Time hails Natal as invention of 2009

By Robert Purchese Published 13 November, 2009

In company of teleportation, AIDS vaccine.

Time.com has put forward Project Natal as one of The 50 Best Inventions of 2009.

The online arm of the famous US magazine said traditional controllers have stood as a "barrier between gamers and total Tron-like immersion" since the invention of Pong.

"This year Microsoft demonstrated a technology codenamed Project Natal that enables players to control games using only body movements and voice commands, no controller required - the gamer's body becomes the controller.

"Project Natal uses several cameras, plus a highly specialized microphone and a lot of fancy software, to track the gamer's body and interpret his or her voice. You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand. It's that simple. And that cool," stated the post.

Natal shared the Time-light with such inventions as The Eyeborg, The Newest Cloud, The Edible Racing Car, Wooden Bones and Vertical Farming, to name a few.

The full list can be found on the Time website.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • kendoji #1 2 years ago

    There's an AIDS vaccine? I missed that one!

  • jonbwfc #2 2 years ago

    I find it hard to consider Natal an 'invention' insofar as it's an extension of the concepts we'd had for years (motion tracking and voice recognition). if Natal is an invention then every new car engine is an 'invention'. It's not 'inventive', it's a refinement. Assuming it actually exists as anything other than a prototype.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #3 2 years ago

    That's a bit premature, eh?

    Edit: Although is is three places below a new type of farmed fish:
    http://ww w.time.com/time/specials/packag...
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/09 @ 10:05

  • Pro_Gamer #4 2 years ago

    Eye toy? How quaint.

    The mainstream has taken over. FUCK OFF YOU CUNTS!

  • bad09 #5 2 years ago

    "There's an AIDS vaccine?"

    I'm HIV positive there is...

  • r_simsini #6 2 years ago

    Well deserved. Natal looks excellent and will sell out within minutes of being released next year.

  • bad09 #7 2 years ago

    @ r_simsini

    Donnie?.......Nah....

  • guernican #8 2 years ago

    That is rather awesome... than an electronic gizmo that helps people shoot more digital Nazis is ranked above an AIDS vaccine.

    Anyway, screw all of that. Robo-Penguin!

    http://ww w.time.com/time/photogallery/0,...

  • nuanimal #9 2 years ago

    The online arm of the famous US magazine said traditional controllers have stood as a "barrier between gamers and total Tron-like immersion"

    Err... I don't think Natal is going to allow anyone to be physically sucked into a 1982 computer system...

  • mcmonkeyplc #10 2 years ago

    I get the feeling this comments section is going to get messy.

  • Negotiator #11 2 years ago

    I told everyone Natal is the future of gaming, and I was right. Time mag for gods sake, MS have done it again.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #12 2 years ago

    That's a bit premature, eh?

    Actually, reading the list, Natal is no more premature than most of the other things. It would appear to b the "Most interesting sounding unproven ideas of 2009" lst.

    Good call on the robot penguin, though, those little fellas are the collest thing ever.

  • Shinetop #13 2 years ago

    you see? Cross enough palms with silver or gold and you get results..

    Nice, only 11 post and already a random unsubstantiated accusation of bribery. This thread is going to be a warzone.

  • jonfon #14 2 years ago

    "So we have teleportation now?"

    Yeah, but it's the crap quantum kind which is only good for telling you if someone has spun your entangled electron the other way, not the cool Star Trek kind.

    "you see? Cross enough palms with silver or gold and you get results.."
    Absolutely. Although I'd have assumed the Microsoft Engineering and R&D departments would be probably be paid in dollars (or maybe Quatloos) instead.
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/09 @ 10:28

  • Bigglesworth #15 2 years ago

    Wow. Well I guess now we know what all those Windows 7 pre-orders have been funneled into.

  • teabagger #16 2 years ago

    If it lives up to the promise then great, else Time magazine are going to look a bit daft.

    The problem is that its success and effectiveness as a piece of technology is heavily reliant on a decent amount of high quality supporting software. This doesn't really exist apart from Milo and I think it's dangerous to base a judgement on what was a very controlled tech demo. I've seen a lot of software, for example behavioural based animation authoring, that look excellent within the parameters of a demo scenario but fail to translate that quality and usability in real-world applications.

