E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
06-03-09 | 09:09 AM
#901
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From: Virginia
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
I expect weird stuff like the Vitality-ma-jig to come out of Japan. It shows off what they are thinking and working on. Its out of the box. I have no idea what you would do with it, I have no idea how it would work in a game. But the idea that Nintendo (or NOJ rather) is thinking outside the box is exciting.
And Cammie did not crack one smile this time around. I dont think her and Iwata get along at all.
And Cammie did not crack one smile this time around. I dont think her and Iwata get along at all.
06-03-09 | 09:31 AM
#902
DVD Talk Legend
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
So is anyone having shows today? At work again with no G4 or gaming sites.
06-03-09 | 09:49 AM
#903
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
I expect weird stuff like the Vitality-ma-jig to come out of Japan. It shows off what they are thinking and working on. Its out of the box. I have no idea what you would do with it, I have no idea how it would work in a game. But the idea that Nintendo (or NOJ rather) is thinking outside the box is exciting.
And Cammie did not crack one smile this time around. I dont think her and Iwata get along at all.
And Cammie did not crack one smile this time around. I dont think her and Iwata get along at all.
Imagine a zombie game that keeps track of your heart rate. In the options they could have a 'make game harder,' or 'make game easier' based on your spiking heart rate. So that last battle had your heart racing the game could send 100 more zombies at you right then or it could slow the pace a little and let you find ammo & health.
Now imagine that same scenario in something like Left 4 Dead where it tracks all four players' heart rates(on screen even). Whomever has the highest heart rate is where the zombies focus their attack leaving the other 3 people to fend 'em off your partner.
The 'Vitality' Sensor sounds silly at first glance, but thinking back to Tetris I think it is one device that could have practical uses in other games.
06-03-09 | 10:01 AM
#904
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
So are we all done, anything else to look forward to today?
06-03-09 | 10:12 AM
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From: Virginia
06-03-09 | 10:15 AM
#906
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
How exactly did that Tetris monitor work? I don't see a finger device being practical while holding a controller.
06-03-09 | 10:20 AM
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Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
I'm heading there today, all starry eyed and excited, though my husband (an AI programmer for games) is skeptical about the experience and not all too excited about it. His coworkers share the same feelings, so much so that several of them choose not to attend and just enjoy their paid day off. Oh well, at least one of us will wear a dorky grin on their face all day long, and hopefully get some free t-shirts and magnets out of the experience.
06-03-09 | 10:30 AM
#908
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
As a 'finger' peripheral it would be hard to do on a standard controller. I guess you could clip it to a pinky since you don't use those. The Wii is a bit different depending on if the nunchuck is in play.
It's just one of those quirky things that I really liked and would like to see put to use more. The idea behind it has potential.*edited to add Wiki link. Also rereading it I forgot all about GigaTetris mode. That was damn fun as well. It's seems dated now but it was the first 4-player Tetris as well.
Last edited by Michael Corvin; 06-03-09 at 10:33 AM.
06-03-09 | 10:49 AM
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From: Virginia
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
Imagine a zombie game that keeps track of your heart rate. In the options they could have a 'make game harder,' or 'make game easier' based on your spiking heart rate. So that last battle had your heart racing the game could send 100 more zombies at you right then or it could slow the pace a little and let you find ammo & health.
The 'Vitality' Sensor sounds silly at first glance, but thinking back to Tetris I think it is one device that could have practical uses in other games.
Of course there are other "practical" uses for this device but they would never see the light of day on consoles built for kids and teens.
06-03-09 | 10:59 AM
#911
06-03-09 | 11:03 AM
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Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
06-03-09 | 11:39 AM
#913
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
It could be cool if they work the vitality sensor into a sniper game where your actual heartbeat will cause the gun to move slightly.
06-03-09 | 11:56 AM
#914
DVD Talk Legend
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
06-03-09 | 12:12 PM
#915
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
Maybe it's just me, but having the vitality sensor do those sort of things would be pretty annoying. I guess I just don't feel the need to have my heartbeat affect a game and wouldn't help in my immersion at all.
06-03-09 | 12:13 PM
#916
DVD Talk Limited Edition
06-03-09 | 12:49 PM
#917
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06-03-09 | 01:07 PM
#918
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
I'd answer your question about the phrase you have - but moderation is not simply about words - it's about the flow of a thread and how things are going in there. Without context - that's a pretty useless thing to read.
I only was around the computer for he msft conference and caught up on the nintendo/sony one last night via the psn and gametrailers. All in all - nothing wowed me except Heavy Rain (the reason I bought a ps3) and Alan Wake. There were a coulpe others on each system that looked good -but nothing that made me pre order...except monkey island.
