All my excitement and anticipation for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 motion controller, Natal, is snuffed out. I remember watching E3 last year and feeling slightly embarrassed for Sony when they unveiled their motion controlling prototype — Natal seemed to have it all, their live demonstration was amazing. I was definitely planning on being one of the first to adopt the device into my living room. Unfortunately, Microsoft screwed the pooch, again.
When we first saw Natal in action Microsoft was showcasing a model that had it’s own processor — but to cut costs Microsoft have decided to strip Natal down to the bone and remove the processors from the model they will be releasing to the market. This means the Xbox’s processor has to handle all of Natal’s applications; this could take up to 40% or more of the Xbox’s total processing power — so you can forget about seeing any Natal functionality integrated into any of Microsoft’s biggest titles like Halo: Reach or Gears of War 3.
At first I didn’t care too much for the whole motion controller scene — I had enough of it after playing Nintendo Wii and honestly thought the motion controllers were holding back the industry, that was until I saw Sony’s motion controller being used with some of their biggest upcoming titles. There’s no doubt in my mind about it now, 3D gaming and motion controllers are the future of this industry. Imaging playing Killzone 2 with an advanced version of the Nintendo Nun-chuck and being completely immersed in the game and experiencing it in true 3D — it’s the closest we’ve gotten to actual virtual reality. The motion controller is optional, of course, so those people who just want to lounge on their couch after a hard days work and play with their standard PlayStation SIXAXIS controllers can.
Microsoft have a reputation for writing big cheques and it’s a strategy that has proven to be affective and smart — it’s common knowledge in the business world; you’ve got to spend money to make money. Sure, Microsoft wanted to create a console that was affordable for the common consumer. They also wanted to keep the manufacturing costs low so that they could bring in more profit — this plan, unfortunately, ended up costing both Microsoft and the consumers more money; most Xbox 360 owners are now onto their 3rd or 4th console in just four years time and Microsoft have had to fork out the cash to pay the bill for repairs — if only they spent as much money on their hardware as they do for game exclusivity they would never have had these issues. Sony did the opposite, they launched an expensive console with quality hardware, and it was dubbed ‘future proof’ (excluding one day, of course — 29th of February, 2010). Sony definitely had the future in mind — to begin with the console was over-priced and had very little to offer, now it’s cheaper than ever and has a huge library of AAA exclusives.
It looks like Microsoft is going backwards with Natal. You can expect to see a lot of pointless gimmicky games on Natal — it will be like an updated version of the PlayStation EyeToy. I was really hoping that Microsoft would invest in this peripheral because it could have been something great — but, once again, Microsoft have messed up. Microsoft’s problem is that they are focusing on the present more than the future, and it ends up biting them in the ass every time. Or perhaps I am really underestimating Microsoft — could it be that they are planning and preparing for the next Xbox console and have decided to abandon ship [Xbox 360]?
All we can really do is hope for the best. I would love to see Natal at it’s full potental but, unfortunately, things aren’t looking too good for them at the moment.
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ppffff ahahahaah!! Natal destroys teh PSDILDO! Natal can already do 3d.I seen it.It can project any image it sees in real time back at you in 3d, like a hologram.PS3 cna never do that! 360>PS3
natal is for fags like bungie
Hey Bungie, did you even listen to be before? GO GET LAID OR GET A DAMN JOB.
hey bugie were is the proof that natal can do projections in 3d sorry i say you are full of it. and yes for you little fan boys get a life and yes it nothing about a advanced eye toy the eye toy could do everything that natal can do. you want proof go to you tube and look at compersion videos between natal and the eye toy
This little excerpt pretty much shows where you are at in terms of mindset:
“most Xbox 360 owners are now onto their 3rd or 4th console”
This article is garbage.
Why? I am onto my fourth Xbox console, as well as a lot of my friends. I am also a developer-these are facts. There are a lot of other developers who are absolutely fuming because of Microsoft’s cut-backs. We wanted to use Natal as well as use the Xbox 360′s full potential, but that is no longer a possibility.
You don’t have to lie to make your post more relevant. You can make some of the people happy all of the time or all of the people happy some of the time, but there is no way to make all of the people happy all of the time.
CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH CAN YOU 360 FANBOYS?
LOL at the Xbots. Can’t handle the truth.
We’ll see when the dust settles on Christmas who the consumers choose
We’ll see Daniel. In the end, the PS3 will prevail. :)
im on my 6th xbox and when you think about it this console came out in 2006? right???? in 4 years…. i did not go and buy new xboxes…. i shipped them back under coverage…. and yeah its so pathetic…..this would be a good time for sega to make a comeback…… sony is in another level……. ps3 will still be around when the “new” xbox will be out….
