Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
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Microsoft revealed more information about Project Natal today, the motion sensing Xbox 360 camera. Previously, there were some concerns about exactly how much space would be required in a room in order for the device to work properly. Microsoft says don’t worry, Natal will know you live in a crappy studio apartment in New York. Previous reports indicated that you’d need a large space to use Natal, but apparently that is not the case. Microsoft was quick to respond that they are aware of the fact that people may have limited space, and that Natal will automatically scan a room to determine the size, and be able to detect movement within a range of up to 13 feet away. This should be more then sufficient for even the smallest of living rooms, no matter where you live.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
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The announcement from Nintendo this morning came like a bolt out of the blue. We all have been expecting some new hardware from Nintendo, seeing as the Wii and DS platforms are getting pretty long in the tooth (despite refreshes for the DS), but a 3D handheld? This is madness! No – this is Iwata ! Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto are two men who know what they’re doing when it comes to making games. While a few of their ideas ( Vitality Sensor , Wii Music) may seem a bit bizarre to us, there’s no question that everything they do is in the name of making fun games . And you know that they wouldn’t be doing the 3D thing unless they felt they could make it fun. There are a number of questions out there. How will the 3D be effected? Will it be faux-3D, as Kotaku wonders? Will it be lenticular lens technology, used for (eye-breaking) glasses-less 3D TVs? After all, the Wii is something less than the perfect 1:1 movement detection they wanted us to think it was. Even the newest motion control technologies are barely approaching that level. Will Nintendo just give us a “good enough” version of 3D? We’ll find out for sure in June, and I’m guessing it’s not going to actually blow everyone’s minds. I mean, you can play tons of games in 3D right now with the right hardware, and it seems likely that the traditional control scheme (analog stick and buttons) is going to make for rather traditional games. You can’t snatch coins out of the air with your hand, or have Mario mimic your limbs’ positions exactly. But remember when the DS came out, and everyone said the second screen was just going to be an anchor around the neck of developers? All they wanted was more power, like the PSP, people said. A second screen, who can even think of a use for it? Well, a hundred million units later , I think we ought to have a little faith in both Nintendo and the developers. Off the top of my head, I can think about a few uses for 3D in a single-player, small-screen device, but I’m guessing that there are developers out there covering whiteboard after whiteboard with sweet handheld 3D concepts. Don’t forget, you’ve got the cameras on there, too. Nintendo is very picky about its hardware, too. The reason, I feel, why they are behind in terms of graphics, is like the reason of the Luddites: it’s not that they don’t like or want technology, but they want to weigh its potential fully before adopting it. So it is with Nintendo, who will I’m sure eventually make possible the photorealistic graphics of the 360 and PS3, but in the meantime seems to be doing just fine with the, let’s be honest, rather meager capabilities of the Wii and DSi. Likewise with the motion control system: they were pitched with the progenitor for Project Natal, and deemed it not ready for prime time, which three years ago it certainly was not (and which remains to be seen). They may have improved the Wiimote with the MotionPlus add-on, but the motion control fidelity on the Wii has been good enough to sell like hotcakes, and I’m guessing that’s about the level they’re aiming for with the 3DS. So whatever technology it uses (and we all know it will be mocked by fanboys no matter what), we know it is at least approved by a couple guys who probably know pretty well what’s good and what isn’t. They led the charge on motion control, and now they’re starting up the “only in 3D” variety of development. And you better believe there’s going to throw a bitching Mario game into the deal. Get excited.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
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So, this Move . I’m pretty sure it brings nothing new to the party. That’s too bad, because the PS3 is starting to take off (after three lackluster years) and it would have helped push units if they had an innovative motion control system. I mean, not everyone is into the motion controllers , but… seriously, Sony. It’s a Wiimote . Don’t even try to tell me it’s different. The only real difference I can see is that the camera is on the TV rather than in the remote. But that’s not really important. What’s important is that this controller does absolutely nothing new. I mean, it’s used in the exact same way as a Wiimote. It lends itself to the same control schemes as the Wiimote. It’s the same size and shape as the Wiimote. Its method of determining motion and position is similar to the Wiimote’s. Tell me what is possible with the Move that is not possible with the Wiimote? There are two points I’ll gladly yield. The motion sensors in the Move are almost certainly a bit better than Nintendo’s (though the MotionPlus negates some of those gains). And the PS3 is of course far superior in graphics and we might, for example, get an adult-themed sword-based game where enemies don’t shoot sparks and disappear when you cut them. I don’t want to sound ghoulish, but come on. It’s a sword . Gizmodo notes that multiplayer is a little gimped . Yeah, a bit, but no more than the Wii, I think. I’d say that the “sweet spot” that exists for the Move is more limiting to multiplayer than anything else. I’m not sure of the Eye’s field of view, but can four people really fit in it comfortably while flailing around? The benefit of the Wii method is that the “eye” is in the controller, meaning as long as you’re pointing at the TV, you’re good. I was pumped for the Move until I figured out (a couple months ago) that it wasn’t going to actually offer anything new to developers. Maybe there will be a few cool hardcore games that wouldn’t fit graphically or tonewise on the Wii, but they’re not opening up any new horizons. Let’s hope Natal doesn’t disappoint. I understand Microsoft is going to be leaning on it as a whole new control method for its whole lineup, so we can probably expect some pretty good stuff. And of course there’s Razer and Sixense’s sweet-looking magnet thing . Until then I’ll be sticking with my SNES.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
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The big Sony press conference is underway, and as expected, their motion controller is the star of the show. We can’t be there personally this time, but here comes the news anyway (I’m watching a few liveblogs; the pictures are from Kotaku’s ). The motion controller will be called the Move, not the Gem or Arc as suspected, and you can use two of them (or one and a nunchuk-like non-ball-topped controller) simultaneously to, say, box or use a sword and shield. Latency is “under one frame,” so probably around 30ms, which isn’t bad. They’re showing off how it works with a few launch games. 3rd person fighters, more casual stuff, and soon we’ll probably be seeing some FPS style games as well like Red Steel 2 . Lots of third party support, which we knew already, but hey, good to hear. There isn’t much else to say until you can see it in action or try it. Hopefully they’ll get demo units out to places like Sony Style and GameStop soon.