Prototype xbox 360
Microsoft introduced a prototype camera Monday that can be used as a controller for the Xbox 360. Codenamed “Project Natal,” the camera eliminates the need for a handheld input device — instead, the gizmo can track a player’s full body movement, recognize their face and voice, scan images of real items and respond to both physical and vocal commands.
“Two months ago, Don shared with me the ‘Natal’ experience, and the gamer in me went out of my mind when I got to be really interactive with this,” said Spielberg, a game developer as well as filmmaker. “More dramatically, I felt like I was present for a historic moment, a moment as significant as the transformation from the square-shaped movie screen to CinemaScope and then to IMAX.”
Sony representatives said at E3 the company believes “some experiences still need buttons,” and so it developed a controller that looks more advanced than Nintendo Wii’s motion controllers, but stopped short of going completely device-free like Microsoft. Sony also used live demos for a variety of gaming scenarios, while Microsoft’s live presentation included more basic gaming situations.
For the Xbox Live online service, Microsoft announced the ability to access streaming music service Last.fm as well as the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter beginning this fall. The social networking sites will be fully integrated into the Xbox Live interface, allowing users to send messages, upload photos and tweet with their Xbox 360.
With that in mind here is my totally theoretical imagining of what gaming with the Xbox 360’s Natal and the PS3’s motion controller might be like in the real world if they worked with any type of game imaginable.
