Ive been hearing natal will use 10-33% of a Xbox 360s power, rumours even say that a whole core, will be needed to reduce lag between the user and the natal unit(Greenberg says that wont be the case but did not specifiy what the usage will be)to me these means that the xbox will now longer by focusing on graphic fidelity but on gameplay and casuals, how can ms make a console, that is all in one package and not confusing to the casual customer, and satisfy a hardcore gamer who wants bleeding edge graphics?

I have no doubt natal is a genius idea, and i will probably buy it, but i feel that if they wanted motion sensing they should have done so in the beginning,  I think Ms are severly stunting their growth potential with natal by releasing it with Xbox 360. Natal needs to be a fresh start with hardware that was designed to utilize it to have the maximum impact

but i think that in order for ms to be succesful they have to change there entire way of doing business for natal to succeed, can they really shun hardcore gamers? in order for ms to capture the casual audience they have to go all the way! Hardcore games, will definately be affected, in some or other way, whether it be by release schedules of big hardcore games making way for casual games, to cutting back new hardcore ips, and focusing on hardcore sequels and casual new ips!

ms will have to spend much more on marketing casual games, and on paying studios continually to making casual games and making sure they deliver on time, to make sure there is a constant stream of new and compelling content, i don't see ms being able to keep the hardcore AND the casuals happy, nintendo seem to have given up on the hardcore, as the hardcore have on them.

Can Ms really pull this off. I usually slag Ms for cutting corners and being cheap, but since milo i have been very pleasantly suprised, but i want ms to carve their own path instead of observe and imitate better than the competition, it would be nice for ms to be leader in something instead of always wanted to buy buy buy! People dont care about the rich dude, they just want his cash, and when he's broke the people will vanish instantly. MS needs to find their own path and not pay people, or copy them. Look at how MS was played in japan! the japanese companies took ms's money and looked after their own interests,  Square enix took a hell of alot money from ms to develop titles, to make ms compete in japan, but square enix also single handedly killed the xbox 360 in japan by releasing FF13 exclusively in japan.

Sorry for the rant but im worried natal is an awesome concept but as soon as they removed the internal natal chip processor i realised that natal might be a total gimmick!

- A recent report from GamesIndustry.biz says Microsoft has dropped the internal processing chip from the Project Natal camera accessory, a source said.

This would allow the company to reduce the cost of Project Natal for consumers, but as a drawback cause the motion processing to become software-based, making the Xbox 360 do additional number crunching under the hood.

The theory that Microsoft may be able to patch Natal motion controls into older titles now seems less likely if the Xbox 360 processor is now consuming additional power. The one positive out of all of this is that Microsoft could then update Natal's system firmware more easily than if it had an internal processor.

Microsoft wouldn't comment on either of these reports, only saying that full technology details have yet to be announced for Project Natal.

"The Project Natal team is heads down working to develop amazing experiences for launch this holiday. We're constantly evaluating our technology and always looking for ways to enhance our products and experiences," a spokesperson told IGN.

"We have not announced full technology details for 'Project Natal' at this time."

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1059473p1.html

See you have nothing to fear

I think it's being hyped too much. In the end, it'll never meet expectations.

I think Microsoft is trying to do 3D in the 80's.

There was 3D, yeah, but rudimentar... Until this technology isn't Hollywood motion capturing like level, and affordable, keep it away from gaming.

saving enough money for NATAL =)

Buying Natal on Day 1

I generally agree with this sentiment. Maybe Microsoft worked miracles, but I know others who have worked in motion capture and essentially done the same thing, and this type of motion tracking is incredibly tough. If Microsoft pulls it off, it will be incredibly impressive though.

Two (very) important questions that haven't been answered are "What software is being produced for Natal that will drive adoption?" and "What is the price of Natal?"

What's with the wave of anti-Natal threads since CES started? Goodness....

OT: Supposed "hardcore" gamers don't want motion control. So Natal will not be used in hardcore bleeding edge graphics games to please the hardcore gamers.

Also, this is all based on some "source" and as far as I have heard MS has not commented on it at all yet.

I think it can succeed with a major campaign for it.