Natal will reinvent games industry - Kim

By Ellie Gibson Published 10 June, 2009

"Magical launch experiences" promised.

Microsoft bigwig Shane Kim has said new motion-sensing technology Project Natal is set to reinvent the games industry.

"If we'd just come out with something that looks and feels like the Nintendo Wiimote, I think you could have fairly criticised us and said it was derivative. That's not the path we wanted to go down," he told GamesIndustry.biz.

"We could have done that, but we wanted to reinvent the industry and revolutionise home entertainment. That's what we will achieve with Project Natal."

Sony's set to launch its own motion controller in spring 2010. Or not: "They've said many things in the past and missed dates, so we'll see," said Kim.

"We're going to launch when we feel like we have the entire program ready to go, including the experiences and support from third parties. It's not a lot of time between now and the spring, considering it was just unveiled.

"The most important thing is this has nothing to do with Nintendo and Sony. This has everything to do with unlocking the potential of the industry and addressing the many millions of people - the 60 per cent of households who don't have a videogame console at all. That's the real opportunity for us."

According to Kim, developers and publishers are keen to see how the tech can help them reach out to the Xbox 360's userbase - which is already 30 million strong.

"It's not like launching a brand new console where partners make business decisions of when do they decide the installed base is big enough. This is something where we're going to have a lot of customers pretty quickly and we're focused on magical launch experiences to get this ball rolling right from the get go," he said.

Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux is one of Project Natal's biggest proponents. He demonstrated how the tech will work with his new game, Milo and Kate, at E3 last week.

"I've never seen Peter more excited and energised by anything like this since the initial Fable," said Kim.

"And now with Natal and Milo, you get a sense of what he thinks he's capable of. And believe me, Peter wants to lead the way. He's going to apply all of his experience, and it's a great analogy for Microsoft Game Studios. All of those game skills can be applied now with a new canvas with Natal."

You can read the full interview with Kim over on GamesIndustry.biz. Plus, check out the gamepage for our first hands-on with Project Natal and an interview with Peter Molyneux.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bad09 #1 3 years ago

    "Project Natal is set to reinvent the games industry."

    Hope not. Not Everyone wants the Wii.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #2 3 years ago

    Lol. I doubt this very much. For many reasons. It will end up being another dumb peripheral that no one buys or uses.

  • Charlie_Miso #3 3 years ago

    Busting Sony's balls for having a launch date where there is none for Natal? Weak.

  • Wastelander #4 3 years ago

    BAM!

  • Doctor_What #5 3 years ago

    Too easy to pick that whole thing apart, but the 'this has nothing to do with Nintendo or Sony' line was probably the most stupid thing in a big pile of dumb.

  • Kamata #6 3 years ago

    Kim's comment about Peter Molineux's involvement with Natal, is there any reason he's promoting his involvment in the project
    All Peter's games are hyped beyond belief, but the end result is always sub standard..
    He gets 10/10 for enthusiasm, but the end results is usually a shi*fest of fundamentally flawed material.

  • Dizzy #7 3 years ago

    "He gets 10/10 for enthusiasm, but the end results is usually a shi*fest of fundamentally flawed material. "

    Fable 2 10/10.. still bitter about it? Need somebody to talk to?
    Edited by Dizzy at 10/06/09 @ 09:03

  • Kamata #8 3 years ago

    I do think Natal, will revolutionise the way we play games though ppl.
    Virtual Reality worlds? All we need is a MS to invent some form of 3dglasses/headset to work with Natal and the world is set.
    I do believe theyve already got that under wraps, but cant give too much away too soon.

    i dont like the idea of standing up to play games though :|

    Edit - Dizzy, im not bitter, take the sand out of your vag and learn to respect other ppls opinions!!
    I bet you just got off on trying to fu** the dog in Fable2 didnt u...prfff...
    Edited by Kamata at 10/06/09 @ 09:16

  • Steroyd #9 3 years ago

    "The most important thing is this has nothing to do with Nintendo and Sony. This has everything to do with unlocking the potential of the industry and addressing the many millions of people - the 60 per cent of households who don't have a videogame console at all. That's the real opportunity for us."

    That's exactly what Nintendo said 4 YEARS AGO!

    The day I see completely hands free games that works is the day someone replicates Star Trek's holodeck.
    Edited by Steroyd at 10/06/09 @ 09:09

  • AphoticCosmos #10 3 years ago

    "Microsoft bigwig"

    I stopped reading about there.

