Project Natal “Needs 4 Metres” – “American Homes Only”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Mar 23, 2010 03:26 JST
- Tags: Buildings, Controllers, Marketing, Technology, USA, Xbox 360
Microsoft’s belated disclosure of the space requirements for its innovative new Project Natal interface have struck many as being physically impractical for all but the large living room, with the controller demanding a “clear” space 4m (13 feet) deep.
The device (an Xbox 360 peripheral which uses sensors to interpret bodily movement) is said to require an area significantly larger than most other gaming devices, and more pressingly, larger than many homes or gaming areas can feasibly provide:
To be precise, you’ll want to clear an area extending at least 4 meters (a little more than 13 feet) away from the television.
That’s the back edge of the space to be taken into account by the Natal sensors.
In terms of width and height, the field of vision naturally expands as it moves from the Natal device to that back edge, ending up a little more than 4 meters wide and 2.7 meters high (about 8 feet, 10 inches).
Japanese gamers immediately noticed that this is larger than the size of all but the biggest Japanese rooms – as pictured in the below diagram, previously published by Microsoft during one of its more brutally frank moments:
Possibly this is a significant miscalculation on Microsoft’s part – a “clear area” 4m deep might be a reasonable enough expectation for an American living room centred on a large TV, but in urban dwellings throughout much of Asia and Europe such spaciousness cannot be taken for granted, and even if it could the hassle of clearing away intervening furniture each gaming session might be unappealing.
The 4m space requirement also rules out a significant number of more cramped bedroom and single room dwelling settings. Needless to say, a close-in “PC gamer” style setup with chair, desk and monitor/TV is completely out of the question.
It is not clear how well the unit will function in more confined areas, but it seems likely degraded operation will be possible to an extent. On the other hand, there are clear minimum and maximum range limits with Natal’s sensors which are unlikely to offer much leeway.
More pointedly for gamers (especially slothful ones), Microsoft’s gaming future apparently also involves a great deal of standing up.
Update: Microsoft has claimed their previous words were “misinterpreted” and that Natal will adapt to “all sizes” of room.
Considering that the system itself has physical minimum and maximum limits to sensor range and limited sensitivity, this rather reeks of damage control, as plainly the system has limits and an optimal play area whether Microsoft cares to tell consumers about them or not.
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Hell, it looks like anybody who wants to game in a normal sized bedroom is pretty damn screwed already.
4 meters is huge. for the average joe, that's usually the size of their own bedroom or mancave.
looks like only the rich living in spacious housing would be taking full advantage of natal.
Well, Natal's physically impossible for me, not that I planned to get it or Move. My room is too visually intricate anyway, I'm sure...
I actually game at a PC desk, so I have to switch seats to the back of the room to play Wii too, but it does work if I do that.
Ohhhh, Microsoft. You so crazy.
Umm... 4m(METERS) is about 13ft(FEET).
And it's depth. So, not sure about the width. I'm guessing as long as it's 4m deep, it doesn't matter your room is 1m or 15m wide.
Well this was designed by americans for the american family.
I doubt microsoft cares much if the japan can acclimate because it probably already knows Japan isn't exactly teh friendliest of countries embracing xbox.
I live in Russia and I have more than enough space in my living room. All I have to do is fold a couch. So, too bad for you guyz. And yeah, I repeat - it's MY living room. Har har har.
Нихуя страшного. Даром досталось - даром уйдёт. Har har har.
Translation: In mother Russia the couch folds you.
I dont have that space. I live in a very small apartment. But i have a Hayabusa from 2008 and a Subaru WRX from 2009. Much more fun.
My haya is 2008 not 2007.
like they care..
they still thinking we are yellow monkeys
I don´t have that space. I live in a very small apartment. But i have a Hayabusa from 2007 and a Subaru WRX from 2009, better than any game platform.
I love the "USA" floorplan. Seriously wtf, 90% of the people do not have a house that nice.
Is too much space to do the ridicule!.
Perhaps these are the requirements for a virtual orgy xD
"but in urban dwellings throughout much of Asia and Europe such spaciousness cannot be taken for granted"
Not entirely true unless you are refering to most Japan n HK houses
Alot of Asian homes have dedicated entertainment room with beef up sound system n everything
4 metres for this shit? Microsoft is so fucked up...
