Inafune: Natal will ‘open game possibilities’

A raft of games industry figures have praised the Microsoft Project Natal controller for the 360 at Tokyo Game Show this week.

In special testimonials published by Microsoft, Capcom’s Keiji Inafune, EA Sports’ Peter Moore, Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot plus Microsoft and Activision reps have lauded the device.

Inafune specifically – the managing corporate officer and head of Research & Development Management Group at Capcom, and creator of franchises like Mega Man – heralded the device, which uses a 3D camera to detect player movements.

"I strongly feel that ‘Project Natal’ will expand the possibilities of gaming," he said.

"It’s yet another component that adds to the appeal of Xbox 360 and demonstrates to users the broad level of entertainment it provides.

"Personally, I too am extremely excited about ‘Project Natal.’ It’s really going to stir up our creative spirits. I think it’s going to bring new ways to play and new surprises to Xbox 360 fans and help further the development of completely original content. Project Natal is definitely something people should look out for."

Microsoft Game Studios chipped in to say it is ‘busy at work creating a diverse slate of experiences that will appeal to a wide variety of entertainment interests’

"Project Natal is enabling our team of developers to create experiences we couldn’t have accomplished before," said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president, Microsoft Game Studios. "Microsoft Game Studios will help lead the way in bringing Project Natal to life."

Other testimonies included:

EA Sports President Peter Moore: "Microsoft ‘Project Natal’ could fundamentally change the way players experience sports games. At EA, some of our top development teams are experimenting with these tools with the goal of delivering a completely fresh take on genres like sports and racing."

Dusty Welch, senior vice president and head of Publishing at Activision/Blizzard: "Activision is encouraged by the innovation that Project Natal will bring to the industry and how it can transform consumers’ video games experience. We have development teams working on Project Natal development kits to explore the creative possibilities this new technology affords."

Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft: "Ubisoft sees enormous opportunities with ‘Project Natal.’ With the 3-D camera, your body can become the interface. Any barrier related to the use of pad controllers that may have existed for potential gamers is now abolished. Ubisoft is already taking advantage of this major evolution to design new types of gaming experiences and attract more people to play video games."