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How Fast is Project Natal?

February 27, 2010 in Video comments 11

E-mpire's Dustin Rudzinski takes a look at a recent Natal video to see how fast Natal tracks user input. The original video showed a guy breakdancing and comparing how the user input was shown on screen with Natal. There was some noticeable lag and the time was analyzed.

Natal's lag has been debated heavily since it debuted. Some say it's bad, others claim it isn't so bad. We decided to put it to the test... and after seeing the results we're not surprised that they didn't want to allow cameras into the latest public showing of Project Natal.
XboxEvolved via xboxevolved.e-mpire.com »
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  • 1
    Paradox Feb 27, 10
    Of course there's going to be lag, this is a major development in video games. Hopefully they'll perfect their design.
    • 1
      ruledbysecrecy Feb 27, 10
      This isn't a major development by any stretch of the imagination. Let's be completely *bleep*ing honest here, this has been around in such basic forms as far back as when the first webcams started showing up. Dude, I bounced digital beach balls around my computer monitor in like '95. Now here in 2010, we're somehow blown away by a guy being tracked on screen hitting balls being thrown at him? Seriously? That looks exciting for all of about 10 minutes.

      It's like anything, if someone can think up a real novel and creative way to use this technology, that could be really cool. But look at the freaking Wii, 3% of all their games do anything worthwhile with those controls.

      Natal isn't breaking any barriers. That goes for everything, PS3 arc included.

      And another thing. The whole holding your hands out to race in Natal deal... are you kidding me? Have you ever held your arms out for a long period of time with nothing to rest your hands on? It becomes tiring so quickly! Don't even start with me about being lazy, it's just no fun. I want to play a videogame! Not get a workout playing Burnout! I lift weights and exercise daily, it's sad people can't just get their physical workout by actually working out. It has to be forced upon them in videogames.
      • 0
        Daweii Feb 28, 10
        Two words.. EyeToy. People forget that Sony tried this on the Playstation 2. EyeToy tracked movement.. Sony realised though that gaming without a controller is incredibly basic and gesture based gaming is very hit and miss. They haven't created Playstation Arc because gaming without a controller is perfect, they know it's flawed and I hope Arc shows how flawed Natal is without a true input device.
  • 1
    Phil Anselmo Feb 27, 10
    The webcam you were using in '95 (which was probably more like 2000) didn't track motion in three dimensions.

    Natal probably won't revolutionize gaming as a whole, but to belittle it because you think it's forcing people to exercise is pretty ridiculous. Have you seen the video where the woman drew a picture, put it up to the camera and it transferred whatever she drew into the game? That is impressive.

    It's easy to sit and judge Natal from what you see on the surface, but if you dig a bit deeper it's actually a pretty neat device.
    • 0
      ruledbysecrecy Feb 27, 10
      All of this stuff has been done before. That's my point. Hence, not a major development. Tracking motion in three dimensions? That's old hat too. It's been around since the 1980s.

      I'm not belittling it merely because it forces people to exercise, did you miss the whole rest of my post? The craziest part is there are still things about your standard controller that could be used in a different way and completely change the way a game feels and plays. Remember when games revolved around doing the same monotonous actions over and over again because there were only so many buttons? And then lo and behold, there was the context-sensitive action button!

      I'm just bringing it back down to reality, all you Molyneux's need to calm down about it. For one, it's specs have been cut back due to budget constraints and that downright sucks. It was going to be faster, then they decided to reduce it's processing power. Things aren't looking good if you ask me.
    • 0
      Fatal Error Feb 28, 10
      motion sensing in three dimensions has been around a LONG time, at least as long as infrared sensors have been around. Shit, in a 2nd year mechanical engineering class I made a mechanical arm track motion in three directions and pick up an object at the point when you pressed a button. This stuff isn't new and certainly isn't technologically advanced.
      • 0
        Phil Anselmo Feb 28, 10
        Of course the technology itself isn't entirely new. If that were the case, Natal would be more than just a game add-on. It is, however, new to console gaming. Facial recognition? Check. Turn your X360 on (voice commands?) and stand in front of Natal and it'll associate your face with your gamertag. Pretty cool.

        Like I said, Natal probably won't revolutionize gaming, but it does bring a bunch of cool ideas to the table that will allow the X360 to enter the market that's currently occupied, and dominated, solely by the Wii.

        But people love to hate for some reason, even something that doesn't affect them, so continue on.
  • 1
    Red 9 Feb 28, 10
    I can't believe so many people think Natal is new technology. Most, if not all, the things Natal can do has been done with the EyeToy perhaps five/six years ago.

    BTW, transferrence of photos onto on-screen? Ever heard of Sony's EyePet? Yeah, didn't think so.
    • 1
      Phil Anselmo Feb 28, 10
      Does that also scan users equipment for use in-game? Nah. It's limited. Natal uses the same technology, sure, but it's definitely more expanded.
      • 1
        Red 9 Feb 28, 10
        Yeah, but I just think it's ridiculous how some people think it's this never-before-seen breathrough technology. Some fans are just so ready to eat up the crap MS tells them.
  • 1
    VenerableBmoney Feb 28, 10
    Microsoft will have plenty of time to iron out the details. Neither Sony or Microsoft will let their newest advance fail (nor will they let it be scrutinized while in development).

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