    In summary, I really hope it is everything that is promised. But personally I'd exercise a bit more caution in proclaiming it to the the best thing since sliced bread.

  • Azazel #17 2 years ago

    Robot Penguin? FUCK.

    Cute? Yes. But this is where it all starts. The next thing they've mutated, eaten your cat and it's all Maggy Gee's 'The Ice People'.

  • jonfon #18 2 years ago

    "But personally I'd exercise a bit more caution in proclaiming it to the the best thing since sliced bread."

    Yep. I was delighted when Sliced Bread topped last years list.

  • miiiguel #19 2 years ago

    That's a bit premature, eh?

    What Natal or the AIDS vaccine ?

  • Doctor_What #20 2 years ago

    @ Teabagger : Exactly - the people in this thread (and at Time) who are proclaiming this to be the second coming for games are jumping the gun a lot. I've not seen anything to suggest it's going to keep me more interested in the long term than the PS2's Eyetoy or the Wiimote. There's more potential, yes, but there are also still significant problems with controller-free games that I haven't seen any solutions for yet. It's going to be a more interesting year thanks to MS, but I don't think it's the revolution quite yet.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #21 2 years ago

    What Natal or the AIDS vaccine ?

    Both, as it happens. Neither are complete and fully available.

  • TopKatt #22 2 years ago

    @nuanimal

    If Natal can suck people into games, please, please, please make it work with Bayonetta!

  • miiiguel #23 2 years ago

    @Mentalist: Well, that was the point of my post anyway. It's kinda clear that this list, lists (duh?) ideas; concepts, rather then working products. And I didn't even read Times article.
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/09 @ 10:41

  • stevetuck #24 2 years ago

    Wait so a webcam that does fancy things with making you look like an utter retard when playing 'bat the ball' *cough* eyetoy *cough* is in the same league as a AIDS vaccine and the Ares rocket?

  • kangarootoo #25 2 years ago

    Yet another mainsteam journalist, with little knowledge of the full variety of technolgies and ideas that already exist within the field being observed, sees something flashy and mistakenly believes they are seeing something unique both in concept and implementation.

    The implementation of Natal sounds like it is pushing barriers, but the concept described (that enables players to control games using only body movements and voice commands, no controller required - the gamer's body becomes the controller) is not new.

    This journalist obviously believes it is new, which is poor journalism.

  • metalangel #26 2 years ago

    Time's... er... time as a reputable news source passed a long time ago... I remember about 1997ish it stopped being a good read and went all touchy-feely-internetty and full of fanciful crap like this. It was about that... heh... time that my family's long-running subscription was cancelled.

  • jonbwfc #27 2 years ago

    Robot penguins? If you could program one to be a butler that would not just be the best invention of 2009, it would be the best invention ever.

  • Moribundman #28 2 years ago

    What about the iPet and the Sony dildo? ;-)

    It's a toss up between which is creepiest: Kids playing with invisible animals that can only be seen in their TV, or (as Charlie Brooker put it) the "virtual grooming" game that Lionhead are working on...

  • Beano #29 2 years ago

    "Time hails Natal as invention of 2009"

    Time Magazine just lost the rest of their credibility.

  • no_way! #30 2 years ago

    "If it lives up to the promise then great, else Time magazine are going to look a bit daft."

    This is the magazine who named George W. Bush "Person of the Year" in 2004. I don't think they care.

  • Beano #31 2 years ago

    I thought controller-free gaming was "invented" in 2002 with EyeToy?

    Maybe invented even earlier but EyeToy made it work and was/is a mainstream product.

  • Beano #32 2 years ago

    "This is the magazine who named George W. Bush "Person of the Year" in 2004. I don't think they care. "

    Hitler was also Man Of The Year, so was Stalin... TWICE!

  • Olemak #33 2 years ago

    Natal is a great concept for marketing.

    Wether it's useful for actual games remains to be seen.

    The Wiimote and the Sixaxis fall in this cathegory, at least - great for the commercials, but rather worthless (in the long run) for actual gameplay. I prefer a comfortable, accurate controller to imprecise "Innovation". However, I realize that "soccer mums" se things differently, they want theor kids to bounce around all the time, and that is why Wii Fit is selling crazy numbers. It's all in the marketing.

