Microsoft stunned the video game world on Monday with the announcement of its forthcoming 'Project Natal' technology, full-body motion-sensitive technology that should allow gamers to do what they want without holding on to any hardware.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
LOS ANGELES--For those of you who have been waiting for some really big news to come out of the video game industry, Microsoft answered your call Monday with its innovative "Project Natal," a hands-free motion-sensitive controller system.
Announced during Microsoft's annual E3 press conference, Project Natal seems almost certainly to be the culmination of several years of work by an Israeli start-up called 3DV Systems, which Microsoft recently acquired.
The technology, as demonstrated (see video below), appears geared toward allowing users to control games, movies, and anything else on their Xbox system with their hands alone, and without touching any hardware.
A prototype of 3DV Systems' motion-sensitive video camera, the technology that is most likely behind Microsoft's Project Natal, which it announced at E3 on Monday.
(Credit: Jared Kohler/CNET)
Now, in what is clearly an attempt by the Xbox maker to significantly broaden the potential reach of the console and its Internet component, Xbox Live, Microsoft is betting that it can finally impress many of the millions of people who would never, ever consider themselves gamers but who somehow ended up with a Nintendo Wii in their homes.
How did Nintendo manage to break that barrier? By building a new-style motion-sensitive controller system that allowed users to direct game action by waving the controller around. To swing an in-game tennis racket, you swing the so-called Wii-mote like a tennis racket. To play a bowling game, you swing the Wii-mote in a bowling motion.
Natal, by comparison, provides much of that same functionality, but without having to hold on to the controller. Want to kick a ball in a game? Then make a kicking motion. Want to buzz in in a game show setting? Smack your fist into your hand. Want to share a drawing with an in-game avatar? Draw it and then hold it up to the Natal camera. As seen on-stage at E3, at least, it's all very simple, and very seamless.
So is Project Natal Microsoft's answer to the Wii-mote?
"And beyond, yeah," said Forrester principal analyst Paul Jackson. "Obviously, we've all got, in the game industry...a huge debt to pay to Nintendo for shaking things up a bit with the Wii, and for moving beyond the 37 button controller. This is taking things to the next extreme. Because even with the Wii, you still have (several) buttons, start and select. It's still a physical controller."
Added Jackson, Project Natal looks likely to "remove that final barrier between you sitting in your room and...what's on your screen."
Even given all that, however, a successful Natal launch is unlikely to knock Nintendo from the top of the next-generation console perch. The Wii's install base is huge, loyal and, in many cases, wary of Microsoft. And at the same time, one would have to expect that Sony, too, will be trying to get on the board with a full-scale motion-sensitive system.
Too early to tell While there's no doubt that Microsoft caught everyone's attention with the Project Natal announcement, it's by no means certain that it will be a business success. For one, the company gave no indication of when the technology would be in users' hands. Nor did Microsoft say whether it would be sold as an Xbox accessory or be bundled with the console.
Microsoft Xbox Senior Vice President Don Mattrick did state that Project Natal would be compatible with every Xbox 360. But he didn't address how much it would cost, or whether it would be backward compatible with older Xbox 360 games. And afterward, Microsoft could not provide any additional details about the technology.
What this all means, then, is that while it's very clear Microsoft has some seriously cool technology on its hands, there's no way to judge--based on what we know right now, at least--whether Microsoft can successfully integrate Natal into its larger Xbox ecosystem. Still, given the company's deep pockets, and its traditional dedication to making new technology dominant, no matter how long it takes, I'd bet on Bill Gates & Co., having a winner with this one.
For one thing, Microsoft will finally have a response to the question of whether it can truly reach the mainstream. At the same time, however, it must find a way to attract that new audience while not alienating its core audience.
That's why Jackson said that no matter what happens with Natal, Microsoft is unlikely to abandon its traditional controller. It has to keep those core gamers, the ones who simply have to have their regular "Halo 3" gaming sessions, happy.
Jackson predicted that initially, Microsoft will sell Natal--or whatever it's called upon its release--in the $99 range. He pointed out that traditional controller systems come in the $50 range, but that Microsoft is going to have to pack some serious high-tech into Natal--a motion sensor, sophisticated directional microphones and video cameras.
SDKs begin arriving On-stage at E3, Mattrick said that the Project Natal software development kits had just gone out. This means that while most of the video game world is in Los Angeles this week for the show, few people have had a chance to see it.
One who did get a sneak peek at Natal is Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski, the visionary behind "Gears of War."
"I had a chance to be hands-on with (Natal) a couple weeks ago," Bleszinski told CNET News, "and it was damned fun." But even Bleszinski said he hadn't gotten his hands on a SDK yet, and wasn't able to say anything about the development process.
Director Steven Spielberg came on-stage during the press briefing to praise Microsoft's approach to the mainstream audience with Project Natal.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)
And while one should always take what is said during a press conference with a grain of salt, one would think that someone like legendary film director Steven Spielberg wouldn't heap praise on anyone or anything unless he really meant it. And when he came on-stage during the briefing Monday, heap praise on Natal is exactly what he did.
"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...The only way to bring interactive entertainment to everybody is to make it invisible."
