Project Natal world premiere event planned for June 13

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Microsoft today passed around invitations to a debut event for Project Natal on the night of Sunday, June 13, as well as its annual media briefing the following morning. That date, of course, coincides with E3, which is scheduled to take place in LA from June 15 to June 17.

Redmond unveiled Project Natal at last year's E3, so it should be interesting to find out what's in store for the official "world premiere." Festivities will surely include the motion control in its near-final state, and Microsoft might even drop the name "Project Natal" in favor of something a bit more market-friendly.

Project Natal is expect reach stores in time for the holiday season, but a definitive ship date and price haven't been disclosed. Most expect the hardware to sell for about $80 alone, or in various additional packages that include games and other Xbox 360 merchandise.

Microsoft's invitations follow shortly after Sony publicly demoed the PlayStation Move, a Project Natal competitor, as well as the announcement of Nintendo's next-gen DS, which can reportedly display 3D images without glasses.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/38376-project-natal-world-premiere-event-planned-for-june-13.html

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...
this will be nice, too bad i don't have an Xbox360.

I guess i'll just have to move in 3D before going back to the PC when Diablo III comes out.

now if this come to the pc, i'm quite sure to get it.

i really want to see what it can really do!

cheers!

 

[slh28]

I agree that "Project Natal" needs a name change, at the moment it sounds like someone cutting an umbilical cord.

 

[9Nails]

Right, slh28. It doesn't matter that they pronounce it "Nuh-tall", it is a strange word. But it's just a developer's code for the project. It will have some weird retail name when it's a marketed item. As long as it's not "Wii" I'm down with it.

This event needs to be on prime time TV! (I'll watch another Hulu event with Olivia Munn if TV's too expensive.)

 

[HaMsTeYr]

Its the only new gen extension that is actually worth looking at. Playstation's Move is just another wii controller... and 3d on a ds... isn't really anything substantial that can make someone wet themselves over.

I'm interested to see the level of accuracy, precision and interaction this lil toy is capable of.

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

sorry, it's not new, call it remastered or enhanced versions of the old eyetoy, LOL! no fanboyism here, sorry if sound like too, i'm a 'natal' follower too, but i've seen too many camera based movement detection, face recognition, 'augmented reality' that are just accessories to be sure it will be a big hit.

from the demos i've seen of natal & PS MOVE or WII motion (+), they all have their weaknesses & qualities, SONY mixed somewhat the WIImote to 'natal' with 'move' after trying the 'eyetoy' ...it's not the best, but most stable & feasible to date.

'natal' will be based also on a 'software' that will complement the deficiency of the camera, so can be of really great interest, but for gaming it's not easy if you don't have something to hold on.

i'll say good luck to all 3 participants & by next year, will see who won the motion controller war!

cheers!

p,s console / next-gen war is now split into several sub heu 'wars' .. like the HD format (BD wins), 3D war, motion control war, what else fanboy war (oh no, sorry already here)!

 

[Guest]

I don't know, but I see this "Natal" eventually failing... something tells me it will...

 

[Burty117]

Guest said:
I don't know, but I see this "Natal" eventually failing... something tells me it will...

I kind of agree with this. I own a 360 and I know it will sell well because the hype its already gathered but I just have this gut feeling it will just be a kids toy and fail to sell to anyone above 13 years old?

 

[Puiu]

I do believe that Natal will be of almost no use in games, but as for a user interface, it has some cool features. I am still not convinced that microsoft solved the lag problem. (or at least not entirely)

 

[UT66]

developers. people. gamers. nobody cares about this. why? there is no product. you cant sell me imagination Ms, you don't have it, plus i already have one, thanks.

 

[Thompson]

You won't see me madly flailing my limbs around like an epileptic barrel of monkeys, i'll leave that to the casual gamers.

 

[peas]

Natal is intriguing, but I agree it will fail on the 360 for one very simple reason. It's not included in the base configuration. The Wii was successful with motion interfaces because every single one of their consoles came with the controllers. Developers could count that their investment in UI would pay off for all Wii owners. Natal, like the Sorny clone, is reminiscent of the late stages of previous consoles. The Atari 2600, Nintendo NES, Sega console, each and every one had a whole slew of peripherals pop up as they were starting to reach the end of their life cycles. Each failed because they didn't get enough market saturation, because they weren't included with the console.

BTW - grammar check on aisle 3 - "Project Natal is expect reach stores..."

 

[Guest]

Project Natal has been confirmed for a PC distribution sometime in the future, but the launch date is as of now uncertain. However, that is great news for PC and 360 owners who will have the option to utilize one or the other or both depending on their current needs such as media center. Some, like myself, have a PC for media rather than the 360 so this should be quite interesting to see what this product has to offer both.
My best guess is that they will launch the 360 version on schedule for the holidays and see how it fairs in the market against Sony's PlayStation Move controller to decide whether or not an early PC version should be released shortly thereafter.
In either case, I can't wait! I will be buying one for both if it can take the heat in the kitchen.

 

[Guest]

I have played Project Natal already and it is awesomeeee