Sony's PlayStation Eye “More Precise” Than Microsoft's Project Natal

No doubt the major talk of E3 2009 was all about the motion-sensing technologies demoed by Sony and Microsoft at their press conferences. Microsoft’s Project Natal’s major selling point is full-body recognition and the promise of a controller-less game experience, while Sony’s PlayStation Eye-powered motion tech aims to turn a single controller into any virtual item imaginable (i.e. swords, tennis racquets, whips, whiskey bottle, etc.).

Well, it certainly didn't take long for some classic politicking to emerge regarding the technologies. Sony’s director of marketing John Holler told Gamasutra that the PlayStation Eye is “more accurate and more precise” than Microsoft’s motion-sensing tech, and, even though Project Natal’s full-body scanning capabilities are “impressive,” it also, allegedly, suffers from “depth issues on the Z-axis.”

This assessment is obviously impossible to confirm until some impartial testing can be done, so I’ll just have to take Holler’s comments with a PS3-emblazoned grain of salt for now. What’s perhaps more interesting about this whole ridiculously premature debate about technologies that are still years away from landing in living rooms is that Project Natal certainly does seem designed to out-casual the casual gaming genre Nintendo ushered in with the Wii, while Sony’s approach looks to be more “gamer-oriented,” as one analyst told Gamasutra earlier this week.

Again, it’s far too early to tell what the results will be when Sony and Microsoft eventually release their respective motion-sensing technologies, so for now, it looks like we’ll have to settle for premature potshots and unconfirmed tech assessments. Lucky us.

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/69...xzz0HsHdQTMS&D

John Holler knows what he is talking about. Natal hardware is very similar to the PS eye, which has been out for years. Sony knows what this type of hardware can do. MS poured more development into their software is the difference.
Here is what Sony is already doing with a camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xWS3m8R2LY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OjO81xHu8A

And here's Natal LIVE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31nxqR3mBjw&feature=related

watch how well the camera tracks her hands when she is moving the water...

I bought the PS eye. It's cool playing games without controllers. It's fun. But it only really works with certain types of gimmicky games. But the only thing MS brought with Natal is the most advanced camera software. They WILL have z-axis issues. By nature a camera captures a 2-D image. Having experienced camera games and having watched all the Natal videos, I feel that Mainly Sony and partly Nintendo are bringing true new tech here.

The thing about MS and E3 is that they put on the best show. It was the most entertaining. Big names and fun demos. Content wise, many of the games they showed weren't exclusive. The Natal video was professionally done, but where was the live demo? Think about it, they pour money into this flashy video but don't demo the hardware. Clearly they have become masters of smoke and mirrors. Buy Natal if you want. It will be fun. But the next big thing? Casually that's a maybe. Hardcore wise, it's just not.