I never get this shit... If I wanna have fun standing up I'd go run outside or something...(I don't actually like running but you get the point).
Mixing moving around with video games is like mixing martial arts with wheelchairs. Way to go America.
Outside? Sankaku?
Huh?
Not everybody in America has this kind of space, damnit.
I'm a New Yorker, so any apartment containing 16ft square space unbroken by furniture here costs a fortune, like in the high hundreds of thousands or in the millions. God help you and your bank account if you want to get a house with a space big enough so that you can have a 16ft square space after furniture is placed.
The only time living gets affordable is if you start looking for places under 400sq ft total (like where I live now). There is NO space in my apartment for something like this, as NO room in my apartment was 16sqft to begin with when we moved in, and now that furnishings are in place, we have no place to place furniture even if we wanted to move it.
Heh... metrehs.
"urban dwellings throughout much of Asia and Europe"
Actually if you look at any statists you will see that european houses are in average 35% bigger that american
Put it on the ceiling
So the field of vision is a cone 13ft long and 13ft wide by 8ft high at the base. So at a more reasonable amount of free space you would have to be under 4ft tall to have it be able to read your arm movements while you jump around in front of it. Seems kind of pointless.
Wow! All of you guys are much smarter than Microsoft! Are you really sure that they would be dumb enough to require that much space?
Wow THIS EYETOY RIP OFF IS COMPLETELY FAIL MICROSOFT IS RELEASING A THING WHICH SONY ALREADY DID 8YRS AGO DUG !
lol... camera based games were on PCs like 15 years ago. Natal and Move are both progressions of the robot vision software that allows these apps to discern shapes etc...
MS's twist is adding an IR camera (and illuminator?) to get stereoscopic and low-light vision, and by adding depth perception, even further boost its detection ability. Sony did not do that.
Sony's twist is coloring their controller whatever way best contrasts with the camera's image, making sure it has something it can always track and recognize. A standard size and shape makes determining its 3D position a snap - but it will have problems determining what angle it's being pointed unless the software also watches your arm. The motion sensor will only tell it that it is being pointed, but I think that while you use the Wii cursor like a laser pointer, the Move will be more like having a mousepad floating in front of you that you'll have to wave the remote through to move the cursor - but on the bright side it will be able to track it through a WAY BIGGER area than the Wiimote can move without losing focus.
Oh fucking waaaah.... I live in a small-ass studio condo in Seattle and I can still manage 13 feet from couch to TV.
So, let me get this straight, you need a 4x4m clearing of space to play Natal games? I don't get why you couldn't manage with a smaller space when all the Natal is doing is picking up movement?
Does Natal really need 16 square-meters of space to tell if you're waving your hand?
I really doubt Microsoft is stupid enough to think it would work with a required 4x4m space. That basically shrinks their potential consumer base down to a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the common populace.
That basically means no tightly populated urban communities will have the space required to play the game. The huge buyer demographic of college students is immediately tossed out of the window. New York? Forget about it. All of Asia? Nope.
Who is going to program for something like that when you're selling your game to a fraction of a fraction of your base? And before some XBox360 fan comes out to tell me that Natal is just another way to experience games and doesn't demand software programmed specifically for it, if it doesn't have those titles justifying its existence, it's only going to fade into obscurity.
Now not only poor people cant afford this, middle class also cant because of the space needed.
Maybe it can be par with the Atari 5200
Damn that American house looks nice. I wish I had a bedroom with a walkway leading to a study overlooking a garden.
That is a rather ODD shaped house... its an interesting design layout. I'd love to have those kinds of gardens and plants outside my windows. The study has its own forest?
Huge decking?
The bed-room layouts are not so-good. And when it comes to American families... we tend to want the other bedrooms, especially the kids on the other-side of the house so that when your gaging and bounding the wife (or husband) they don't think someone is being killed... abused yes. :)
PS: In small Japanese homes... that tiny. Isn't it
awkward when the parents are having sex in the next room?
A friend just rented a house. $1200 a month. 2000 square feet + 2 car garage. 2 yards (used to be a pool in one yard). It has 2 living rooms. Each bedroom is a good size. master bedroom bigger than the Japanese home pictured above. I want it.
I can't help but feel like they've messed up.
