Ubi doing "around 10" Natal games

By Ellie Gibson Published 1 December, 2009

And about half that for PS3 wand.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has said the company is committed to producing games for Sony and Microsoft's new motion controllers.

Speaking during a conference call (overheard by Kotaku), Guillemot said "around 10 games" will "come for Natal during the first six months of the launch".

Ubi will also be supporting the new PS3 magic wand, though perhaps not to quite the same degree.

"We expect four to five games for [Sony's motion controller]," Guillemot said. "That's the picture at the moment. It can change in the next 12 months."

According to Guillemot, those numbers refer to "casual games" and will account for "about 70 per cent of new property". They don't include "the games that are supporting the new functions that those accessories will bring". In other words there could be more titles which give you the option to use motion control, but don't make it obligatory.

Like the new Prince of Persia game announced yesterday, perhaps?

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 (37) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Bravestinsane #1 2 years ago

    10!!! in six months...

    I really hope they are not rushed as Natel does look interesting, however I do suspect a couple of them will be arcade games rather than full ones.

  • makeamazing #2 2 years ago

    According to the report most are casual games According to Guillemot, those numbers refer to "casual games" and will account for "about 70 per cent of new property

    This is what i think most people will expect from both new devices in the initial period.

  • StooMonster #3 2 years ago

    Prince of Persia? More like Raving Rabbits et al.

  • Teamallstar #4 2 years ago

    Xbox sports resort?

  • flaming.carrot #5 2 years ago

    Don't really want casual games, I have a Wii gathering dust for that purpose.

  • chrisno21 #6 2 years ago

    Ten rabbids games in six months! Ten games to avoid.

  • youhavenomail #7 2 years ago

    I remember all those Wii games Ubisoft released around the console's launch. One of them wasn't even totally shit.

  • bad09 #8 2 years ago

    I'm so glad I'm getting out of consoles before the waggle hits the HD consoles, 2010 is gonna be a stomach churning year! :)

  • makeamazing #9 2 years ago

    @bad09, you know you can just ignore the waggles and just continue to buy the big AAA games... I will buy the wand for the kids, and i am sure LBP will be fun to play with it (my kids are still playing with that game)... but do i think i will be using it above and beyond the sixaxis, nope.

  • Evolution #10 2 years ago

    I hope they make Petz Natal.

  • bad09 #11 2 years ago

    @ makeamazing

    Well TBH the consoles are going anyway, but we all know the flood of shit that's gonna sweep in next year.

    / looks at the Wii

  • des #12 2 years ago

    Well at least they won't look like shit,but on the other hand Ubi moving crap from Wii to 360 isn't exactly promising.But when this thing launches people will buy all sorts of crap,just to try it out and maybe some game will become a genuine hit.

  • jonsaan #13 2 years ago

    It's an interesting time that's for sure. Considering a lot of devs are now bailing on the Wii and its quirky ways. Could Natal and the deodorant stick be DOA?
    Edited by 1 at 01/12/09 @ 10:25

  • sneetch #14 2 years ago

    @jonsaan
    It's an interesting time that's for sure. Considering a lot of devs are now bailing on the Wii and its quirky ways. Could Natal and the deodorant stick be DOA?

    Possibly, however Natal offers a lot of possibilities that the Wii remote doesn't most notably the ability to be used in addition to a traditional controller. The PS3 wand seems to be much more of a copy of the Wii remote.

  • The-Bodybuilder #15 2 years ago

    We're gonna need a bigger boat......


    To aid in shifting the incoming shovelware.

  • markymark22 #16 2 years ago

    I dunno both are aimed at the casual market but i think natal has more support cause it's dumber...not in a technological sense but the way you just stand there waving your arms way. I can see more window washing games etc. I think natal is a good idea but just a generation too early.

  • Artemis_Matsas #17 2 years ago

    Well, i'm excited that all this new technology is coming our way. Sure, a lot of crap is going to be released, but the choice it's up to the customer.

  • jaxon58 #18 2 years ago

    A source of mine at Sony has told me that their wand is way behind production and won't be out next year. It's also crap, apparently.
    Pinch of salt, obviously.

  • Mkwone #19 2 years ago

    As a gamer i've got to be optimistic about these developments for the potential they hold. I just hope they add to the experiance of games instead of trying to shoe horn it in. We all know it's not the slew of mini games that will decide their fate but the LBPs and the Fable's.

    Let's hope they 'do liver'

  • muscleblade #20 2 years ago

    Wich one wasnt totally shit?


