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Natal out "late next year"

THQ boss blabs date for Xbox motion cam
Xbox 360's Project Natal motion cam will be out "late next year", according to THQ boss Brian Farrell.

The claim came from a THQ earnings call last night, where Farrell - who we're assuming knows what he's talking about, considering he's making games for the thing - said we'll have the 360 motion peripheral in time for next Christmas.

Officially Microsoft's not said anything about Natal's launch date, though top man Steve Balmer blabbed that we'll be seeing it sometime next year, before withdrawing his comments.

Xbox 360: 'Project Natal'Official trailer
1:35  Xbox's motion control
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Speaking at E3 last month, Xbox strategy man Shane Kim claimed Natal's launch will be as big as Xbox 360's. "Conceptually, the launch of Natal will be like the launch of Xbox 360," he said. "It's going to be that big. We're not just going to ship it when the hardware and software are ready."

Thanks, Kotaku

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Posted by Shabozi
Well, not trying to be clever but 'late next year' is quite conservative isn't it?

I mean its unlikely to be the first part of next year, and would be a pretty good seller come the holidays next year...
Posted by Mark240473
Oh well, it should give MS the opportunity to see how it feels to play catch-up, this gen.

Saying that, at least MS will market Natal properly, whereas Sony will just sneak the love wand into the shops without anybody noticing....

In fact, Ann Summers has them on pre-order. :lol:
Posted by bestgamer28
i hope they dont messs this up and bring out loads of crappy wii like titles cos if they do i will switch to ps3
Posted by ParmaViolet
You know - I'd read some comments on Sonys motion controller before actually seeing it...I didn't believe that it really looked like a dildo - I was wrong.

You'd have thought that someone must have said (at some point in its development) 'Uh, just one problem....don't you think it looks a little like a sex-toy?' - the guys showing it at E3 looked ridiculous, I half expected it to start vibrating.

Other than that, it looks pretty good...be interesting to see how it matches up to the WiiMote (with M+). As with Natal, it's all down to the games and the implementation.

:)
Posted by monty_79
I really hope they get this right, and it come with some games which are for real gamers. I get the feeling we won't hear about the next generation Xbox for at least 3 years. Not that that's a particularly bad thing, as the current one still has a lot to offer.
Posted by CosmicKite
well what ya gonna do if Sony mess up and do the same thing? Maybe buy the games you want instead of bitching about games you don't?
Posted by Mark240473
Personally, I already own the camera for the PS3, so the thought of having to buy the bully boy isn't too emotional. However, I can't see me forking out £100+ for Natal.

It all depends on how attractive Natal is at the time, and I will certainly need to try it first-hand before I buy.

Also, I really hope that Sony keep the design of the 'ET finger'. It really would be fun showing it to 'friends'..... :lol:
Posted by StonecoldMC
Not even thinking about Natal as a Gaming peripheral to begin with, the fact that I could potentially sign in to Live through facial recognition and navigate the menu without a controller has me buying into it pretty much straight away.

If good Games then start appearing then MS could be onto a real winner!

There are a few things that could feck all that up though :wink: .
Posted by BenJy!
Nonsense

Natal is a additional peripheral which you have a CHOICE to buy or not. You can still playing your normal standard games on the 360.
Posted by wildhook2
Sony's wand may look like a dildo but it is an early prototype. Won't be like that when it is out.
Posted by AJB123644
I think to be fair that was a bit of a known time for Natal coming out. Sony want to push their controller out before Microsoft so they can get their market sorted before Microsoft drop the bombshell on their tech.

In all though Microsoft would probably launch Natal round Christmas, after all they did state that it would be as big a launch as the 360 and what better time to do that than at Christmas?

Be interesting though to see what games are developed for it. Especially after hearing Bungie saying it wouldn't be any good for Halo which kind of begs the question of whether it would be suitable for hardcore FPS anyway.
Posted by theholyone
expensive gimmick
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
No, when its finished it'll have bunny ears and be ribbed for her pleasure.
Posted by ParmaViolet
»

I'll certainly reserve judgement on Natal until we learn a bit more about it - if it's £100, it's a tad expensive for a glorified webcam. I suspect there will be some games available on release, so it really depends on what catches my eye.

