Microsoft has declined to comment on a rumour that Xbox motion cam, Natal has had one of its internal processor chips ditched in order to lower costs.
The chip, responsible for processing Natal's "bone system" is said to have been removed from the add-on in favour of a software solution. In other words, the Xbox 360 hardware will take on the work Natal would've otherwise managed itself.
According to our colleages at Tech Radar, Natal uses "between 10 to 15 percent" of the Xbox's computing power.
The rumour would support previous reports that Microsoft is aiming for a sub-£50 price point for the 360 add-on.
The processing shift from Natal hardware to Xbox 360 software would also make motion control patches for already-released Xbox 360 games very unlikely, as they'd require extra programming to take on the "bone system" work.
"Microsoft does not comment on rumour or speculation," a spokesperson told CVG.
I like the possibility of a £50 Natal. I'm not bothered about existing titles being unable to use it, as I want some totally fresh games to go with it. Plus I guess it isn't in MS's interests for us to just buy Natal and not any new games...
I like the possibility of a £50 Natal. I'm not bothered about existing titles being unable to use it, as I want some totally fresh games to go with it. Plus I guess it isn't in MS's interests for us to just buy Natal and not any new games...
Hopefully it doesn't result in the rerelease of older games that have been reworked for Natal, since patching is unlikely.
I'm not a big fan of this whole "natal" thing but if i was, i'd prefer it to be cheaper, and for games to be designed around the natal, not the otherway around.
id like to point out that sony new ps3 eye, has a microphone so good, it can hear where you are in the room, and then center your voice, or vice versa.....headset who....
minus 15% available computing power right off the bat, its clear that it wont be high end games using this motion tech. since they already push the limits of ps3/360.
as with the eye toy, it will be gimmicks and 'fun' mini games.
The more I hear, the more skeptical I get. And I was pretty skeptical to start with. And last time someone opted for a software solution rather than hardware (cough *Sony* cough), it didn't go massively well. Come to think of it, neither did MS' last attempt. Now backwards compatibility is in the s**t (the EU PS3's is fair, but far from perfect), hardware will always perform better than software.
And I agree with SVD. The Wii has proved his point even further.
id like to point out that sony new ps3 eye, has a microphone so good, it can hear where you are in the room, and then center your voice, or vice versa.....headset who....
The eyetoy is SOOO good that theres not one decent game/software title for it yet . What happened to the tech demos we saw a few years back like the one when he uses 2 plastic cups to demonstrate what it could do! I tell u what happened bugger all cause it was all just for show. Don't get me wrong i doubt very much if project Natal will live up to its own hype i just think your bigging up what has so far been another useless piece of plastic that gathers dust
minus 15% available computing power right off the bat, its clear that it wont be high end games using this motion tech. since they already push the limits of ps3/360.
as with the eye toy, it will be gimmicks and 'fun' mini games.
Maybe this is why its taking so long to see some software, MS keep changing the spec's so program code is being re-written.
Actually it doesn't impact that side of things at all.
I don't agree with that. First of all, using the 360's own processor they are taking 10 - 15% of its processing power away. If I had just been using a natal SDK and the libarys developed used an extra processor, I would be using that processor. Thats gone now I have to put the stress of the code towards a processor that was already doing something elce.
First thing I would need to do is re-optimise the code again so the 360 processor can handle all the code thrown at it, and also now I would have to re-write any libary headers I had written that spread jobs over both processors.
Thats my view anyway, why do you belive that it doesn't affect it?
Maybe this is why its taking so long to see some software, MS keep changing the spec's so program code is being re-written.
Actually it doesn't impact that side of things at all.
I don't agree with that. First of all, using the 360's own processor they are taking 10 - 15% of its processing power away. If I had just been using a natal SDK and the libarys developed used an extra processor, I would be using that processor. Thats gone now I have to put the stress of the code towards a processor that was already doing something elce.
First thing I would need to do is re-optimise the code again so the 360 processor can handle all the code thrown at it, and also now I would have to re-write any libary headers I had written that spread jobs over both processors.
Thats my view anyway, why do you belive that it doesn't affect it?
You're basing your assumptions on these titles using 100% of the 360's CPU and cores for starters.
Maybe this is why its taking so long to see some software, MS keep changing the spec's so program code is being re-written.
Actually it doesn't impact that side of things at all.
I don't agree with that. First of all, using the 360's own processor they are taking 10 - 15% of its processing power away. If I had just been using a natal SDK and the libarys developed used an extra processor, I would be using that processor. Thats gone now I have to put the stress of the code towards a processor that was already doing something elce.
First thing I would need to do is re-optimise the code again so the 360 processor can handle all the code thrown at it, and also now I would have to re-write any libary headers I had written that spread jobs over both processors.
Thats my view anyway, why do you belive that it doesn't affect it?
You're basing your assumptions on these titles using 100% of the 360's CPU and cores for starters.
But your basing your argument on the assumptions that they are not using 100%. But if they are then my argument stands true. New tech always requires more processing power to work until dev's get used to the hardware and code can be optimised better.
minus 15% available computing power right off the bat, its clear that it wont be high end games using this motion tech. since they already push the limits of ps3/360.
Yeah well MS has made it pretty clear Natal is meant for the Wii market. Casual gamers who play easy, light, casual games. Like throwing paint or skiing. What they said was it's geared towards the households with no consoles whatsoever, for "people who are afraid of the control pad", or somesuch.
So it's 100% clear you aren't going to see Fallout 3 or Halo with pure Natal controls. At best it could be used as some arm gestures gimmick, like throwing a grenade by arching your hand. How boring is that!
Epic fail. But so is the PS3 Harry Potter wand, too. You have to hold the wand in one hand and the crappy PS3 controller in another?! Stupidest idea I've ever heard, even more moronic than Natal.
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. What happened to the tech demos we saw a few years back like the one when he uses 2 plastic cups to demonstrate what it could do! I tell u what happened bugger all cause it was all just for show. Don't get me wrong i doubt very much if project Natal will live up to its own hype i just think your bigging up what has so far been another useless piece of plastic that gathers dust 
