Natal, the game changer? Not this gen.

[dreamcast210]

Some here seem to be blind to the fact that this gen is way different then any other generation of consoles. You have the Wii, which is a slightly upgraded GameCube with motion controls that took video games by storm. And it didn't get a price cut until almost 3 years into its life.

Then you have the Xbox 360 and PS3, which launched in 2005 and 2006 respectively who in there 3rd year both had $300 consoles. That has never happened. Both of these were powerful consoles at launch.

All signs point to this generation being much longer than previous ones. And, with the right marketing, Natal can be a huge success. As mentioned above, if Microsoft "relaunches" the Xbox 360 with Natal, then every 360 sold at that point will have Natal support AND any current owners can by Natal as an addon.

So in a sense, a new generation starts BUT it's not like the other generations. Like the Wii, Natal will redefine how you play video games. And it could have a lot of success. On top of that, developers still have the luxury of a large install base they can make games for and at the same time build up Natal-centric games. It's really the best way to go to ensure success, and I've always thought the game industry needed to do this. Starting over every 5 years is rediculous for developers and consumers. It costs too much to make these games and too much out of pocket for most consumers to play these games.

But we'll see. Next year is going to be very interesting.