OMFG THANK YOU !!! This is the absolute truth!!!!

You guys are so off on this topic.

First S.T.A.G.E. thinks it will receive much more support and interest on the PC, thus canabilizing the 360's usage and interest.  Have you EVER heard of PC gaming?  It's been around for ages.  It offers more and better options than a console, yet for generations people keep on buying consoles.... wonder why....

Also, sure this would work great for a media center PC, but how many people use their PC's for that?  A small portion.  An even smaller portion use it as a media center hub AND have it connected directly to their big living room TV.  Most people on PC's sit within 3-5 ft of the screen, much too close for Natal to really be of any use as more than a webcam.....

The only way people would use this more on PC than on Xbox is if they prefer PC gaming AND have their gaming/multimedia theater PC hooked up in their living room.

EDIT:  And the only way it was "devalued for Wii and PS3 owners" is if those individuals also own a high end gaming PC, which lets face it, the majority do not, despite how the fanboys all seem to claim that way.

What do you expect. MS is built around business. Their biggest customers are those of the Fortune 500. Think of all the XP, Vista and soon to be 7 licenses that companies have to buy.

I've just come to a different conclusion.  I think with the whole 'cloud' computing MS want to own the interface, whether for a console or a PC - and thinking further ahead I believe they see the distinction between a PC and a console vanishing.

I believe they figure we're going to have a box that connects us to the interent and our distributed content, and clearly whoever owns the interface for the majority of interactions will hold a lot of sway - in much the same way Google became so powerful because it 'owned' people's access to information they wanted.

So I don't see the PC angle devaluing it from a bigger picture - although it might devalue it short term as a gaming device.

This is bigger than PC gaming (not to say that PC/360 games sold very well on PC anyway). The applications are endless on PC though to the point where to get this product, the 360 would be an afterthought. The natal shown at E3 and during, Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Morning Show had an insignia on it. It said..."Xbox 360". With it on PC....I myself would probably have no need to buy it on the 360. It's already devalued its use to the 360 for me. 

This makes very little sense.

One of the biggest reasons not to own a 360 is if you already have a gaming PC that will be getting a majority of what you'd be getting on the 360.

I think the argument isn't that most Wii/PS3 owners have a gaming PC, I think the argument is that many gaming PC owners also have a Wii or PS3.

However the vast majority of the market for video games have a medium range PC at best. An XBox does differentiate itself from these, and it differentiates itself from a high end PC by cost and relative simplicity. A Natal XBox would differentiate istelf from medium/low range PC's moreso.

The key thing that's missing here though, is the fact that Microsoft will always want to keep the PC and XBox platforms as close as possible, in order to keep developers on the PC.

That's you.  I don't believe that the majority will see it that way.  360 owners will either want Natal or not based on what it offers and, primarily I believe, what it offers for gaming.  Whether it takes off on PC or not will not be a major factor for the majority IMO.

Looking at the trailer for Natal, the impression I got though was that MS wasn't massively thinking about the average 360 owner (at least as presented) but at a potential new breed of 360 owners (who all looked suspiciously like who I imagine MS believes are currently Wii centric owners in principle).

So I understand it's devalued Natal for you personally, but I doubt it will overall devalue Natal for the majority.

This is a good thing. The reason add ons fail is due to lack of support. With MS supporting Natal on PC, developers are more likely to create games. Games created for PC will almost assuredly be made for 360 as well. Thus, people can rest easy and buy Natal because support will definitely be there. Whether you are buying it for 360 or PC is moot, you are entering into MS plans for creating a new input device. The more Natals, the better, both for 360 users and PC users who intend to get Natal, but do not want to get a 360.

A medium range PC is a viable gaming platform.  You don't need best of the best to run PC games.  I think it's a huge misconception to imagine to imagine every PC gamer as having a fully tricked out PC running max specs on everything in sight.  You don't need that and I bet (no solid proof) most "PC Gamers" don't even have that. 

Your "key thing" is a wash as well because you're looking at it from the wrong angle.  The question isn't why keep them close, the question is why would you split them apart?  Think about it for a minute.  If you already have an infrastructure in place for the PC and an api that works then why would you do something completely different for your console?  Obviously, if developers can make crossplatform 360/PC games then that's more opportunity for profit for them and for you as well.  If you have one standard API then it makes development everywhere much easier which saves cost on both platforms.  Also the more you can tie together, the fewer versions of things you have to maintain as a provider.  Time saved on maintenance can be used to enhance it.