as long as halo reach doesn't use the same halo 3 engine then everything is fine.

Well this year was poor for the 360. Only good exclusive i can think of is forza, even tho its not quite gt :p. Saying that tho, killzone 2 is not as good as its cracked up to be. I didnt get infamous, got prototype tho, looked better. Ill probly get ratchet and clank and uncharted 2 tho.

halo reach will be huge im pretty sure of it ! but i dont know if it will move much hardware i think if you really want to play halo then you already have an xbox and i would be interested to see if they even use natal

probably will sell a lot of millions, but i don't think will move a lot of hardware, let wait and see.

I think a Natal launch bundled with a Halo Reach Sku would be an ace in the hole.

Halo Reach, is known and Halo is known and it will sell buttloads, yes an official term. Halo Reach in and of itself does not equal ace in the hole it equals a fullhouse that the other players know you have.

To attract significantly more people to the 360 (as opposed to the Wii or PS3) Halo: reach needs to be something more special than a Halo game with better graphics. I'm not convinced adding Natal to the mix will necessarily do it, unless you can only get Natal by buying a new 360, which I seriously doubt will happen.

As a software seller I think the popularity of ODST indicates that Halo: Reach will sell a lot of software.

Halo: Reach released with a new (slim?) sku would push a decent amount of hardware. A Halo skinned 360 would sell very well too, though it would be a limited release so would not necessarily translate into sustained increase in HW sales.

Ace in the hole? By itself no, not in terms of 360's overall sales performance. As part of a package yes.

Do we even know what Halo: Reach is like that it will be a big deal? Is it a competitor to MAG or merely just another Halo title? ODST is doing pretty good, but hard to call it an "Ace in the Hole" this Christmas. I also hold anyone who considers Heavy Rain a killer app saleswise, to be suspect.

just wondering what "the year of sony" is measured by?  I'm no fan boy either, I have both consoles.  But just to brake it down by sales the 360 has had several releases this year go at least platinum (america only), and ODST looks like it will pass double platinum.  also it has titles that carried over from other years do over a million copies this year as well.  the PS3 has had NO platinum titles released this year ( america only) and only one hold over from last year.  Also the 360 has a half dozen titles almost near a million on top of their million, million + sellers, whereas the PS3 only has a half dozen sort of close to a million sellers total.  My guess is that Uncharted 2 at best will do a couple million.....isnt it behind pace of even Killzone 2 which didn't even do a million copies domestically.  I think the PS3 had a desent year but I have no doubt they wish they had microsoft sales!  If halo wars came out on the PS3 it would be like their biggest or second biggest title this year!  Anyway, I hope both consoles have a good year next year...however, there is nothing coming out on the PS3 as of right now I plan on buying.  When does that Quantum (gears of war rip off) game come out? lol 

could someone please explain to me how Natal could be used on an FPS?

Unless, of course the new Halo is an on-rails shooter?

How on earth would you give the commands to strafe, jump, change weapons, grenade go for cover etc without a controller?

Don't get me wrong - Halo and Natal are both awesome, just I can't see them being awesome in the same package.
generally, people only have two hands, two legs, two arms and a head or two.
how could those possibly be mapped to 12 or so buttons and two directional control sticks?
can you imagine how awkward Halo 3 would be if you reduced the inputs to just 7 or so?
If I'm getting this wrong, I appologise, and please could someone explain how this would work?

This article list great AAA exclusives coming for the PS3 next year, but only focuses on 2 for X360, as if that was it... I seriously doubt Halo: Reach isn't the only thing Microsoft has up it's sleeve for next year, the media makes it seem as if Halo is the ONLY game that Microsoft relies on, it's just their biggest franchise, not their ONLY hope. Ignorance is bliss i suppose.