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NEWS

New Natal Details To Emerge In February

Tom Ivan's picture

By Tom Ivan

November 23, 2009

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Fresh details about Xbox 360’s upcoming motion sensing camera, Project Natal, are likely to be revealed at two Gamefest conference sessions in February 2009.

A Natal design track will focus on developing ideas “to help you take your game from office to living room - creating new ways to work, building showcase experiences, divining user intent, and designing gestures for UI versus game interactions”.

In addition, a Natal technical session will cover gesture recognition, avatar retargeting, speech recognition and handling different player environments, among other topics.

Aimed at industry professionals, Microsoft’s Gamefest is taking place at the Washington State Convention Centre in Seattle on February 10 and 11, 2009.

Wall_E's picture
On November 23rd Wall_E said:

Microsoft's Natal and Sony's Wand will fail as both firms aren't bundling such peripherals with all their SKU's.

It works for Nintendo because such peripherals come standard with the hardware.

Also, MS/Sony can't afford to bundle such peripherals with their SKU's as they have lost billions on their current hardware.

MS/Sony are just pissing in the wind with these add-ons.

Thus, Nintendo will always be at the front of innovation because they are the only firm out of the three that are constantly thinking "outside the box".

grognard66's picture
On November 24th grognard66 said:

True - Most peripherals have pretty low adoption rates, with a few notable exceptions (guitar controllers, racing wheels, etc.).

MS said that they're going to bundle Natal in with the console (probably starting next Holiday) which should help somewhat. I still think MS is using the last year or two of this gen more as a test for Natal though, and will bundle the next iteration of Natal from the start with their next console release.

Also, MS is making a healthy profit in the gaming division and reports estimate they're making at least $50 profit on each system currently sold. As much as you hate MS, Wall_E, they can afford to do anything they desire.

I don't think Sony has announced any plans for a bundle with the console and, in this case you're right, they can't afford to lose any more than they already are on PS3 Slim.

Wall_E's picture
On November 24th Wall_E said:


As much as you hate MS, Wall_E, they can afford to do anything they desire.

I don't hate them, if i'm not happy with what their doing (and this goes for Nintendo and Sony also) then i'll express my emotions.

Also, as much money as MS have, they can't afford to splash money willy-nilly i.e. without reason.

DCrappa's picture
On November 24th DCrappa said:

I think you are right, they will need to bundle it in SKU's to have any chance.
Perhaps Sony and Microsoft should have waited until the next gen and then really thought about where the controller is heading. Some form of touch screen on the controller might actually add some value as apposed to waving hands around.
The other thought is they are 'testing' the waters before the next gen in the hope they can get it right then.

Poffle's picture
On November 23rd Poffle said:

Announcements of announcements are getting a little silly now. Real news please Edge, ta.

Ben_Lathwell's picture
On November 23rd Ben_Lathwell said:

Wow another piece of complete NON-NEWS

DubsTF's picture
On November 23rd DubsTF said:

Reggie revealed in a recent interview that Nintendo would show the Vitality Sensor and its software at E3 2010. Where is the 'news' story about that? That's at least as 'newsworthy' as this non-announcement of a 'likely' February reveal.