Yes I guess if it fails it wouldn't be so much problem for MS, they just will spend money like nothing happened.

I think this gadgets could be useful preparing the technology for the next gen consoles,  maybe PS4 instead of having a dual shock 4, they will use a wand.

Please god sony have a normal controller. I hate motion controls. Get rid of sixaxis too.

@ Grey21... Why would the casuals get bored and move to something else like Natal?  Only those seriously looking for a more extreme approach would be thinking of that.  The typical casual player that bought the Wii in the first place did so because of price and value considering the current economy.  The big benefit of Wii's motion control approach, that Sony will capitalize on before MS, is the fact that with the controller still, there is a sense of feedback having the speaker in the wiimote and the built-in rumble.  It gives you the sense of having the object in hand, whether it be a frisbee, a golf club, a tennis racket, etc.  This is unavailable with Natal unless you go get the real thing (then let's see the damage caused to TVs and stuff...THAT will be some funny new stories).  The price and product that Nintendo put together is just a perfect fit.  It's amazing how everyone thought they were nuts when talking about the revolution and now they were visionaries.

@ Gera4390... You're right.  MS has all the money in the world to burn if they choose to do that.  They could make the natal enclosure out of dollar bills if they liked.  And I do agree that they would be using these new approaches in the next consoles.

@ JerCotter7... I think Sony would take Nintendo's approach and next bundle the wand with the consoles like Wii and Wiimotes.  And sell the controllers as an extra just like Nintendo with the classic controllers.

Definitely a PS3 killer. It'll bring the casual crowd towards the 360 and make them see the PS wand as nothing but a cheap knockoff.

I think people are overestimating Natal. Sure, people are excited about it now. But then it'll release, it'll be expensive, it'll be ignored. At the end of the day, no amount of advertising or celebrity endorsements will make consumers buy something they see no use for at a ridiculously high price (what was it finally, $150?)

The PS Motion won't do any better. Actually, it'll do much worse.

Oh come on, Sixaxis is hardly motion control. It can always be turned off. And where it is used, it's usually used well. It's not meant to be a core gameplay mechanic, except in a game like flOw or Flower, but it's the little things like mine placing in Killzone 2, flying in Tools of Destruction, leaning back in Uncharted, and gathering souls in Folklore that Sixaxis excels at. You can't play Flower with analog sticks.

Given the amount of market that could be waiting for Microsoft in the case they succeed with the casual approach, I think they'll somewhat alienate their hardcore user base (but not that much). In the case they fail, well...

Do you mean the casual crowd as in the crowd who already own 360s (many casuals do- they consider themselves hardcore but they're not), or the "casuals" that the Wii appeals to? If the latter, you're setting yourself up for massive disappointment. Because they're too busy playing their Wiis.

If Microsoft were to launch Natal next generation, that might make a significant difference. If it was bundled with the console. And thus completely ruined it. You do need buttons and D-pads and analog sticks for some experiences, and Nintendo remembered that even when designing motion control. To be honest, there isn't a lot you can do with "voice recognition" and...for lack of a better description, waving your arms and hands about. Certainly, it would work in some games, like the 3D breakout that was demoed, or maybe some mini-games. But let's have a look.

SHOOTER: Okay, how would this work? Perhaps you point your finger to shoot. Okay. How do you move? Reload? Change weapon? Jump? Take cover? Crouch? Roll? (unless you're planning to do a forward roll into your TV).

FIGHTER: We've all seen the cute little ad from E3 with the guy doing a ninja kick against the kung fu master. Seriously? Do you really think people are going to punch and kick and slide like in Tekken or Soulcalibur? And what about special moves?

RACING: We saw this to a certain extent with Burnout Paradise on...was it Jimmy Kimmel? (celebrity endorsement, of course). He steered very accurately. He was also going extremely slowly. How would he boost? Brake? E-brake? Change to rear view? Reverse? Change gears?

In fact, I'd like to know which games currently available on 360 could possibly work with Natal, and failing that, an idea of a good, deep game, that would work solely with Natal.

The best case scenario I can see for Natal is it becoming a secondary mechanic, like Sixaxis. You are playing Gears of War 3, you select your grenade, raise your arm, and throw. It can't be used as a sole control method like a gamepad, Wiimote+Nunchuk or, now that I think about it, a PS Motion (depending on what the PSMotion ends up looking like).

To summarise that relatively long post, Natal doesn't really have that many practical uses in gaming.

Natal will be included in every new 360 sold, probably at the same price as the system is now.  So I don't understand where you think the price will be ridiculously high (fairly certain your pulling numbers out of thin air).   For everyone who already owns a 360, I would imagine the cost will be held well under $100.  If it were any higher people would just go and buy another 360 with the natal inside.

Natal doesn't have to be a big seller to the installed base.  Microsoft is looking at this basically as a relaunch and thats where the extra sales will come in.  From the people who are excited about this new device already inside the system.

I believe they said the price would be "under $200", and that's the last official word we had. There are rumours of it being bundled with 360s (or an entirely new console which happens to have the same hardware), but those are only rumours. It certainly wouldn't be the same price as the current 360 because a piece of technology as (admittedly) incredible as Natal would take money to create. If the PS Eye is $50 (right?) and Natal is so superior in every way, surely it should be at least $100?

It could sell if there were conceivable uses for it, but have a look at my other post and see if you can tell me what exactly Natal would work with.