  • onyxbox #21 2 years ago

    I don't see Natal being a success TBH... people who want this sort of 'interaction' already think they've got it in the form of the Wii and won't see why they need to buy Natal.

    How many people who bought a PS2 for Singstar saw Lips and thought "that's different, I better buy a 360"?
    (not many at a guess)

  • drxym #22 2 years ago

    I do not see how Natal could be used for anything but casual games. The sort of motion sensing it supports will require simplistic, exaggerated motions unless they want gamers to scream in frustration. Gestures suck for controlling complex games and Natal is nothing but gestures.

    The PS3 wand has far greater scope for hardcore titles because it is a precise controller but I suspect that it will more than its fair share of casual titles too. The reality is these sorts of devices only exist because people are intimidated by normal control pads and the games will reflect that.

    And Ubisoft being Ubisoft we can expect their particular efforts to be all over the shop in terms of quality. At their worst Ubisoft makes shovelware and I would be more impressed if they said they only had a couple of titles in the works instead of 10.

  • des #23 2 years ago

    "A source of mine at Sony has told me that their wand is way behind production and won't be out next year. It's also crap, apparently.
    Pinch of salt, obviously."

    I was obvious that their E3 presentation was a last minute hack in,just a quick response to Natal.No surprise there...but on the other hand,things like that haven't stopped other peripherals from releasing.

  • interceptor #24 2 years ago

    They're not just starting to make them now, folks. They've had the dev kits for Natal since June/July.
    So by the time Natal actually comes out, they will have had around 18 months development time.

  • sneetch #25 2 years ago

    @drxym
    I do not see how Natal could be used for anything but casual games. The sort of motion sensing it supports will require simplistic, exaggerated motions unless they want gamers to scream in frustration. Gestures suck for controlling complex games and Natal is nothing but gestures.

    Natal is not just gesture tracking (it is claimed that, depending on distance, it can track individual fingers) it is also has voice and object recognition. So at least it'll pick up on the scream of frustration and the subsequent single finger and realise that it fucked up. ;)

    The voice alone could be a god send to a lot of genres, the ability to tell your team in the next Rainbow 6 to "breach and clear", "take my target" or "move to my mark" would really improve game immersion IMO. The voice and gesture recognition could be fantastic for RTS games as well and even RPGs (even the standard nice, neutral or nasty conversation systems would be better if you said the line instead of just selected it). If it can detect tone which it can according to the "magical" Lionhead Milo demo (bit sceptical about that, myself) then you could be nice, neutral or nasty on any of the lines.

    All this depends on how well the tech actually works and how easy it is to code into games, of course. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though.

  • IneptPercy #26 2 years ago

    I hope somebody gets natel running on the PC or it just works anyway (there is a chance).

    Being mostly a PC gamer I do find the consoles graphics poor at imes so it would be hard to pick between lessor graphics+natel or better graphics.

    Will be interesting to see how these tack off and what the games are.

  • davisorle #27 2 years ago

    Eventhough casual games isnt the way i pictured it I also didnt expect so much support in such short time from a single company. So in my book its great news since i do plan on buying Natal. Its good news since if they release that much work within the first 6 months , there has to be great support and knowledge on the hardware for big titles later on with Natal options. Its all good news ^^ cant wait really to see the innoation and options they give over those games. Even though in those casual ones I dont think ill be that much interested since it will make use of it to a limited and mostly games that I wont be too much interested in. I wanna see it ina good GOOD game but then again, there is plenty more developers working on it. You never know how soon we will start seeing great games for it.

    As for the wand, most uses of it we know what to expect. I do think of it as the WiiHD that will never be delivered actually. Just not with Wii titles but the Sony catalog, if you knowwhat I mean oO.

    @des
    The simple reason you are so incorrect is cause if they are making less titles for the wand which is technically identical capable of a Wiimote, what makes you think that the Natal casual games are the ones that will be remakes from the Wii? i really makes no sence, sorry.

    @onyxbox
    I dont see Natal as a system seller either. In order for that to happen Natal will have to be at least one year after release and with enough time for MS and maybe a couple more developers to release some blockbusters proving its a systemseller. This is indeed hard to do for such a peripheral. I only see it as a bonus for the existant console and a toy since i love new techshit that come out. Nothing else. And hey, if I walk in the house and logs me in by just my presence I dont mind it either lol.