So now we wait. Jackson said given the time frame of the SDKs and how long it takes developers to bring games to market, it would be unlikely that we would see Natal in gamers' hands before the middle of next year. In fact, given that time frame, E3 2010 may be a perfect place for Microsoft to formally launch the technology.
And whether it chooses to do so, it seems guaranteed that when Microsoft takes the stage for its E3 2010 press briefing, it will have some very big news in its pocket.
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel.
It's no Uncharted 2 bundle (hello, Europe), but US gamers will indeed be getting their own 250GB PlayStation 3 Slim bundle, due to hit stores on Novvember 3rd for $349.99, just one Ulysses S. Grant more than the 120GB model. No other difference beyond the storage capacity, and of course you can always swap out the 2.5-inch SATA drive yourself with warranty kept intact. Holding out for some limited edition artwork or PS2 compatibility? Keep on dreaming.
If you haven’t heard the news about Marcus Jordan refusing to wear Adidas basketball shoes that almost caused the University of Central Florida to loose their six years $3M basketball contract with Adidas. Yep, Marcus Jordan refused to wear Adidas basketball sneakers as part of their contract deal because he opted to wear his father’s sneaker brand, Air Jordan from Nike. The incident lead UCF and Adidas to negotiate. which made ended in making Marcus Jordan wear Adidas angle guards over his father’s Air Jordan sneakers. The contract was supposed to be used for the player’s scholarships and the team’s funds.
FORT HOOD, Texas — As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one neighbor and called another to thank him for his friendship – common courtesies and routines of the departing soldier. Instead, authorities say, he went on the killing spree that left 13 people dead. Investigators examined Hasan's computer, his home and his garbage Friday to learn what motivated the suspect, who lay in a coma, shot four times in the frantic bloodletting. Hospital officials said some of the wounded had extremely serious injuries and might not survive. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist emerged as a study in contradictions: a polite man who stewed with discontent, a counselor who needed to be counseled himself, a professional healer now suspected of cutting down the fellow soldiers he was sworn to help. Relatives said he felt harassed because of his Muslim faith but did not embrace extremism. Others were not so sure. A recent classmate said Hasan once gave a jarring presentation to students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against Islam, and "made himself a lightning rod for things" when he felt his religious beliefs were challenged. Investigators were trying to piece together how and why Hasan allegedly gunned down his comrades in the worst case of violence on a military base in the U.S. The rampage unfolded at a center where some 300 unarmed soldiers were lined up for vaccines and eye tests. Soldiers reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" – an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" – before opening fire Thursday, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the post commander. He said officials had not confirmed Hasan made the comment. Hasan's family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were deplorable and don't reflect how the family was reared. "Our family is filled with grief for the victims and their families involved in yesterday's tragedy," said Nader Hasan, a cousin who lives in northern Virginia. "We are mortified with what has unfolded and there is no justification, whatsoever, for what happened. We are all asking why this happened, and the answer is that we simply do not know."Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/ft-hood-updates-new-clues_n_348157.html&cp
Venezuela has said a group of men whose bodies turned up on its side of the border with Colombia were Colombian paramilitaries training in Venezuela.
The comments by Venezuelan Vice-President Ramon Carrizalez come a week after the bodies of the 11 men were dumped in Venezuela.
It happened after the men were kidnapped in early October in the middle of an amateur football match.
Colombia has urged Venezuela to co-operate in the investigation.
'Paramilitary infiltration'
Since the bodies of the men appeared at various points along the Venezuelan-Colombian border, there has been much speculation in the Venezuelan media as to who they were and why they had been targeted by an unidentified armed group.
The threat is materialising, but we are also preparing to defend our territory to ensure our sovereignty
Venezuelan Vice-President Ramon Carrizalez
Now Mr Carrizalez delivered the government's verdict.
Speaking on national television, he said the men were Colombian paramilitaries training on Venezuelan soil.
He said the men formed part of a "paramilitary infiltration" of Venezuela which was planning to emerge in Caracas and other major cities to destabilise the socialist government of President Hugo Chavez.
"The threat is materialising," said Mr Carrizalez, "but we are also preparing to defend our territory to ensure our sovereignty."
His announcement is at odds with the initial descriptions of the murdered men as simple street vendors who had been kidnapped while playing football together in early October.
The families of the men deny that they were involved in any paramilitary activity.
The opposition governor of the Venezuelan border state of Tachira, Cesar Perez Vivas, has also repeatedly challenged the national government's version of events and accuses the government of failing to properly police the border region.
Mr Carrizalez's comments come at a difficult time in relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Last month, the Venezuelan authorities arrested three men who they accuse of spying for the Colombian intelligence service DAS - something robustly denied by Bogota.
Image via Wikipedia![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=301dddbc-e8fa-4360-84f4-0d165761c9a8)
Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=24ecfd07-e26d-4570-b4c3-6f9cf656ee34)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=a9a33751-1ef6-4b20-8df4-a79631cf697a)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=18e0ce2a-f6a6-4155-ba1d-3a6f4618da89)
The threat is materialising, but we are also preparing to defend our territory to ensure our sovereignty 