I do think it could be pretty damn impressive, though.

:)
Posted by Mark240473
Believe it or not, Sony's eyetoy will actually be able to do that too. All for £24.99.*

*You won't actually need Bully Boy, just a patch.

MS certainly have a talent for marketing.
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
that they do. not as much as Ninty do but still, pretty damn impressive.

It all depends how much sonys rampant rabbit attatchments going to cost when its released though. my guess is it'll be around the £40 mark. so its still gonna cost you £65 ish for sonys motion control.

Starting to make the wiimote seem reasonable.
Posted by Robzy1990
»

What a f@nny.
Microsoft are going to bundle Natal with all new xboxes (once Natal launches) so they are hardly going to sell the standalone Natal for £100.

:roll:
Posted by ParmaViolet
»»

It's hard to say what it'll cost at this point - it really wouldn't surprise me if they sold seperately for near-on £100.

:)
Posted by FiltyMonkey
Hey, if I could mash a birds virtual tits on this thing, I'll pay anything they say!
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
exactly. They're trying to go after the wii with natal. so it wouldn't surprise me if they bundled it with the 360 for £180 with an arcade model console. £200ish with a pro type thing.

If Natal comes out at less than £80 i'll be bloody surprised.
Posted by AJDarkstar
Natal cannot do what the Wii can, and devs are realising that. Bungie have noted that they can't do Halo on Natal, but I'm pretty sure they could do it on Wii.

Has anyone noticed that by the time Natal is released, the 360 will be nearly 5 years old? Makes a change to see a generation of consoles last so long. Sony will have you believe the PS2 lasted a long time, but the arrival of the 360 began to see it off, and the Wii sealed the PS2's fate. Then the PS3 arrived late to the party, and has struggled ever since.

It makes me wonder whether there really is room for three main consoles out there, or whether things will eventually revert back to just the two, like in the good old days of the Mega Drive VS the SNES.

Ah, good times. And back then, console manufacturers realised that expensive console add-ons don't sell.
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
really. or did sega realise that. The hard way. There has been a good few expensive add ons over the years. few of them scuccessful.

But Natal and the wand aren't add ons in the traditional sense they are more like new controllers. In which case its going to be entirely about what games are that use them as to whether they'll be sucessful or not.

personally i think Sony could be onto a winner if they patched some of thier existing games to use the rabbit. Thier tech demo showed it being used with an fps so why not patch support into the likes of COD, Killzone 2 and Resistance. making existing games fresh could be the key in my mind to getting people to switch.

on a side note. i noticed the other day while i was in blockbusters that they have killzone 2 for £13. is it worth getting?
Posted by lawless1891
Been playing Rainbow6 Vegas2 lately and i like the team control ,the sending of your team using hand signals like you see the special forces do while maintaining radio silence.
It would be excellent to use motion control to pick up my hand signals and then sending my intentions via set sound bites or text to my team or physically pointing out enemy positions on the radar on the tele screen all the while using my analog controller would give me control over a team without slavering down a microphone and breaking my immersion.
I think motion control could add a lot of functions to gaming while still using the humble games pad ,by adding functions when there isn't enough buttons to go around.
Opening doors or opening boxes would mean having to drop your guard this would be amazing for survival horrors,using your right hand pointed at the screen to rummage and search through things while still holding your controller in the left hand would make you feel like you were still armed but vulnerable to attack and make the jumps even more tense fumbling for your controller to kill the enemy,just a thought.
Posted by FiltyMonkey
Definitely onto something there. Physically punching a zombie off you or sticking 2 fingers up its nose certainly has more appeal than simply waggling a stick.
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
definately. if MS brought out a kind of nunchuck device to go with natal i think it would solve alot of the control issues that are likely to arise from fpss. then again who says you need to use both sticks on the 360 pad. would leave the right analogue stick free to be used for something else.