  • Negotiator #11 3 years ago

    A revolution in gaming is coming people, and Microsoft are first in line. No controller, no barrier, no limits and that is why I'm excited, you should be too.

  • anomagnus #12 3 years ago

    using my future sight powers

    as i tremble, with the unearthly energies coursing through me, i can make the following prediction

    no it wont.

  • TheComedian #13 3 years ago

    I wish the Sony fanboys would just grow up.

    I'm not sure if this will reinvent the games industry, but I'll definately be getting one! I think, if used correctly, this could have some superb applications in games and with the xbox functionality.

    Personally, I can't wait for it.

    Also, for those claiming it's a rip off of the Wii, I think you'd be better served looking up the PS3 wands.

  • GreyBeard #14 3 years ago

    Natal isn't going to "reinvent" gaming, at best its going to be an interesting niche product with a few quirky applications. That's all.

  • Carpathian #15 3 years ago

    The one weak link nobody seems to be talking about is that Natal is tied to a 360.

    It's important to note that I don't say that as a Sony fanboy but as a disillusioned gamer who had so many of them red ring that it killed my gaming itch pretty much entirely. Just couldn't face stumping up cash for games when I kinda knew each next one was counting down in front of me. That's not anger but sadness from somebody who joined gaming with a ZX80 and never looked back.

    Would I want Natal? Yeah, on day one. Would I go out and buy a 360 again? Not until I know I'm not going to be boxing it up for repair again.

    If Microsoft make the equivalent quantum leap in reliability for the 360 as Natal offers for playability then I'll be there with them all the way.
    Edited by Carpathian at 10/06/09 @ 09:48

  • CaptianScarlet #16 3 years ago

    Microsoft spokesperson states "I can piss higher than you can piss!"

    Microsoft spokesperson states "My Daddy can beat up your Daddy!"

    Microsoft spokesperson states "My C**K is bigger than your C**K!"

    Unless it gives me Minority report control over my TV I fail to see how it can possible reinvent the games industry unless everyone wants to paint rubbish splodge pictures and make elephant shapes while humping their partners.

    Wait a minute, if the porn industry get behind this then maybe it will reinvent the games industry! :p

    Shut up Kim!!!!

  • Wastelander #17 3 years ago

    "Theres a thread on neogaf saying that there are reports the natal near-infrared sensors have trouble detecting movements by people with black skin."

    ...that's a joke thread. Did you even read it?
    The original story is here BTW.

    Also Natal doesn't use "near-infrared" it is infrared.

  • Wastelander #18 3 years ago

    The research linked to has nothing to do with the Natal tech:

    "Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a promising non-invasive technique for the continuous monitoring of tissue oxygen delivery. NIRS detects light absorbance of haemoglobin chromophores to determine tissue oxygen saturation (StO2)."
    Edited by Wastelander at 10/06/09 @ 10:10

  • Xerx3s #19 3 years ago

    "Kim's comment about Peter Molineux's involvement with Natal, is there any reason he's promoting his involvment in the project
    All Peter's games are hyped beyond belief, but the end result is always sub standard..
    He gets 10/10 for enthusiasm, but the end results is usually a shi*fest of fundamentally flawed material. "

    If I didn't think that you seriously believed that crap, I would actually laugh. ha. ha. ha. oh.

  • Bigglesworth #20 3 years ago

    Why do MS and Nintendo keep trying to downplay Sony's motion controller? Do they know something we don't?

  • BartonFink #21 3 years ago

    Kamata wrote: Kim's comment about Peter Molineux's involvement with Natal, is there any reason he's promoting his involvment in the project

    Perphaps that's because he is one of the creative directors of Microsoft Game Studios?

  • Wastelander #22 3 years ago

    What do you mean?
    They're ALL downplaying everyone else's tech.

  • stevethemeat #23 3 years ago

    Natal is a witch, burn it.

  • Bigglesworth #24 3 years ago

    @Wastelander
    There's a difference between bigging-up your own product (as in your Sony example) and swiping at those of your competitors (here and in the Ninty articles). Of course Sony have ben equally guilty of this in the past, just not this time, refreshingly.

  • BartonFink #25 3 years ago

    Who stole what now Bigglesworth?

