Some video has surfaced of some of the game play of Microsoft Project Natal Kinect.
Archive for 'Gaming'
This is surely the update that 42% of Windows XP gamer users have been waiting for before upgrading their OS. Microsoft have just released KB976264 which has listed the behaviour of as “Enabled the application’s functionality” for WarCraft III as well as many other games and programs.
Including:
- Doom3
- Diablo
- Halo 2
- Half-Life
- Battlefield 2142
After lots of rumours about Bing being the default search engine for the iPhone and iPad it seems to have been squashed with the images of the iPad that Apple have released. Now in theory this is something that could be changed easily as it is just a case of changing the default setting however this is looking less likely.
1. Google can be seen as the search provider in Safari.
2. Maps used for the Map application are from Google. (Map on right is from Google Maps, note they are the same)
Well 2010 (pronounced “twenty ten”) has rolled around and now I can say that this year Project Natal will be coming out for the Xbox 360. WOOHOO!!
So with the impending release of Natal for the Xbox 360 this year I have been thinking about this device some what and here are some predictions I have about the device…
Natal will be for the Xbox 360 and for Windows. Project Natal is probably going to be a USB device (see cable from the device below) as this would be the most convenient way to provide power and data to the camera/microphone array. Now granted this might be a wireless device for the Xbox 360 like the standard controllers and that cable might be a power lead but if this is true you could still connect it to a PC via the USB Xbox 360 Wireless receiver.
So if you can connect the Natal to a PC this would be a way of providing 3D motion capture, facial recognition, voice recognition using the cameras and acoustic source localization and ambient noise suppression via its microphones. These sorts of capabilities would greatly help Microsoft implement NUI interface to Windows like the Microsoft Office Labs 2019 Video that was released early last year… See about 1 minute 30 seconds.
So imagine being able to sit down at your computer and have it recognise to who you are and log you on with you face and a voice print identification then use your hand to move around and organise the windows on your screen…. The future is here (soon)…
My other prediction for Project Natal is that it will enable new gaming titles such as Dance Hero which could be done via a full body motion capture dance. This is something that has been done before but it does away with the tacky floor pads (see image below) that were previously needed to make this work.
Was just listening to the WMExperts Podcast 73 and they mentioned they saw a Xbox 360 with RSS reader option demo’d at a open house event by Microsoft in New York. Not even sure they were meant to see or talk about this feature as but they did so the cat is now out of the bag. This would be very awesome as you will be now able to setup you 360 as you news reader when you combine it with other RSS news aggregators. This positions the Xbox 360 to be the first thing your turn on in the morning and the last thing you turn off especially when it will also have integrated Twitter, Facebook & Zune (marketplace) support this November. I think the 360 is really shaping up to be a fantastic social media hub for your living room and once the Natal is released it will be the must have console for your home.
