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Posted By: VSG Admin | Jul. 12, 2010 | 11:54am
Microsoft has claimed that players of Kinect can input control into Xbox games just as fast as players using joypads - and that the lag of the device should be judged in terms of experience rather than "milliseconds".
Questions of lag have dampened excitement around the device - previously dubbed 'Project Natal' - since it was first announced at E3 2009.
There was little evidence of slowdown in Microsoft's full on-stage E3 demo a year later, however - when it revealed a casual-focused line-up for the device.
MGS general manager Kudo Tsunoda told the August issue of Edge: "It's funny, because when we measure lag, it's a very technical way of doing things: 'Hey, it's this many milliseconds.'
"I mean, controllers have lag. The great thing with Kinect is that we can receive an input just as fast. Let's say we're playing a game in which we're gonna see a bell go off, and whoever can enter an input faster wins. You're going to press a button and I'm going to [gesture]. We can do it as fast with Kinect as with a button.
"... the way we measure 'lag' is by putting people in front of the experience and measuring their thoughts. Either it feels good or it feels sloppy. It's not how many milliseconds, it's: 'Does it feel good? Does it react fast? Does it feel as if you're in control?'
"We were down here last E3 and we bought a racing game for that reason. At high speed, if there's any lag, the controls will feel bad. Kinect Joy Ride feels really tight - you feel like you're in control and the game's doing what you want, and that's the important stuff."
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View Comments (0)Posted By: VSG Admin | Jul. 12, 2010 | 11:50am
A U.S. design patent received by Microsoft today for a "dual display device" looks like a mere remnant of the days when the company's Courier project was still a going concern. However, the fact that Microsoft filed for a design patent earlier this year shows that the company was serious, at one point, about the possibility of bringing Courier to market as a product in its own right -- before killing it off.
Based on the illustrations, the design patent is pretty clearly for the Courier device, the "secret tablet" from Microsoft that was revealed by Gizmodo last year and held up as a potential rival to Apple's iPad. In April, Microsoft confirmed and canceled the Courier project in one fell swoop but noted that the underlying technologies would still be "evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings."
In an interview with TechFlash in May, outgoing Microsoft Entertainment & Devices President Robbie Bach said Courier was never a "device," instead calling it a project and an incubation leading to innovations that could find their way into other Microsoft products.
The design patent was filed on Jan. 19. These types of patents, covering a product's ornamental design, are good for 14 years, so Microsoft has a bit of time if it decides to revive the Courier concept.
Another clue from the filing provides further evidence of how serious the company was about the project, showing that the company went so far as to hire an outside design firm to work on the Courier.
In addition to Microsoft's Jonathan Harris, the inventors named in the patent filing are Scott Wilson and Stephen Christopher of the Chicago design firm Minimal, whose website lists "Multiple Confidential Programs" for Xbox and Microsoft among its projects currently in progress --- including "ongoing cross-divisional collaborations on future mobile devices, PC hardware, gaming systems and experiences."
Apart from Courier, another of those confidential Microsoft design projects was apparently the new Xbox 360. Wilson has been credited publicly for his design work on the slimmed-down Microsoft game console .
Here are the rest of the images from the filing.
Posted By: VSG Admin | Jul. 12, 2010 | 11:38am
Top Capcom exec feels that the next generation of consoles will be sooner than we think.
Capcom's David Reeves reckons we could see Xbox 720 in two years, reports GI.biz.
While Microsoft has put the timeframe on Xbox 720 at around five years, Capcom exec David Reeves thinks two to three years is more likely.
"Anything they can add to revive and pique interest in the games until we have another clash of the titans in two years time," Reeves told GI.biz when he was asked about Move and Kinect.
"I don't have any inside information. All the first-parties have got to be working on something. The tricky thing is when do you put a stake in the ground on technology? That's the problem.
New Halo Being Developed by 343
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Posted By: VSG Admin | Jul. 12, 2010 | 03:25am
343 Industries - Microsoft's internal division devoted to expanding the Halo universe through anime, comic books and novels - has been tasked with picking up the Halo franchise when Bungie sign off with Halo: Reach.
As such, 343 has been advertising numerous job vacancies for the next Halo title following Reach, on it's official site, with roles being offered for a mission designer, a senior 3D artist, a senior character artist and other key roles.
"343 Industries is forging the future of Halo, expanding and building upon one of the most important and successful franchises in gaming history. Halo is a rich and exciting universe that encompasses AAA video games, New York Times best-selling novels, world-class animation and much, much more. Just you wait. 343 is set to revolutionize gaming and entertainment by putting the industry's fiercest talent in one room and diving for cover. Come be part of the awesome," reads the site's careers page.
Now if that isn't a tempting invitation to apply for a job, we don't know what is.
So, with 343 Industries "forging the future of Halo", what can we expect from the next installment in the franchise following Reach? For now, your guess is as good as ours, but Halo 4 might be a capital idea.
It's early days yet for 343's Halo venture though, so don't expect to see or hear much on it for the time being. Why not focus on Halo: Reach's release in September instead?
Posted By: VSG Admin | Jun. 26, 2010 | 09:43pm
According to the most recent issue of Official Xbox Magazine (August 2010), Gears of War 3 will feature dedicated servers that will finally rid the Gears universe of host advantage. "Expect dedicated servers that'll reduce the lag that plagued Gears 2 down to practically zero..." This is something that has not previously been announced but OXM even went as far as saying, "Will Gears try to defeat its network-code demons with a pre-release multiplayer beta? Epic isn't saying yet, but if it happens, we'd guess it'll be in January."
Both of these sound pretty good to us just as long as the final game ships in slightly better condition than Gears 2 did. Oh, and sorry OXM, but yea, we're going to call you out on this one, "Fans of big guns will delight in the fresh additions to the Gears' arsenal...the Hammerburst..." Ah not quite new guys, just redesigned once again. As always remember to check back here for all things Gears of War 3.
Discs of Tron