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Natal will ‘relaunch’ 360 on release

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Natal will ‘relaunch’ 360 on release

"When Natal comes out it will feel like a new generation has arrived"

Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer has told MCV that the new Project Natal controller will effectively relaunch the 360 when it is released.

Speaking to MCV in an exclusive interview, Spencer likened the arrival of the camera-based kit – which senses player movements and requires no physical games controller – to the launch of a new system.

“When Natal comes out it will feel like a new generation has arrived,” he said. “I see it as like the launch of the Xbox 360 back in 2005 – there will be a launch portfolio of games to support it.”

Spencer also rubbished the idea of launching new console hardware onto the market, saying the format holder was happy with the positioning of the multi-SKU 360.

“Consumers don’t want another $400 box right now. We want consumers and developers to know that we are all going to make a huge return on that original investment in the 360 hardware – the one Microsoft made in building it, the one developers made in making games for it, and the investment consumers made in buying it.

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"In the current climate that’s something people are going to appreciate.

“That’s why we are just adding functionality [with Natal] and broadening the console’s appeal, with the best games. The mix we have of content, software and hardware is perfect.

“And it’s only year four for the 360. Look at the history of the industry, when does that happen? When before has there been a console that hasn’t peaked and is still growing in its fourth year?"

To read MCV's full interview with Phil Spencer, click here.

its already here

posted by henry ford Jul 16, 2009 at 3:03 pm
1
henry ford

sorry its already here its called the Wii, hats off to this industry i love how people can re-invent things and make them sell, wow wii fit cause i couldnt do yoga in my house before and skateboarding on natal wow i own a skateboard and can skate board but i dont want to be out in the sun, i want to be indoors on my invisible skateboard, in all seriousness though i dont care if it sells bring it on, MS will roll out the hype machine and kids will be sucked in so great, something new to sell, hope the price is below £200

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Dumbass

posted by YoMom Jul 16, 2009 at 3:18 pm
2
YoMom

Comparing a Natal-enabled 360 to the Wii is like comparing a Lada to a Ferrari on the basis that they both have steering wheels. Quit being a dumbass and open your eyes a little, will you?

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come on

posted by henry ford Jul 16, 2009 at 3:40 pm
3
henry ford

im just saying i dont want to play with a little boy called milo, seems a little dodgy to me, if they implement natal into hardcore games great, if they release a line of natal games that are mini games, dad changing the tyres on my racing car, come on this doesnt compare to the wii ?
in any way ? ill wait till i demo the natal for my person judgement, but gimmicks and new tech always sells, how can you not compare a motion based device to the wii ?

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Re: Come on

posted by AH Jul 16, 2009 at 5:01 pm
4
AH

whenever anything related to microsoft and the xbox 360 is announced on this website Henry Ford has a negative response. Yet anything Sony he puts a positive spin on it. You mention you don't want to play a game called Milo, does everyone have to not want to play it based on your preference. Everyone knows for a fact that Natal and Milo stole the show at E3.

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Milo

posted by Nixon Jul 16, 2009 at 5:26 pm
5
Nixon

Can you imagine if the Milo style was put into a Fable style game? That's when it would really work.

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fanboys

posted by peter james Jul 16, 2009 at 6:14 pm
6
peter james

come now, fanboys on the internet, seriously ? 360 for the win !!
sony are loosing money on all consoles sold, i dont think they will last the 10 year cycle, with game like gt5 being delayed and multi plat games always looking better and running better on 360 (ghostbusters lastest instance) and xbox live, proj natal is just the start for xbox 360, gears 3, more halo games, good time to be a 360 owner i say, u cant go off tech demos either mr ford

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Hype factor

posted by WitWolfyZA Jul 17, 2009 at 7:13 am
7
WitWolfyZA

Ive been a xbox owner since day one with an insane library of games... And cant see myself with this app... We all know its just aimed at the casaul gamers... And to overweight GF's.

10 to 1 it will only be compatible to about 10% of the already released games. With MS probably already creating some kind of Mascot (like Mario) be the Xbox's mascot for the casaul side.

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sol

posted by silvio Jul 17, 2009 at 9:19 am
8
silvio

look, even if it is like Wii, and even if it is inferior to the Wii. i really don't care.
I have a x360 and i always dreamed of having the wii functionalities (motion control) on xbox.
It is not a question of comparing, it's just a question of beeing available for peoplo who wants it.

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come on

posted by henry ford Jul 17, 2009 at 9:36 am
9
henry ford

i own all 3 systems, i just think the sony bashing is very bias and in general most sites have a bias slant to
them, as some review sites are funded by microsoft, i think natal is a very clever idea it extends the
life of the 360 without releasing another console, this is a relaunch really good move.
i just think alot of the execs at ms are arrogant and seem to want to talk trash about the competition
rather than talk up what they are doing, you dont see sony or nintendo do this so much,
the only thing that grips me is the fail rate on 360's i cant believe a company is allowed to sell a product with a
know fault, its terrible on sat we sold an elite monday it was back with 3 red lights.
Aside from that i like 360, i just dont think natal is going to be a personal purchase, but i do think
it will be good for business and thats what counts here.

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Natal?

posted by Steve Jul 17, 2009 at 2:00 pm
10
Steve

According to Greenberg, the 360 is for hardcore gamers. And that's where Natal fits in? Sorry if you think playing GOW or Halo is going to revolutionised then you're kidding yourself, or letting M$ kid you. Using Natal to play blue or red on Halo will be a dumb move, you'll be slaughtered. I agree with one of the comments about Fable, the second game was so weak it couldn't be any worse using Natal.

