Fallout 3 head developer Ashley Cheng has suggested that Microsoft let developers loose on it’s Application Programming Interface (API) in a bid to really open up the full potential of Natal. The Bethedsa employee thinks that Natal has almost endless possibilties beyond games and that app developers and not just game developers should be allowed to tinker with it. Cheng remarked:

“Microsoft should open the NATAL API up like Apple does with the iphone/ipad. Let anyone make a NATAL “app.” I bet someone makes a killer app that has nothing to do with gaming”

Project Natal - A Shot Across The Bows

We agree, come on Bill, let ‘em have it, isolationalism will stifle Natal development. Look what Apple did with iPhone apps.

What do you think, what non-game apps would you like to see with Natal?

Steve Q

Not unexpected but we learned today that Microsoft will unveil the entire Project Natal project to E3 in Los Angeles in June. The big event, being called the ‘World Premiere’ will occur on Sunday 13^th with a press follow-up on Monday 14^th. Whilst not exactly a surprise this is good news for those of us who await Natal with bated breath ‘cos it means that MS have got Natal back on track. We were slightly concerned (:-O) after the no show at GDC. 

Project Natal Full Demo at E3

Microsoft claims that the show will be the worlds ‘first look at the future of fun’ so it’s likely that this will be the final iteration and hopefully some completed games.

What I want to know Bill… is ‘where’s my invite to E3?’… maybe it’s lost in the post.

Did you get yours? Let me know

Soon

Steve

Here’s a short video of some Spaniards messing with Natal, they look like they’re having a laugh but the girl looks bored as hell. Nothing new there then . . .

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did you spot the Spanish lady looking bored to tears? That’s all for now byeeeeee!!!

Ste

More rumors about the super-duper Xbox 360 Slim to be bundled with Project Natal when it’s released in Autumn. Michael Pachter told GameTrailers TV that Microsoft will ship a skinny Xbox 360 with Natal and added that it won’t be called ‘slim’. We reckon they’ll call it the Xbox Atkins ….

Super Slim XBox 360

Pachter also confirmed that the Skinny Xbox will come bundled with Natal and retail at under the $300 mark with a larger hard drive, probably 250GB.

Super fuses, we can’t wait!! But what do you think, will it be skinny, latte or the Atkins…?

Steve

Wedbush Morgan expert Michael Pachter has forecast a brand-new lean-Xbox 360 hardware mod just before the end of 2010. Speaking about the possible sale price reduction to combat loss of marketplace share to the PS3, Pachter informed investors, “It is far more likely that we will see a slim version of the Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hard drive and with Project Natal bundled into the box while maintaining the $299 price point, especially if Sony does not lower the price of the PS3 by the time Natal and Sony’s Move controllers launch in the fall.”

Kate Moss - Slim, But Not as Slim as an XBox 360

This is actually not the very first whisper of a possible 360 component modification in the recent past. Several weeks back, Joystiq obtained pictures from a Far East technical online community which were proposed to show a size-zero variant of the actual 360 system board. Include to this the quotation from Steve Ballmer which referred to “more form factors in the future,” as well as a recent Microsoft employment offer with regard to an Xbox 360 Motherboard Design Engineer, and Pachter’s proposal appears much more than a possibility.

Fresh designs tend to be at the core of the video game sector. Recently, Sony launched a leaner model of the PS3 this together, with a big marketing push, was able to significantly enhance consumer attention for the system. The Xbox 360 has already been on the marketplace for nearly five years and might be looking slightly tired, and it would certainly make good sense for Ms to pursue a corresponding strategy to overlap with the release of Project Natal this ‘holiday’.

We’ve reported this before but this seems more concrete evidence….. Of course what I’d really like to see ia a hardware upgrade along with the sleek new case… this seems less likely…

What do think? Will a slimmed down size zero 360 revive the comsoles reputation? Or are the PS3 fanboys rubbing their hands and saying ‘told you so’?

PS3 Fanboys Not Wanted Here

Let me know . . . (PS3 fan-boys need not reply )

Steve

A tech company based in Israel has revealed that it’s providing the technology behind Microsoft Project Natal. The company is Prime Sense, out of Tel Aviv, who are primarily into chip design. Prime Sense will provide the 3d sensor technology for Natal.

Prime Sense head honcho Inon Beracha said:

“We are selling the chip for each Natal system, and we also license the reference design for the whole 3D sensor”

Project Natal Camera

What’s less certain are the details of the deal between Microsoft and Prime Sense but MS have likely taken the rights for the 3D tech for games for some time into the future. This gives the Xbox 360 a clear technological advantage over it’s rivals the Wii and Sony’s upcoming Move for the Playstation 3.

But rights are exclusive only for games, and will not cover non-related applications such as televisions, PC’s and GPS systems. Beracha revealed that his company is involved in joint ventures with high-end manufacturers in developing products that will utilize it’s 3d technology. This could be really cool, imagine changing TV channels by moving your arms or scrolling through PC menus by flicking your fingers?

Beracha added:

“Very few people like remotes. They lose them, the batteries die — that could be a dying market,” he said.

Prime sense gave a sneak preview of their 3d magic to invited guest in January at CES in Vegas. Users were impressed with some of the ‘Minority Report’ style demo’s. 

Project Natal Brings Minority Report to Your Home !

Microsoft also re-iterated their previous comments about the release date for Natal ‘It will be released holiday 2010’, WTF does that mean?

Anyways we should see natal this year and some interesting new remote-less technology next year, all good.

What do you think? Will motion control take over the home entertainment world?

Ste

A slimmer, sleeker Xbox 360? Looks like Microsoft will release a super-model super slim Xbox alongside Project Natal later this year. The size 0 box will most likely be bundled with Natal and will extend the product life of the Microsoft Console. Rumors are being fuelled by new 360 motherboard and portable hard drive developments for the 360. Obviously MS remain tight lipped about these whispers.

Super Slim Xbox Coming Soon?

Would seem logical that if you make the console smaller then a stand-alone hard drive could avoid any storage issues? Don’t bet your house on it but I reckon a ‘wow have you lost weight’ 360 is incoming…

Now if only they’d make it in black . . .

What do you think?

Please don’t associate us with this tw*t, but there’s some interesting tech stuff in the vid . .

Click here to view the embedded video.

Is it me or is this guy a …..

Ste

Here we go ..

Click here to view the embedded video.

OK it’s a bit ‘we lurrrve MS’ but you gotta admit the technology is amazing . . Or is it?

Ste

Panic over, it’s not the size it’s the quality. Microsoft has been swift to squash rumours that flooded the web a few days ago which suggested that you needed a room the size of a football field in in order to get the best experience with Natal. A Microsoft spokesman told Kotaku:

“The comments recently about the play space for ‘Project Natal’ were misinterpreted. It is true that the ‘Project Natal’ sensor reads the configuration of your room and adjusts play space, as appropriate. We know that living rooms come in all shapes and sizes, and have conducted numerous play tests to ensure everyone will be able to jump off the couch and into the fun when ‘Project Natal’ launches globally this holiday.”

That’s great news for us Brits in our tiny hovels but too late for me, I already knocked two of my walls out and had a ceiling collapse . . .

Personally though I still feel that Natal will need a bit more space than the Wii, it just feels like that’ll be the case. What do you think?

Ste