Gaming Generations :: Controller-Free Project Natal Unveiled as Kinect Plug-In

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On Sunday, Microsoft introduced the next evolution in gaming at E3 in Los Angeles. What was code-named Project Natal has been unveiled as Kinect for Xbox 360, a controller-free gaming device that analysts say is poised to change the gaming experience as we know it.

Kinect is a sensor that plugs into the Xbox 360. It contains a camera, audio sensors, and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body. It has the ability to recognize faces and voices and eliminates the need for players to memorize commands on handheld controls.

"You are the controller," said Mike Delman, corporate vice president of global marketing for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business. "You simply step in front of the sensor and Kinect sees you move, hears your voice, and recognizes your face."

Targeting New Gaming Audiences

Kinect can perform full-motion tracking of the human body at 30 frames per second. It doesn't make any difference what the user is wearing or what type of furniture is in the room.

Microsoft estimates there are more than 40 million Xbox 360 consoles on the market -- and the company anticipates Kinect will help boost that number because it appeals to traditional non-gamers such as young children, mothers and grandparents.

In fact, Delman is betting that Kinect will help Xbox become the hub of games and entertainment in the living room and open up a new audience for the console. Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, agrees.

"Kinect brings gaming to a whole new audience that doesn't view a game pad or any type of controller as natural, because it's not," Gartenberg said. "Kinect is about total immersion into the game and breaking down that third wall between the gamer and the activity."

Kinect in Action

The Sunday-night Cirque du Soleil show at which Microsoft demonstrated the Kinect told the story of a boy and his Xbox 360. He began the show playing Xbox alone with a traditional controller, but when he and his family are introduced to Kinect, they all enjoy games and entertainment together.

"Microsoft is taking gaming to the next level, looking not only to enhance the remote control but displace the remote control entirely -- and not only for game play but for actually controlling the Xbox for things like Netflix and video conferencing," Gartenberg said. "In many respects Kinect is more akin to a new console launch than it is an add-on for Xbox."

Will Kinect replace the controller altogether? Gartenberg doesn't think so -- at least not in the short term. For titles like Halo, which appeal to hard-core gamers, the game pad is still front and center. But Kinect may open the door to more immersive games with broader audiences.

"Kinect gives you a sense of what the future of controlling content is going to be like when you can control your TV set through gestures and voice without having to hunt down a remote control that might have a hundred buttons on it -- that's way too complex for most people to use," Gartenberg said.

SOURCE;http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20100614/tc_nf/73849