    @drxym
    Not only in your twisted head you managed to prove that half the titles for the wand is better news ( which I wouldnt mind personally at all ) but also that you just proved to us that a wand is more of a hard core gamer peripheral... Picture it with me here for a minute please. A hardcore gamer... Holding a wand. Might be why I hate the fact hey even named it that way? I mean you make a new Wiimote, the least they could do is give it a more decent name :S

  • drxym #28 2 years ago

    @sneetch, Natal is not just gesture tracking (it is claimed that, depending on distance, it can track individual fingers) it is also has voice and object recognition. So at least it'll pick up on the scream of frustration and the subsequent single finger and realise that it fucked up. ;)

    I do not believe Microsoft's claims will be borne out by reality. The state of the art in voice & motion detection cannot do what MS claim in optimal conditions, with dedicated software, let alone the sorts of conditions in people's homes. People have different heights, shapes, clothes & footwear, skin colours, accents, voice tone & pitches and rooms have different lighting, layouts, camera positions, furniture, ambient noise, etc. There are a whole raft of variables. Yet Microsoft claim they can not only track position, movement & posture, but facial expressions and voice recognition of multiple people.

    What they will deliver will be doubtless be interesting tech with a lot of clever stuff but it will still be a simplistic motion tracking device that requires players perform actions in a highly exagerated manner. In addition it is likely that detection and actual movements will introduce lag which isn't there with a regular controller. The net result is Natal is almost doomed to be for casual titles only.

    The PS3 controller does look a lot more precise but Sony have their own issues to deal with. Their system requires a camera AND a new controller which makes the overheads higher. Their system also doesn't track full body movement, just the wand(s) which changes the sort of games it can play. I expect the wand will span the casual / hardcore market far more than natal, but it won't be exempt from crappy gratuitous titles with tracked on motion tracking any more than the Wii or Natal is.

    @davisorle Did you see the demo of it working? Did you see them drawing back controllers like a bow and shooting enemies with high precision? It is vastly more suitable for a whole raft of traditionally hardcore genres such as first person shooters. I expect that a number of FPS titles will integrate support although as I said originally I think these kinds of controllers are aimed at casuals and the sorts of games Sony makes will reflect that.

  • EvilBob_leeds #29 2 years ago

    I'm a bit skeptical about Natal and fingers. Aside from them being relatively small and fiddly, and constantly occluding themselves from the camera's perspective, there's also the sheer number of joints involved - 3 joints per finger and two for the thumb, plus each finger bone's connection to the wrist (hold your thumb out straight , then move it to your little finger) - that's 17 per hand, and obviously 34 for both, which is a massive proportion of Natal's 48 joint capacity.

    Not that fingers are the be all and end all of Natal obviously, but I'll be interested to see how well Natal does cope with fingers

    Cue smutty "box fingering" themed comments ;-)
    Edited by 2 at 01/12/09 @ 14:20

  • davisorle #30 2 years ago

    @drxym
    Just the fact that you compare Wand with Natal,, which has NOTHING to do with it and when a Natal is technically way more sophisticated and complex piece of hardware than a wand. You also mention light which in Natal's case is doesnt matter as much as on the Wand for reasons that you arent aware of. Its interesting commenting and having such an opinion on something you arent the least familiar with. I shouldnt be the one explaining it to you to any more extend than that. Scroll back and search even in this website. Should enlighten you a bit.. In order to have a conversation with someone we need to know what we are talking about, common sence right? This cant be done till you know some facts about both peripherals, sorry.

    P.S. ALso when you tell me about how accurate they are.. Natal has its own software and hardware. CPU or any kind of way the console doesnt loose any bandwdth or resources when you use Natal with a software designed for it. Wand on the other hand you havent seen it yet with anything close to a real game, which in ts case it affects the resources of the console. You think that it will be the same accurate when you have seen nothing? I personally hope so but its not proved yet.
    Edited by 1 at 01/12/09 @ 14:23

  • Machiavellian #31 2 years ago

    Personally I do not know why people continue to compare the Wii and Natal as if the two devices are the same. Making ports from the Wii to Natal would not be easy since Natal doesn't use a controller. Yes you can use a controller with Natal but that probably would not be a good implementation of the technology to just emulate the Wii unless the developer/publisher provided some plastic device.