    Natal will be backed up by massive marketing, and will sell very well. For me, as a gamer, it is pretty meh, tho.

    No doubt Natal will be followed by a reinvention of those immersive 3D glasses the "Virtual Reality" folks tried to flog us in the early 90ies.

  • Beano #34 2 years ago

    "No doubt Natal will be followed by a reinvention of those immersive 3D glasses the "Virtual Reality" folks tried to flog us in the early 90ies. "

    I got a headacke and feel dizzy allready... :o

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #35 2 years ago

    I don't know what was more shocking.. Natal being on the list, or MW2 not being on it.

    If the voice recognition in Natal is so great, why haven't MS used it in Windows? Cuss quiet Frank and Lee that sicks.

  • The-Bodybuilder #36 2 years ago

    Why would MW2 be on it?

  • Burkey123 #37 2 years ago

    We haven't even seen it being used in a proper game yet. Okay, we saw a bit of Burnout but I'll judge Natal when I see a game that it is built from the ground up. That Milo thing didn't look anything special imo.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #38 2 years ago

    In their pockets

  • madgerald Verified Studio Head of PR & Marketing, Colossal Games LTD #39 2 years ago

    @TheBodybuilder - that joke went above your head clearly

    /gives up on topical humour and get's coat

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #40 2 years ago

    Didn't MS just buy out the ppl who invented this?

    According to Microsoft, they developed their one, but then bought up a company who happened to have developed something very similar because they had patents which Natal would otherwise have infringed.

  • Rubarack #41 2 years ago

    Natal doesn't even exist yet, either Time are trying to sell more copies by tapping into the Xbox crowd, or MS bribed its way in. There's no possibility it earned its place, because there's nothing there to earn anything. Unless the Portal gun made its way into 2007s list then something funny is going on.

  • EvilBob_leeds #42 2 years ago

    Voice regconition has been around for donkeys years, and has been getting incrementally better all the time. But accurately transposing what people say isn't really the problem - it's parsing the text into a meaningful format, with all the pronouns correctly converted into the objects they represent and being sufficiently tolerant of poor grammar and reigonal turns of phrase. And that's not what Natal does, afaik. For speech commands to become workable, outside of very simple "go to checkpoint 2, fire" style commands we've got a very long way to go.

    As others have said, if MS force Natal on developers, you're going to get sucky shovelware, but if they give the developers the scope to use it, and let them implement it where appropriate its got the potential to be a good addition to gaming.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/09 @ 13:07

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #43 2 years ago

    People are taking this all very seriously. Let me abridge this list for you:

    1 - Woo spaceship!
    2 - Save the Bluefin tuna!
    3 - Woo Fairy Lights!
    4 - Woo central heating (?!)
    5 - Woo gaming with no pads or wands!
    6 - Beam me up, Scotty!
    7 - Woo pretty space pictures!
    8 - Woo no more AIDS!
    9 - Woo puerile use for brain hat!
    10 - Woo, eyes like Geordie Laforge's out of First Contact and that when he got rid of his VISOR.

    ...

    22 - Woo playing god to pander to pedigree dog enthusiasts!

    ...

    26 - ROBO PENGUIN WILL KILL US ALL

    ...

    48 - hang on, have't there been 3D cameras since the late 19th century?



    They haven't thought very hard about this.

  • Benyboyuk #44 2 years ago

    Am I the only person hoping that Microsoft bring out a Robot Penguin accessory for the 360?

  • teabagger #45 2 years ago

    "This is the magazine who named George W. Bush "Person of the Year" in 2004. I don't think they care."

    Ha! I'd forgotten about that. Yes indeed....

  • des #46 2 years ago

    Natal is going to be absolutely huge,anyone with decent brain can see that...

  • Fletche #47 2 years ago

    "Natal is going to be absolutely huge,anyone with decent brain can see that... "

    Doesn't mean it is going to be good though, the Wii is huge but we all know how that is seen in certain quarters.....

  • Xerx3s #48 2 years ago

    Natal in combination with 3D depth screens would be interesting, as it stands, not so much.

  • Machiavellian #49 2 years ago

    Lets be honest here, its never about the technology but how it's used. You can take the Iphone/touch. Technology we have had for years but it was put into one product which leverage that technology into something people want. Natal is pretty much the same thing. it takes technology that has been used for years created into one product that has the potential to be a driving force in games. If it does succeed on that level, well you can ask Sony why they sat on the technology so long.

