Microsoft’s Project Natal at E3

Motion-sensing technology has well and truly transformed the gaming industry forever. That is not an exaggeration, but a statement of fact. The revolution began with Wii, first demonstrated back in 2006. Since then, technology has advanced and now Microsoft looks set to become the most popular gaming company with the impending Project Natal for the Xbox 360.

At this year’s E3 in Los Angeles, creative director, Kudo Tsunoda, demonstrated the exciting new technology that looks set to eclipse the technology currently used for the Nintendo Wii. Project Natal will make the controller a thing of the past, because its infrared motion-sensing camera responds to the movement of the player’s entire body and even identifies a player’s face. The system also comes with a microphone for voice control and voice recognition.

One of the demonstrations that Tsunoda revealed at E3, in June, was a game that involves destroying a 3D wall by ricocheting red balls off the player’s body. The interesting point of the technology is that the camera can identify obstacles, such as furniture or walls, in the playing area and will adjust the gaming space to fit the room. Moreover, the microphone, used for games that require vocal instructions or singstar-like games is able to differentiate between multiple voices.

While the ricochet game may not offer the most in-depth gameplay, it does display the possibilities of games that are compatible with the Natal. The game’s avatar is not only a very accurate representation of the player, but, more importantly, there is no time delay between a player’s movement and the motion of the avatar.

The attendees of the E3 were able to have a privileged glance at the incredible technology employed by Natal and experience a type of gaming that is extremely physical, more so than any Wii game to date, which suggests that when Microsoft’s Natal is finally released it will put the Nintendo Wii in the shade.

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