Natal = 100ms of Lag

Updated:12:39 AM CEST Oct,09

NEWS / RSS
CHEATS

REVIEWS

ARTICLES

HARDWARE

DEMOS

FORUMS

LINKS (new)

CONTACT

Please e-mail us if you have news.

Gameguru Mania News - Jan,08 2010 -

Natal = 100ms of Lag - briefly
(hx) 11:37 PM CET - Jan,08 2010 - Post a comment / read (7)
GamesIndustry.biz has learned that Microsoft has dropped a chip from its forthcoming Natal motion control system as the platform holder eyes accessible price points in the build-up to release later this year. The chip, which was responsible for processing information for the Natal's 'bone system,' has been removed in favour of a software solution. However, development sources have indicated to GamesIndustry.biz that the change doesn't have an effect on the existing system lag of about 100ms. The load previously handled by the chip now falls on one of the main three Xenon processors, but while taking a "percentage" of performance away from the system, most games don't use up 100 per cent of the available processing power anyway.

The removal of the chip almost guarantees that non-Natal games won't be patched to include motion control support, a point previously outlined by Microsoft Game Studios' Kudo Tsunoda.

It has also emerged that Microsoft will support developers writing their own code to run the bone system processing in the future.

last 10 comments:

Ozieo	(12:30 AM CET - Jan,09 2010 )
I want to play games on my big fat ass in my seat, we need to boycot these guys, gaming should be fun, if we really have to exercise or work out we can organize championships in throwing our Wii's as far as possible !

NyaR	(12:32 AM CET - Jan,09 2010 )
100 MS of lag?? HAHA, 80MS later you find out I just pwnd you with a wired mouse on dsl and high usb poll freq.

Koogle

(02:00 AM CET - Jan,09 2010 )

lets see just how stupid consumers are in buying marketed rubbish.

You would have to be a complete idiot not to notice a 100ms of lag between your own actions and the added up delay of seeing those actions on screen. Then again I guess consoletards are complete fucking morons or casualtards, whats more bit lag to an idiot . p2p mw2 anyone? :P

And ontop of that LCD tv's with how much lag inbetween gfx input received and the actual updated screen refresh... certainly a lot of lag delay in that, even with so called 2ms screens. I can't fucking stand the shitty display screens on the market right now. I want INSTANT responsiveness and faster refresh rates, its only stupid slow people who don't notice these things.

"100 MS of lag?? HAHA, 80MS later you find out I just pwnd you with a wired mouse on dsl and high usb poll freq."

totally agree, its time to pwn noobs, and they wonder why they lose, perhaps they should start looking into the technology they use to play games and stop being noob consumers.

And its funny MS dropped a hardware chip in favor of a cheap software approach. Its a bit like how they went full on retard in there approach to well a lot of things, but I'm getting at the crap sound api changes in shitty vista, where instead of dedicated sound hardware being allowed to be fully utilized as in XP, they now have the CPU doing extra work in software processing the sound and creating more of a delay in the actual sound output hardware receiving that data, which affects a lot of things like causing audio crackling. And the benefit? fuck all.. XP is still a lot better in many ways.

miglaugh

(04:43 AM CET - Jan,09 2010 )

While I think natal is dumb, I don't think you guys get the point.

This isn't for FPS games. This is for Wii like games for kids. Even so I do agree that it's lame and even worse they are now gimping it.

But still, no 'hardcore gamer' is going to get this and play halo or some crap with it... they are going to play some party game or some sports title.

Saying consoletards is a bit rough though. PC gaming just isn't worth it anymore, and hasn't been for 5 years. List the games on PC you play that aren't on the consoles, and I'll tell you how much money I've saved sitting my ass on the couch with a nice HDTV.

I can list some games I know aren't on PC... :)

Don't get me wrong, I wish there was proper incentive to get back into PC gaming, but there just isn't... with all the DRM restrictions and being forced to use windows live, and fewer and fewer dedicated servers, I don't think I could handle all the control they've taken away from users on the PC side (if you're legit anyways). I know with a console you have no control either, but at least you know that going in. Gfx fidelity on this generation of consoles is good enough to overcome any interest in a $500 gfx card.

My how times have changed.... I miss counterstrike.

Koogle

(05:23 AM CET - Jan,09 2010 )

"While I think natal is dumb, I don't think you guys get the point.

This isn't for FPS games. This is for Wii like games for kids. Even so I do agree that it's lame and even worse they are now gimping it. "

I do get the point, but lag is still lag, 100ms lag is still noticeable especially for body motion, when you're reacting to a delayed image on screen.. it all adds up especially when the tv/display is also adding to that delay. Even if the game doesn't require that much accurate movement and feedback correction in your own input. Most likely Natal games won't be the type of games that will bring attention to this flaw.

And consoles have there place for certain game genres and casual couch gaming, potential cost and setup advantage etc I know that, but they'll never be as open and extensible as a pc, and if they do become that way, well they'll become known as pc again. As for the games, sorry good quality games that can have a longer lifespan than any console game will always be around. Besides I don't just use my pc for gaming.

" wish there was proper incentive to get back into PC gaming, but there just isn't... with all the DRM restrictions and being forced to use windows live, and fewer and fewer dedicated servers, I don't think I could handle all the control they've taken away from users on the PC side (if you're legit anyways)."

yeah have to wonder why that is.. oh that's right, more money and control to be had in forcing gamers onto and towards the console platform, MS have done all they could to achieve that ;)

Sabot	(05:14 PM CET - Jan,09 2010 )
i mentioned about the lag when hx posted the first natal article. This was demoed with half life, not wii games. the fact it's ms means they are going to market this hard. good luck to them, they will need it. ms fans will no doubt buy into it...

Ozieo	(11:16 PM CET - Jan,10 2010 )
Whatever that "project" will bring, on the current CrapBoxes, there's a much bigger chance they'll notice the 100% lag sooner than the 100ms lag.