Home Gaming E3 2009 – Microsoft Press Conference: Part 4 – The Motion Non Controller

E3 2009 – Microsoft Press Conference: Part 4 – The Motion Non Controller

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MSpart4.jpg

So finally, Microsoft has announced it’s new motion controller. Thing is, it’s not actually a motion controller, no, it is the exact opposite.

Microsoft have set out to release a motion control system that takes away the need for a controller completely, and from what we have seen, it is way, way ahead of it’s time.

Find out more about this crazy new innovation from Microsoft, after the jump.

What’s New-ton

When the rumours started, Microsoft’s motion controller was being called the “Newton” and images showed what looked like a controller very similar to the Wii-mote. Then news hit that Microsoft had bought out a company that was developing a special sort of camera that detects motion.

The new device is called Project Natal (as in Kwazulu-Natal, like… Nah-tahl) and is simply a small device that sits on top of or in front of your television.

This new device is absolutely mind blowing, assuming that it will work as well as it did when demoed. The device picks up full body motion, even for more than one person. It also detects depth as well.

A trailer came up, showing those people who were thought to only exist in Wii ads, playing games with the Natal. A woman is shown driving a race car, and even changing gears using nothing but her hands, as she say in a “pretend” driving stance. She pulled in for a pit stop, which then lead to one of her friends hopping up and doing all of the motions in thin air that would be required to loosen then nuts on a car wheel, and then take the wheel off and replace it with another.

All of the motions are done as if you were doing it in real life, with the Natal picking up the movements and translating them into the game.

This isn’t some sort of waggle system either. Videos were shown of people dribbling soccer balls between their feet and then kicking them at a goal, as well as a kid skateboarding. The Natal also scanned in the kid’s skateboard so that he could use the same graphics in the game.

Interested yet?

Tom Cruise, Eat Your Heart Out

One of the creators of the Project Natal also got onto the stage to demonstrate some of it’s new features.

Firstly, the Natal logged him into the dashboard through face recognition, then, he showed off his avatar, which was completely mimicking everything that he was doing on stage, in the dashboard, from turning around to lifting his feet.

The dashboard is being given the full Minority Report treatment, and is going to be completely controllable using nothing but hand gestures just like in the sci-fi movies. Voice recognition has also been added as well. It was all demoed live and seemed to work flawlessly.

a live demo was also done on stage, with a girl playing a reflex game, which had her kicking balls and reaching for them with her hands and every motion was perfectly being translated into the game, even if she stepped forwards or backwards. Another little application shows was one that allowed you to paint using the motion controls, which you will see in the videos later. It seemed more like something you will never really use, but was a good way to show off the motion controls, as well as impress us with the fact that all colours were chosen by the guy doing the demo using nothing but voice recognition.

Me And Milo are BFF’s

Wait until you hear about this next one, because it is both incredible, and creepy and really makes your wonder if what they have done is genuinely going to work.

By they, I mean Peter Molyneux from Lionhead. What they have done is create a character called Milo.

A video was shown to us where a woman started talking to this Milo character ( a young boy) who is standing in a grassy area next to a tree, in a small quaint little area with a small house an a pond.

The scary thing is that Milo can detect your emotions from the expression on your face. What’s even more scary is that the woman was speaking to Milo as if he was a person, and he was responding to her, whilst always looking her in the eyes.

At one point he tells her to put on some goggles, and tosses them at her, insisting that she put them on. They proceed to talk about school work whilst Milo is sitting by the pond. The woman leaned forwards, looking down into the pond, and was not only able to see her reflection in the water, but could then also make waves with her hand motions.

I would like to know how much of this Milo idea was prepared before hand or “set up”, because if it isn’t which I honestly have to doubt, it will be a massive step forward for gaming. Still, if you think of the idea of integrating this into a game like Fallout or Oblivion, you could essentially read your lines to the NPC’s and have them answer you whilst looking you in the eyes.

This motion controller really is very impressive, and is surely going to usher in some sort of new era in gaming, possibly even more so than the Wii. Either that or it will bomb, but from what I have seen, it’s looking incredibly accurate and amazingly approachable for casual gamers.

This technology really feels way ahead of it’s time, and we can only hope that it works as well as Microsoft have led us to believe today.

Done and done

That wraps it up for the Microsoft E3 2009 Press Conference, we hope you enjoyed reading up on all of the new exciting announcements. We will have the coverage from Sony’s Press Conference up on Wednesday morning, so be sure to drop by and see what they have in store for all of us.

Last Updated: June 2, 2009

27 Comments

  1. koldFU5iON

    June 2, 2009 at 08:07

    WE WANT VIDEO, WE WANT VIDEO!

    Reply

  2. spl0it

    June 2, 2009 at 08:23

    Saw it all last night
    Sony, you better have one hell of a ace of your sleave if you want to beat this

    Reply

  3. WitWolfyZA

    June 2, 2009 at 08:35

    This Milo sounds awesome! And one question concerning this Motion Cam… With what games will this be compatible with???