How is there truth to this article? The specs for the final piece of hardware have yet to be revealed to the public. This guy is just grasping straws. Just wait for E3 folks to see what MS unveils there.
Just because you think you can make a website doesn’t mean you should. I won’t read shit on this site because you managed to put a typo in your own fucking motto. “NextGen-News : Your Source for next gen gaming console new” SWEET ENGLISH NIP
No typo. The S is there, it’s just white – hard to see.
natal & ps Arc are both garbage unless ur some 10 year old kid who wants to jump like an idiot in front of his tv
What facts have you based this nonsense on? You clearly have no idea what you are talking about, Natal is capped to use a maximum of 15% of the 360 processor for a start.
Where on earth have you got this statement “most Xbox 360 owners are now onto their 3rd or 4th” from exactly? Your Arse?
WTF are you talking about – “Microsoft’s problem is that they are focusing on the present more than the future” Oh boy, do we really need to respond to this crap?
I think it would be best if we just leave this with BOB’s comments “Just because you think you can make a website doesn’t mean you should” because one things for sure your future as a journalist is non existant.
Don’t take this article too heart, mate. :)
Other reliable sources or quoting the same thing : http://kotaku.com/5443233/ces-burning-xbox-question-will-natal-not-work-with-high+end-games … 33% processing power for project natal.
This dude’s been around for awhile… I think he writes for a bunch of sites. This seems to be the site where he lets loose. I enjoy reading his stuff… but not more than I enjoy reading the hate mail he gets.. lol…
The thing that gets me is how people are personally attacking him for speaking his mind about the Xbox 360. :D
Perhaps not so reliable as they also say 10 -15% http://kotaku.com/5442775/ QUOTE “Natal needs 10-15% of the 360’s juice”
the biggest obstacle for game devs this gen is the HDD-less 360 Arcade. Stupid and extremely short-sighted decision by MS to grab market share.
Thanks to them, all multiplatform games have to be develop with that restriction in mind.
arcade 360 was never meant to grab any real market share. M$haft released it as A con.
Oh your 360 is out of warranty you can either pay us 75 to fix it + shipping or go buy a brand new arcade and slap your hd on it.
This is what i have done when my elite died.
Your happy and M$haft are to coz its now another console sale.
33% is a much more accurate number. I work as a developer and we are actually working on Natal game.
Ignore these morons, Filthy. Good write up.
lol
“LOL at the Xbots. Can’t handle the truth.”
it’s hard for them, they never had a single good vision of the futur since 2006
“bluray is doomed”…oups
“ps3 is doomed” …oops
“xbox graphics = ps3 graphics”… oopps
etc etc etc etc
if i had read the article i would have realized that it was well written and presented some very good points that were based on factual evidence. BUT i opted just to read the title so i hate you because you are stupid blah blah blah
everyone who likes hardcore games please wave your hands in the air! now imagine trying to play a hardcore game by simply waving your hands in the air. haha! what fun!
I don’t care what anybody thinks my Atari 2600 is still next gen to me!!!!!!
this article is just stupid
natal is a great motion contorl device…microsoft sabotage it just to save a few bucks. AT the expense of product production…greeeat work ethics form your’s truly.
Dude is an idiot! Up to 40 of 360′s processing power! WTF! Dude has not been reading about what he claims to have been excited for… Microsoft has said 10 to 15% like 30 times… Get your facts right dude. Sounds more like a PS3 fanboy, if you ask me. Just trying to hype something else… You’re an idiot dude!
Don’t believe everything Microsoft says.
http://kotaku.com/5443233/ces-burning-xbox-question-will-natal-not-work-with-high+end-games
lol, and your going to be telling us that Kotaku are the ultimate source for facts next!
As long as no one takes this article as factual information and just realizes someone is taking license to shoot off at the mouth, just read and laugh.
I personally would prefer to see SONY and MS make some actual atheletic gear for kids to go outside to do all that jumping around. Plus I don’t allow casual gamers on my 360 anyway, that’s what the Wii is for.
Oh, not to disrupt your statistics, but I’ve owned a 360 since release and currently on my 2nd unit. And, I keep mine running all day.
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/microsoft-natal-consumes-15-per-cent-of-xbox-cpu-power-661952
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/07/natal-to-use-10-15-percent-of-xbox-360-cpu-power/
http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/07/natal-consumes-10-15-of-360-cpu-power/
http://xboxblips.dailyradar.com/story/microsoft-natal-consumes-15-per-cent-of-xbox-cpu-power/
etc, etc, etc and just for the hell of it
http://kotaku.com/5442775/ QUOTE “Natal needs 10-15% of the 360′s juice” as the uninformed seem so keen to take Kataku’s word for it!