    Instead, Natal games will be their own unique type of games just like the Wii in a sense. This doesn't mean they will be better than what you get from the Wii, but they will be different in how they are played. The full body motion tracking does not mean you have to use the full body. You can just use the arms or hands or even the fingers depending on what you want to do.
    I can actually see developers giving users the option of how they want to interact with Natal. Since Natal can track individual parts of the body and their motion, I can easily see developers giving users the option of just sitting on the couch and just tracking your arms and hands. If you want a more involving experience than it can track your full body. The fact that Natal is so flexible is going to be the real strength of the technology. Also it appears that MS truly understand what they want to do with the tech and are putting a lot of effort on the software part which will key in getting the proper support.

    I believe the reason you see such full support for Natal is not because the technology is so much better than Sony Wand but the fact that MS has provided developers a complete well thought out solution which allowed developers to get up to speed on the technology so they can build games. One of Sony's weaknesses have been providing developers the proper support for their hardware and judging by E3 hack together demonstration, it appears this is probably still the case.

    The thing I like the most about Natal is the fact that developers seem excited about it uses. I do not remember developers getting excited about the Wiimote or even Sony wand. If the developer are excited that means they see potential in expanding the type of games they want to create which is a win for all of us.

  • TonyHarrison #32 2 years ago

    As Bob Dylan sang, the times they are a changing... If motion control truly does take off and starts to become the standard (and lets face it, if it wasn't already a success then Natal and the wand wouldn't even exist), the 'hardcore' who look down their noses at motion control will either have to be dragged, kicking and screaming and change with it, or get out of gaming (some might say they wouldn't be missed).

    After all, motion control does not have to equal casual games or shovelware... It could potentially revolutionise 'hardcore' favourites like the FPS genre, which right now is getting staler by the second.

    It's down to the developers to actually seriously try to do something with motion control that will improve the gaming experience rather than just churn out a couple of mini-game compilations, because on the rare occasion where devs have actually given thought to it, they've come up with some pretty decent first attempts at motion controlled gaming on the Wii, such as PES or NMH.

    Imagine that ingenuity with the 'hardcore' favourite HD graphics and you're onto a winner.

  • drxym #33 2 years ago

    @davisorle, Perhaps you didn't notice but the article mentions Ubisoft's plans for both the Natal and wand it is perfectly valid for me to comment on both techs and speculate on their target audiences. Perhaps it offends you that I speak negatively of Natal, but I also spoke negatively of the wand too. Perhaps you are just offended that I describe the wand is more precise. I am not sure why since it's a fact that is as plain as day from watching both company's live demos. You have watched the demos I hope? I'm not talking about the phony Milo one by the way, but the burnout demo, painting demo etc. The difference in Natal & wand paint demos is particularly stark - the natal demo has you flinging paint at a wall while the wand demo lets you do calligraphy. How much more obvious does it need to be?

    It is also a fact that Natal allows full body motion and the wand doesn't which affects the kinds of games it is suitable for, which is mostly casual games. In summary Natal will be good for broad gestures and full body capture and it will suck for precise actions and responsiveness. And the wand will be the opposite.

    So pick your poison. Or get worked up when someone hilights both systems shortcomings.

    As for CPU processing, that remains to be seen but the wand is clearly designed to minimize processing. Each wand has a big coloured sphere on the end. Processing involves finding a coloured ball in an image and inferring its distance from its diameter or area. It's basic trig and a single SPU could easily handle it. The rest of the calculations such as attitude & motion are done with gyros and accelerometers in the wand which is little different from a sixaxis. I have no idea what precisely what processing the Natal device does in camera and what inputs/outputs it requires, but it is clear that even if the device
    produced a wireframe model that something would have to interpret motions as actions and gestures so there is plenty of ways the CPU will be involved in that process. I also expect that games for both techs will be more inclined to render video overlays or avatars which bumps CPU consumption too.
    Edited by 2 at 01/12/09 @ 18:57

  • BartonFink #34 2 years ago

    Yay shovelware shite ala Wii on the way to current gen consoles.
    Can't wait ....

  • niteninja #35 2 years ago

    All but confirms to me that natal and wand will fail dismally.
    Only the odd first party game will be anygood.
    Peter molyneuxs pedo simulator.

  • smelly #36 2 years ago

    Well I for one am looking forwards to seeing companies starting to make games other than grey and brown shooters... So anything's better than nothing.

    But that said, i dont mind waving my wiimote around - but making me stand up and wave my arms around? No thanks... im too lazy and fat for that.

  • MORZTAN #37 2 years ago

    "the 'hardcore' who look down their noses at motion control will either have to be dragged, kicking and screaming and change with it, or get out of gaming (some might say they wouldn't be missed). "

    I consider myself a so called hardcore gamer, and fuck that comment!