it's some kind of sick joke
haven't they learnt gamers DON'T like this kind of thing yet?

If it works, then yea it will be awesome, if it doesn't, it's just going to be another big fad failure like the wii.

an d how much cost it !!!!

It looks awesome. BUT, they won't be able to take the approach the approach of no controller at all - just think about any shooter game - no longer the most popular, but still the most popular with your gamers that will be the core. Chris - the big fad failure, the wii, has outsold the Playstation 2, Wii Fit has outsold the Playstation 3, and it's still in high demand EVERYWHERE. The fact that you don't like it means you're pissed that you bought it and haven't been happy with the shooter games that have come out for it...

Who says the Wii was a failure... It singlehandedly brought Nintendo back into the realm of things people consider buying. Even if it does have terrible graphics and the games are only fun in groups. It was a huge success and opens the door for Nintendo to compete once again.

@Monster
Its not about gamers, its about non-gamers
Just like the Wii targeted everyone, this is for those who don't play and those who do.
I can even see celebrities and athletes playing this.

Brought up a good point by comparing it to the Wii though. When Nintendo went Wii they forgot about story lines and adding depth to games. Now they cater only to non-gamers that want to turn on the game, play for 10 minutes, then leave. This technology looks amazing but if it makes Xbox forget to make good games, hello PS3.

This is a different monster than the Wii. This is full body control and social networking. This will the giggest seller next christmas. dont count them out this year. remember the 360 came out year earlier. they might just try to jump on the competition. plus these game are in 1080p not 480p like the Wii a big difference.

ohhh my god nice :) and how much cost it ???

price is going to be the kicker, if this is being marketed as a new system, standalone from the the 360 then id expect that itll cost as much in the $400-600 range. if its marketed as an add on to teh 360 then the price will be lower.

@Mandos
That's exactly my point, aiming at non-gamers sells, and that's the problem.
Microsoft and Nintendo are on the money wagon, I'm sure Sony won't be far behind now.
So when the 3 console giants are making consoles aimed at everyone, where does that leave gamers? A niche audience in their own market? I'm all for casual games and innovative technology, but there's a limit. The Wii was good, big games like Zelda and Mario stuck mostly to basic controls.

Plus, I play games to relax, not exercise.

I, personally, think that the technology is great for everything EXCEPT games. I'm sure the whole premise is supposed to make it feel more "realistic", but there's a limit to how realistic a game should feel.

Without controllers of any sort, how do you perform backflips and aerial stunts? With a dozen buttons on a controller, there are hundreds of combinations to use which enable a person to do things they cannot do in the real world. When you're limited by the laws of physics, how's your character going to fare?

And lets not forget all of the videos of broken tv's and coffee tables, due to wiimote mishaps. I see a lot of bodily injury from this technology.

But it WOULD be nice to not have to dig through the couch cushions to find the remote. Heck, they could even apply this to a standard computer, project an image of a keyboard, and I can finally drink coffee at my desk without fear of ruining my computer.

The thing I don't like about this video is it is all hype. None of it is show of the system actually doing anything. The whole video is just put together with video effects. Show me an actual tech demo of this system working and I might consider buying it.

Consoles were always a poor platform for shooters. control pad < keyboard + mouse. I'll stick to my computer for that.

For all you 'hard core gamers' complaining about the Wii. If you were a hard core gamer you'd be playing anything that mattered on your computer anyway. People only buying the same old tired/rehashed first person shooters over and over again have been the main problem with the video game industry for years.

That's a great idea, but I wonder how accurate it can really be?

monster: are u taking the attitude that video games are just for gamers? and casual should be the niche?

games are games. and Halo and Gears and shooters are only going to go away when no one plays them anymore. ie when shooters stop playing shooters. anyone see that happening near or far?

i just hope no one blames Nintendo for the waggle problem. they made the tool. it's not their fault developers cant do better then waggle.

this would be pretty cool for like cooking and what not I could see the backsplash of your stove hooked up to food network.com which has a recepie playing on there site for you to follow along with In your kitchen

or how to change out a part in a car, like the guy in the flick did with the tires... it's all possible. how to repair anything.

Playing Catch up? Might I remind you Playstation over 9 years ago launched Eye Toy? which is basically was Natal is! (except Natal is like Eyetoy's Brother on Roids) They really started this whole motion control thing. It just never took off like they wanted it, and hasn't gone back to it since the Wii. They are using their Old Idea with the new Idea, EyeToy + Wiimote = Wand system you see now.

