This year’s E3 game conference saw popular gaming companies showcasing their talents and skills to people from all around the world. Advancements in gaming hardware technologies were equally matched by games that looked ultra-realistic and challenging. These two factors have in fact completely changed the way games are played and perceived today. We, who have been playing video games ever since we can remember, simply marvel at the kind of evolution the industry has gone through, in terms of both hardware and software. Things we never thought possible were easily made available to us through some seriously talented people working for manufacturers who were hell bent on creating a different universe for gaming. In time this led us to believe that the real magic in games actually lay in the games themselves.
Hardware had become pretty much standard with console manufacturers adding upgrades every now and then, but the USP of gaming was completely on the games that were being developed with user experiences in mind. I never thought that there could be something in hardware technologies that could wow customers and bring about a revolution in gaming. I have always taken hardware for granted and believed that no matter what, a controller will always be required to control the game and that is just it. There is no other way to it, is there?
Microsoft has been at the forefront of the gaming industry ever since the Xbox was launched a few years back. Microsoft’s tireless efforts to make their products user friendly and different from what other manufacturer’s offer, is not a secret and this very clearly shows in their consoles and the Xbox Live service is a stunning example of this. The Xbox graphics were superior to what was already present in the market, when it was launched. An HDTV requirement was stated for the first time and the console did not disappoint. The graphics looked different from what we had been playing up until then. Basically, it was innovation that Microsoft concentrated on, and that is what they did even with upgrades to their consoles.
Microsoft’s E3 press conference presentation was somber with the company showing off some of its upgraded controllers to match specific game requirements. There was a guitar controller that allowed the gamer to play music in ‘The Beatles Rock Band’ and there was a skateboard controller that could be used to get real time experience in a skateboard game. At this point, one would think that this is as far as any company can go to improve the controller experience for the user. Instead of a standard controller, you give users likenesses of actual objects that let them experience a particular game in its entirety. So a guitar controller for a music-based game and a skateboard for a sports game looked justified, and were received with enthusiasm from the audience. After all, these controllers served their purpose, bringing gamers closer to the real experience.
There are sections of society that are opposed to gaming, saying that someone who plays video games is more prone to obesity and illness, as there is no physical activity involved. And since that is the only way to play video games, they are not good for the body. So goes the argument. Microsoft seems to have taken that ‘fact’ into consideration very seriously as the company embarked on a dream project that would at once do away with the need to have a controller for a game. And yes, they have finally succeeded at it, and code named this technology Project Natal. Steven Spielberg himself revealed this to the world at the E3 conference as attendees were shown something that can be only described as magic.
A boy walks up to his Xbox in the living room and instantly the console signs in him to his personal account, without a controller. In fact, no controller can be seen anywhere near him. He then sways his hand in a vertical motion and on the TV screen the menu scrolls from one option to another. The boy ‘says’ a game name and instantly it starts loading. Up pops a character on the screen who actually ‘talks’ and ‘taunts’ the boy as the boy takes up a fighting stance and gracefully punches the air with his fist and the character inside the game takes the blow! This all sounds too good to be true, but it is the truth. Welcome to controller free gaming where you the gamer, are the controller. In the past we have talked about revolution in gaming coming from only the software part of it. But here now, Microsoft has forever silenced its critics with the development of this new hardware technology called Project Natal. The technology is probably several light years ahead of what other console manufacturers are currently offering. As the creative director of Project Natal presented its capabilities, one could only wonder, “How the hell is it possible for a console to recognize a person and customize itself according to that profile?” Project Natal has full body motion capture that captures every single motion you make with your body and immediately renders it onto the screen. This means that you now do not need any controller to play a game. You simply play as if you are really in the game.
The demo showed a girl seated at her sofa, turning her hands as if she was driving a car and, on the TV screen, the car controls were actually responding with the steering wheel turning in the direction of her hands! And if that was not enough, the lady ‘chats’ to a man sitting beside her as he asks her to pull into the pit lane. And no sooner is the car in the pits, the man gets up, points his hand towards one tyre of the car that zooms onto the screen and then he very gracefully makes actions as if he is taking out the screws and changing the tyre and that is what happens inside the game. Yes, it is shocking and simply awe-inspiring at the same time. It is literally taking AI to the next level, or to the next 10 levels, we must say. By the end of the introductory video, it was getting clear what Microsoft had set out to achieve. But the best was yet to come.
To fully comprehend what Project Natal has to offer, Microsoft demonstrated a game called ‘Ricochet’, which basically is a 3D game where balls shoot at high speeds towards you and you have to hit them back at the goal. Traditionally, this would have required some skills to pull off with a controller, but with Project Natal comes an experience that is like never before. The gamer stands in front of his/her Xbox 360 and the console will recognize the person and sign into his/her profile automatically. The player then launches Ricochet and instantly a grey figure can be seen on the screen that moves along with the player in real time. The game begins and the player starts moving around as if he/she is actually hitting the balls and that gets simulated in the game. Now, this particular game requires intense physical movement as the balls come from all directions, so basically you need to hit the balls with your hands, kick them back and so on. Through Project Natal, you would be doing this in your living room as if you were actually playing it in real. As you move and hit the balls moving on the screen, they respond accordingly. What could be seen with this particular demo was that the player was undergoing really intense physical movements, and through this Microsoft has put to rest that traditional criticism that gamers are couch potatoes. No longer, it seems. Games like Ricochet will ensure that the player is actually undergoing physical endurance while playing and then the outcome of the game will now depend on the player’s actual stamina in real! All thanks to Project Natal. This technology has opened up several opportunities for game developers where they can focus on sports-based games that require a person to move around and ensure that they keep fit, even while playing a video game. In fact, this opens up several more opportunities, rather than being used just for games. This technology can be extended to anything that will make people get up from the couch and move about, and have fun at the same time.
If the Ricochet demo was anything to go by, Microsoft further whet the appetite of people by demonstrating a prototype technology called ‘Milo’. Milo is actually a CG character, a young boy who basically interacts with you as if he is for real. This interaction uses Project Natal on Xbox 360 and if the game experience looked promising, ‘Milo’ is even ahead in terms of interactivity. In the demo, a lady comes and stands in front of her TV and instantly Milo inside the TV comes running towards her and greets her, along with emotions! A conversation follows in which Milo can be seen flaunting various expressions according to what the lady said! All of it seemed magical and frankly, quite hard to believe at the first go.
But something even more magical was about to happen, something which no one has ever seen happening before. The lady takes out a sheet of paper and draws something on it. She then holds it up in front of the console and instantly on the screen, a scanned image of the paper floats in from the top, Milo catches it, looks at it and responds saying that it was good! The only word that can be used to describe this was ‘magic’. Truly, Project Natal is a huge, huge leap in terms of gaming interactivity and is set to change the experience of gaming as we know it. The technology is still a prototype and there is no fixed date for release. But again, this technology is all set to revolutionize gaming as we know it.
Many critics have already surfaced saying that Microsoft played a spoof and that Project Natal is not an actual technology. But people who experienced it at the conference are ready to vouch for it as some of them were also invited for a session with Milo. What the future holds for Project Natal cannot be stated. However, when Microsoft releases this to the public, then all we can say is that we can look forward to some serious gaming entertainment that is for sure going to change our lives for the better. With no health concerns bothering gamers anymore, Project Natal is going to be the next best ever gaming technology to have been developed on this planet. And we the old gamers, who at one time vouched for 8-bit games as the ultimate experience, could never imagine that one day we would be interacting with the game itself. Perhaps this is our chance at redemption.
- By Enumula Kartik