06-03-09 | 01:20 PM
#919
DVD Talk Hero
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
Engadget's hands-on with Natal:
Originally Posted by Engadget.com
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/03/p...rther-details/
We had a chance to go one-on-one with Project Natal -- as well as its steward, Kudo Tsunoda -- and we wanted to give you a little insight on Microsoft's next big play. Plus, how could we pass up an opportunity to show off a video of us essentially flailing around like teenagers on a coffee high?
The first thing to note is that Microsoft is very protective of the actual technology right now, so they weren't letting us film or photograph any of the box itself, though what they had was an extremely rough version of what the device will look like (not at all like the press shot above). It consisted of a small, black box aimed out into the room -- about the size of a Roku Player -- with sensors along the front. It almost looked a bit like a mid-size (between pico and full size) projector.
The first demo that we played was a 3D breakout game, where the player is trying to bat a red ball (or in the case of this version, sometimes 10 red balls) toward a line of bricks at the end of a long (virtual) space. The body tracking is truly impressive -- according to Kudo, it's picking up 48 joint points on the human body. As soon as we stepped into line in front of the box, the avatar immediately took on our stance and movements. And we mean really took them on -- little gestures with our arms, the posture we had, front and back movements -- it completely tracked them with accuracy. We did notice a bit of stutter during some finer movements, but overall the effect was impressive (and more than a little eerie).
The second demo was actually just a hack of Burnout Paradise, and in some ways was more interesting than the ball swatting. Kudo and his team retrofitted the racing game to take advantage of the Natal, implementing a virtual wheel for steering, and a foot forward or back as the gas pedal. The effect was nothing short of amazing -- the first time we stepped in to play it was immediately natural (save for the part about having to imagine a wheel in your hands). Sure, we wrecked the hell out of a few cars, but it was striking how easy it was to pick up the feel for it. Kudo insinuated that it would be easy for developers to incorporate this tech into pre-existing games, and we have to say, the possibilities are exciting.
After our meeting, we actually had a chance to speak with another source who was able to show us the software guts behind the Natal, so that we could understand the method by which tracking is done. The box uses two sensors for input: a video camera, and an infrared camera (that light you see in the press photo is either power, or some part of the IR setup). The infrared data is used to gauge depth and the video camera movement, but it's the software Microsoft has developed which is really doing the magic. We were shown an example of the raw output of the system, which melds the two sources and then breaks them down into a wireframe of objects, a heatmap (for depth), and a point-map (which is akin to one of those hand imprint needle toys). The software merges all of this together to create a picture of movement in the room, allowing for some pretty crazy detail of what is going on. We watched a chair being dragged into the middle of the playing field, and the software was able to continue to track the human movement, as well as that person sitting down -- it didn't break a sweat. The accuracy is far better than you would imagine it could be; it's very impressive stuff.
Obviously, Microsoft is still working out kinks and perfecting this thing, but what we saw at our demo (and super-secret demo) was mightily convincing. The demo that Sony showed of its new motion controller was interesting, but the fact that Natal is forgoing physical controls of any kind sets your mind reeling. For the other two competitors in this space, Natal could make a very, very strong rival. Ultimately it's up to developers to find truly compelling ways of using this stuff -- though they'd be fools to waste an opportunity like this.
We had a chance to go one-on-one with Project Natal -- as well as its steward, Kudo Tsunoda -- and we wanted to give you a little insight on Microsoft's next big play. Plus, how could we pass up an opportunity to show off a video of us essentially flailing around like teenagers on a coffee high?
The first thing to note is that Microsoft is very protective of the actual technology right now, so they weren't letting us film or photograph any of the box itself, though what they had was an extremely rough version of what the device will look like (not at all like the press shot above). It consisted of a small, black box aimed out into the room -- about the size of a Roku Player -- with sensors along the front. It almost looked a bit like a mid-size (between pico and full size) projector.
The first demo that we played was a 3D breakout game, where the player is trying to bat a red ball (or in the case of this version, sometimes 10 red balls) toward a line of bricks at the end of a long (virtual) space. The body tracking is truly impressive -- according to Kudo, it's picking up 48 joint points on the human body. As soon as we stepped into line in front of the box, the avatar immediately took on our stance and movements. And we mean really took them on -- little gestures with our arms, the posture we had, front and back movements -- it completely tracked them with accuracy. We did notice a bit of stutter during some finer movements, but overall the effect was impressive (and more than a little eerie).