So I guess the living room of the future will not include a table. Sorry Microsoft Surface! XD

Natal is not a gaming system guys its a control basically

^^^^Really?! Never would've guessed it.

I remember back when it was called the Eye Toy, I didn't buy that either.

Wow I remember WAY back when this was called the Sega Activator(used for Eternal Champions and maybe two other games)! Only this time there's no octogon.

This reminds me of the young Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. If this can do what it says, the applications for this technology will be endless.

@budgethero
not exactly, I'm just saying that if the game consoles themselves are made for casual, like this, it makes it harder to make 'hardcore' games for them.
like chris said, a controller shouldn't limit the gameplay in any way shape or form. Something like this lends itself to a virtual reality set up, turn your head left, the player on the screen looks left. only now you're not looking at the tv. Obviously set ups with virtual goggles have been failures up to now, but they make perfect sense with something like this. They would have to be translucent so you don't knock things over though.

Really it's too early to tell how this will pan out. It could still be great, but then general idea doesn't appeal to me.

well, Xbox has already thrown alot of development into a set of games it might release with as well as a new LIVE feature (video chat/dress preview thing) so they must have some faith in it.

I'm just curious why everyone seems to be assuming you would ONLY use the motion controller. Seems to me that a small handheld unit with "all the buttons" would provide the complex funtionality. Not something that the systems tracks the position of (like the Wii), just a wireless controller for the buttons.

"Without controllers of any sort, how do you perform backflips and aerial stunts?"

With a typical console, you would accomplish this by pressing some combination of buttons. Maybe jump*2 for a double-jump or something physically impossible like that. With the Natal, you could accomplish the same thing by simply jumping twice. Then if you wanted to swing a sword in mid-air or something you just swing your arm while your character is still in mid-air. If you wanted to do some jump stunt combo you could lean in a direction and it could be translated as similar to using the arrow buttons on the controller.

Still, if this works as advertised, I see its real potential shining through as an ordinary interface, like the next generation of the touch screen (except that never really took off because most software wasn't written to make full use of it).

The concern I've heard voiced about this technology is that it may be -too- immersive. Newsy ran a video recently asking if we were "crossing the bridge between interactivity, real-life and everything that was once sacred.” Thoughts?

I watched the "vision" video, and the Milo video, and the live demonstration at E3 and it has me concerned. I'd love for this to be an actual functional product, but its looking like MS over promising again. The vision video we can disregard, it states at the beginning its no reflection of actual functionality. Milo, though supposedly live is staged and we can tell that because when she's playing with the water, the stuff on screen gets out of synch with her completely. She performs movements that the reflection never does. That brings us to the live performance. I saw nothing done here that wasn't done with the EyeToy on PS2. Silhouette detection seems to be all it is with some AI to rationalize it on the models. Again, I hope this turns out to be as good as claimed, but so far its not looking so hot.

I can see where this could be integrated and be kinda cool (and I doubt very much MS are th folks to do it in a usable fashion), but I don't want to have to do everything in a game by thrashing around like a muppet.

Has everyone forgotten this is Microsoft? This "demo" is strictly an FX presentation of vaporware, it's not even a functioning prototype.

If MS does manage to actually make make such a system, it will probably have half the features shown (if that) and cost $800 to $1200.

What if you're getting jiggy with it on the couch? Will your XBox start cheering you on? Or give you pointers? Or tell you, "She's going to look a lot different when you sober up"...

This is one of those videos that we're going to look back at in 10 years and laugh at.

No gamer wants to be that active! That's why we sit with a controller in our hands, pizza on the coffee table, & beer on the floor. We don't like having to get up for anything!

I mean sure it's a novel concept that I'm sure will be quite common, but it's not really a gaming input device. You can't be as precise with your whole body as you can with just your thumbs/fingers.

Sensory feedback to the user would be little to none. And if you're going to go through all the motions, why not just go out and do the real thing?

Sincerely WII did not make me mad, just because when I'm playing a game I just want to relax. Use my brain is enough. And I for real gamers the only Physical needed to be done is the movement of the fingers. Even we will prefer no movements. Really Great innovation in Gaming could be just play games if the mind, mead controlling everything with just your thoughts.

I COMPLETELY agree with Chris. The only thing I thought through the entire thing was "wow, this would be cool on my computer, not on my gaming system."

