Project Natal is racist… possibly – Microsoft denies there’s a problem
Microsoft unveiled Project Natal at E3 2009 last week, and it was the talking point of the show. Final Fantasy XIV may have been a bigger surprise but Natal has provoked debates and mixed opinions by the bucket loads. Now, there are reports that Natal could be incompatible with people with darker skin tones. That’s right folks, Project Natal is racist!
Or not, as the case may be.
For those not aware of Project Natal and how it works, read my report on the E3 unveiling. If you can’t be bothered with that, Natal is in essence a motion-sensing control system that requires no actual controller. Instead, people can use their limbs to play the games. At least that’s the idea; I’m still not convinced it’ll work as well as Microsoft claims it will.
The questioning of whether Natal will work with people of a darker skin tone was first brought up when Bitmob reported that former Newsweek writer N’Gai Croal had trouble using the system in a hands-on test. While everything seemed to be calibrated fine, it would work for others but not for Croal. N’Gai is a black guy with long dreadlocks.
GameZine took this situation and postulated the theory that Natal had trouble recognizing Croal’s gestures because of his skin color. Natal uses an infra-red camera to calculate your positions and there is evidence that infra-red cameras can have trouble with darker skin tones. But I won’t bore you with the science.
Microsoft has since responded to the claims Project Natal is a racist piece of technology with the following statement to Gamezine:
Last week at E3, we gave a taste of what to anticipate when Project Natal launches. As we mentioned to everyone who had the chance to play, we were working with tech demos and, as we all know, these can be temperamental.
The goal of Project Natal is to break down the barriers for everyone to play, and it will obviously work with people of all shapes and ethnicities at launch.
That does kind of imply that the tech demos may have been temperamental because of skin tones, but Microsoft is clearly very confident it can sort out any such issues by the time Natal is launched. Which is likely not to happen for at least a year or maybe even two years. So, plenty of time to give Natal a good talking to about how we’re all the same underneath.
Microsoft also directed our attention to the YouTube video embedded above, which shows Sugar Ray Leonard, Eric Dickerson, and Willie Gault all trying out Project Natal and having no trouble doing so. Which means this is probably all bunkum and Croal was just unlucky to get a duff demonstration.
Related Posts:
25 Responses to “Project Natal is racist… possibly – Microsoft denies there’s a problem”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
June 11th, 2009
In regards to the race thing, meh, camera seems to be working fine for those guys. BUT WHAT ABOUT ASIANS!!!!! I kid
However, I think my choice quote would be ‘you have more control’ which obviously, due to the split second delay, you don’t. Some wii games do this with the IR reciever and it is incredibly off putting.
June 11th, 2009
well im black from the waist down
June 11th, 2009
hahaha @ kevo.
Don’t you wash your legs?
June 11th, 2009
Bill Gates is white so i believe Project Natal is racist %100 guaranteed thanks for this article. Project Natal is not for me.
June 11th, 2009
Yeah I read about this earlier and I was quite worried. That video gave me my confidence back.
June 11th, 2009
I also think I’m going to love driving like that because that is my favorite view for a racing game. I bet you have to use a controller to change views though. On second thought it does have voice recognition.
June 11th, 2009
Wow, stop the presses and call the cops.
Cameras react differently to different tones and colours in differing light conditions.
Bl*ody hell Dave, talk about a non-story.
What next?
A headline for ‘Rain wet’?
June 11th, 2009
“On second thought it does have voice recognition.”
yeah, but does Natal recognize ebonics? i kid i kid
June 11th, 2009
I don’t think it would feel right playing a driving game like air guitar. I would rather have something in my hands. The Wii wheel is too small also.
This Natal thing is going to be the same as the wii. It will get everyone’s interest for a month then collect dust. I for one learned my lesson with the Wii.
June 11th, 2009
Say what? Word.
June 11th, 2009
“Microsoft denies there’s a problem”… We’ve all heard that before. Chances are, there’s a 33% chance of a problem.
June 11th, 2009
I got rid off my Wii the second i got tired swinging the sword in Twilight Princess. Instead i play it on the game cube.
June 11th, 2009
*cockpalm* …… where’s dwh been anyway?
June 11th, 2009
I don’t think it would feel right playing a driving game like air guitar. I would rather have something in my hands. The Wii wheel is too small also.
You might be right because I found that driving with the Wiimote was the worse Idea ever. I must say though that there must be a learning curve because My friend who owned it was not to bad at driving. For me it was the worse driving experience I ever had.
June 11th, 2009
but does Natal recognize ebonics? i kid i kid
I have no idea waht kind of Ebonics that is.
June 11th, 2009
@ Harry – ‘*cockpalm*’
I wish, but I’d get fired.
@ CAD
‘I found that driving with the Wiimote was the worse Idea ever.’
I agree.
Best steering wheel experience I’ve ever had was like Daytona or Scud Race a loooong time ago. Awesome force feedback wheels on arcade machines.
*sheds a tear for his days as a young-un in Newquay*
June 11th, 2009
Which Newquay is this SW?
The Sega Rally arcade machine in Newquay Cornwall has, or probably did, have all five top scores set by me
I think that’s probably the highlight of my life…
June 11th, 2009
today is dead in here
June 11th, 2009
Anyone ever think that maybe (just maybe) Natal had a hard time recognizing the name “N’Gai” as the actual name of a person??
-Arvis
June 11th, 2009
Newquay, Cornwall. Pick your arcade, we visited them all
(mostly scrumping to 2, 5 and 10p’s that had fallen out of the shoves, ahh child life…)
June 12th, 2009
i for one think motion control will be a cool thing but harry i scared him away(dwh)
June 12th, 2009
i dont count the wiis motion control that much…too gimicky
June 12th, 2009
I want a racist Natal!!!
It’ll make partys much more fun!
June 14th, 2009
Only a moron like Ivan would take that article literally
June 14th, 2009
Only a moron like Ivan would take that article literally