouldn’t want to use something like Natal? I mean, that’s just mad, man.” Let’s just lay it out here: The guy responsible for basically the only known Natal project is going to put some Natal segments in Fable 3. We all know this. It’s going to happen. Try to look surprised when it’s announced at whichever trade show next year.

[Via IGN]

Natal in Fable 3 hinted by a paranoid Molyneux originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you’ve probably guessed, the dearth of footage of actual Project Natal gameplay can be attributed to Microsoft’s ban on filming the screen during demos of the technology. Hence, the gameplay-less video above, captured by Engadget during a Natal preview of Beautiful Katamari and Space Invaders Extreme.

Watch as Project Natal creative director Kudo Tsunoda shows how one rolls giant sticky balls or pushes back extraterrestrial attackers using only one’s limbs. Without seeing the screen, we can’t be certain how well he’s performing these activities, but we can certainly attest to his remarkable dancing prowess.

TGS 2009: Kudo demoes Natal, invents dance craze originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kicking off Tokyo Game Show 2009 with a kick digitally translated into a game, Microsoft has announced massive industry support for upcoming motion device Project Natal. Trumpeting a laundry list of gaming industry all-stars from Activision to Ubisoft, it appears that every major publisher is in some way “actively working on games for Project Natal.”

Microsoft says publishers received development kits in early June and have been hard at work ever since. EA’s Peter Moore thinks Natal “could fundamentally change the way people play sports games” while Capcom’s Keiji Inafune says it “will expand the possibilities of gaming.” In fact, Microsoft is so intent on proving that developers love it, the company is hosting a panel at TGS featuring the aforementioned Inafune, Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi and Konami’s Hideo Kojima.

Wait a minute, Kojima is working with Project Natal? But we can’t do any of that crazy Raiden ninja stuff!

TGS 2009: Every major publisher ‘actively working on games for Project Natal’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a March 2008 interview with GamersGlobal, renowned designer Peter Molyneux divulged few details on “Dimitri,” an “experimental thing” which he claimed was given life by a mysterious discovery. “And then it moved from that experiment to a moment in time that happened six months ago when a discovery was made, and this discovery has been so exciting that it has lead to Lionhead focusing on it and sculpting a game around that,” he said at the time. “I think that discovery is so significant … This discovery has lead us to start a game and that game will be on the front cover of Nature magazines and Science magazines.”

According to Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer, the discovery was actually “the right platform for an ambitious software idea” — namely Project Natal, Microsoft’s forthcoming motion control system for the Xbox 360. “Peter [Molyneux] and I saw the first [Natal] prototype about 2 years ago,” Spencer recently told Develop. “He focused on what people want to do in this environment, and that’s where a project of Lionhead’s, called Dimitri, become Milo – the team’s previous idea took on a whole new lease of life with Natal.”

Now that we’ve become acquainted with “Dimitri” in his new, boyish form, we can lay the old codeword to rest and attempt to discern the reality within Molyneux’s enthusiastic words. Though we’re undecided on Milo’s future as a Popular Mechanics cover model, we’re fairly confident he’ll wind up on Game Informer sooner or later. Shall we file this under Molyknew or Molyno?

Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It’s no surprise that Harmonix is working on expanding the Rock Band franchise in some way. This year brings The Beatles: Rock Band, but what will the future hold? MTV Games head Scott Guthrie talked to MCV about “what is effectively the next game, or ‘Rock Band 3‘.” Guthrie doesn’t deny that the next major release from Harmonix could be another artist collaboration a la The Beatles, but whatever the next project is will undoubtedly reflect a major change for the franchise.

“We aren’t standing still,” Guthrie notes. “We will keep moving into new areas and look at new technologies that our platform holder partners are also developing, such as Project Natal from Microsoft. We’re working with them to pull some things together.”

Obviously, with Project Natal barely in its infancy, it’s unlikely we’ll see much of a Natal-enabled Harmonix project any time soon. It certainly is an interesting concept, one that has us wondering how exactly Natal could possibly enhance the plastic instrument experience. Certainly, Harmonix must be wondering the same thing.

[Thanks, Nick!]

Harmonix looking at Project Natal for ‘Rock Band 3′ originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Introducing Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun — the only experience needed is life experience.

Project Natal” is the code name for a revolutionary new way to play on your Xbox 360. Natal is pronounced “nuh-tall”. Project Natal’ represents controller-free gaming and entertainment. It won’t just be the greatest videogames to benefit from so much freedom. In addition to “Project Natal” tracking your full body movement in 3-D, it also recognises your face and facial expressions. It can even detect the change of emotion in your voice. The device also remembers your face and voice so that you can connect to Xbox LIVE without the need to reach for a controller. This is the future!