This has been confirmed false.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/107/1079611p1.html
It might work in arcades.
even if this was true you could just put a lens from something like binoculers in front of it
I live in America and my room is plenty big enough for this. So is every other room in my house. And most of my friend's houses.
unless u live in a box like japan its no problem, anyways i would want to be kicking and punching stuff in an area less than 13 feet.
At least they did not shamelessly copypaste Wii remote just like Sony does...
It's a good peripheral for eroge... hmmm....
No they copy DDR instead. mmmmmm
The Japanese gamer is screwed by Microsoft
There is an 80% chance the 4x4m guy is from Dumbfuckistan.(USA) xD
I'll to push a table back a bit, but it seems like I have enough space. Large living rooms are a bitch to heat up during winter, but it's good to know they have their positive points too. ^^
what can u say. Microsuck is from the US
Hell, even my US house's living room isn't that big. I'd have to move the recliner, couch, coffee table... I'd have to basically empty the room, and even then I'm not sure if it'd be enough space.
that counts me out, I play at my desk about 1-3 feet away at most from my screen.
This is probably the maximum limitation of project Natal's fail becuase not only trying to cash in on a Wii gimmick but by limiting the space in which to play with the device would affect the sales of the product since not everyone owns a massive living room.
I know i do but the point is that the whole idea of a device that acts similar to that of a Wii controller is quite questionably stupid and is nothing more than a cash in ideal for casual gamers.
I hope you're trolling..
I think you will find i'm not that type of guy who finds troling a fun past time, because that would be pathetically stupid since nearly all trolls are inbred retarded wastes of matter and care.
Looks like I'll need to make room for a ps3.
No one's gonna buy this in europe.
Do they have any idea how high the cost per square meter is in large cities here?
an apartment... in JAPAN?
Almost the size as project Natal has said no wonder the Japanese won't buy the Xbox 360 Japanese thinks it sterotypes there own home space.
I'd have no problem at all using it in my living room as it's 14 by 24 feet.
But the bedroom would be out of the question unless I do something silly like mount the TV and camera above my bed and stick my desk at the foot of the bed.
It seems Natal games will only be used in living rooms and dens.
I'm still shocked how small the example Japanese floor plan is in that diagram I think just my living room is much larger then that.
You never seen a japanese apartment before? I actually think that's a fairly sized apartment for Japan compared to some others which only have the bedroom and restroom [not bathroom].
I bet xbox hentai games will require gamers to ejaculate through a minimum of 4 meter distance.
White sticky walls will become the new FAD.
4x4 square meter distance from the tv, so that means we need a bigger house, so you MUST be rich enough to play this game?
I CANNOT, nor want, to go on this console, I live in a cardboard box.
That was one marketing idea that was going through my mind of how come microsoft wants people to play this device with bigger rooms? oh thats right its aimed at the rich and wealthy.
But yes that was a thought i was contemplating a while ago about microsofts western market stratagies.
lol poorfags who cant afford a decent living room...
You capitalist pig should die having no money to eat any crap other than grass...
...but you have a COMPUTER...and yet you can't afford space to LIVE in?
A computer doesn't take much more space than a TV, and it can be an inexpensive computer in the 200-500 dollars range. Not like you need a high end computer for reading SC and downloading doujins.
Also, you assume the cost of living space everywhere is as cheap as in your locality. Get out of your rosy-colored bubble every once in a while, you naive person.
Like Japan even gives a shit about this, since it's for the 360. Personally, I hope that Natal and the Move fail, because I can't fucking stand this shit.
Good thing I don't plan on getting this because I would never be able to play this anywhere in my apartment (especially not in my bedroom where my xbox currently is).
I really wish that the gaming industry would lose their hard-on for these "innovative" motion sensor devices.
Natal for hentai games, Gitami? To use the... joystick? ^_^
I think Cross Days sould come with Natal as a package. You can CHOP off Makoto's head yourself with much joy!
4 meters? Even with all the 360fanbois that I know, they dont have 4 meters in-front of their tv...
Instead of going for precision controls, Microsoft should have gone for money making crappy games...
I don't see what the point is of these peripherals. It's not like the games out right now suck, and if it isn't broke don't fix it. And yeah most of these games are bound to suck.
