Who can accurately predict what impact Natal will have?

[Reasonable]

numonex said:
I am hoping Natal actually helps extends the XBox 360s lifespan and it helps sells millions of XBox 360 consoles. We can only be optimistic and hope for the best.

Unless Natal seriously underperforms I'm sure it will extend the 360 lifespan, for a variety of reasons.  I believe MS is very happy with 360 and doesn't want to pull the plug pre-emptively, also developers have been complaining about cost of developing AAA titles for 360/PS3 so I doubt they are keen to see another specification jump that would likely raise costs even higher, plus finally I believe MS wants to gain more traction, via Natal, outside it's core audience before bringing out a new console.

If Natal is a success then I suspect 360 plus Natal would be on the market for quite a while before MS introduce the next Xbox.

On the other hand, should Natal not perform as well as hoped, then I suspect MS also have backup strategies which may involve bringing a new model (probably with Natal in the box from the start) to market.

I'd like to see both the 360 and the PS3 on the market for quite a while yet, so I'm hoping both Natal and the Wand take of well, we see more great games on each console, and get to save a little money before forking out for another round of tech.