Will delay sink Project Natal?

Xbox 360 Breakout game.The blog circuit is finally getting some hands-on time with Project Natal, and there’s a lot of excitement about it. The breakout game in particular seems to get people to really appreciate the power of the peripheral, even more so than the Burnout demo we’ve seen so many places. A big part of that is the barely noticeable lag that accompanies the system. Unfortunately, barely is just enough to make for a frustrating game experience.

MTV says the delay is about .1 seconds – just enough that you’ll notice it, especially in games like Burnout where to-the-millisecond response becomes important. That kind of delay is bad enough for finely tuned controls that it could take Natal down to something neat you show your friends once. That is, if fine control were all Microsoft was after.

One really cool feature of Natal is head tracking. It gives the viewer a whole new level of immersion by changing the image on screen based on the position of your eyes relative to that screen. It’s something Johnny Chung Lee demoed using the Wiimote some time ago. It’s just one facet of Natal that will take it beyond a simple control device to creating a new kind of experience with games.

  

Take Two Has Natal Dev Kits At All Studios

Take Two Interactive logo.Looks like Microsoft isn’t the only one thinking Natal is going to be a serious game changer. Take Two CEO Ben Feder had plenty to say about the Xbox 360 periph during today’s Q3 earnings call with investors.

Natal motion-sensors – yes we have dev kits, yes we’re working on them,” he said. “Obviously, we can’t comment on games we haven’t announced. But those dev kits are embedded in all of our studios, or just about all of our studios, and everybody’s working with them to try to figure out new ways in which we can innovate and create the kind of content that this company is famous for. So yes, we’re working on it.”

That’s a pretty serious commitment as I see it. Take Two isn’t just big, they’re huge, and it sounds like they’re dedicating a lot of resources to what is basically a new platform. Of course that could all just be talk, but why say so much when it could have just been, “Yes, we’re working on it.”

Regardless, I’m excited to see what next year holds. As we get closer to hardware release you have to bet developers like Take Two will be showing off their stuff.

  

Microsoft’s Shane Kim Says Natal Is About “Winning” This Generation”

Shane Kim.Microsoft’s XBox 360 Corporate VP Shane Kim recently sat down with OXM to talk about Project Natal and the future of the 360 platform. According to Kim, Natal is more than just a cool peripheral, it’s how Microsoft plans to bring “hundreds of millions” of gamers to platform and eventually win this generation.

Kim is aware, as is the rest of the world, that Natal seems on the outside like a response to Nintendo’s Wii, the console that’s actually winning the generation so far. He claims that’s not what Natal’s about, but that’s a hard sell. “This is about unlocking the potential and breaking down all the barriers that remain that prevent people who are intimidated or feel awkward with a controller in their hand – anything that prevents them from jumping in and having a great time with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live,” Kim said.

Kim’s sending a pretty clear message. The “barriers that remain” are obviously the things Nintendo didn’t do, which are the same things Kim thinks will help Natal win. You can read the rest of the interview over at OXM.

  

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