magik Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 As part of Microsoft's Gamefest this week in Seattle, Gamasutra has obtained exclusive new details on the launch of the Xbox Live Vision video camera accessory for the Xbox 360, including confirmation of a gesture-based game that is set to be included for free with the hardware.Microsoft's Jeff Stone revealed the new information on the Xbox 360-exclusive game in question, TotemBall, which was first announced in May of this year. It is being developed by UK-based Strange Flavour and Freeverse, both of whom are mainly known for their Macintosh titles. TotemBall is controlled almost entirely through gestures; that is, the game tracks a player's arm movements to control a rickety, wheeled totem pole tower around each level, collecting items and trying to reach the exit within a time limit. Gesture-based gameplay is not foreign to Freeverse, who previously developed ToySight for the Macintosh, compatible with Apple's iSight camera. The title shows that Microsoft is willing to compete with the gesture-based gameplay control concepts also utilized by Sony's EyeToy for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Though no further gestural-controlled game concepts using the Xbox Live Vision camera have yet been officially announced, more gestural games are in early development, according to Stone. In addition, the peripheral is compatible with selected Xbox Live Arcade games such as Uno, to allow video chat while gameplay is in progress, and with a facemapping feature for Activision's World Series of Poker, another new announcement. The Xbox Live Vision camera is apparently set to ship alongside TotemBall in September, at a thus far unannounced pricing point - U.S. retailer GameStop currently has the camera listed for $39.99 with a September 19th release date, but neither of these specifics have been officially confirmed. Gamasutra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+vlsi0n Subscriber¹ Posted August 16, 2006 Subscriber¹ Share Posted August 16, 2006 Woah, the camera could be $39.99, I was thinking they'd release it for $100. That would get a lot more people to buy it than if it was $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhav Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Woah, the camera could be $39.99, I was thinking they'd release it for $100. That would get a lot more people to buy it than if it was $100. uhh thank god - $100 for a camera is ridiculous. Although I wouldn't be suprised. $100 for a 20GB HDD, $100 for a wifi adapter, $100 for...etc I wonder if we'll see any of the following titles: Vision: Play Vision: Play 2 Vision: Play 3 Vision: Play Sports Vision: Groove Vision: Kinetic Rhythmic Star Vision: Spyvision Vision: Monkey Mania Vision: Anti Grav Vision: Chat Vision: Lemmings :whistle: (If you don't get it, all those games are actually EyeToy games :laugh: ) See, it annoys me that if Microsoft does something like this, they are "willing to compete" - if it was the other way round, Sony would be "copying". Anyway, EyeToy is brilliant, so hopefully there'll be some good games that utilise the Vision camera for Xbox 360. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PL_ Veteran Posted August 16, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 16, 2006 Nice! But TotemBall Sounds boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted August 16, 2006 Author Share Posted August 16, 2006 (edited) uhh thank god - $100 for a camera is ridiculous. Although I wouldn't be suprised. $100 for a 20GB HDD, $100 for a wifi adapter, $100 for...etc I wonder if we'll see any of the following titles: Vision: Play Vision: Play 2 Vision: Play 3 Vision: Play Sports Vision: Groove Vision: Kinetic Rhythmic Star Vision: Spyvision Vision: Monkey Mania Vision: Anti Grav Vision: Chat Vision: Lemmings :whistle: (If you don't get it, all those games are actually EyeToy games :laugh: ) See, it annoys me that if Microsoft does something like this, they are "willing to compete" - if it was the other way round, Sony would be "copying". Anyway, EyeToy is brilliant, so hopefully there'll be some good games that utilise the Vision camera for Xbox 360. I understand where you're coming from with the whole double-standard thing but let me try to shed some light and maybe be the devil's advocate for a minute here: While I agree it is similar in concept, Microsoft is taking the camera idea for video games to a whole different level. AFAIK most games utilizing the camera are roughly $4-$8 XBLA games and not full-fledged DVD-pressed (perhaps more expensive) games like the PS2 did for EyeToy. Also, their biggest selling point for the camera is Video Chat, something the PS2 lacked. