XBOX: Console Redesign + Kinect (aka Natal)

[Chief]

Microsoft Kinect gets into motion as E3 confab kicks off - USATODAY.com

So Project Natal's official name is Kinect (thank god, Natal is such a bad name) and they'll be releasing an improved model of the Xbox 360 (leaked info, not mentioned in the article) which will have a 250GB HDD and built in Wi-Fi.

No mention of whether this new console will support the RROD or not

also here's a picture of the redesigned console

[jonny2combz]

I am sooo looking forward to this, I have been saving for months already.
I have had my console since release in Aus, and I have only sufferd RROD once. and that was under suss circumstances with my nephew using it His console died 2 weeks befor and I went away, and I believe he borrowed mine and put in in a cupboard with poor ventilation as his was. Then mine sufferd RROD? I want to get the new one for the HDMI function and my DVD tray is starting to play up a bit.
All I can say is thankyou MS I have had 5 great years with my console, my kids will be getting my old one when I get the new console, so I will probably get a few more years out of it still.
Oh I still have my orriginal Xbox at the holiday shack and it is still going strong, minus Xbox Live but we dont have the net there anway

[Chief]

oh, there's also 2 versions of Kinect, the more expensive model is rumoured to cost $189 USD

Hope the cheaper model is much more reasonable than that.

They'd also better show it functioning with games aimed more at the core audience, instead of crap like this:



man, it's embarrassing just to watch

EDIT: supposed launch title info

•Kinectimals lets you train and play with 20 different virtual cats, including a lion, cheetah and tiger.

•Joyride, a racing game, lets players use their hands to hold an imaginary steering wheel — pull your hands toward you and push back out for an acceleration boost — and their bodies to execute jumps and tricks.

•Kinect Sports has six activities including boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis. To serve a volleyball, you mimic the real motion; in soccer, you can kick the ball or do a header.

•Kinect Adventures includes a river-raft time trial and obstacle course, playable by up to four players. On the raft, playing as a duo, you and a partner must lean one way or another to steer. Jumping helps the raft reach special areas for extra points.

•Dance Central, in development by MTV Games, brings a So You Think You Can Dance experience home.

•Star Wars characters and iconic Disney favorites will be featured in separate new games being developed at Microsoft in conjunction with LucasArts and Disney.

Oh dear.

[Drac]

Yeah, they always look a bit silly.

Still this is nothing new IMO. I built a camera/shadow tracking system back in 2002, a year ahead of the PS2 eyetoy.

Here's a vid of it at the SOOB festival exhibition in 2003.



Sorry, long vid for such a short demo, it changes modes eventually though. It's also recorded using the computer's tracking camera which isn't great quality - video cameras were expensive back then!

Body-As-Cursor is a very strange thing, it feels more natural but at the same time is so much less precise. Like trying to draw a detailed portrait of someone using a lump of play-dough. I considered building game like things with it but could never justify it. The system I built just seemed way too obtuse. Kinect is more accurate, sure, but I'm still not convinced.

No physical buttons or feedback is going to make people feel less "connected" to the game despite what the new name Kinect implies. Whenever you "loose" playing this I can't help but think you'll feel cheated by the technology - that it didn't correctly observe your movement or the motion you intended. I could be wrong but for now I'm going to maintain my bleak cynicism.

[Mecha-Wombat]

I might have to get a xbox2.0 with the kinect

I was really impressed

[flexx]

Now if only I could sell it to the minister for finance.

[FunkyJ]

This shit pisses me off.

I don't mind them releasing details with 2 - 3 months until launch, but announce and launch in the same week? BOO!

Mostly because if I knew 2 -3 months ago I would have waited and got a new model and made do with an arcade, instead of rushing out and buying an Elite when my old one died.

[mindspat]

I'll pass. This has no appeal to me.

Why is it that every video of people using this device makes it look as if they're just flailing their arms, is there any real percisiion to this stuff?

If anything, this reminds me more of "play make believe" then anything. The video represents the imagination and technology simulates the perception. I imagine that games for this would require an extreme amount of forgiveness into their core design to be playable with a device like this.

Yes, I am a bit pessimistic about Natal.

p.s. I realize Kinect is a massive marketing ploy to combine with MS's "Kin phones" which has been rumored to have sold something around a total of 500 units.