    Reply

  4. V@mp

    June 2, 2009 at 08:39

    My jaw was hanging on the floor througout that whole
    demo.It is INSANE! If they can do even half of what they
    claimed they did in the demo’s and the developers fully embraces the tech,then expect Skynet to go ape-sh*t in the
    next year or two and judgement day unleashing. 🙂

    Reply

  5. LazySAGamer

    June 2, 2009 at 08:41

    Video avalanche is on it’s way… too many to show at once.. can’t keep up… need more coffee

    Reply

  6. V@mp

    June 2, 2009 at 08:44

    I do however think the milo one was made to look a bit more wow than it really is.Not that it wasn’t impressive
    beyond belief,but most of was scripted.But then again,
    if you think about it,all games are :tongue:
    It would work miracles in adventure games tho :wub:

    Reply

  7. sylarZA

    June 2, 2009 at 08:46

    O this better not work, other wise i am resigning at work so i can chill with Milo the whole day….awesome

    “beyound 2000” finally one thing coming true…

    Reply

  8. sylarZA

    June 2, 2009 at 08:48

    imagen playing prototype with that your whole house would be F- up!

    Reply

  9. easy

    June 2, 2009 at 08:52

    am i the only one thinking there’s not much to get excited about? i’m not trying to poo-poo ms’s showing, but most of it was already known… and what big special surprise came out of the announcement 5 minutes early?

    i was expecting more.

    Reply

  10. fred

    June 2, 2009 at 08:58

    The motion detection sounds cool but practical for current popular game genre’s , I don’t think so.

    Reply

  11. sparky1219

    June 2, 2009 at 08:58

    i think its going to rock gonna watch in right now !!!

    Reply

  12. sylarZA

    June 2, 2009 at 09:13

    i assume that milo would have more than one accent….dont wanto talk to a brit the whole time…

    Reply

  13. Mac

    June 2, 2009 at 09:34

    this to me is a big fat gimmick. seriously how is it going to work in games how is going to want to run around like a idiot after a soccer ball when there is no ball! imagine playing tennis without a raquet or cricket without a bat its just not cricket! lets be honest the reason why we play games is to laze on the couch and chill, with this you have to run around, sounds like to much work! even with the wii at least you can sit down and play

    I though the biggest announcement was MG, sony will struggle to compete with the show but that because MS show was mostly smoke and mirrors that people fell for. When will we see the motion camera any? And then we still have to wait for developers to embrace it might be ages!

    Reply

  14. hayted

    June 2, 2009 at 09:36

    Below is a link to video. Watching at work so I can’t put on the sound. Looks awesome though!

    Reply

  15. sylarZA

    June 2, 2009 at 09:51

    dude seriously you must be a fatty?

    Reply

  16. easy

    June 2, 2009 at 09:53

    the perfect accessory for the ikea family!

    :sick:

    Reply

  17. V@mp

    June 2, 2009 at 10:04

    It’s not just about gaming.It’s the prospect of where this tech can go from here.I for one would love
    not having 50 remotes laying around for tv’s,dvd players,satelite decoders,amps and pc’s.

    Reply

  18. Mac

    June 2, 2009 at 10:17

    Im no.. thats exactly my arguement if i want to exercise i play real sport and sit and push around a wii remote. if i want to chill i sit on the couch and play video games.

    Reply

  19. Squal123

    June 2, 2009 at 11:33

    I agree, the whole thing about any sport is to get out there and do some real activity. I am sure a whole lot of parents will buy into this idea, thinking that their overweight kid might get some excercise whilst playing some games. Sure cool idea but can you imagine the uproar if kids were to kill a game character by putiing their hands around their necks.Will go the way of the Wii and eytoy me thinks.

    Reply

  20. Milesh Bhana

    June 2, 2009 at 11:58

    I’m thinking about my room/device layout, and i can’t really figure out where the heck I’d put this device for it to be 100% effective.

    Reply

  21. WitWolfyZA

    June 2, 2009 at 13:10

    LOL! now theres a thought…. I would like Milo to be the splitting image of Megan Foxx hahaha :devil:

    Reply

  22. WitWolfyZA

    June 2, 2009 at 13:12

    will be weird playing this on Gears.. stand in a weird pose while chainsawing some one… Now that i have to SEE!

    Reply

  23. Fox1

    June 2, 2009 at 13:20

    Well it was a good show. MS already have the developer kits ready to go with the Natal technology so they are not wasting time.

    And the show was also jam packed with games and trailers that they kept the tempo going throughout.

    Forza 3 is sounding so awesome :w00t:

    Reply

  24. DarthPenguin

    June 2, 2009 at 13:46

    Well for starters… head tracking!!!!

    Reply

  25. WitWolfyZA

    June 2, 2009 at 16:16

    And plus now i can finish into the fire and flame on expert lol

    Reply

  26. WitWolfyZA

    June 2, 2009 at 16:18

    Halo:ODST is also shaping up… I expected a Halo 3 engine clone.. But i see they beefed it up a bit… Still curious about Milo though.. My GF will love something like that!

    Reply

  27. BareBackDude

    June 3, 2009 at 14:32

    I’ve just came oceans.

    Reply

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