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that people tend to categorize such actions as either "innovating" or "copying". Copying tends to be labeled on projects that fall short of it's original idea or do not add anything new to the original idea. Innovating goes above and beyond the original idea and expands upon it. For the most recent examples you would just need to look at PS3 Controller's "Tilt" feature versus Nintendo Wii's "Motion Sensing" technology in their controllers. Nintendo Wii = 360 degrees of motion; PS3 = 6 degrees of motion. Sony did not innovate, did not take it a step above and beyond, etc. Therefore, people generally categorize this new "Tilt" feature as Copying. Microsoft's "Vision Camera" versus PS2's "EyeToy". EyeToy generally seemed a lot more gimmicky and was restricted to games that explicitly supported it. Microsoft's Vision Camera can be used across all games via the built-in Dashboard Video Chat functionality or perhaps in-game via Xbox Live support. Some XBLA titles will also utilize it. Seems a bit less gimmicky, at least to me and therefore I can see that people tend to label it as an innovation more than copying. Regardless, you must realize that the industry grows and advances from these innovations/immitations no matter which way you slice it. Case in point: PS3's online service which is modeled after Xbox Live. Why? Because an extensive online system is quickly become as second-nature/essential to gaming as the 'Rumble Feature' is to controllers (first found in the N64 Rumbe Pack AFAIK). Edited August 16, 2006 by magik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meshuggah Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 very well put magik, agreed 110%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I understand where you're coming from with the whole double-standard thing but let me try to shed some light and maybe be the devil's advocate for a minute here: While I agree it is similar in concept, Microsoft is taking the camera idea for video games to a whole different level. AFAIK most games utilizing the camera are roughly $4-$8 XBLA games and not full-fledged DVD-pressed (perhaps more expensive) games like the PS2 did for EyeToy. Also, their biggest selling point for the camera is Video Chat, something the PS2 lacked. ...snip... Maybe the PS2 isn't capable of doing videochat and the 360 is :p but yes, I do agree that you give a good explanation of what is copying and what is innovating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I understand where you're coming from with the whole double-standard thing but let me try to shed some light and maybe be the devil's advocate for a minute here: While I agree it is similar in concept, Microsoft is taking the camera idea for video games to a whole different level. AFAIK most games utilizing the camera are roughly $4-$8 XBLA games and not full-fledged DVD-pressed (perhaps more expensive) games like the PS2 did for EyeToy. Also, their biggest selling point for the camera is Video Chat, something the PS2 lacked. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that people tend to categorize such actions as either "innovating" or "copying". Copying tends to be labeled on projects that fall short of it's original idea or do not add anything new to the original idea. Innovating goes above and beyond the original idea and expands upon it. For the most recent examples you would just need to look at PS3 Controller's "Tilt" feature versus Nintendo Wii's "Motion Sensing" technology in their controllers. Nintendo Wii = 360 degrees of motion; PS3 = 6 degrees of motion. Sony did not innovate, did not take it a step above and beyond, etc. Therefore, people generally categorize this new "Tilt" feature as Copying. Microsoft's "Vision Camera" versus PS2's "EyeToy". EyeToy generally seemed a lot more gimmicky and was restricted to games that explicitly supported it. Microsoft's Vision Camera can be used across all games via the built-in Dashboard Video Chat functionality or perhaps in-game via Xbox Live support. Some XBLA titles will also utilize it. Seems a bit less gimmicky, at least to me and therefore I can see that people tend to label it as an innovation more than copying. Regardless, you must realize that the industry grows and advances from these innovations/immitations no matter which way you slice it. Case in point: PS3's online service which is modeled after Xbox Live. Why? Because an extensive online system is quickly become as second-nature/essential to gaming as the 'Rumble Feature' is to controllers (first found in the N64 Rumbe Pack AFAIK). +1 (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Mentioned already :shiftyninja: https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...#entry587740929 :D -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magik Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Mentioned already :shiftyninja: https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...#entry587740929 :D -Spenser Oh come now, that's barely a mention :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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