Topic: Microsoft's Xbox Kinect - Nov 4th 2010

[TJ Spyke]

Analysts are expecting it to cost at least $200. If that is true then this add-on will totally bomb. Even $100 would be a hard-sell (I would get it at $100 IF both E3 demos are included plus that Milo program).

Even if it's priced decently, I don't see this as being much of a threat to Nintendo. At best it will reach a small percentage of the Xbox 360 fanbase, it can't compete with the Wii's controls since the whole system is built around it and not sold as a add-on.

[that Baby guy]

Isn't motion control very similar to what Nintendo is doing to begin with?  I mean, it isn't like it's taboo to play motion-controlled games with buttons to add to the interface.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm saying that MS is putting major $$ into marketing this thing to the masses.
Thats gonna make Nintendo have to step up and deliver their A game to keep people focused on Nintendo and their already seasoned Motion Controlled games. Nintendo already has they ear of the casual market, they just have to keep it focused on Ninendo's message.

But where does that leave Sony? marketing camera based Motion Controls to the same casuals that ignored it before and the same "hardcore" crowd thats been putting it down for years.

I just think its gonna be some interesting times up ahead. I still don't see what Natal will bring to the table as far as games are concerned, but I am very interested to find out.

[nickmitch]

As for who Microsoft hopes to catch with the Natal net, Kim said, "We're not focused on this generation's casual gamers or even PS2 people who haven't upgraded. This is about the 60% of households were a video game console doesn't exist… the problem is that the controller is a barrier for some people and now with Project Natal we completely eliminate that."

How does an expensive accessory to a pricey piece of hardware appeal to people who don't already own a video game console??  That doesn't make any sense.

[BlackNMild2k1]

The one fatal flaw in their plan, they didn't realize that owning a console was the barrier that had to be solved first.

thats why this is gonna be sooo entertaining.
Not to mention that their whole reasoning sounds like something that was taken right out of a Nintendo interview in late 2005/early 2006 only adding in the part about "completely eliminating the controller".

[SixthAngel]

Looks cool but seems way too expensive.

I saw the breakout thing.  Can you play with two people in any of these games or can Natal (what a terrible name, and people said Wii was bad) only "see" one person at a time?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks cool but seems way too expensive.

I saw the breakout thing.  Can you play with two people in any of these games or can Natal (what a terrible name, and people said Wii was bad) only "see" one person at a time?

Thats a good question. All the demoes that they have shown so far involve one person at a time and they switch off for multiplayer.
part of the Wii's success was that people in the same room could play together at the same time, while giving each other enough room to not smack each other in the face(even though it happened alot in the begginning anyway).

It looks like a single player takes up most of the field of vision for the full body scan of the camera, so I'm really not sure if it would do multi(same-time)play.

[UltimatePartyBear]

So at best, MS edited away footage that would show Natal in a bad light and replaced it with stock footage.  At worst, they had their techs, celebs, endorsers, and cameramen, film a blank screen and edit in the "footage" afterward.  Why doesn't MS want anybody to see the actual footage?

It's a conspiracy.  Save us, Cowboy Jed!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

In my view, when they public saw Wii, they didn't see the "motion controller," they saw people enjoying Wii Sports, and Wii Sports became synonymous with the machine.  The activity, the experience was the product people were going out to acquire.  Fortunately for PEOPLE, the base comprehensive package had a tag of $250.  To Nintendo's credit, Wii's big E3 debut demonstrated this complete packaged the first time around, with the intention to sell it as such.

Here, I see an "Xbox 360," I see "Natal," and I see... "spazzing out".... WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BLOGGING SOCCER MOM SUPPOSED TO BE INTERESTED IN?  At what price?  and in how many retail boxes?

And what's the noncasual supposed to be interested in?  Just ignore it and ignore the supposed casual influx MS is hoping to create?  Is Natal even meant to play "regular games?"  Oh.

[ShyGuy]

Natal needs to be bundled with Windows 7.

[that Baby guy]

Depends:  Which version of Windows 7 would be best to bundle it with?

[ShyGuy]

Ultimate and Chinese "three application at a time" versions only. NOTHING INBETWEEN

[KDR_11k]

Natal is the Xbox360 Re-Launch. They better keep it under $100 if they plan on having any sort of success, and a bundle can not cost more than $250 w/ an Arcade. I'm not sure how they plan to pull it off, but its good to see MS taking this very seriously. It not only puts pressure on Nintendo to bring their A game, but for Sony to even attend the show.

All of that MS $$$ backing a world wide advertising campaign is gonna interesting to watch. They have alot of confidence in this camera, which is evident by the fact that they bought the company that was making it and the fact that EA was supposedly already working on a game for the camera(that they planned on releasing on their own) before MS bought out the camera company.

IF they keep their word, that is. Right now they can say anything, they can say they'll have 200 games ready for the launch. They haven't announced the release date.

[AV]

I think it might be smart for Microsoft to sell this as an add on to 360 but also something you can buy and use on Windows that way it gets better market penetration.

[KDR_11k]

The 360 is already lacking in reasons to get it when you already have a PC.

[Ian Sane]

This is about the 60% of households were a video game console doesn't exist… the problem is that the controller is a barrier for some people and now with Project Natal we completely eliminate that.

Sounds like something Iwata would say.  Do they think this is new?  Or maybe this is for the people that find the remote too complicated.  The casuals of the casuals.  The non-non-gamers.