  • ronuds #50 2 years ago

    Wow - more positive comments than I thought I'd see! Of course, plenty of the obligatory, "MS sucks and so does everything they do" stuff as well. :p

    Anyhow, this has a few more features than the eyetoy, so they are not one in the same as some people seem to be suggesting.

  • jonbwfc #51 2 years ago

    @ronuds

    A Vauxhall Vectra has more features than an 1890 mercedes, but that doesn't mean Vauxhall 'invented' anything.

    Jon

  • Nithron #52 2 years ago

    Slow year.

  • ronuds #53 2 years ago

    @ jonbwfc

    I never said Natal was an invention, but I'll humor you anyway!

    Natal isn't an invention in that anything about it is brand new. It is an invention in how it combines different technologies and uses them as one unit. So, that's like saying the first car wasn't an invention because we already discovered metal and rubber.

    The Vauxhaul/Benz comparison wasn't your best effort.

  • jonbwfc #54 2 years ago

    @ronuds

    Combining things that already exist to make new things may very possibly be innovation, but it's certainly not invention. At least to my sensibilities, 'invention' is to produce something which does not previously exist, not to take things that exist and use them in a slightly different way.
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/09 @ 17:26

  • Les #55 2 years ago

    Wonder how much it costs to get a spot on the list... Sounds more like an advertising billboard than anything useful.

  • ronuds #56 2 years ago

    @ jonbwfc

    The definition of invention doesn't specify that it has to be something made from thin air. An invention is something as simple as a new device, which Natal is. I think before we can state whether or not Natal is an invention, we must first conclude whether or not there is already a device doing ALL of the same things (i.e. infrared + multi-array mic + 3d tracking, etc.). I don't know of one, and I'd think if it existed we would have heard about it already - at least for PC use.

    If you can find a device previously made that combines the tech of Natal, then you should let Time know! :p

  • Pablo2k5 #57 2 years ago

    Natal sounds awful. I don't want to stand in front of my telly lookin like a twat!

  • cagool #58 2 years ago

    Of course some people say that vertical farms would be vulnerable in a strong wind, but for goodness sake - who says there's going to be any strong wind? Vertical farms: good science at work

  • spazmo #59 2 years ago

    Peter Molyneux was on the judging panel.

  • trooperdx3117 #60 2 years ago

    I have to admit I find this list a little confusing, a piece of hardware that will do little more than allow you to wave your arms about while playing games is considered a better invention that a vaccine to one of the most degenarative and deadly diseases in the world. Something definitely is not right there.

  • makeamazing #61 2 years ago

    Its pretty stupid really, I mean if they were voted for best smoke and mirrors from a games company, or most gulible users award, then this would win. OMG its going to follow my eyes and voice recognition which is crap in windows will be so amazing I can talk to a character about homework and it will understand what i say... award :)

  • YourMessageHere #62 2 years ago

    Bit of a misleading article headline this. It's not THE "invention of 2009", just one of a list of 50, in fact it's number 5 in Time's list and currently voted by readers at 29. I'm reminded of the Tango ads that responded to the "Official drink of Euro 2001" Coke ads by proclaiming that Tango was "officially a drink during Euro2001".

  • Guildenstern #63 2 years ago

    Not the first time writers for that magazine demonstrate their utter idiocy.

  • Bennicus #64 2 years ago

    I want to hear more about this robot penguin thingy

  • Canyarion #65 2 years ago

    Wow, my hand moves Master Chief's hand! This is going to revolutionize gaming! It's what we always wanted, move the Chief's hand.


    So when did they show there is a motion-controlled Halo game? Because I don't think they did.

  • Transcendent #66 2 years ago

    trooperdx3117:"I have to admit I find this list a little confusing, a piece of hardware that will do little more than allow you to wave your arms about while playing games is considered a better invention that a vaccine to one of the most degenarative and deadly diseases in the world. Something definitely is not right there."

    Except that if you actually read the article you see that the vaccine isn't new, has been tested for years, and proven to only work 31% of the time. Investing money into distributing that instead of into for example condoms, is probably stupid. Look at the no.1 spot when there's actually a working inexpensive vaccine out there.