Even I have 4 meters. It isn't that hard to just FUCKING FIND A PLACE TO PUT IT. I'm also in college, if that gives you any indication as to my money status. And I live in an apartment.
oh?? and im working and don't have that much space you muppet
Good for you...
Actually, that doesn't give us any indication as to what your financial situation is, but I don't particularly care anyway.
I think the he means that his mommy and daddy are paying for all of his financial needs. Experience has taught me that most people like that are doucherockets...
I also have four meters... Occupied by a bed, desk, books, games, consoles, chairs... Ahem...
No, I can't use Natal...
Yeah, it's probably something like that.
I have also 4 meters... but not of FREE SPACE! free space = nothing but the floor! That means no plants or sofa or other shit! I just moved to a new appartment and I don't have 4 m of free space!... Perhaps my entrance hall...
I'm with 5:32 anon here. My bedroom has that much space, but it's occupied by my other furniture, and clearing the space every session does not appeal to me in the least.
Xbox is already unpopular enough in Japan...
I like my Xbox, but cut me out on this. There's no way to clear that much space in my living room.
On other news, for those who do have the space, one can only wonder at the sexual possibilities Project Natal provides... lol
You know you've taken gamer nerdiness to a new level when you need video game accessories to complete the mood.
สุดยอด
Only for USA.
Delete this post...
just kinda of throwing this in there, there was an intel championship in my city a while back and they were showing this gun controller with a miniature mounted projector on the gun. i tried it and it's actually pretty cool because since the projector was on the gun wherever you pointed it the screen would move accordingly.
it was a bit bulky as it was a 'sneak peek' type thing but it showed a lot of promise, all you need is a wall pretty much of any size. just had to calibrate the boundaries on the wall and you were set. might be something to look into :P
4x4 meters fee space? Are they completely nuts?
try the roof
Oh, man. I'm laughing and tears coming out of my eyes. This is just what Microsoft needed to do to lose money... Invest millions on Natal, only to see it fail because homes aren't just equipped for that.
Unless they adjust the sensors to be able to work in a much smaller space, they're effectively fucked.
From what I've seen, Sony's device should work as long as their camera can see it.
This wont do well with the Japanese market at all.
Gamers would have to start moving out of their small apartments then.
sigh. so much for me gettin it. i much rather play in my room than have "family fun time" in the living room.
I'm thinking that they mean a 4 meter by 4 meter square, not 4 squared by 4 squared. Now I can't really recall my middle school math since I graduated High School ten years ago, and despite what they tell you in school you never use that shit once your out; so I wont try to debate with people how many square meters are in a 4x4 square (that's By not Times BTW).
I agree, neither in Mexico.
The optimum space must be 2mx2m... And when they say that it must mean that the space must have at least 2m in larger and at least 2m in profundity...
I don't think that natal will work with spaces like 1mx4m or 4mx1m...
What a cold shower... In France the apartments do not usually such a big space...
4x4 = 16 square meters...my room is only 15 square meters...
Oh god, please... stop... I failed math, horribly and all these numbers aren't helping...
dont forget, you have to take all your junk in your bedroom before you can play, your computer, bed, table, chair... and judging by matters at hand, microsoft wants you to take yourself out of the 4x4 space too, good gaming everyone
Dude you guys failed epically
Square metres are not necessarily the same as metres squared: an area 2 metres wide by 5 metres long would be 10 square metres.
Learn before you post. Google!!!
Square metres are not necessarily the same as metres squared[2]: an area 2 metres wide by 5 metres long would be 10 square metres
Google!!!
Perhaps the area of his brain required for math was cleared out to make room for random Japanese words.
Microsoft's Project Natal: Japanese Living Quarters Haet Machine
Xbox 360 just became the first console where it's best to play in the backyard. Not only can you look like a retard in front of your friends, but now the whole neighborhood can see that your a retard. Special Olympics here we come!
4x4 = Four-wheel drive
That's even harder fail. You just calculated the area for the entire circle, not the semicircle.
TECHNICALLY the 4m range would mean that it was a circle around the Natal device, not a square. Thus there would be a semicircle facing away from the television with a radius of 4m, so punch 3.14*4*4 into a calculator and you need a space more than 48 square meters.
They didn't say its 4m just in front only so we got to take into account that its a radius of 4m centred around the TV.