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lol..

posted by Tyler Jul 17, 2009 at 10:01 pm
11
Tyler

I think the ps3's motion controllers look much more appealing than natal, natal was aimed at casual games such as skateboarding ( which i would rather just do outside in the sun ) and some kids dad watching his kid race until he pulls into the pit stop to be his sons bitch and change his tires (LOL) . The ps3 motion controller looks MUCH better because your actually holding something in your hands and they also implemented a FPS mode where you can go into first person shooter view, which looks much more promising than changing tires with the air ( i know thats not all natal does. but im just saying that its stupid how you dont even get to hold onto anything. ) As well, natals price is going to be easily over $200 ( i've heard from experts from 6 different locations that the price will be between $200-$260.

And just to clear another thing up:
PS3 - $400, free-to-play online, wireless internet, blu-ray, TRUE 1080p HDMI high def experience

Xbox - $299 no live, no wireless, component cables only go to 1080i, and if you google ps3-xbox 360 graphic comparrisons, ps3 rapes. LOL BATTERIES

Wireless - $90
Live - $60 a year
Batteries - LOL

after the 10 year cycle of owning an xbox, you have spent $400 (after tax) on the console (if you want wireless) and another $600 , yes SIX HUNDRED, on live for 10 years. can you really afford natal?

oh and ps3 still has blu- ray player and free online even when you purchase all that stuff i mentioned above the ps3 is still MUCH more cost efficient.

So everyone out there bashing sony/ps3 and saying the xbox is better, you are all truely ignorant SOB's

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No, you're ignorant.

posted by Greg Jul 18, 2009 at 6:55 pm
12
Greg

I agree with you Tyler, but only up to the point when you said "And just to clear another thing up:

PS3 - $400, free-to-play online, wireless internet, blu-ray, TRUE 1080p HDMI high def experience

Xbox - $299 no live, no wireless, component cables only go to 1080i, and if you google ps3-xbox 360 graphic comparrisons, ps3 rapes. LOL BATTERIES"

Oh, how to break it to you. How very wrong you are. To start, the PS3 comes with composite cables as standard, whereas the Xbox 360 comes with component cables as standard. Therefore, 360 owners will get better picture quality out of the box.

You then made a comparison between a HDMI cable and a component cable. Of course the HDMI cable will produce better results, you halfwit.

On to Blu-Ray. Now, before you come back on here and troll some more, I have both a PS3 and a 360. I can state the fact that it is common for Blu-Ray discs to be in the region of £15+, while DVDs are closer to £8. I can also say, that you will not notice that much of a difference between the two - only if you actually try to compare them side by side.

Finally, no, the PS3 does not 'rape' the 360 in terms of graphics. Basing things off the internet is never a good idea.

Put it this way, I have both my Xbox 360 and my PS3 connected to the same 42" LCD screen, by component cables. I can tell you now, and anyone else who gives a damn, that the differences between them are so minute (practically non-existant) that your gameplay experience will not differ between one console and the other.

Finally, you say the 360 is $299 with 'no live'. Wrong again. Anyone with access to the internet can use a silver membership account, which allows them to be online, talk to friends and download items. Yes, it's true that you have to pay between £20-40 per year to actually PLAY online, but that's another argument, and one I quite frankly can't be bothered to get involved in.

tl:dr - You sir, are very, very mistaken.

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Natal vs Sony offering

posted by James Jul 19, 2009 at 7:26 pm
13
James

The Natal demo looks good, it really does and I look forward to playing around with the technology when it comes out. The PS3 demo of their motion technology looks as if it'll kick Natal's arse though for hard core gaming. If Natal is as good as Wii MP then Nintendo will be finished, as Natal will have the added edge of voice recognition and probably more decent games. Nintendo will have to invent mind controlled games to survive lol.

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well greg, while we're nitpicking...

posted by tom Jul 22, 2009 at 8:12 pm
14
tom

the whole point of BR discs isn't the fidelity but the space available to the devs. i agree that the graphics are pretty irrelivant cos i've played crap games with great graphics and not given a hoot, and vice versa. with that said, no PS3 games are taking advantage of that at the moment.

PS3 is over cheaper in the long run, however the gaming experience on the Xbox is, by and large, better, not least for the community.

back on topic: obviously we have to see how the whole Natal thing plays out, but in my wholy uninformed opinion: epic fail. but then that said perhaps the Xbox install base is big enough to carry it.

i strongly doubt it will re-launch the Xbox like the tag line says, but we'll see.......

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Microsoft Xbox 360 - Natal

posted by Alan Parkinson Aug 23, 2009 at 5:57 pm
15
Alan Parkinson

Basically another way for Microsoft to screw over the consumer who has been loyal to them. When Natal is released, loyal Xbox 360 consumers will now be able to have the'Infra Red Ring of Death' to match the console that has failed them with the 'RROD' constantly. Such a shame that Microsoft screws the consumer, as the games are actually very good. I switched to Sony PS3, not because it is better, but because I was a screwed loyal consumer who has the RROD 4 times in 3 years.

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Natal

posted by Rich Aug 24, 2009 at 4:23 pm
16
Rich

How odd, the comments on here about Natal, the new controler. I own all 3 consols so i recon i can make an un biased judgement. Natal is going to cause quite a stir, not with existing gamers that like traditional games using a hand controler, no that wont change at all. no this is about a concept that moves beyond what the wii can do, and i do respect the wii its a cool machine.. but guys, and galls this is a paradyme shift this is not the same as the wii, cant you see this?

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MCV is the leading trade news and community site for all professionals working within the UK and international video games market. It reaches everyone from store manager to CEO, covering the entire industry. MCV is published by Intent Media, which specialises in entertainment, leisure and technology markets

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