It looks really cool, but only if it actually worked that well. It did seem quite far-fetched, though...like the way the kid held up his skateboard and it scanned it....yeah, right.

I COMPLETELY agree with Chris. The only thing I thought through the entire thing was "wow, this would be cool on my computer, not on my gaming system."

It looks really cool, but only if it actually worked that well. It did seem quite far-fetched, though...like the way the kid held up his skateboard and it scanned it....yeah, right.

Microsoft tried to fit so much in the console that they taxed the quality, and probably the lifespan of it. That is why you get glitches, red rings, accessories failing, and my nintendo console still works with a strong blow from my breath. Now they want to add this? I expect so many issues. Maybe these desirable and addictive add ons is a ploy to overload your XBox so you have to buy a new one when your warranty is expired. If you love the Xbox experience enough then why wouldn't you. All I'm saying is be careful and read between the lines. Or you can just forget it all and go outside and get some sun.

This would be an awesome way to get in shape. Maybe they can have one in a gym since gyms are more about controlling your muscles than just moving your body and having fun. So if Microsoft can refrain from rushing this product out for the holidays and not overlook the bugs then it would be an awesome experience. For anybody working for Microsoft: if a product just doesn't make by Christmas, I will still want it after Christmas. So take your time and put some pride in your work. Just so you know... my Xbox is a piece of crap and I think the repair center knows me on a first name basis.

Anyone who thinks this looks good for gaming with really hasn't got a clue.

This sounds really amazing. microsoft vs. nintendo and we gamers will only benefit from it. I've seen more on this at: www.microsoftrnd.co.il

This looks like it would go really well with something from another article here:
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/06/german-scientis-2.php

If you're looking forward to Project Natal, check out http://www.project-natal.com, bringing the latest news on Project Natal daily.

Wii A faiilure? Ah yes, when everyone was looking to buy one at Christmas time for 2 years in a row and there wasn't one in site in any store shelves or online retailers, the huge pallets of XBOX and PS's lining the shelves of retailers was a clear indication of the Wii's failure.

Wii A faiilure? Ah yes, when everyone was looking to buy one at Christmas time for 2 years in a row and there wasn't one in site in any store shelves or online retailers, the huge pallets of XBOX and PS's lining the shelves of retailers was a clear indication of the Wii's failure.

Hopefully they'll realize that sometimes gamers want to be in the action, and sometimes they want to be able to sit down and play normally, Instead of releasing games only "Natal Required." They'll have "Natal Compatible."

Milo would probably be the only Natal Required game, and its not really a very energetic game, its more something to give you a companion, a friend. Imagine giving a friend to a lonely little kid at home. That would be priceless.

Like, for example. You're hungry, but you want to play a game. The game is Natal Compatible, but you plug in the controller and say "I want to use the controller." It says "Ok. Have fun." You begin to play, eating while playing.

Get done and feel like you want to play inside the game. "Alright, I'd like to play with Natal now." "Sure thing, Lets get in it." Hop up and start blasting things.

That'd be awesome.

This is incredible.

I also agree that for certain games there will have to be some sort of controllers, but that would be minimal. Imagine, 5 years from now, people could play basketball or soccer together without having to leave their rooms, and we could immerse ourselves in total war. The only reason I could think of to use a controller is for "equipment" used in certain games, such as guns in shooting games, inventory items in RPG games, or whatever else there may be, although the controller would be very much simplified from what we have today.

This is awesome.

like all gaming commercials, they are probably trying to show the best features of their motion sensors like the wii did. With all that motion flexibility of it picking up your actual hands, A simple wrong twist of the hand could make you delete gaming files.
this could be fun if you have like a shooter like call of duty with like aiming, but this could get pretty old pretty fast and overall seems more like the friend of non-gamers more than serious gamers. Sticking with a keyboards 26 buttons plus an easy to aim mouse plus numbers for easy gun switching/ etc use seems like a much better option. Smaller controller isnt always better.

Natal project hmm.... sounds cool it will be a new thing for the gamers ...eagerly waiting for it

This would be pretty awsome if it were not for games like GoW. In GoW you can hide behind objects in the game. those objects are not in your living room.

This would also work for MMO games. Like a Star Wars based MMO. Just saying but who out there hasn't ever pretended to be a Jedi??

I never would have bought a game console at all if not for the Wii - who needs another reason to sit on your butt getting fatter and older? First thing I got for it was the Wii Fit.