Weapon selection for instance. it'd take a little getting used to but could still be rather good.

Natal enabled Dead rising would be a dream game for me.
Posted by Jensonjet
I can't remember who, but recently a developer complained that Sony aren't selling enough PS3s and need to bring the cost down to increase the amount of users. It makes me wonder just how many people will have Natal. I can't imagine the percentage of 360 owners with it will be particularly high. In which case, how much profit is likely for a Natal-specific game? In terms of game controls, I'd rather have a mouse and keyboard. Natal looks like it'll be a fun, show-offy way of navigating menu screens, or cheap party-type games.
Posted by Black Mantis
Could be the "Magic Wand"...

http://kotaku.com/5258977/j-allard-working-on-motion+controlled-magic-wand-for-microsoft
Posted by lordirongut
I bought the Wii not for motion control, but for games. No matter how impressive a system is technically, if there are no games, it's worthless, therefore, how Natal and PS Motion Control are utilized will sell them to me, not some tech specs.
Posted by starsail
Read over a few things, wud like to add a comment.

PS2 was an immense success for a last gen. Xbox 360 and PS3 were into development to kick start a new generation with 360 being released first (this didnt end the PS2 and still performs well, hows Xbox 1? doing).

Natal is basically Eye Toy, hell can MS market their products and create unparelled hype. If you want a Natal product then buy an Eye Toy for PS3, its 24.99! MS are expecting users to fork out 99! And you dont even get any controls with it lol
Posted by starsail
Read over a few things, wud like to add a comment.

PS2 was an immense success for a last gen. Xbox 360 and PS3 were into development to kick start a new generation with 360 being released first (this didnt end the PS2 and still performs well, hows Xbox 1? doing).

Natal is basically Eye Toy, hell can MS market their products and create unparelled hype. If you want a Natal product then buy an Eye Toy for PS3, its 24.99! MS are expecting users to fork out 99! And you dont even get any controls with it lol

PS Kilzone 2 is a great game and definately a bargain at 14 squid in Blockbuster
Posted by ParmaViolet
Ermmmm - but that's really just based on rumour and speculation, isn't it?

None of us really knows what Natal will be like and won't know until more information is released - also, we don't know what MS will expect us to pay for it....there's no release date and no information on price.

As for the remark about marketing.....what marketing? - E3?

Sounds to me like you're reading other peoples snap-judgements on a piece of hardware they've never used and taking it as gospel.

:)
Posted by WHERESMYMONKEY
ah the internet is a wonderful place isn't it.

Read a fantastic article the other day about how we're headed more for a brave new world style future rather than 1984.
Posted by dunkaldo
"Natal is basically Eye Toy"

Good point, except you're totally wrong.

"MS are expecting users to fork out 99!"

Ah I missed the press release - can you send me a link to the pricing announcement?

^^

Bah, I fed the troll.
Posted by bennyboi1979
This will be an even bigger flop than the original xbox
Posted by roger4000
natal is a rip. typical microsoft copying...they just made this gismo longer....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wXx3vMy_AQ
Posted by Mark240473
Face tracking is all very well and good, but if I was to turn my head to the left, right, up or down, how the hell would I see the TV?

Surely it would only work with special TV goggles, or something like that?... :?
Posted by altitude2k
I think you're thinking about head tracking too literally. Think less about the prospect of you looking where you want to go or shoot, and think more about your head position changing the perspective and zoom (NOT the targeting, that's all still controlled with your thumbs).

This is a much better idea for head tracking. 3D glasses would be rendered useless with this. This chap now works on the Natal team:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

Even small head movements would give you the illusion of 3D without the need for glasses etc.
Posted by starsail
I really cant think of anything that Natal can bring to gaming that Eye Toy hasnt already offered.

Scanning items? If you hold a plate to steer a car then whats the point of controless motion gaming? In fact what would be the point of Natal? Just use a joypad, nun chuck or wand.

