Natal, PS3 motion wand inspire new wave of plastic props

Ah for cryin out loud... Its like the Nazi's trying to erase Jewish history and replace it with their own. Joystiq.com, is no different. Get your facts together. Does the PlayStation Eye mean anything to you? Or wait, maybe we can go back farther to the great innovator who developed gee I don't know, Samba de Amigo. The world is trying to erase SEGA from histories past. But, I guess a website that worships Microsoft as their own dictator would remember the words of one Ex-Apple employee and the simultanious fool trying to open a ice cream shop in Florida bumbin off of some guys idea to expand the business and claim credit out of greed for money. One Bill Gates stated: "A true artist doesn't create, he steel's."

http://www.testmy.net/t-16596.90;wap2

This is the innovation of your mighty ruler Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. No, its not video game related, but he whom you bow before, it is related to. Microsoft "is no Messiah. He's a movie of the week. He's, a friggin Tshirt -- at best!" Here's your 'creator of project Natal.' As for Nintendo, give it a rest, SEGA did more for videogaming that Nintendo ever good have because they dared to venture out on their own and bring innovation and power to gaming world. I believe that's what Sony's intent today is. Sega said, "What's Mortal Kombat without blood? Sweat? Are you kidding me! Sweat is for little girls." SEGA engulfed the hardcore gaming world and even took Sony/Toshiba's innovation and began video games on disc with the SEGA CD. Nintendo was content with their cartidges and carried all the way to the Nintendo 64 when they realized it wasn't working and finally snapped into place with what? A mini disc that was also developed by who? Sony?

Microsoft says, "Lets give them 1 vs 100." Sony said, "Lets give them 1 of 256 players in MAG." Sony today, is what SEGA once was. SEGA gave in. Sony will never say die. Nintendo has its innovations. I can agree with that. Ever seen a Super Nintendo controller, and then seen a Dualshock? There's only so much you can do with a controller. Have you ever seen a Dreamcast controller, and then seen and Xbox controller. Give the Dreamcast another analog stick, paint it black or in case leave it the same color and it looks just like a Xbox 360 controller. Buttons are even the same color place in the same order with the analong stick and D-Pad in the same position. There was even a slot on the top which the VMU (DC)/ Memory Card (Xbox) slid into.

The difference between PS3eye and Natal is that Natal can do the full motion body motion. Natal can track up to 48 bone structure of the human body of 4 separate people within the camera field of view. This gives Natal the advantage of 4 player with complete Skelton mapping 192 separate motions tracked. Also, Natal can 3d map the entire field of view of the camera, which means that it is not dependent on a specific device like the Wiimote and PS3 wand.

The PS3eye is only a 2D camera and though it can do motion it is totally reliant on light to do anything motion related. Most of the things that Natal does in hardware can be done with the PS3eye with software but the accuracy takes a hit in low light situations. This is one of the big barriers that cannot be overcome with a 2D camera like the PS3eye. They can add chips to increase the camera ability to pick up low light but those chips have to be tempered with cost.

Natal sends out a IR single (i forget how many times per sec) to map the physical area within the camera view. The IR single gives Natal the 1:1 depth it needs to accurately track the human body no matter what the lighting is within your living room. Even no lighting at all will not prevent the Natal from detecting your body.

The PS3eye needs the Wand to provide a light source that cannot be interfered with by Fluorescent, natural light, shade ect. Without the light emitted from the wand, the device would be at the mercy of your lighting within your living room.

PS3eye is dependent on the wand in order to get true 1:1 motion while Natal is not dependent on any other device besides what’s already built within Natal.

In other words, Natal is the more flexible of the two technologies but in the end that flexibility might not mean anything unless its use properly. Sony is on the right track that people need something physical in their hands to interact with their games but having a device that can track the complete movement of your body might actually introduce games we have never thought.

A game that I thought would be great for Natal is a game coming out for the PS3. Heavy Rain or an adventure game in the same vein seems like a great fit.

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""

thats exactly what he wrote...

!3vol ╕o 3m6n 3λt nI !qot5

While I think Natal has the most potiential, I also see it being the worst offender for these third party junk accesories, there's going to be little bits of plastic for every single game created for it.

At the very least, I don't think it'll be Microsoft releasing the stuff themselves.

Someone just needs to make a Star Wars game, where I can use my force-fx lightsaber :)

I don't want motion control! I like my controller and i want to SIT DOWN having a descent gaming experience!

Plastic accessory companies to motion controls = flies to shit.

Since there's only one clause after each condition, you didn't have to use { or }

Just sayin' :P

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)

I find it to be EXTREMELY annoying that every post turns into a flamewar since there is only "joystiq"!! All that smack talk and donwnvoting just because someone likes another console.. I just don`t get it. What the eff is wrong with some guys here?!

it's too bad MJ died before natal came out.

It sounded like Project Milo was right up his alley.

Everyone always thinks "what about FPS games" when it comes to this stuff. These companies are not trying to increase the experience for FPS player they are trying to do what nintendo has done. Stop thinking about how this will effect COD because I doubt it will.

I wonder if Natal can take a picture of an object like a toy sword and use that as the game controller.

For Natal i would imagine it getting pretty bad, but they wouldn't be as useless for Natal, as Microsoft encouraged the use of props in that promo vid.

Not sure if they would even work for the Wand, as i don't know its full feature-set

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

MINORITY REPORT!!!

:O :D :O

YESSS!!!!
(i didnt read the post:))