XBOX Natal Rumors: Failed.

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XBOX Natal Rumors: Failed.
Microsoft debunks Xbox Natal rumor
The Internet is abuzz with a rumor that Microsoft's Project Natal add-on for Xbox 360 actually is the company's next video-game console.

But according to one Microsoft spokeswoman, that's not the case.
As I reported last week, Project Natal - which allows players to use their bodies to control a game, without a hand-held device - is hardware designed to extend the life of the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was released in 2005 and Microsoft is hoping its lifespan will stretch into 2015. The spokeswoman said Natal is not about a new console.
The Natal hardware will work on all Xbox 360s. A release date hasn't been set, but it has been reported that Natal will not come out in 2009.
Though it was released a year earlier than the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360 is in a distant second place to Wii in terms of console sales - 30 million versus 50 million units, respectively.
Project Natal - aimed at the heretofore un-tapped gaming demographic - is Microsoft's chance to take the lead by passing up the Wii, which gained popularity among non-gamers with its motion-sensing controller.

Source

Contributed by Zerrix​

 

[Master Mo]

They already confirmed in their press conference, that Natal is compatible with all Xbox360s! I really don`t know who came up with this nonsense theory...

And what do they want to change in the next generation? More wrinkles and pimples? IMO they should stay with this generation for the next 10 years

 

[Zerrix]

They already confirmed in their press conference, that Natal is compatible with all Xbox360s! I really don`t know who came up with this nonsense theory...

And what do they want to change in the next generation? More wrinkles and pimples? IMO they should stay with this generation for the next 10 years

dito. Although I wouldn't say ten years, but at least 5-6 years. ^^

 

[Trolly]

Yes, but by marketing a package with the 360 and natal (which they undoubtedly will do, and probably with a different hardware revision to make it more approachable to the average consumer - such as a much smaller hard drive) and targeting a different demographic, they'll effectively be making a new console. I should think the whole notion just got exaggerated when someone started saying it IS a new console.

 

[Maikel Steneker]

At least I hope the hardware will change enough to fix RROD and everything that looks like it. It's the reason I haven't bought a 360 yet.

 

[Hadrian]

Yeah I don't see a new Microsoft console for years for these reasons:

1. They don't need to, the 360 is pretty solid and every year there is a game that is the best looking game on the consoles.

2. Microsoft are now making a profit with the 360, why would they release another loss making console when the PS3 isn't doing as well?

3. Development costs are high enough as it is for the PS3 & 360 games.

In the past releasing add ons for consoles never worked out as well, the Natal will really depend on what games are coming to it (I know that existing games like Burnout Paradise will support it). Will developers want to put even more money into developing their games to support it as well as the regular titles? EA recently said that Motion+ games are harder to develop for than regular Wii games, I assume that Natal will face the same problems.

Also price will be a big factor. The Wii was the cheapest priced console out there (not anymore of course) so it appealed to those who didn't play games that often. I don't see this thing being cheap.

 

[da_head]

lol until progammers figure out how to utilize the ps3's fucked up core, microsoft has no reason to release a new console.

 

[CockroachMan]

Natal won't be a new console, but if MS wants to get the Wii market, they'll need to launch it as one. I'm expecting them to launch at least a new SKU bundled with Natal.

 

[War]

I still don't see how people thought there would be a new console. I hate it when people look into statements too much. Ex:

"The chances of Halo coming to the Wii are better than the chances of MGS4 coming to the 360"
"omg guise heer dat?!?!?! HALO COMEN 2 DA WII"

 

[Sonicslasher]

Even when 2015 comes, I just keep wondering what the next big step is. And no, I don't think motion control is the next big step.

 

[JDandy]

Even when 2015 comes, I just keep wondering what the next big step is. And no, I don't think motion control is the next big step.

It is.

We've (that is to say, 360 and PS3*) reached the pinnacle of graphics this generation. That is to say, realistic and/or "plain purdy" graphics have reached a new high. There is really no point in pursuing better graphics past this point. What the games industry should be focusing on (and it is) is controls.

Old games suffered from graphics limitations. New games suffer from control limitations.
It's time for gaming to fucking evolve from the goddamn gamepad to motion controls already. I'm more with Sony on this with their wand; Natal is fine, but a tactile response IS needed, no matter what you think.

With games like Oblivion having been made, the next step for Elder Scrolls 5 is not Oblivion-with-more-bloom-to-make-it-prettier but Oblivion-with-motion-controls.

Once the gaming industry comes to grips with making games that use motion controls properly, I don't see a need for a new generation of gaming consoles ever again.

