Sony quietly took another step last week in the game of catch-up they and Microsoft are playing as they attempt to capture the wave of interactivity and interest following Nintendo’s success with the Wii. It began with Sony trotting out the Sixaxis and its tilt-functionality mere months after word of the Wii-mote’s motion-detection capabilities came to light and was seen largely as a hasty “me-too” by Sony that might have cost its agreement with Immersion for force-feedback in the controller.
Nintendo is apparently feeling the heat of both Sony and Microsoft preparing to release their own motion-controller technology, chipping away at the only feature that makes the Wii unique (that and a butt-load of crappy 3rd-party games). Shigeru Miyamoto was asked if the Nintendo was on the brink of losing its uniqueness in the face of competition.
His response:
“Well, I should say that it could be taken as a compliment if others are following suit, by saying Nintendo was right in choosing a certain direction. But if you ask me if that is going to be good for the entire business, I really don’t know.”
“If everyone else is going to do exactly the same thing, unfortunately in this entertainment business that means less uniqueness, and uniqueness is what Nintendo has tried to realize.”
“We don’t look to the future in one direction only,” he said. “When you say that one element of our uniqueness might have been lost, you don’t really have to be concerned about that, because Nintendo always tries to find something new. I hope you are looking forward to our challenge to discover this new uniqueness!”
It looks like Project Natal, the nifty gesture-recognition system for Xbox 360, will be coming to Windows. According to who? None other than Bill Gates. In an interview with CNet, Mr. Gates said:
“I’d say a cool example of that, that you’ll see… in a little over a year, is this (depth) camera thing.” Gates said it was not just for games, “but for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication. Both the Xbox guys and the Windows guys latched onto that and now even since they latched onto it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting. I think the value is as great for if you’re in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it’s very cool there. And I think there’s incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, why shouldn’t that be in most office environments.”
Gamasutra and Edge magazine have both published articles this month suggesting that the successors to the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 might not arrive until 2013, making this console generation’s lifespan one of the longest in gaming history.
The gaming website and industry magazine cited a report from Michael Pachter, a gaming analyst from Wedbush Morgan Securities, who stated that he does not believe the next console generation will begin before 2013.
Pachter is quoted in Edge as stating that “There is no chance in hell that Sony is bringing out a new console until they feel that they’re profitable…” but that Microsoft is “brash enough to bring out a next-generation console sooner.” Speaking of Nintendo, Pachter is quoted as saying that no next-generation Nintendo technology will arrive until 2015, though a Wii HD console is expected for 2010.
It is a dark day for gamers. Microsoft has taken Xbox Live down for a scheduled maintenance in preparation for future system updates. This process is scheduled to take 24 painful hours, meaning there are over 10-million people staring blankly at their monitors or high-def televisions, perhaps fondling the controller as if it were rosary beads, wishing, praying for divine intervention.
We are all faced with the cruel reality of finding something to do for the next 24-hours. We all share in the same pain, though for different reasons. Perhaps you are a hardcore Call of Duty player suddenly deprived of your new World at War map-pack. Perhaps, like me, you were looking forward to the 4-song Spinal Tap track-pack for Rock Band that is now delayed until tomorrow. Maybe you’re asking yourself trivia questions to fill that 1 Versus 100 void in your heart.
What are we to do? Where do we go? Only two minutes have passed since you began reading this article. Time is ticking slow. Is it up yet? Is it up yet? Maybe Microsoft finished early, you tell yourself. You attempt a sign-in. Error. Nothing. You’re adrift on a sea of uncertainty and boredom.
Before you resort to suicide, here are some potentially helpful tips to get you through this disastrous day. read more…
While gamers across the globe debate whether or not Project Natal is real or just an effective, recorded demonstration, it has come to light that one of the team members behind the full-body motion controller is none other than Johnny Chung Lee, famous for his hacked Wii controllers wherein he created a mutli-touch display. He’s widely regarded as one of the best interface/controller hackers around, so his involvement in Project Natal lends a lot of credence to its abilities.
Speaking as someone who has been working in interface and sensing technology for nearly 10 years, this is an astonishing combination of hardware and software. The few times I’ve been able to show researchers the underlying components, their jaws drop with amazement… and with good reason.
The 3D sensor itself is a pretty incredible piece of equipment providing detailed 3D information about the environment similar to very expensive laser range finding systems but at a tiny fraction of the cost. Depth cameras provide you with a point cloud of the surface of objects that is fairly insensitive to various lighting conditions allowing you to do things that are simply impossible with a normal camera.
Loading ...
Loading ...