I have something to say for the site designer
I can’t see a damn word and I think that everyone agrees with me on that
make the site with a white background please and thank you for not even considering my suggestion
Natal owns the arc…. FULL STOP.
M$ have positioned the price point of Natal to be an impulse buy. In other words… this Xmas the Xbox360 and Natal will be flying off of shelves… it will DOMINATE the ps3 this xmas (3 to 1 atleast). The only thing that’s going to hold back the 360 this xmas is the numbeer of 360′s that can be produced by xmas… that’s the only thing Microsoft should be concerned about.
Nearly every developer is making a game specifically for Natal!!! There’s several inhouse games just coming from Microsoft alone!!!
Seriously, this ‘journalist’ needs another profession… ‘Natal fatal to the 360′ … you absolute wally.
Well my boxes are resigned to being media extenders at the moment as I seem to have lost interest in the games, they get hyped up and then disappointment ensues, now I’m reluctant to spend the money on games things seem to have gone stale.
“You can expect to see a lot of pointless gimmicky games on Natal”
-this is also true for the ps3 wand
“most Xbox 360 owners are now onto their 3rd or 4th console in just four years time ”
-this is true to a certain extent but it makes u sound very bias
“once again, Microsoft have messed up”
-actually MS hasnt messed up, they are extremely successful with their xbox360. we all know xbox360′s hardware is poor. but not anyone can sell such a failing hardware to the public at the same level MS did with the xbox360. which means they are extremely well trained on selling products. and they are very good at doing business. they know how to manipulate the general public, which is a attribute not every company has.
according to oh boy and his links, even if its true that natal will use
10-15% of the xbox’s processing power, that is still too much because some of the main issues with the xbox360 is that it lacks the processing power compared to the ps3, the HDD issue, and the usage of DVD format. developers are already saying since 2008, that they already maxed out the 360. so how can u use up another 10-15% of that maxed processing power? unless ur going to use 85-90% of the processing power on the actual game by downgrading it, and use the other 10-15% on the natal.
i do agree with most of the article but the way its put looks like there is fanboyism in there. some of the decriptions werent really necessary and it is bit exxagerated.
as for me personally, i think both natal and ps3 wand would be a failure in a sense that, it won’t be massively popular like the wii’s motion control even though the wii’s motion control isnt as advanced.
So than its the quality of the system itself? As in shittiest peice of hardware on the market?
M$ needs to release that us Xbox 360 gamers need bigger media to store games on either by MUCH cheaper hard drives or a blu-ray add-on. So many games and developers are saying that the 360 has limitations and with no new console for years to come, the 360 will come second to the PS3 because of a pathetic ideal of having download only. What a load of crap. M$ should shallow it’s pride and allow a blu-ray add-on for games. They bang on about video downloads but what about the fucking games.
My brother has both a PS3 and a 360. He purchased FFXII yesterday. Guess which format…….yep, it’s on PS3.
M$ your a greedy cunt.
This article is so confusing. He says that after seeing the Move (although he calls it eyetoy) he has no doubt in his mind that motion control is the future yet he goes on to say that Xbox Natal is going backwards when it’s actually a big step further than Playstation Move. And to completely rule out Natal after hearing it takes up 33% is just too early to say when no real games have been seen with it implemented to say it would hurt the games experience. People think that Natal will not have any extra hardware to compliment it either? you gotta be kidding me, look at how well all the Wii junk sold. I think Natal is going to have lots of things for example a gun-controller so that you can play shooting games, they just haven’t shown it yet. Plus Natal goes beyond games, imagine surfing the web with Natal and a keyboard while having your screen projected onto a 200 inch surface (Like the movie GAMER). Anyways that’s some food for thought. Both the MOVE and NATAL are going to be great additions to the living room but I’d say the Natal is gonna be cheaper and more accessible to all Age groups which will in the end drive hardware/software sales and crown it KING.
Motion controls always suck I don’t want to play call of duty with an unresponsive POS. Saw a video of guy playing a FPS on PS3 with the controller and he made it look super annoying. Just like Six Axis its not gonna be useful in any game. Natal is not gonna be good for real games, just like wii remotes, and the ps3 sex toy won’t.
Hehe , I just love it to see how many fans toy story has!!!
Hi, also love the Shrek movies, super animation!