Natal, PS3 motion wand inspire new wave of plastic props

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jun 26th 2009 at 10:45PM }

Do you get the sense that Project Natal is ... missing something? Accessory peddler dreamGear does. The maker of such essentials as the 3-In-1 Player's Sports Kit for Wii, the 7-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii, the 10-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii, and the 15-In-1 Player's Kit for Wii is already hard at work trying to adapt its enhancements for Microsoft's upcoming motion technology release. "One of the biggest challenges for peripherals firms is keeping up with changing technology, particularly the trend toward interactive gaming started by Nintendo and now embraced by Microsoft's Project Natal," dreamGEAR COO Richard Weston explains to MCV. Molding a plastic steering wheel that fits in everyone's hands is a true challenge, you see.

"From all the recent revelations at E3 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, motion sensing devices and add-on accessories for these devices will be the main focus in the future," Logic3's sales manager Paul Croucher frighteningly foretells. So then, the snooker cue attachment for the PS3 wand confirmed? Please, make it STOP.

Tags: motion-control, peripherals, playstation-motion-controller, project-natal, the-future

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

BloodShot Robot @ Jun 26th 2009 10:54PM

The PSi needs to see the glowing ball at the end of the wand thing. You can't just cover it up with a crappy plastic toy like they did with the wiimote.

Cody @ Jun 27th 2009 12:23AM

"interactive gaming started by Nintendo and now embraced by Microsoft's Project Natal,"

The most important part of this article.

Always leading the pack.

Sly @ Jun 27th 2009 12:37AM

wow cody, i don't know what's worse, that you hijacked the first post or that you're being an uninformed fanboy again.

solarshadows074 @ Jun 27th 2009 12:47AM

i'm just gonna post this here i want people to read this and it has nothing in response to BloodShot Robot's post.

Anyways, these motion control stuff are all unfinished, so a change is a MUST regarding the name or functuality. I mean, anything could be implemented to both since it's not even made yet. i'm sure that microsoft and sony will offer tons of unique features with these innovative add ons.

kacex @ Jun 27th 2009 9:47PM

And these features are pictured here :)

http://www.virtualshackles.com/18/

Chris @ Jun 26th 2009 10:58PM

The only thing Natal is missing is the hassle of batteries. I dont think the PS3 motion controller is anything special, Natal will at least be easy for anyone to use. Have you ever seen an old person try to use the Wiimote for the first time?

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:03PM

Have you ever seen an old person making strange gestures and shouting to a console so they can get it work?

Sly @ Jun 26th 2009 11:06PM

^yes i have actually.

Look At This Suit @ Jun 26th 2009 11:06PM

Yes, yes I have. Not just consoles, either. Basically any electronic device made after the year 1980 seems to get this response.

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:13PM

Exactly, my parents use to yell at the phone when they couldn't hear it... don't even get me started on cellphones...

solarshadows074 @ Jun 27th 2009 12:51AM

ps3 controllers are rechargeable through usb, why would they not implement that on the motion controller.

Andrew @ Jun 27th 2009 9:49AM

A few years ago, I interviewed Dr. Richard Marks, i.e. the guy who talked us through Sony's PS3 wand-with-a-glow-bulb motion control demo at E3 on Tuesday. Marks is the guy who designed Sony's Eye Toy, and I was at the time working on a games interface story to coincide with the release of Nintendo's Wii. I asked Marks why Sony didn't just turn up the Eye Toy's capture resolution and challenge Nintendo with a hands-free alternative. In other words, why didn't Sony just debut their own "Project Natal" years ago? They had the essential tech--Microsoft's approach is essentially just the Eye Toy Plus, after all.

Marks' thoughts were telling, perhaps even predictive of what we saw from Sony on Tuesday.

"The trick is matching what you want to measure with what you want to accomplish," he told me. "Do you want to track distance? Location? Angle? Speed? They all have different functions, and things start to get really exciting when you can mix and match sampling tools to create feedback synergies. Say the Sixaxis controller for speed and angle with a camera checking location."

Complementary augmentation, in other words, not--as might have seemed logical given the Eye Toy's approach--an entirely peripheral-free experience. Or at least that's how I read him.

Which leads to my--I wouldn't say concern, so much as curiosity--in light of the week's events. When you take the controller away for an "untethered" experience, you introduce a brand new issue: What about feedback?