I wouldn't be surprised if next gen consists of the Xbox 360 and PS3 with motion controls and a new console from Nintendo that supports HD and is comparible in specs to the other consoles.  With the Wii you can actually point to where it could go.  You just point at one of the many PS3/X360 games that are incapable of being ported to the Wii and there's the need to upgrade.  But there aren't really any games, even on the PC, that couldn't be handled with the PS3/X360 hardware.  In the past PC games, and before that arcade games, were ahead of consoles so you always saw the obvious need to up the specs.  But you look at the intro to Resident Evil 5 and it looks like a damn movie.

We're supporting HDTVs.  We're online.  Motion control is something only Nintendo currently has but everyone is now making some attempt at it (though not any that impress me).  Game development has become quite expensive.  For the PS3 having a new console any time soon would just keep them in the hole they've dug themselves.  They need the PS3 to become "old enough" that they can make a damn profit of it and maybe drop the price to something affordable.

Nintendo needs another gen but the others don't really.  If they offer some sort of remote equivalent then all three consoles have addressed their shortcomings.  That's probably the next gen.  Even if MS or Sony want to get ahead by jumping another level up it's like the cost of making games that would look noticably better than what we have now would just eat them alive.  Financially I think we're just at a hardware cap.

[KDR_11k]

Malstrom made a comparison, apparently MS's conference was almost word for word Nintendo's 2006 E3 conference.

Nintendo is currently the only one who can make a new gen (though not badly, HD is very low on most people's list for what a gaming system absolutely needs to be worth buying, games are at the istant top of that list) but they're probably working on a way to make the other two need one as well. Last gen we couldn't imagine motion controls happening, this gen we can't imagine the next step.

It's arguable that the dev costs already hurt MS and Sony's game developers. The game selection for their systems does seem very reduced compared to the PS2, at least.

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3174762

Earlier this week gaming blog Kotaku quoted Microsoft's Shane Kim as saying that the launch of Natal, Microsoft's new controller-free motion control technology, would be as big as the launch of a console. Not surprising. That's because Natal is going to be a new console.

Microsoft will not only release Natal as an add-on for the Xbox 360, it will come standard with the next Xbox console.

Yes, there will be a new Xbox console next fall.

However, the new console won't just be an Xbox 360 with a camera, though -- we've heard it will be considered a new platform and carry a new name (Xbox Natal?). Current Xbox 360 games would be playable on it, but future games would be able to take advantage of the added muscle.

Make no mistake, we wouldn't be talking about the sort of hardware leap we've seen with Xbox (or most other) platforms in the past, and we're not talking about Microsoft ending one console cycle and starting another. We're talking about an evolution of the Xbox 360; similar hardware but upgraded, repackaged, and rebranded. It's actually not that unlike what Nintendo did with the Wii, where it essentially took the GameCube hardware, stuck in motion controls, and successfully relaunched it. The new Xbox console is said to be aimed directly at a mainstream audience -- and will launch before Nintendo is able to release its Wii HD.

So when would we first hear about this new Xbox console? Our sources point to next year's Game Developer's Conference as the target for its unveiling and Fall 2010 as the target for release.

quoted rumor above is heavily chopped and the whole thing is at the link. I only posted the parts that I might have bolded.

This is along the lines of what has been mentioned before, but what are your thoughts on it?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

So they're going to leave their noncasual users in the dust just like Nintendo did?  GOOD LUCK!

Nintendo's plans to destroy gaming are bearing fruit!

[TJ Spyke]

Console execs trolling the competition is nothing new. Sony has done it constantly when someone talks to them about the DS killing the PSP (a Sony exec responds by saying crap like "the DS is a toy"). No one listens except the fanboys who love hearing the competition get put down.

[Deguello]

Isn't this similar to what Sega did during the Genesis years, where they started making all these crazy add-ons that doubled as their own consoles?  Is Microsoft sure they want to go down that route?

[DAaaMan64]

Isn't this similar to what Sega did during the Genesis years, where they started making all these crazy add-ons that doubled as their own consoles?  Is Microsoft sure they want to go down that route?

The Wii is significantly farther down that route than any Xbox.

[ShyGuy]

Isn't this similar to what Sega did during the Genesis years, where they started making all these crazy add-ons that doubled as their own consoles?  Is Microsoft sure they want to go down that route?

The Wii is significantly farther down that route than any Xbox.

Nintendid what Segan't.

That is, they succeeded in making an add on wildly successful and not damaging to the its console. (Wii Fit)

[Deguello]

I think releasing the Wii Fit board isn't the same as re-launching the Wii as a foot-controlled console, which is basically what MS is gonna do here.

I wonder what all those third parties are going to do, now that they will basically be forced to take a crash course on the motion controls they've been trying to marginalize for the past 3 years.

[DAaaMan64]

I think releasing the Wii Fit board isn't the same as re-launching the Wii as a foot-controlled console, which is basically what MS is gonna do here.

I wonder what all those third parties are going to do, now that they will basically be forced to take a crash course on the motion controls they've been trying to marginalize for the past 3 years.

... They aren't going to utilize it. How the **** are you gonna play an FPS with this thing? You can't do it.

How do you walk forward? 
How do you aim?
Is that camera really gonna see your little finger pull the trigger?
4-player split screen?
Switching weapons?
What about name entry systems? Keyboard layout, etc.
What about jumping?  Extreme acrobatics? Lots of action games have crazy flips and **** these days.