  • rhubarbandcustard #26 3 years ago

    Like Fox Mulder, I Want To Believe

  • BartonFink #27 3 years ago

    @PatAU - Endless PR sniping yea neither Nintendo nor Sony do anything like that do they.

    /facepalm

  • Wastelander #28 3 years ago

    Come on...

    "It's not only relevant," US marketing boss Peter Dille said to Kotaku about the wand, "[but] from our perspective we have the technology that provides better precision."

    "We're a little bit past the research phase,"

    In pimpspeak that's "that other tech is shite and we're gonna get there first.

    With both conveniently ignoring that Nintendo have M+ ready to roll, with games, before either of them even have a final product.

  • Nikanoru #29 3 years ago

    I was about to post what Steroyd posted, instead I'll just say I fully agree with him. Following Nintendo's direction is one thing (everybody's been doing that forever), denying it like they're doing is just douchebaggery.

  • makeamazing #30 3 years ago

    Well i cant wait for all those mini games where i wave my arms and legs about... Not.

    The only way MS will convince me this is any good is that they release some great software with it... and I truely dont see it happening. Oh yeah you will be able to move the windows in the XMB, and perhaps have lots of tennis/fighting mini games... way to reinvent the games industry. There are too many people sucked into the PR machine that this will change everything.. trust me it wont change anything (the technology isnt there).

    Anyone old enough will remember W-Industries VR machine.. that was meant to change everything... guess what it didnt and sank without a trace because it wasnt practical... this is the same.
    Edited by makeamazing at 10/06/09 @ 12:59

  • Spekingur #31 3 years ago

    MS have already revolutionised how people use computers. It's called Windows.

    I think people are all dismissing Natal as a "useless gaming perpherial" - when indeed it might not revolutionise exactly how we play games it might do so in how we interact with them or how we interact with the console itself.

  • kangarootoo #32 3 years ago

    @Spekingur

    You do realise the concept of a windowed browser was nicked by MS from Apple, who in turn nicked it from... Linux*, right? Apple even took them to court over it (for a little while anyway). I don't mean to be all anti-MS, but they aren't quite the pioneers you suggest them to be.



    * Was it Linux? Some Unix variant of some sort anyway.

  • jjolley #33 3 years ago

    As i've already said, interesting work being done but not really suitable for some markets. I think the idea of gaming without controls defeats the object anyway, surely people need to feel like they are doing something rather than waving hands around. Either way, i'm sure i'll get flamed for this viewpoint by specific people but the systems are different. The PS3 has more chance generally with the motion side, Natal has not much of a chance because people want to feel involved with an experience. We can all stand up and wave at the screen, but what does this give us?

  • Bigglesworth #34 3 years ago

    MS have already revolutionised how people use computers. It's called Windows.

    *cough* I think Xerox might have something to say about that.

    edit: bah humbug at browser not showing the last 5 mins' posts
    Edited by Bigglesworth at 10/06/09 @ 13:31

  • jjolley #35 3 years ago

    at Carpathian:
    I agree with this. The machine is good in terms, the games are actually fine and there XBL system is fine. The difficulty is the hardware side. The design of the system is complete shite and i'm actually amazed they're not being taken to task.

    as to potential and all the other buzzwords we get from PR these days, I am one to view things with a certain degree of skepticism. The 360 has suddenly become like a big brother state. You can only visit what we will let you visit on the internet. We'll give you twitter, but really who gives a shit? Twatter on the console? So what if it integrates with live? Pointless!

  • kangarootoo #36 3 years ago

    "*cough* I think Xerox might have something to say about that"

    Ah thats it, Xerox. Not Linux.

  • Daikon #37 3 years ago

    Molyneux's enthusiasm for Natal/Milo reminds me of his enthusiasm for Black and White. Which turned out to be a bit disappointing.

    Also the Milo tech demo felt terrible scripted.

    As for Natal, I already have an EyeToy for my PS2.

  • davisorle #38 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • Ryze #39 3 years ago

    I'm competely sceptical, thanks to the Wii's smoke & mirrors (missing features, and hiding behind a shroud of 'magic' and 'fun'), and partly because they uttered the words 'custom silicon'.

    I do expect this to be interesting, but also expect it to be innacurate, and unsuitable for tonnes of games.

    This doesn't solve the of aiming a hand rather than a right thumb, either. So - nice idea, but there's no excitement whatsoever until there's a product that can be tested and trialled.

    The emperor's new (eyetoy shaped) clothes? We'll see.