TGS 09: Music Game Dev Keiichi Yano Excited For Project Natal, Mum On Projects

10 Comments Posted September 23, 2009 - By Patrick Klepek

Microsoft hasn't revealed much more about Project Natal since its grand unveiling at E3, but its been well established that many developers have kits from Microsoft that have allowed them to start playing around with ideas for the device. Elite Beat Agents and Lips creator Keiichi Yano, co-founder of music games-driven Japanese developer iNiS, is very excited about Natal. Yano told Billy Berghammer in an interview this week that motion controls have a very important place in the future of music games and it sounds like he's going to be at the forefront of this.

"So I think that it's really great that the advent of the Wii has kind of brought all this this fuzzy motion technology," said Yano. It's not a very exact thing, but at the same time, it allows for an interface that basically anyone can pick up and play. In the case of Ntal, you don't pick up anything. You literally just stand in front of the camera and you're good to go. I think, for example, with games like Lips or Rock Band, Guitar Hero, what not, with music games in general, the target segment that those games are trying to reach and the target segment that Natal is trying to reach is really kind of synchronous there, trying to go for the same kind of people. It's already a good match, I think."

"We've been in a day and age where we've really relied on these peripherals coming all the way up to this state," he continued, "but now we have the potential to not have anything at all but still have the same types of experiences or maybe even more immersive depending on how we design our games. It's definitely a challenge and it's a good challenge to have. But whenever we can take an experience like Natal, which is really geared to you just stand in front of it and you can immediately get the game within 30 seconds, kind of mixing that together with the music experience, which is a social experience, is all a good thing and hopefully there will be a lot of good games that come out of that."

Does that mean Yano is actively working on Natal-based games right now?

"That I cannot talk to," he teased.

Tags: Music, Tokyo Game Show, Tokyo Game Show 2009, Videogames, Xbox 360

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iScotty

i dont really have much of an interest in natal :/

call me old fashioned but i prefer just a plain old controller. :0

Posted: September 23, 2009 7:48 AM | Reply | Report

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iScotty

i dont really have much of an interest in natal :/

call me old fashioned but i prefer just a plain old controller. :0

Posted: September 23, 2009 7:48 AM | Reply | Report

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iJESUSfreak

I look forward to using Natal, and i feel that it would add something interesting to some games, but that's just it...SOME games. I hope that they will give us the option to use it, or just a classic controller with every game.

Posted: September 23, 2009 7:54 AM | Reply | Report

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iJESUSfreak

I am looking forward to using Natal, and i feel that it will really be innovative, add depth to some games...but that is just it...SOME games. Some games just aren't made for motion controlling. I hope that they give us the option to use it, o just a classic controller.

Posted: September 23, 2009 7:58 AM | Reply | Report

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jungleman67

hope it goes well

Posted: September 23, 2009 8:10 AM | Reply | Report

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Fuzion9

I 'm mildly interested in natal. I think xbox has the ability to pull it off (even better than the wii can) but i don't wanna see every game try to feature it. There are some games that are just plain better with a controller. But none the less i think motion control is an inevitable addition to video games

Posted: September 23, 2009 8:33 AM | Reply | Report

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Sinacle1

I don't get it. What is the difference between Natal and the Eye (Toy)?

Posted: September 23, 2009 10:46 AM | Reply | Report

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spicypooptastic

sinacle1: The difference is the natal reads in 3d so all motion even the depth of a bunch, wereas eyetoy reads in 2d so you can only really wave your hands. Also natal has other features such as voice reconition.

Once the 2010 holiday season rolls around and MS releases the new natal 360, all were gonna be hearing on the news is natal this and natal that. And I am sure they wont meet demand, and some people will be buying natal 360's off ebay for a thousand dollars.

Posted: September 23, 2009 10:56 AM | Reply | Report

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lucidity

@Sinacle1

Video camera and an infra red camera, can see you in the dark.

A microphone at each end, can tell who is talking.

Tracks 43 points on the body

Facial recognition.

Posted: September 23, 2009 10:58 AM | Reply | Report

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lucidity

@Sinacle1

Can discern depth or distance

Posted: September 23, 2009 11:00 AM | Reply | Report

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