Hence, area needed will be (3.14 * 4 * 4)/2 = 25.12m^2
Wow...
This is the first time I've seen so many people talk about math with so much failure.
1m^2 is 1m^2
2m^2 is 2m^2
and so on...
1m*1m is 1m^2
1m*2m is 2m^2
2m*1m is 2m^2
2m*2m is 4m^2
and so on.
4m*4m is 16m^2
It's a grid 4 squares high and 4 squares wide. Let me demonstrate.
_ _ _ _
|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_| 4 squares high.
|_|_|_|_|
|_|_|_|_|
4 squares wide
In each square the sides are 1m, making every square 1m^2
count the squares suckers...
1 troll comment get replied by 10++ comments...
i live in america, and that is still a ridiculous amount of space just to get it working. oh well, it's a good thing i sold mine and bought ps3 games.
Way to fail at math, 4x4 is 16 square meters.
@Anon 05:03
"4x4 = 4 square meters, baka"
...fail.
Are you mad?
1x1=1 sqm
4x1=4 sqm
4x4=16 sqm
Paint it up on paper if you need to see how it works.
My room is about 14.5-15 square meter, and this is suburban Finland we're talking about.
You are baka-schoolboy. 4m^2 = 2x2. 4x4 = 16m^2.
"4x4 = 4 square meters, baka"
e-e-e-e-e-Epic Fail!!!
im not a native english speaker......
but i normally call " m² " as "metre square"
......so, 16 square meter can be "16*16 metre" , "area of 16 1m²square" ,.......etc.
every replies to this comment are retarded.......
I am in Mexico and I do think this peripheral won’t be popular here. Households here are a bit larger than the ones on Japan’s, most of the game-consoles are held on the bedrooms, while the bigger TV is in the living room to be shared by the family members. Needing to move furniture and take the living room for they would be impractical for most of the players who live with their parents… as for me I’m a couch potato to hate to play stand.
i think he/she meant is it's meters squared and not square meters.
it might make a difference in pure math. but not for real life applications
I think you mean feet because 15 square meters would be about 50 square feet which is huge, the room I'm sitting in now is only about 3 meters wide or about 9-10 feet squared ; and it's a decent sized room. The master bedroom is maybe twice that.
Lets all remember that a meter is 3.34 feet and a yard is 3 feet so a meter is almost equal to a yard. Also a 4 meter by 4 meter area is 4 meters squared not sixteen square meters.
4x4 = 4 square meters, baka
lol. so whats 4x5? 4m²? 5m²`? 4,5m²
Please don't correct people when you're clearly failing 5th grade math.
4x4x4
thats 4 tuns fo water
lets not forget that thats their estimate for safety, just like nintendo did with the wii. In driving your supposed to check every single mirror even ones that have no relevance to the direction your going in the car every at turning, but who does that after they pass the exam realistically.
Like: don't ever think to buy our lavish console if you don't live in a mansion.
OMG it's even worse than I though... After the smaller controller for Asian little hands scandal, now they do this!!! It's like Microsoft didn't want to the Xbox360 to be sold in Japan... They're probably trying to make it trendy... Style, I have the Natal and the place to used it...
Geez, some of these comments..
It's like you live in tin cans or 200 a month slum lord apartments...
Oh I'm sorry I currently live in a tin can which don't have the luxury of 4x4 square meters of space.
Srsly man, if most of us live in a small house then that can't be helped, right?
Foreigners raging out? Sorry you have to live in sardine cans. (not really)
480 a month apartment is considered to have this "ridiculous amount of space" or is a "rich mansion"? The hell shitholes are you from?
haha, cats, I'm going to go ahead and say you live in your parent's house, grow up kiddo.
I'm living in a 24m2 apartment and I wouldn't want a bigger one. I have no use for more space.
keep living your pink fantasy.
The biggest room in my apartment is 4 by 4.5 meters. If they're serious, that'd mean I'd have to clear out my entire bed/computer room for this nonsense.
I'm sorry, but not everyone lives in a country where the real-estate market crashed as horribly as the USA. :p
i think bastards are discriminating against poor people who cant afford a mansion
"Xbox is already unpopular enough in Japan..."
At this point I'd say it's a dead market. I'm all for them gearing it for western audiences.