I'm not just talking about the rumbly vibrations that pulse through our battery-juiced gamepads, but the simple--in game terms atavistic--tactile response you get from hefting a slim, slightly weighted piece of plastic covered in dials and buttons and levers.

In gamer parlance, we occasionally invoke the term "button-mashing." Take away the controller and there's nothing to mash. You grip nothing. The smooth plastic contours you're so accustomed to pressing against simply don't exist.

Think it through with me. Why don't guns fire with shallow buttons (or god forbid, simple "touch" sensors, like the power button on the PS3) instead of tension triggers? Easy: Because our brains need touch-based indexes. Clunky as it sounds, we depend on the interaction of our finger with that tensile, deterministic trigger, to pull off subtle, sophisticated maneuvers. How hard do you need to pull on the trigger (gun or gamepad) to fire? The trigger's resistance lets your finger (and therefore, your brain) know.

The other advantage of controllers, is that they offer that tactile relationship while at the same time minimizing the amount of activity being physically simulated onscreen. If you want to pound something with a bat, say, the gamepad's designed to let you do so without the gestural complexities and physical intensity of the actual motion.

Try something with me. Take your index finger, whatever hand you favor, then tap as fast as you can on a flat surface. Now try holding that same hand out in the air and seeing if you can tap as quickly, or with as relatively little effort. Not as easy as it sounds, right? Part of the body's ability to make precise motions depends on spatial rules about objects it's been trained to follow since birth.

(http://www.pcworld.com/article/166109/e3_whats_wrong_with_microsofts_xbox_360_motioncontrol_approach.html)

Saria the Cat @ Jun 27th 2009 3:12PM

You're missing the point, Andrew. And the point is...

MINORITY REPORT!!!

:O :D :O

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:02PM

Like Sony or MS are going to give up the incoming cash of creating their own accesories

Mr Khan @ Jun 27th 2009 11:19AM

Nintendo doesn't make most of those accessories anyway.

kacex @ Jun 27th 2009 8:44PM

Maybe they don't do all of them, but the ones that are useful they do make them, like the zapper...

Phwach @ Jun 26th 2009 11:03PM

I am on the road crew. This is my stop sign.

LordToastington @ Jun 26th 2009 11:15PM

I am making a pie.

Jacksons @ Jun 27th 2009 12:04AM

I am a sewer worker.

David @ Jun 27th 2009 8:37AM

I will eat your pie.

Sayed @ Jun 27th 2009 9:45AM

I am a grieving widow

Chris @ Jun 26th 2009 11:06PM

@kacex Yes i have, thats why I think its a great idea since it will finally respond to them.

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:12PM

so there won't be any difference... you will know... it will work exactly as a (insert-w/e-new-technology) to "old person"'s perception/attitude/pov to new technology... it's always going to be the same... well let's hope when we are old enough dont react that way with such hardware innovations...

Kill a mans jiro @ Jun 26th 2009 11:07PM

I see a back scratcher not a snooker cue...
http://www.logic3.com/details/?prod=381

LordPaul @ Jun 27th 2009 8:56AM

Butt scratcher~???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEsI5sXjLLQ&feature=related

Mr Khan @ Jun 27th 2009 11:25AM

Wiimote and Nunchuk > Gamepad (it can be a game pad, and more)

WINterfang @ Jun 27th 2009 12:44PM

It will be getting more attention if it didn't looked so stupid, give it a nice redesign and improve it's sexy factor and people will look it like more than a an expensive toy/dildo thingy.

Also since Sony didn't seem to give the much attention to it's Sixaxis technology nobody knows for sure how much are they going to bet on the technology before giving up.

Lionbacker steamID: detfan1957 @ Jun 27th 2009 3:54PM

It's a finglonger!

Killiam XXIII @ Jun 26th 2009 11:14PM

Project Natal > Wiimote > "PS3 wand" or whatever that shit is called.

WINterfang @ Jun 26th 2009 11:16PM

I like the wiimote but I'm definitely hoping for Natal to kick ass.

R.F.E.F. Red Fury (UltraS Sur) @ Jun 26th 2009 11:21PM

Nah man, The Wiimote is greater than or equal to the "PS3 wand".

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:25PM

You forgot that PS2 Eyetoy = Natal or pretty much equivalent

nbdy @ Jun 26th 2009 11:27PM

Not trying to sound fanboyish or anything, but could you explain to me what kind of games you are expecting to play using the natal.

kacex @ Jun 26th 2009 11:36PM

my wildest guess is... the ones on that video demo... if that's anything to go by...

