Today Microsoft where kind enough to invite the Bone-idle team to Dublin for a face to face with the Project Natal. I went in with an open mind but was quickly blown away with just how impressive it is. Yes it works and yes I want one! I want it now!!  

Just in case you have been living under a rock Project Natal is a brand new technology for the XBOX360 that will change gaming as we know it. It removes the need for a controller as it turns you into the controller. No wires, no buttons it’s just you. The possibilities will only be restricted by the developer’s imaginations.

Revealed at last years E3, Natal has received a lot of interest. Even though everyone is talking about it, it has still managed to remain a very secretive product. All we have been treated too was the odd video of celebrities trying it out. While they are impressive videos it is still hard to tell from watching others play it.

So we got up this morning very excited and set off To Dublin. As we walked in there it was. Perched on the table in front of the TV was a tidy little rectangular box with two little eyes peaking out at you. The two eyes are cameras and along with some microphones they read and map your voice, movements and surrounding area. The two cameras consist of a RGB and infrared camera and infrared emitter. They pick up 48 points around your body to map your skeletal movements. The infrared emitter and camera work together to scan your surroundings and tweaks the game layout accordingly.

The really cleaver thing about this is it can block out any interference around you. People standing behind you talking or even if the dog runs across the screen the Natal is smart enough to ignore them. Someone can’t just walk into your game and start messing with it.  

If you have ever used a light gun you know it needs to be calibrated to work out your location in relation to the screen. We expected that this would require something similar (enter your height, reach left, reach right etc) but no you just walk up stand in front of the screen.  It automatically picks you up. Reaching out your hand to grab a virtual ball and moving it starts the game. Simple.

We got to play Ricochet, which is like a cross between Dodge ball and a 3D block breaking game. Your Avatar appears translucent on the screen and proceeds to mimic your real life movements. Every movement, every hand wave, kick, swing, dance move! It picks up if you fix your hair or any unsavoury scratches so do take care if in company!!

The game starts a red ball appears in front of your avatar, you swing at it and you’re away. It is 3D so the ball flies away from you down the tunnels smashing the blocks at the end and comes straight back at you. You need to keep hitting the ball back using any body part. Hands, legs even your head to smash all the blocks in the set time. You can collect power ups that can include a whole host of balls coming at you this is hilarious as you scramble to try and keep them all in play. Your reactions do affect the ball speed holding out your hand and simply letting the ball hit you will return it but at a slow pace. But actually punching the ball will send it whizzing. Catching the ball with a sweet volley does smash the ball down the alley and is very satisfying!   

Want to play with friends? Adding a second player is as easy as standing up. It picks up the second player and you can partake in a co-op session which doubles the fun. Except when the ball goes right down the middle and both of you leave it to the other guy.

And yes punching your buddy does make your avatars hit each other too!

So what will I take away from the day out? Overall lots of my fears that this is just a gimmick or an attempt to break into the Wii market have been quashed. This does work. It works really well. The game we tried was a fun type party game but Natal will cater for the full market. So don’t worry hardcore gamers. It is set for release sometime in the forth quarter of 2010. Nothing is decided yet but definitely before Christmas. Still no confirmation on the retail price or for the line up of release games. I have a feeling E3 in a few weeks will clear up a lot of these questions.

I don’t think it will kill off the controller as we know it as I will always love to flop down with the pad in hand but it does open up and endless amount of possibilities. All I want now is a shooter where you hide behind the couch for cover!