*Wii is a casual thing, it's not really a contender in the games industry.**
**That is to say, it has games, but it's not for gamers.

 

[[M]artin]

Most of your arguments are quite valid, JDandy, but...

Once the gaming industry comes to grips with making games that use motion controls properly, I don't see a need for a new generation of gaming consoles ever again.
You've got to be fucking joking. As you stated earlier (and I'm not disagreeing with you on this point) maximum graphical potential may have been exhibited already on multiple consoles of this generation. However, graphical limits are constantly being pushed forward, much like your view on methods of input (controlling a game) evolving with the production of Natal and the Sony's motion-control efforts. You're suggesting that the gaming market will eventually end with a solid variation of consoles that will never need new hardware warranting new console production (causing a catastrophic loss of profits for console-producing companies)...

New console releases are inevitable, to say the very least.

QUOTE(JDandy @ Jun 17 2009, 03:15 AM) *Wii is a casual thing, it's not really a contender in the games industry.**
**That is to say, it has games, but it's not for gamers.

This statement is purely opinionated, I can understand that, but you're basing this judgment on terms that are purely indefinable. The Casual/Hardcore gamers argument is clearly ignorant and attempting to classify games or even a whole console as either-or is quite foolish (Casual/Harcore is also nearly indefinable). To say that a console has "games, but it's not for gamers" is solidly contradictory and only helps to further the point that consumers themselves cannot be simply lumped into two vague categories such as Casual and Hardcore.

 

[JDandy]

artin]
Most of your arguments are quite valid, JDandy, but...

Once the gaming industry comes to grips with making games that use motion controls properly, I don't see a need for a new generation of gaming consoles ever again.
You've got to be fucking joking. As you stated earlier (and I'm not disagreeing with you on this point) maximum graphical potential may have been exhibited already on multiple consoles of this generation. However, graphical limits are constantly being pushed forward, much like your view on methods of input (controlling a game) evolving with the production of Natal and the Sony's motion-control efforts. You're suggesting that the gaming market will eventually end with a solid variation of consoles that will never need new hardware warranting new console production (causing a catastrophic loss of profits for console-producing companies)...

New console releases are inevitable, to say the very least.


You're right. Graphics are being improved constantly. Comparing launch titles to titles that show up near the end of a console's/handheld's lifetime shows that they can even be improved in the same generation. And I was being a tad bit (read; very) dramatic with the "no new generation ever again" thing.
It's just that as things stand now I feel we have moved from the GC/PS2/XBOX into this generation solely for the graphics. Of course, more powerfull machines allow for larger maps/play areas, faster loading times, better performance etc, but the only part of this that the consumer notices really, are the graphics.
Therefore if the industry accepts that it has reached a pinnacle in graphics, and focuses on perfecting new play methods (whether that's motion control or a joystick you can control by licking) there won't really be a need to "upgrade".
Then what you said comes into play. Console-producing companies need to make their profit. Where do they go once the market has been saturated, once every house has a playbox wii6000? I don't know.

artin]
QUOTE(JDandy @ Jun 17 2009, 03:15 AM)

*Wii is a casual thing, it's not really a contender in the games industry.**
**That is to say, it has games, but it's not for gamers.

This statement is purely opinionated, I can understand that, but you're basing this judgment on terms that are purely indefinable. The Casual/Hardcore gamers argument is clearly ignorant and attempting to classify games or even a whole console as either-or is quite foolish (Casual/Harcore is also nearly indefinable). To say that a console has "games, but it's not for gamers" is solidly contradictory and only helps to further the point that consumers themselves cannot be simply lumped into two vague categories such as Casual and Hardcore.

Yes, yes, purely opinionated. I am, of course, no official spokesperson for anything, and I tend to be negative about everything, so anything I say should be taken with a healthy helping of salt.
I wasn't talking about the Casual/Hardcore split (as I hate those terms), but more about the fact (salt) that the Wii is not for gamers. The Wii (being a Gamecube already) is more for people who would like to entertain their young children, with fun games like Wii Sports, Wii Sports Motionplus Extreme 4, Mario Party 28 and Job Island (note; I like Job Island).
Microsoft and Sony have serious consoles. Games are released for those things, real games.
Nintendo has a machine that's running on old tech (feel free to ignore my treating the Wii as a GC if it bothers you) whose games library consists of First Party Games, good games, and shit. Nintendo's big problem is that 95% of the games worth playing for their platforms are first party. Third party developers just don't/can't use the Wiimote properly. (Which is a shame for nintendo and wii owners, since their line-up of games is poopoo)
As much as I dislike the whole Casual/Hardcore labeling of gamers and games, there is a point to it.
An old friend of mine came by some time ago, and I thought we'd have some fun playing Gears of War 2 co-op. He sucked hard. He just couldn't do it, couldn't keep up. He admitted he doesn't play games, hasn't played games for years (exceptions at parties etc notwithstanding). Yet on an other occasion (ie. in the home of someone who has a Wii) he had a blast playing Wii Sports. Was good at it, had fun.*

