Project Natal is born

There are some very exciting goings-on over at Xbox which promise to have serious impacts on the gaming industry.

Announced during Microsoft’s annual E3 press conference, Project Natal is the new hands-free control system for the Xbox. The motion sensing camera allows users to direct action within games by moving their hands or body, without the need for a controller. In this way Natal becomes one step more advanced than the Nintendo Wii.

It has huge implications on the Xbox’s appeal to a key hard-to-reach market – notably those who don’t consider themselves ‘gamers.’ Nintendo first tapped into this market with the launch of the Nintendo Wii, and games such as WiiFit and RockBand, demonstrating that the traditional two-hand controller is itself perhaps the biggest barrier to preventing people from taking up gaming.

The innovation isn’t solely limited to gaming though – users will be able to make use of the technology in the films and anything else they have on their Xbox, without touching any hardware. The introduction of Project Natal, which will apparently be compatible with every Xbox 360, clearly frees up people’s perception of gaming and the opportunities available.

Have a read here and here.

- Sam

Google Launches In-game Advertising

Along the lines of Microsoft’s Massive and IGA, Google has stepped into the market of in-game advertising. The in-game ads will be sold via Google’s AdSense team and will initially target web games only, reports Brand Republic.

AdSense for Games, which is currently in beta and open only to publishers with 80% or more traffic from the UK or the US, will allow video, image or text ads to be displayed at any point in online games.

The news come on the back of the release of Comscore research which shows that more than 25% of internet users play online games per week, amounting to over 200m users worldwide.

Google's AdWords team will sell ad placements to top brand advertisers and games manufacturers will be able to see contextually targeted text and image ads based on content and demographic information. The first big name brands said to be taking part in AdSense for Games include eSurance, Sprint and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/Digital/News/852103/Google-enters-in-game-ad-market/?DCMP=EMC-Digital-Bulletin

- Sam

GPS Developments in the World of Virtual Gaming

The next step – literally - in the world of gaming is the introduction of GPS on mobile handsets. One move on from the Nintendo Wii, which saw gamers get off their couches and start throwing themselves around their living rooms, this next generation of GPS game aims to get people outdoors and into the streets and parks, thereby turning their neighbourhoods into virtual playing fields.

The GPS technology – the same as you find in car satellite navigation systems - adds a new element to portable gaming, blurring the real and virtual worlds by allowing players to pinpoint their locations to within a few metres while tracking their bearing and speed. Nokia is predicting that half of all its handsets will have integrated GPS technology within 5 years.

With most GPS games now free to download from the internet, the scope of games which could be developed is almost infinite – from virtual treasure hunts and mazes, to a giant size Pacman etc. Some websites such as http://www.geocaching.com/ are already taking advantage of this new technology, where players are encouraged to hunt for real treasure as hidden by other enthusiasts using clues that have been posted online.

The health benefits of getting your backside off the sofa are obvious, but there are also clear safety issues - such as avoiding traffic and other people - which shouldn’t be forgotten!

Sam

XBOX assisting in voting drive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7576956.stm

Thanks to Alan King for sending me this link. XBOX has partnered with Rock the Vote to enable voter registration through XBOX Live!. In addition to the registration component, users will also be able to participate in polls and listing their voting intentions.

If this isn't an example of 'fish where the fish are', I don't know what is. This is a great example of an organization (Rock the Vote) realizing that in person sign ups on college campuses is not enough. Their previous work with MySpace shows that they aren't thinking in only one area as well.

What does this mean for advertising? I think that we should continue to try to work with the console manufacturers to push opportunities to get in front of their users. The gaming console is the future of the entertainment system and we should start testing messaging platforms to get ahead of the competition.

Rick