Microsoft: Recently Revealed Project Natal Details Were "Rumors"

Posted November 17, 2009 - By Jake Gaskill

Rumors About A New Xbox 360 Have Been Refuted And Revised Last week, Stephen “Retractions are for losers” Johnson told you about supposed launch details being leaked about Microsoft’s motion-control technology Project Natal. Well, during an event last night in London for the latest Xbox 360 update, Xbox UK head Neil Thompson told GamesIndustry.biz that those leaks "weren’t accurate, they were rumors."

Thompson went on to say that Microsoft is "still very much in the baking on Natal and there’s a lot of things to get decided on it." Well, that certainly puts a lot of questions to rest, namely, "What’s the strangest way to incorporate baking into a discussion about the development of a motion-control technology?"

While it pains me to agree with Stephen "Making it hard to agree with me since 1986" Johnson, the $80 price point, 5 million units available on release date and 14 launch titles wouldn’t be that surprising in the least. That’s why Thompson’s comments strike me as a typical diversionary tactic to keep the peace until an official announcement is made, which we probably shouldn't expect for at least a few more months.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Tags: Kinect, Videogames, Xbox 360

Comments

Newest First

Displaying 1–20 of 24

12 2

ihavegiraffe

when i saw the little thing about natal during e3 with the little kid on it i felt slightly disturbed. like why would anyone play that? if you were to play that then what the hell would you do as a 16-30 year old xbox owner? personally i think i would just leave it on in my room and see how many things he commented on throughout the day, you know... when i get lonely.

Posted: November 18, 2009 2:37 PM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
koolboricua

i dont kno how i will fill about this. I have read alot about it but yet i dont feel an urge on either getting it or playing with it. not saying that is not a huge technology, but it does not appeal me much. I will see this as something great for young kids. they have lots of energy and i bet they will find every fun part about it.

Posted: November 18, 2009 8:57 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
hoboindastreet

I think that instead of putting money into developing project natal and expanding the xbox, they need to fix the problems that are here...case in point, i bought an xbox 360 elite and 4 months later, on 11/8/09, it crashed. To make things worse...it took then over a week to send me that damn label to send it back. Now i'm not going to get it back for ANOTHER 2 - 3 weeks. Now i know why so many people hate the 360. So my point being, fix the problems that are here, then add project natal, i think that the sales of natal will be higher then if they don't fix the problems (if natal comes out at all).

Posted: November 18, 2009 8:47 AM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
avengers1978

I didn't think any thing of the price point, but I heard that was 50pounds that would put it around 100 dollars not 80 dollars, and that seems to be the price that Microsoft would be aiming for.

Posted: November 18, 2009 7:50 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Mr_Eko_73

The stupid cloak and dagger act coming from the video game industry is getting old. You know the specs and price point of a new car 6 months before it rolls off the show room floor and that's and damn CAR not a $80 dollar piece of plastic. All the secrecy surrounding there games and accessories is just plain silly.

Posted: November 18, 2009 7:11 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
BenLakeC

honestly, i don't care. when i saw this on E3 coverage i thought "ok that's cool nintendo can shut up about 'superior technology' remote" but i am sticking to my own controller. if for some god forsaken reason all games go natal, or should the big ones like my fave rpg series and shooters i will get it but i'm fine using my index fingers and thumbs to shoot down terrorists and find more gold. not saying it will be bad, just saying i like my controller more than having to stand up and look stupid by fake wielding a gun or a sword

Posted: November 18, 2009 3:47 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
A_Can

If we're allowed to put phrases in our names then I'm A_Can "of DYNAMITE"

Now I dare you to do better.

Posted: November 18, 2009 3:41 AM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
spicypooptastic

I am looking forward to many things on Natal(I enjoy moving around BTW):
1. sports games, like baseball or new modes on madden where you get to be QB.
2. Fighting games were I get to beat up sub zero with my own hands as me scorpion.
3. Hack and slash game where I can hack and slash a bad guy any way I want and instinctivly block their sword with my shield and stab them in the side. That would be cool.

And something that I wont buy but I bet they are making is like a workout game for women that has a personal trainer tracking someones moves and telling them to stop being a wimp if they are halfassing it. And getting achievments for number of jumping jacks and the form.

It will get awesome.

Posted: November 17, 2009 11:12 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
download142003

idk about prices yet but we'll be lucky if MS gets unusually generous and we get it for under 100 bones, IMO. what i'm looking forward to is facial recognition to automatically sign me in. I mean that's pretty cool and who knows what else they can do with the camera via games or hopefully better looking avatars. well fingers crossed.

Posted: November 17, 2009 9:21 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
westpark

if its actually that price I could get behind it

Posted: November 17, 2009 7:25 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
pwnagninja12

-Sigh-

Posted: November 17, 2009 6:11 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
cwhas2godhands

my wii made me realize that i am even lazier than i thought, and it made me realize that if i bought natal it would only collect dust.

Posted: November 17, 2009 5:26 PM | Reply | Report

+4 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Lloyd12

Man, I am getting tired of hearing about Natal and watching naive comment posters act as if it's release will end global dependence on fossil fuels, and give feed the planet or something. Had I the power, I would enforce an internet wide ban on all Natal articles and conjecture until someone actually knows something about it worth talking about. Sheesh.

Posted: November 17, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Report

-3 thumbs up thumbs down

2 Replies
darthallen417

Wow, are there really people comparing a project like this to the ps eye, no doubt that if you already have the eye for "chat" than you do not have the 360 anyway. Hey nobady in here know exactly what the Natal will do but I bet it has a video chat mode on it that work better than the eye, just a hunch but we will see. J ust one question though if all your frinds stop using the ps eye and use the natal for video chat do you still say no thanks. No, you will probably pony up the money, but still just a hunch.

Posted: November 17, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Report

+1 thumbs up thumbs down

2 Replies
SkylerPatrick

While I do find the 80$ price point interesting. With the internet aghast at what the claims natal would be around 300 or the other crazy figures, I even started to believe it would be overpriced myself. However I do remember hearing an interesting tidbit when they debuted it, they claimed they were shooting for the 125-150 mark. If so that doesnt make an 80$ price point seem so outrageous. In fact kind of exciting : ).

Posted: November 17, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Report

+4 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
imcool123

in the sentence "still very much in the baking on Natal and there s a lot of things to get decided on it....is baking a typo

Posted: November 17, 2009 3:49 PM | Reply | Report

0 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
Drew50

i think the rumors are true it just that microsoft wants to lie and cover it up until e3

Posted: November 17, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Report

+2 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies
jmo_88_2013

I will pass M$, but thanks. Motion control is a cheap gimmick, I only like PS Eye because of the video chat, and pictures

Posted: November 17, 2009 3:21 PM | Reply | Report

-2 thumbs up thumbs down

1 Reply
scorpian876

That does not surprise me one bit.
There has always been better wireless gaming routers out there on the market.

There are better gaming routers out there that are better than Natal!

Posted: November 17, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Report

-9 thumbs up thumbs down

3 Replies
JohnnyBuku

Much as there were detractors of 3D gaming who thought there was no where to go from 2D scrollers, we are now going to have instant (and mostly usual) detractors of Natal sight-unseen and with absolutely no hands-on time.

I for one hope that it is as revolutionary as M$ says it is. 5 years from now we may view controller-only gaming as quaint and old-fashioned. Now if only my brain plug would stop scabbing over....

Posted: November 17, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Report

+3 thumbs up thumbs down

0 Replies