Patents, patents as far as the eye can see. Today’s is from Microsoft, a small start-up based in Redmond, Washington. It shows some sort of camera system for third-person shooters, something that CVG is already rumor-calling it “Natal’s first shooter.”

The gist:

A technique for controlling camera viewpoints in a third-person shooter video game is described. Scenes are depicted from a camera positioned behind and removed from a character that is being controlled by a player. As conditions change during the game, the camera is moved smoothly along a non-linear path between an ‘explorer’ viewpoint and a ‘ready’ viewpoint.

In the ‘explorer’ viewpoint, the camera is farther removed from the character to provide a wider angle of view of the battle terrain as the character moves about. In the “ready” viewpoint, the camera resides just behind the character to facilitate better aiming when the character is engaged in combat.

Selection of a camera viewpoint and timely movement between the two viewpoints are controlled to facilitate a more intimate feel with the character and to avoid having obstacles obscure vision of the character and/or reticle used to sight targets.

Bueller? See, that’s the problem when discussing patents. These things can be so abstract, and more often than not come to nothing, that it’s sorta like, “Meh.”

What Natal needs is a good hand-to-hand combat game, like a boxing or MMA. Boxing would be far easier to pull off—how do you replicate MMA ground work with Natal?

Get it, patent light bulbs, etc.

As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade. Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time.

Speaking at the Executive’s Club of Chicago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that a new Xbox 360 will be hitting store shelves next year. That’s pretty funny because Aaron Greenberg denied the whole thing a few days ago. So, we will see a Natal Xbox 360 next year according the head honcho.

via TG Daily

The rumor that Microsoft would be shipping a bumped-up Xbox 360 console with Natal integrated in 2010 has turned out to be false according to director of product management, Aaron Greenberg.

Greenberg told Eurogamer the following:

“I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary.”

And then a second “senior Microsoft source” was apparently also quoted as saying, “Don’t believe nonsense on the internet is all I’ll say. We’ll do the right thing for Natal.” So the next time you see nonsense on the internet, do not — I repeat, do NOT — believe it. That is all.

All of the heavy lifting for Natal is done inside the camera add-on itself, which would bypass the need for a more powerful console. So don’t list that console on eBay just yet. It’s still got plenty of life left in it.

Microsoft sources play down reports of new Xbox in 2010 News [Eurogamer via PC World]

Start up the rumor engine, ladies and gentlemen. 1UP.com is reporting that Microsoft’s Project Natal may actually be shipping integrated into a new console next fall. From the sounds of it, though, the console won’t be new as in different but new as in improved slightly. That is, new games would apparently work on both the current Xbox 360 console and “Xbox Natal” as it’s being unofficially called.

Says 1UP:

“Yes, there will be a new Xbox console next fall.

However, the new console won’t just be an Xbox 360 with a camera, though — we’ve heard it will be considered a new platform and carry a new name (Xbox Natal?). It’s not clear what sort of upgrades we might see, but some have suggested it will be an slight upgrade of the current Xbox 360 technology. Current Xbox 360 games would be playable on it, but future games would be able to take advantage of the added muscle. Similar to what we see in the PC space, games played on the more advanced Xbox would look or perform better, but publishers will still be able to support owners of both systems.”

That seems like kind of a slippery slope for Microsoft but I suppose if you’re going to integrate something directly into a console, you might as well bump the console’s specs a bit while you’re at it to help potential customers justify such a purchase. Let’s not forget that Natal will be sold separately for those of us who don’t want to buy an all-new Xbox 360.

[1UP via Kotaku]

We have two questions: when and for how much?

Update: It seems that the pricing might have been revealed early by Brier Dudley at The Seattle Times. His post, which went up 45 minutes before the press conference, states that the price will be around $200. Who knows where the number came from so we’re labeling this one as a rumor for now.

Update 2: Added a quick video demo after the jump. More to come.

Update 3: The official video is finally online. Enjoy it after the break.