Microsoft's upcoming Project Natal camera could potentially lead to some very new and exciting gameplay possibilities, but it's up to Microsoft to prove that its platform is worth the hype. Phil Spencer, corporate vp of Microsoft Game Studios, is fully aware of this. Speaking to Eurogamer, Spencer responded to a question about Microsoft being known for taking fewer risks when it comes to first-party developments, but he countered that, if anything, Natal proves that's not true.

"This picks up the discussion about Natal very well, because if there isn't risk in Natal then I don't know what's keeping me up at night. We're trying something completely new where there's no device in your hand. We're trying to build a set of new games, new experiences that will have the same quality metrics of our past games, but really entice both existing 360 customers and new people. It's a huge challenge, a huge investment and it's fraught with risk," Spencer said.

Spencer also responded to a question about a chip being removed from Natal, which means that Natal needs to use 10-15 percent of the Xbox 360 CPU. The Microsoft Game Studios boss insisted that the chip removal has had zero effect on the games being created. "As you can imagine, there have been hundreds of decisions made on the technology. The goal is always to make the games better and the experiences better. In no way have we had to cut back on the development of the games we're doing - they're more feature-rich today than when we started them a year ago," he said. "Not just because we're a year forward in development, but because we continue find new ways to use the technology. The progress on the overall technology of Natal is nothing but positive, we feel very good about it."

Previous reports pegged Natal somewhere in the $50 to $100 range, but Spencer would not elaborate. He noted that Microsoft is aware that it needs to be priced properly for consumers to be drawn to it: "We know that price is important. Xbox 360 has shown that we're conscious of price points, and I think the price drops we've done have resonated very well. The momentum we've had in '08 and '09 is a combination of the value of our platform and the content we have. We understand, going into Natal, it's the same equation - we have to offer experiences and hit price points which really resonate with consumers. This is a broad consumer product. It's for the entire audience which has 360s today and the millions of people who will buy 360s because of Natal. We understand that only works if we hit consumer price points."

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/microsoft-natal-is-a-huge-investment-and-fraught-with-risk/