Point here being that the Wii is clearly for non-gamers ie. Casuals, while the 360/PS3 are for the (oh how I hate saying it like this) "true" gamers.
Now the final point I'd like to make is that the previous sentence is maybe completely false. MAYBE he was good at Wii Sports becuase motion sensing controlschemes are superior to joypads. Maybe motion controls are more accesible, more familiar on a primal level, than pressing arbitrary buttons on a weirdly shaped white thing with sticks and toggles.

-"games, but it's not for gamers" is not as contradictory as it seems. There's games for gamers, and there are games for non-gamers. It's as simple as that.

*Funny thing, I had a friend over who has a Wii (and a PS2). He was pretty rockin' at Gears of War 2. There IS a difference between gamers and non-gamers. Point is that the games industry should now focus on a way to make games more accesible to both groups.

 

[shakirmoledina]

There is no need to improve the 360 or xbox as there is nothing needed which it doesn't have

 

[Rock Raiyu]

There is no need to improve the 360 or xbox as there is nothing needed which it doesn't have

Cept for RROD problems. I'd like to get that problem fixed...along with E74.

 

[JDandy]

There is no need to improve the 360 or xbox as there is nothing needed which it doesn't have

Cept for RROD problems. I'd like to get that problem fixed...along with E74.

RROD was "fixed" some time ago. Now you can just install your games to the harddrive and presto. No more RROD.

 

[Maz7006]

I knew it, MS would be idiots to drop their 360 now, its like closing down a store just when it actually started working properly.

Yeah there are still issues with RROD and EZ4 but they have done their part in fixing it or at least doing something about it. Good on you MS, this is probably the best thing they've done in years (the fact that they have kept the 360) not the fact about this whole NATAL stuff

 

[Rock Raiyu]

There is no need to improve the 360 or xbox as there is nothing needed which it doesn't have

Cept for RROD problems. I'd like to get that problem fixed...along with E74.

RROD was "fixed" some time ago. Now you can just install your games to the harddrive and presto. No more RROD.

That's not what you call a fix...especially for those who have a 20GB HDD or don't even have an HDD at all. And running games didn't give your HDD, its overheating from playing games that gave it RROD so even if you install it to the HDD you're still going to overheat..

 

[Blue-K]

Well, that's great news. I already thought it wouldn't be a new conosle, but here's the confirmation

. Microsoft isn't Nintendo DS-->DSi, at least not now. I'm happy that I can buy one now with no worries

...

I realy must say that with Natal Microsoft won another customer...never thought I'll buy a Xbox360...but after that E3...I changed my mind...

 

[JDandy]

There is no need to improve the 360 or xbox as there is nothing needed which it doesn't have

Cept for RROD problems. I'd like to get that problem fixed...along with E74.

RROD was "fixed" some time ago. Now you can just install your games to the harddrive and presto. No more RROD.

That's not what you call a fix...especially for those who have a 20GB HDD or don't even have an HDD at all. And running games didn't give your HDD, its overheating from playing games that gave it RROD so even if you install it to the HDD you're still going to overheat..

I have a 20GB HDD, and not having one at all is just silly. First off because it comes with the console, and second because you'll be unable to save your data.
If you're worried about the space on your hard drive, or the cost of getting a bigger hard drive, you have no business owning a console. Just get a 120GB hard drive and you're set for life. Not like the games take a lot of space.
Second, you won't be playing more than 2 games at a time anyway, so a 20GB hard drive will be more than enough. Want to play something else? Uninstall an old game, install a new one. You can put 2 games on there easy, so worries about space are pointless.

Installing a game means your disk drive won't be active while playing. Not only does this get rid of THAT FUCKING AIRPLANE NOISE it does help against RROD. Never mind the fact that newer 360 units should have been constructed better than the first "wave".

RROD is a problem of the past really, the chances of anyone getting it in this day and age are pretty damn slim, if not zero. And so what if you do get it, just send that melted piece of shit to microsoft, they'll either fix it or give you a new one free of charge.
Hell, my current 360 (new one I got when the previous one RROD'ed the second time) has been with me for 3 years or more, and that thing hasn't even so much as hiccuped.