Selnor : The 3rd place is not "secured" at all for the PS3 according to recent sales numbers. MS could "secure" it later for its 360, nobody knows right now.

The PS3 installed base lagging behind was more an effect of releasing 1 year after its competitor and at a much higher price than anything else. It let time to the 360 to install itself as the only 'next gen' console, a big blunder by Sony obviously.

Good games were not the deciding factor, there were already some in the first PS3 years, although it only started raining great PS3 games in 2008.

I'm still worried about the strain on the processor...I'm sure you can do alot with software, but that raw processor power would make a big difference.

Check when the guy swings his arms at 0:45 in te video, there is some serieus response delay there.

digiwinner is better :P http://technews.am/conversations/ubergizmo/digiwinner_could_beat_microsoft_with_natal_clone_bhm

Well it is definitely an interesting concept for a gaming machine. Still curious how a lot of the functions would work for the current state of gaming but I can't wait for E3 2010 to see actual games using the tech and in live demonstrations.

It's obvious MS is taking a lot from Ninty in how they are going to make this work and I think that is a good thing. Nintendo showed a strategy for being able to introduce new technology to the gaming world and successfully hype and market it to a mainstream crowd. MS seems to understand that and hopefully will follow suit if they want it to be successful.

As for how big Natal will be, it's a risky move and will depend a lot on the marketing and namely if they have a game to go with it that is a big games. I mean the Wii needed Wii Sports to take off and then subsequent big properties to keep it going. MS will need something similar.


Personally on all of this, I can't say I'm extremely excited for Natal. I believe you take out immersion when you take out a physical medium to tie the gamer into the game. Whether it be a controller or a wiimote or even some a random stick, the people on screen have something and to feel immerse you need something as well. Actually, one of my main complaints on wiimote to the immersiveness of a game is sometimes the wiimote isn't heavy enough to really feel like you are holding the object in the game. Imagine how that difference would be with Natal.

For the sales potential, I think it'll be a pretty big deal, but MS hasn't sold it just yet. Unlike what the OP stated, this is not a big mainstream idea yet. This is nowhere near the level of what DS or Wii has been and their techs or even the PS2. MS has a long way to go to get this in the eyes of the mainstream and a common view. I mean notice how often Wii Sports appears in common media or common terms. If MS wants that success for Natal, they have to be able to do something similar. That's going to take work, and work I'll be able to determine over the next 9 months.

I see sony isn't marketing their motion wand as much as microsoft is with natal. Step you ad up sony.

Yeah----Every video I see of Natal, I think to myself, "Am I going to have to move my arm 3 seconds before I want it to move on screen during the game?"  If they don't solve the delay problem by launch, there are going to be a very limited amount of games that this will work for.  There's no way you'll be able to play a shooter with that sluggish response time....hell even a platformer wouldn't work very well.

Yea well its going to be interesting to see what effect that will have. Firstly, no one seems to mind their frame rate dropping for HD games. In terms of accuracy in controls, its going to matter more.

Secondly, Nintendo already tried this tech. and they argued that it wasn't cost effective or fast enough for capturing the movement they wanted. While this could easily be a defense it makes sense when you realise the frames per second capture rate on the wiimote.

From IGN - http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1059470p1.html

Using motion controls poorly or just because they are available instead of fusing them to an interesting idea (Metroid Prime Trilogy is a spectacular demonstration of how to properly use the Wii Remote) has made the Wii Remote appear gimmicky to many gamers. Greenberg says that Microsoft is determined to "avoid those traps."

Asked if Microsoft will actively say "no" to developers that use Natal in any way that seems gimmick-oriented, Greenberg nods and says, "We will very carefully manage the portfolio. We want to focus on original concepts. Not every idea is going to make sense. Halo Reach should be a great game with a controller. It should never be played with your body."

--- See theres the problem. If the company really believes in controlling what games use what controllers both the developers and customers are going to be dissapointed at some point.
Maybe your kids just want to play Carnival Games on Xbox.

re: Halo Reach. Ok fine, so do you want to tell how many of the 40 million 360 owners are going to buy Natal if there arn't any fps's with natal controls?

If theyre serious (i don't believe they are, they will encourage as much casual stuff as possible) we will have another Wii market split, where kids on one side want one game and adults on the other want another.

Cost remains a concern for me with Natal. To really work as well as currently hyped, I suspect MS is either going to have to accept a loss with every Natal sold or release it above what I suspect the market is really willing to accept - or my idea of the cost of that tech is way off!

Or I guess they could make compromises on components if rumours regarding the removal of the onboard chip are true, but that hasn't been fully confirmed yet that I've seen.

Now, MS have shown they don't mind burning a lot of money to get somewhere, so it's not inconceivable they would accept a loss on Natal to gain a serious foothold with a larger, more casual market than they currently have, but I don't know - they seem so focused on being profitable, etc. with 360 at the moment I just struggle to think they would sell Natal at a big loss.

Too high a price would pretty much guarantee Natal niche peripheral status, and damage it's chances with the larger market greatly.

I'm still worried it's not really the right interface for many games, but until its out that's kind of hard to confirm one way or the other.

Nice video though, MS sure know how to make those slick.

The marketing, if nothing else, should be superb.