Network now...NEWS
Sub-£50 Natal To Launch November 2010 - Report
Natal for Xbox 360 is reportedly set to launch worldwide in November 2010.
According to details leaked from a Microsoft tour, the platform holder plans to sell its motion sensing camera for under £50 as it looks to target the non videogame playing market.
The company will manufacture five million units for the product’s release and 14 launch titles will be available, reports MCV.
First announced at E3 in July, the Natal sensor tracks body movement in 3D using an RGB camera, depth sensor, microphone and custom processor.
At the Tokyo Game Show in September, Microsoft said that “publishers actively working on games for Project Natal" include Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, MTV Games, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ and Ubisoft.
Sony is expected to launch its new motion sensing controller for PS3 in spring 2010.
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ok thats the Natal with Perfect Dark 2 Bundle for £49.99 - hmmm... could be an epic fail. Personally I prefer sitting like a vegetable when playing games then you can eat crisps at the same time. You dont want to have to point things at the screen or have to move i.e. to lean out of cover. Imagine playing MW2 on Natal - it would look like someone having a stroke.
Actually how will the Natal differentiate between me eating crisps & throwing a grenade? Can it tell if ur doing something non gaming? Probably not for an epic fail. Also I play most games with a blanket to keep warm right. So can you get an infra-red Natal to tell what I'm doing under the blankey? Probably not = epic fail. Microsoft & Rare havent thought this through. & look how big the unit is. Its bigger than the 360. How am I suppost to fit even more crap in my room. There are other questions like... can u use it as a burglar detection system in ur house like the scanner at the beginning of Aliens? U could fit a Natal into each room & use the 360 as a control center... like Batman. Holy crap u could create ur own Mocap. Or a complete MoCrap film like Robert Zemekis or stick dots on ur face & feed facial MoCrap back into a game like having to smile or emote. Yeah facial MoCrap. & what happens if you have a lazy eye or a clayface like Mickey Rourke or a general disability. Then you cant play games anymore. Thx Microsoft
I really couldn't care less about this.
Who cares? Who wants to look like their holding Darth Vaders hard-on anyway?
Under £50 Natal hmm, I guess you gets what you pays for. On the other hand, Molyneaux is really excited.....I'm sure that guys sky is yellow with hints of mushroom, the biggest nail in the coffin for me is this guys enthusiasm. If he painted a rock green it would be: a perfect way to realise emotional engagement, coupled with a responsibilty that stops the player and makes him consider his actions.....right before he humps that rock, while Gates watches and wan...ders about.
Forgive my ignorance but isn't Natal just the next generation of Sony's EYETOY?, and is'nt Sony's EYE PET already doing what NATAL will do?
Please correct me if i'm wrong
I think Eyetoy does some of what Natal can do, it's true. But the Eye cannot track your actual hand or body posture within a space, for example.
You have an incredible disregard for reality, DubsTF - either that or you don't understand what Vaporware means. Development kits and working models have already been supplied to over a dozen third parties who are cranking away on their own third-party games - these developers don't have a track record of supporting vaporware. Additionally, working demos were provided to Time magazine, Popular Science and Popular Mechanics - winning awards from each of these respected mags.
Repeatedly posting pics calling Natal vaporware doesn't change the reality. I guess the fact you think the technology is so advanced to be unbelievable is a back-handed complement of sorts to MS though.
On the contrary, I have an excellent understanding of the meaning and use of 'vaporware.'
In other cases, vaporware may be announced by companies in order to damage the development or marketability of more real products by competitors, sometimes in combination with a campaign of fear, uncertainty and doubt; if customers believe the hype, they may put off purchasing the real product to wait for its vaporous rival to mature.
—from the Wikipedia definition
(Don't even get me started on that Time magazine ridiculousness.)
Quoting Wikipedia generally isn't a good idea. Regardless, this has absolutely no bearing on Natal. Wii has already been out for 3 YEARS, so it's not like MS (or Sony) are trying to get people not to buy it - everyone already has one!
Vaporware is a term used to describe software like Duke Nukem Forever - not a product which actually exists in a pre-release state. There is no question that Natal is real, actually works and is coming out (most likely next Fall).
Just curious, is PS3 vaporware because Sony announced it was coming out Worldwide in Spring of '06?
I disagree with your first paragraph. Having already saturated their core market with 360s, Microsoft is now left with options like re-selling to the same people (via the mass console ban) and spreading Natal FUD to try and get expanded audience fence-sitters to wait for its release rather than buy a Wii today. It's a classic Microsoft tactic.
There is absolutely no question in my mind that this so-called 'leak' of possible Natal pricing coupled with the publicity from specious awards is designed to make you and me think twice about buying a Wii this holiday. You are, of course, welcome to disagree.
Just curious, is PS3 vaporware because Sony announced it was coming out Worldwide in Spring of '06?
Sure, doesn't bother me!
http://kotaku.com/5407078/microsoft-kindasmashes-natal-launch-rumor
Sorted. Basically, MS have said, "no it probably won't be 50 quid, and no, we have no idea when it's launching".
Seems like a plausible argument. I guess the proof of the pudding will be how many "leaks" about natal turn up the week before saony launch their wandy thing.
If it does turn out to be true, then a 50 pound pricetag definitely seems tempting, depending on the games, of course. I will definitely NOT be giving up any of my cash for that stupid Mylo thing...
All companies play that game, StealthBadger - not just MS.
Sony did precisely that at E3 - they did not have the "wandy" as part of their E3 presentation until they saw MS' presentation the day before. It was there as a contingency in case the rumors turned out to be true, but it was obvious (and later admitted) that they had no intention of showing it at E3 because it wasn't nearly ready. Sony also said they were launching PS3 in Spring of '06 when they knew it was absolutely impossible - to try to reduce initial 360 Holiday sales in '05.
I think the initial release of Natal is being treated the same way XBLA was with the original x-box. MS is going to test the waters and work out the kinks in the last year of 360 and then fully incorporate it the following year when the new system will likely launch.
You are a grade A moron.
I don't like the idea of this 'body-scanning', 'facial recognition' device being placed inside a living room - and to boot, being connected to an Internet-enabled device. Too 'Big Brother' for me - no dice, sorry.
Yawn. (awakes from sleep). Did someone say something about some new and interesting hardware? Oh, its just more news about Natal, think I'll go back to sleep.
Seriously though, the price is at a good point, but out of those 14 games there will be one or two which will have the "wow" factor, and the rest will likely be party games. My Eye Toy must have got used about twice a year for two years and thats about it, I predict the same with Natal.
I think I would guess at something similar at first, but isn't that the whole point of the project? If Microsoft are chasing Wii consumers, they'd be crazy not to offer Wii-style games.
Wow. That is surprising it's only 50 nicker. I expected it to be easily over £100. Now let's just hope it's good and the 14 games aren't just Wii style shovelware.
I suspect the first releases are going to resemble tech demos more than fully realized games. It'll probably take a year or so to see really innovative stuff come out and have it used sensibly to complement the existing controller, rather than replace it.
Under £50? Isn't a 360 controller like £35? Anyway, I was expecting it to launch at about £100. Kotaku is reporting that some sources have said MS is hoping to launch it at £30 for the impulse buy effect. I wonder where Sony is intending to price the wand? I highly doubt it's going to be £30....
Does the wand use six axis? or do we not know yet??