Deja vu..........

I had a dream a couple years ago I saw this thread topic. And I will say now what I said then:

No way Jose Canseco.

Thank you.

They are already working on Natal implementations for Windows. It should be stressed that there are 3 key implementations of Natal.

1. Xbox Natal game and media interface.

2. TV Natal which was a TV with the full NXE interface including games on demand. (I saw this at CES 2009 I believe, a video from Click a BBC show)

3. Windows Natal.

A Windows Natal interface works for console hardware, TV hardware and PC hardware.

TV natal would need extra performance to run TV specific programs like recording on demand etc so increased performance is needed if people want to say play Xbox games and record live TV at the same time. It would also be nice for a Blu Ray player to be implemented just as TVs started getting DVD players combined with them and it does seem to make sense overall. TV manufacturers have a problem in that once they sell you a TV they get no further revenue from you. Xbox Live content and subscriptions solve this problem.

As for the DVD/Blu Ray issue I feel that it can be a transition process. In the short term all discs can simply be extended Xbox 360 discs throughout 2009-2011 but for future releases they can start to use hybrid discs when it makes sense for storage space. I wouldn't most games to use this technology, just the games where it counts. In addition to this the hybrid Blu Ray/DVD discs can provide further forward compatibility to the next completely new Xbox architecture.

i agree with you, i think it will never work for microsoft because they have no casual/family franchises of their own, nintendo has mario ad the like and sony to a lesser extent can use ratchet and clank and LBP

They do have Rare for one and with Peter Molyneux backing them up I can see them finally breaking out of the mold of falling just short of excellence. They also have a lot of talent within their company. The core team of Valve were ex Microsoft employees for example. The question is whether they can get the right people inspired and whether they can get these people into the right positions to make a difference. If its yes on both fronts then they have the potential for a very powerful console update. They do have a lot of talented software engineers, probably more so than SCE. What they need are the great ones to rise up.

If microsoft follows wii in casual games, it is about time I see Hardcore games on the wii.

I wouldn't say that Natal will be too unfriendly to casuals. 

Last time I looked Banjo-Kazooie was not exactly a success in the sales or quality department(0.66m and rating of 8), Rare need to step things up big time... Plus FABLE II as the biggest dissapointment for me, FABLE I was great. Finally why are you even mentioning Valve??

I think ND are more talented then all the developers you listed put together, in my opinion

OT: I think Natal is going to alienate alot of it's users as it will not be capable of doing harcore games(not properly without being awkward), the X360 has mostly a hardcore user base.

Well as I've said numerous times about Natal, the key to success is going to be the software. The wii remote didn't sell to people because they were generally interested or thought it was a cool idea. It sold to people because when they bought the system they got Wii Sports which was a great game that showed it worked and proved games could be very fun and different using it. Follow that up with other big key releases, some that use it heavily and some that don't, and you have a successful system.

Microsoft will have to do something similar. They need to have a game, probably bundled with it, that shows how good this is and that people should pay the money to buy it. Doesn't need to be a big branded title, like Wii Sports wasn't when it came out, but it does need to be marketed heavily to show it is a big title. I think they can pull it off but Natal is a much harder sell than the wii remote was.

I came in this thread expecting a star trek double facepalm...but left believer.

An 80 isn't too bad, a developer which can produce 80s can with a little improvement produce games at an 85-89% metacritic level and thats generally all you need to break into the million selling range with a compelling product. Fable 2 sold well and kept selling so someone must have liked it, more people infact than the first game.

Oh an I mentioned Valve because the core Valve team are ex Microsoft employees as to show that they do have talent up in the campus.

ND are about the most talented group of programmers out of any developer but their design team isn't in the same category as Valve, Epic, Infinity Ward etc they are one level short. The AA to the AAA in that field of expertise.

You're assuming Natal will alienate? Erm I doubt it as the hardcore userbase is pretty good at ignoring things it doesn't like.