A leaked interview with E&D President Robbie Bach leaked online today, removed, then later put back up in full form. The reason? In the video, which is embedded below, Bach reveals some details about the eagerly anticipated release of Xbox 360′s Project Natal before Microsoft’s keynote presentation this evening was to take place at this year’s CES.
In the video, he says the unit will release in 2010 and that it’ll likely keep the name “Natal.” He also mentions the Xbox Game Room, something new from Microsoft that will bring back the “retro fun of gaming.”
Check it out along with Microsoft’s official post-presentation press release summary below.
Here’s a snippet from the Press Release:
Xbox Gaming and “Project Natal”
Xbox plays a multifaceted role in Microsoft’s digital entertainment strategy from gaming to changing the face of social entertainment, and Bach highlighted exciting plans for 2010:
• An lineup of what promises to be blockbuster exclusive games including Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, Crackdown 2, Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, and Fable 3 • The release of what will likely be the biggest game of the year, Halo Reach, continuing the Halo saga • The new Game Room on Xbox LIVE, which will be the place to relive the glory days of arcade games, with over 1000 games being released throughout the next three years Then Bach gave a behind-the-scenes look at the work behind “Project Natal,” the controller-free gaming experience that tracks movement of the body and facial expressions, and even responds to your voice.
Scheduled to be available in holiday season 2010, “Project Natal” is only the most recent example of Microsoft’s work creating natural user interfaces. Other examples include Microsoft Surface, Windows Touch and Ford SYNC, the voice-controlled, in-car communications and entertainment system that Microsoft jointly developed with Ford.
Are you interested in the idea of a “Natural User Interface?” I suppose this confirms an extension of the life of the 360 unit… unless of course it is compatible with Microsoft’s next-gen console…
Source: Engadget
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meh, ill wait and see when it does happen. Not going to take anything they say as truth. Will be interesting to see what flaws the Natal is going to come with.
According to some reports from people who have used Natal, the device has a noticeable lag problem. If true, I hope this will be corrected before release.
The tech is interesting for sure but I just can’t see how Bach thinks hardcore gamers are going to love Natal:
“Take your hardcore gamer, they’re going to love Natal. Now, they’ll play a different style of game on that when they’re doing it. When they play Halo: Reach, they might be back with their controller doing some very, you know, targeted things. But the style of game they will play will be different.”
The casual market will certainly eat it up – but the demos have shown, so far, that the precision necessary to play a game like Halo or Gears, etc. just isn’t there.
When is the release date for the Xbox 360 Project Natal?