With the gaming industry's focus on Sony's new motion controller, Natal has slipped under the radar as of late. Microsoft's up front and honest approach has led to the controller not receiving as much attention as its PS3 counterpart thanks to great deal amount of mystery emitting from camp Sony. That was until today, however, when a whole host of news has broke about the camera driven device, following an event showcasing the new technology. Perhaps the most intriguing pieces of information have come from a 'hands-on' report that has emerged on the peripheral.
According to the report 'Natal knows when you are moving forwards, backwards or even turning around in a full circle, revealing a detailed understanding of the dynamics and make-up of the human body.' It also says that gamers 'walk up to the Natal sensor and it instantly recognises not just your body, but your arms and elbows, hips, legs and feet, replicating your entire body in an on-screen avatar.'
The feature emerged after the hands-on event that was staged yesterday where everyone's favourite and uncontroversial comedy star Jonathan Ross got his mitts on the technology. Having enjoyed his experience so much he decided to announce his pleasure to the world. Oh yeah and a potential release date. He tweeted, "OK. Before bed. Natal on Xbox impressive. Not quite there yet I think but they have 'til October and if they get it right...sky's the limit." Microsoft are sticking to their guns in terms of the release date and when asked about the above comments they said, "There have been no further announcements on the release date of Project Natal - it remains scheduled for Christmas 2010."
In other Natal news, Microsoft have confirmed that MTV, Ubisoft and EA have been developing games for the motion controller since last June. This paves the way for a new Rock Band game, confirming many an assumption. Erin Hofta, member of the US Xbox Development said at the event held last night, "We're actually really not sure what games will be available [for Natal] yet. EA, Ubisoft, MTV Games and our other major software partners have had the technology since June so it will be really interesting to see what they come up with." So it's all kicked off in the land of Natal. Check out the video below to see ol' Wossy in action.