Microsoft announce project natal release date

MS haven't really shown anything that would be interesting for Natal. So will be sticking to my normal controller.

No confirmed release date..

.. although this was recently put up at Amazon and deleted!

Could be nothing though!

have no interest in this Natal stuff at all, 99% sure I won't be buying it.

I doubt they would release it on a Sunday. 10-10-10 would be alright for marketing but a Sunday??

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

As you apparently need 13ft of space to use it, it'd be of no use to me.

It's likely that the 13ft / 4m of space is not the minimum requirement - it supposedly auto adjusts the play area. That's probably the optimum size, but they would be shooting themselves in the foot to have it as a Minimum.

http://kotaku.com/5500643/microsoft-natal-does-not-discriminate-against-living-rooms

they'll have to price it below €100, ill say €80-90 but knowing ms they'll overcharge but i don't think they will or can if they want everyone to have it.

The main draw for me is, you only need 1 Natal. With the Wii, you need the wii-motes and sometimes the nunchuks. PS Move, the PS eye and the Move and the sub controller. Just 1 natal will give me access to some silly casual games I'd only bring out at parties but it's handy because there's just 1 of em.

I'm looking forward to Natal, as I think a lot of people are undervaluing it.

I'm not a massive casual gamer (I have a Wii that's been used about 2 times in the last 2 years!), but I can see the draw of Natal.
Not for the casual games, which I'm sure will be fun and stuff, but for it's intergration into the ore serious games.

Everyone keeps thinking of it in the Wii mold, and I'm sure a lot of it will be so, but it has so many other possible applications.

It's got a microphone system that can not only recognise multiple different voices, but even tell your position in a room instantaniously.

What's confused me however is that people aen't picking up on so many of the posotives.
Unlike the Wii or PS Move, you ae not limited to having to use a crappy controller.

Any game that uses Natal, will be able to incorporate the Xbox controller into it.
Using Natal as an additional outlet, rather than a replacement.

As was mentioned earlier, Natal would be great for Rainbow 6 type games.
Taking into account that Natal is able to differentiate individual fingers, the idea of being able to use hand gestures to control your squad mates, while having the controler in my hand for the actuall gaming is something that does interest me.
I can imagine that it would help immerse you in the game.

Puzzle/adventure games, in the Fable mode, would be able to bring in outside influences.
The using of the camera to map you in to the game as the character.
If you've played Fightnight Round 4, then the ability to immerse yourself in the game using the camera in a much easier way than uploading photos onto a website.
(I know you could use the xbox camera, but only about 12 people ever bought them!)

Looking down the line, can you imagine being able to have your voice in the game.
You buy a GTA/Saints Row type game, and rather than being left with a generic voice and face, you could have your face mapped on teh 3D camera, and record the particular sayings yourself.
That way, again, Natal is allowing you to use the same old game mechanics, but at the same time immersing you more in the game.

The ability to control the xbox through voice commands is also promising.
Pausing a game or dvd, connecting with friends, xbox live chat with no more headphones, etc, all ways of improving on normal gaming without taking away the current controller interface.

Games like Scene it/Buzz without the controllers, freeing up more people to play rather than limiting you to just 4 players sharing plastic remotes!


All in all, as long as Natal does what it says on the tin, and is reasonably priced, I can imagine it being a very handy bit of kit, for more serious, as well as the casual gamers

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Any game that uses Natal, will be able to incorporate the Xbox controller into it.
Using Natal as an additional outlet, rather than a replacement.

Sorry to butcher your post but this is what I hope Microsoft envisage for the Natal. Using it too add features to a game rather than replacing the controller.

Stuff like a FPS where you hold a button to zoom to a RTS view and use your hand as a pointer to tell your AI partners, or even other players in online play, where to go and what to do rather than the traditional LOS "Go there" malarky.

Hope we see some nice games at E3 and not just "sport game compilation #48389" "mini game compilation #1946593" "3d boxing game #3754". Was the same deal with the PS Move, apart from the shoehorning into SOCOM 4 the games were rubbish and released on the Wii 3 years prior.

Grumpypants wrote: »

See this wasn't an official launch party or anything it was just to give us a look at it in the flesh. I'm sure with E3 3 weeks away any new games will be saved for that. The dodge ball game is fairly basic but far from rubbish. It does display the way Natal works which is impressive.

I'd agree. The dodgeball game is a tech demo to show you what it can do. (fast reaction, full body mapping, etc.) It immerses you in the game also, if you're playing your moving to get the balls.

Microsoft know what the Internet is like and probably wouldn't show anyone an AAA title with Natal integration when they've got the official launch just a couple of weeks away. They'll hold on to any big reveals for then.
If they show anything else to journalists, etc, it'd be with a massive NDA or reporting block on it until after the big reveal.

Fingleberries wrote: »

I'd agree. The dodgeball game is a tech demo to show you what it can do. (fast reaction, full body mapping, etc.) It immerses you in the game also, if you're playing your moving to get the balls.

Microsoft know what the Internet is like and probably wouldn't show anyone an AAA title with Natal integration when they've got the official launch just a couple of weeks away. They'll hold on to any big reveals for then.
If they show anything else to journalists, etc, it'd be with a massive NDA or reporting block on it until after the big reveal.

Yea one slip and its all over the place and then E3 is ruined so they are not going to risk this by telling or showing me anything. Could you imagine how much trouble the microsoft guy would get in if he showed someone a game and ruined the big E3 reveal !!

There's rumours floating around today that Natal is going to cost $150 in the US which usually means €150 here. I went from maybe picking up Natal to never picking up Natal in an instant.

Vyse wrote: »

I really think it needs to be below the €100 mark. You can pick up a brand new XBox for less than €149 in some stores. E3 will reveal a lot.

Those same rumours are saying they'll offer a bundle of an Arcade 360 and Natal for $300.

There's an awful lot of tech in the Natal camera, so it may cost a bit.

It's Edge who got the story apparently from a 'source'.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/natal-to-cost-149-%E2%80%93-source

jaykhunter wrote: »

I could swear I heard originally Natal was gonna be 50-70 bucks, definitely under 100...guess that was a pipe dream.

Michael Pachter guessed that Natal would be around 50. The one thing Sony's controller has going for it is that it's going to be less than $100 including a game. Depending on what game it is I'd definitely consider picking that up. In the same way I don't mind buying Rock Band peripherals with the game as long as the game is good enough to warrant it.

I think a lot depends on what game Natal comes bundled with (if any).

Helix wrote: »

also that its really really good

works fantastically well

Yeah everything I've seen of it looks very impressive. I'm sure Natal will be impressive too. It's going to be very interesting to see if either of them are actually successful. E3 should be interesting. I'm just happy that Microsoft are having a seperate Natal event so their press conference won't be dominated by it.