Microsoft: Project Natal 'obviously' works with people of all ethnicities
by JC Fletcher 
on Jun 11th 2009 10:45AM
After
Bitmob reported that Microsoft's
Project Natal had difficulty picking up game consultant
N'Gai Croal's movements, an IGN forum user
claimed that the issue was related to Croal's skin color, citing a
journal article about "near-infrared spectroscopy," which he
claims Natal uses. Of course, the article is about detecting the delivery of oxygen to tissue via
blood, and we rather hope Project Natal doesn't need to be that granular. In any case, the IGN poster actually admitted to being sensationalist a few posts down, but not before the whole Internet was up in arms.
Microsoft was compelled to respond to this mess, confirming to
Eurogamer that "the goal of Project Natal is to break down the barriers for everyone to play, and it will obviously work with people of all shapes and ethnicities at launch." The representative referenced
footage of Sugar Ray Leonard trying the device as proof. Unfortunately, that may not be the best evidence, as
NeoGAFfers spotted edits in the video -- the in-game footage of
Burnout Paradise shown while Willie Gault is playing is identical to that shown during
Zachary Levi's play session. Conspiracy? Probably more likely that there was glare on the screen or something during Leonard's actual session.