The second demo was actually just a hack of Burnout Paradise, and in some ways was more interesting than the ball swatting. Kudo and his team retrofitted the racing game to take advantage of the Natal, implementing a virtual wheel for steering, and a foot forward or back as the gas pedal. The effect was nothing short of amazing -- the first time we stepped in to play it was immediately natural (save for the part about having to imagine a wheel in your hands). Sure, we wrecked the hell out of a few cars, but it was striking how easy it was to pick up the feel for it. Kudo insinuated that it would be easy for developers to incorporate this tech into pre-existing games, and we have to say, the possibilities are exciting.
After our meeting, we actually had a chance to speak with another source who was able to show us the software guts behind the Natal, so that we could understand the method by which tracking is done. The box uses two sensors for input: a video camera, and an infrared camera (that light you see in the press photo is either power, or some part of the IR setup). The infrared data is used to gauge depth and the video camera movement, but it's the software Microsoft has developed which is really doing the magic. We were shown an example of the raw output of the system, which melds the two sources and then breaks them down into a wireframe of objects, a heatmap (for depth), and a point-map (which is akin to one of those hand imprint needle toys). The software merges all of this together to create a picture of movement in the room, allowing for some pretty crazy detail of what is going on. We watched a chair being dragged into the middle of the playing field, and the software was able to continue to track the human movement, as well as that person sitting down -- it didn't break a sweat. The accuracy is far better than you would imagine it could be; it's very impressive stuff.
Obviously, Microsoft is still working out kinks and perfecting this thing, but what we saw at our demo (and super-secret demo) was mightily convincing. The demo that Sony showed of its new motion controller was interesting, but the fact that Natal is forgoing physical controls of any kind sets your mind reeling. For the other two competitors in this space, Natal could make a very, very strong rival. Ultimately it's up to developers to find truly compelling ways of using this stuff -- though they'd be fools to waste an opportunity like this.
06-03-09 | 01:21 PM
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06-03-09 | 01:39 PM
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Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
Microsoft obviously needs to get as many people to buy this device as they can in order for it to succeed.
My prediction:
Microsoft announces the Xbox 720 at next year's E3. They basically copy what Nintendo did when transitioning from the Gamecube to the Wii.
The 720 will basically be a 360 with souped-up specs:
- Will include Natal as well as a standard conteroller
- Will have a faster CPU
- Will have more/Faster RAM
- Will have a faster Video Card
- Will have 100% compatability with the 360 games
- Will have ROCK SOLID reliability. (They have to make sure of this!)
They could do all of these things for next to nothing when compared with coming up with a whole new system. They could probably sell it for only $50 more than whatever the 360 is going for at the time.
Doing this they would have a HUGE jump on Sony, and maybe Nintendo.
If I were in the Microsoft drivers seat, it is what I would do!
My prediction:
Microsoft announces the Xbox 720 at next year's E3. They basically copy what Nintendo did when transitioning from the Gamecube to the Wii.
The 720 will basically be a 360 with souped-up specs:
- Will include Natal as well as a standard conteroller
- Will have a faster CPU
- Will have more/Faster RAM
- Will have a faster Video Card
- Will have 100% compatability with the 360 games
- Will have ROCK SOLID reliability. (They have to make sure of this!)
They could do all of these things for next to nothing when compared with coming up with a whole new system. They could probably sell it for only $50 more than whatever the 360 is going for at the time.
Doing this they would have a HUGE jump on Sony, and maybe Nintendo.
If I were in the Microsoft drivers seat, it is what I would do!
Last edited by gr8vette; 06-03-09 at 01:42 PM.
06-03-09 | 02:03 PM
#923
DVD Talk Hero
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
The second demo was actually just a hack of Burnout Paradise, and in some ways was more interesting than the ball swatting. Kudo and his team retrofitted the racing game to take advantage of the Natal, implementing a virtual wheel for steering, and a foot forward or back as the gas pedal. The effect was nothing short of amazing -- the first time we stepped in to play it was immediately natural (save for the part about having to imagine a wheel in your hands). Sure, we wrecked the hell out of a few cars, but it was striking how easy it was to pick up the feel for it. Kudo insinuated that it would be easy for developers to incorporate this tech into pre-existing games, and we have to say, the possibilities are exciting.
Now, I'd be willing to buy into it if they really can get it to work with pre-existing games (like Burnout!)
06-03-09 | 02:07 PM
#924
DVD Talk Hero
Re: E3 Expo 2009 : June 2-4 - news, info, coverage, etc.
According to another Hands On, Burnout reads your foot for gas and is extremely accurate (flat foot = flooring it.) Moving your foot back apparently triggers the breaking/reverse, or something along those lines.
I too would be interested in this if they issued patches for older games.
I too would be interested in this if they issued patches for older games.