Anyway, hopefully MS will release more details soon
Posted by pishers
it seems to me that natal is not the same as eye toy going by this article:

http://arcade-junkies.com/2009/06/e3-09-microsofts-project-natal-vs-sonys-eyetoy-motion-controller/

both have plus and minus points that could be addressed going forwards.

i have read other articles that say natal dev kits are out with devs but sony ones arent, if so it could turn out natal has more games on release than the sony hardware even if sony release earlier.
Posted by lawless1891
I really don't think natal games will just simply replace the controller but add extra functions to that controller,like i said opening doors searching for things in cupboards or filing cabinets flicking through books or papers scattered on a desk using light switches and giving zombies a swift backhander and also recognising hand gestures that can relay squad requests and orders.Have you checked out the new Sony eyetoy pet news story that went up today the techs impressive.
Posted by voodoo341
If either of these coming out at the £100 price mark then they would need to be something special. I really can't see it. I think it's too late for this generation of consoles and both companies should hold off and intergrate the systems with their next generation of consoles.
Posted by The_KFD_Case
A salient point; the overhead costs could be kept down if the game has both regular gamepad and natal-enabled controls. It would theoretically make for a nice gradual transition where the customers may not perceive it to be forced upon them which can backfire spectacularly once the crowds pick up on it, or think they are being forced to adopt a new tech (ex. Blu-Ray has not roared off the starting line the way some might have anticipated).
Posted by The_KFD_Case
A rather pointless comparison (Xbox vs. PS2) considering MS dropped support for the Xbox once it released the Xbox 360. I'd like to counter with the question, how's the PS3 doing vs. the Xbox 360? :wink:
Posted by The_KFD_Case
Precisely. It would be a troublesome mix of true 3D movement linked to a 2D medium.
Posted by voodoo341
Thatgamecompany that developed Flower for the PS3 have the PS motion controllers. They've been posting about it on their twitter and talking about releasing a game for it after they finish the game they're working on now.
Posted by only_777
Both Natal and the PS3 Wand will fail to sell and hopfully everyone will finally realise that causal games are a tiny market!

I mean where is the proof that releasing casual motion games actually sells well?
I hasnt worked on the Wii, the console sold well but it has the lowest attach rate ever seen! Thrid parties are pulling out all over the place. Core games like No more heros are also leaving Wii too. The next NMH game will be on 360/PS3.

So why on earth is everyone copying Nintendo?
How no one worked out that mums and dads didnt want a games machine they only wanted Wii Sports and Wii fit?
And core games are not selling well on the Wii either, Z&W anyone?

Yes the Wii sold well, but its a fad that is starting to fade out now. You mark my words, even after the release of motion games on the 360/PS3 - non motion games will still far outsell them for the following years.
Posted by kingwiiboy101
i just see in my minds eye that dumb broad at e3 flailing her arms and legs


what a load of camera based bulllll shiiitte


its not precision its not imursive its a fooking eyetoy advance and nothing more

wm+ = better

wii ir 3d mouse pointer= better

rumble and sound feed back = better

analog stick on nunchuck = better


flailing around in front of a camera is more embarrassing then being court BUMMING in the toilets at school by ur mates....


its not true 3d its laggy its restricted


wii balance board makes more sense

wiimote makes more sense

wii motion plus makes more sense

nunchuck makes more sense

combining motion with analog stick makes more sense

including rumble and sound feedback makes more sense


no controller = no frigging control


its a flailing joke

i bet microsoft link to camera to watch there idiot fans dance around like stupid freaks


natal = epic fail
Posted by The_KFD_Case
Ahh! How delightful! I see Wiigodboy - formerly banned - has apparently managed to escape the mental asylum for rabid fanboys and graced us with his unique brand of charm. As a bonus this forum is yet again subjected to cogent, irrefutable "evidence" that the one console that is clearly outdated tech-wise is superior because of it's...uhm...superior tech? :? That the Wii has been a massive success sales wise is beyond reproach. However, state-of-the-art it is not.
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