Jacksons @ Jun 26th 2009 11:39PM

Er, I'm trying to understand what's so special about Natal. I'm no fan of motion controls in the first place, but I'd rather be able to control my fencing sword with the wiimote or superimpose anything into my hand with the PS3 gadget than do....whatever in front of Natal.

WINterfang @ Jun 27th 2009 1:34AM

I'll like to play Space Channel 5.

Meh @ Jun 27th 2009 4:19AM

"You forgot that PS2 Eyetoy = Natal or pretty much equivalent"
Actually, NOPE. Natal figures out your position in 3D space, so you can even hold a Wiimote in your hand and Natal will recognize its movement. HA.

Indefinite Implosion @ Jun 27th 2009 4:25AM

you seem to have got your signs around the wrong way, easy mistake, I know.
see what you really meant was;
"Project Natal > Wiimote > "PS3 wand""

Indefinite Implosion @ Jun 27th 2009 4:30AM

whoops, it's too late for this... what *I* meant was
"you seem to have got your signs around the wrong way, easy mistake, I know.
see what you really meant was;
"Project Natal < Wiimote < "PS3 wand"""

Davey @ Jun 27th 2009 6:24AM

Gamepad > All of them

Hyams @ Jun 27th 2009 11:35AM

Don't get why you put Swaggle last. It can do everything the Wii Motion Plus can do (and slightly better), as well as most of the coolest stuff Natal can do (face tracking, voice recognition).

I find it weird that of all three, it's getting the least amount of hype, despite obviously being the best.

Of course, I expect it'll have the worst games of all three. Look at how badly Sony supported the Eyetoy, Sixaxis, and the PlayStation Eye, after all.

Hyams @ Jun 27th 2009 11:38AM

Also, +1 to Davey.

Nate @ Jun 27th 2009 3:40PM

PS3 wand > wiimotionplus > Natal > wiimote
Think of accuracy first.
Think of peripherals (less changing & buying the better)
And then think of the games you could play with it.

- PS3 wand is the only one with amazing accuracy. You only need one peripheral (the camera), and then you could play an amazing amount of games with it (everything made to date, if they were written for it)
-Wiimotionplus is pretty accurate-ish. It's a peripheral on a peripheral rich part of a controller. You could play the same type of games as the wiimote, but it's not backwards compatible.
- Natal isn't all that accurate, but enough for casual games with little skill. No extra peripherals could be used with it (really... there is no point). You could play... games more casual that DDR - which is saying something.
- Wiimote is horribly innaccurate, most games are better by not using it the way it was intended to be used (waggle, wrist flicks, etc). The controller itself requires a peripheral for most games (which have to be removed for other games), and has an overly-rich market for more just to make it comfortable in using it different ways. As a bonus, it came out first and therefor is compatible with all games for the system... until the peripheral wiimotionplus hits the shelves... and is pretty good for fps, rpg's, and toy-like games.

it's splitting hairs, but when I look at it this way the ps3 wand is the ONLY one that could replace the standard controller in future systems as it stands. the wiimotionplus could, if it were redesigned to not need so many peripherals.

maveric101 @ Jun 27th 2009 5:50PM

while Natal is similar to the EyeToy, it is capable of much more. "The device features an "RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software", which provides full-body 3D motion capture, facial recognition, and voice recognition capabilities. The Project Natal sensor's microphone array enables the Xbox 360 to conduct acoustic source localization and ambient noise suppression, allowing for things such as headset-free party chat over Xbox Live.[1][fn 5]

The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Project Natal sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions.[1][14][fn 6] The active depth-sensing range of the depth sensor is adjustable,[fn 7] with the Project Natal software capable of automatically calibrating the sensor based on the gameplay and environment conditions, such as the presence of couches.[15]"

sc00by_y00 @ Jun 28th 2009 4:21PM

Its not actually that much more advanced than ps3 eye..

Currently they have shown nothing that cant be done on the ps3 eye with the Natal..

you might as well call it the ps3 eye +

Chris @ Jun 26th 2009 11:16PM

@kacex haha thats always a fear of mine. I hope I dont get old and lose my touch with electronics. The only thing ive noticed is i hate the way these new 120hz TVs look, its kept me from buying a new TV. oh no, its starting! "Why does the picture have to move so smooth!? I miss 60 hz 'ma"