Natal to become Xbox 720?

[sikkinixx]

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


An interesting rumor, backed up by little but its out there. It kind of makes sense. Release a new system for $400 or whatever that is a bit more powerful than the current 360 but comes standard with motion control (so every user will have it) while continuing to make 360 games since it would be backwards compatible. DS -> DSi like. A bit better in all the ways.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

From the looks of things they still have a lot of work to do. You have to wear something neon-colored at the moment, and it still gets a bit wonky judging from E3 and Jimmy Fallon.

 

[sikkinixx]

well they did just buy the tech, its gonna take some time. Only a year to announce, prep, and market a major launch doesn't seem like enough time... Plus do they really wanna leave the 360 behind already? I mean, it will be 5 years come next fall but PS3 and 360 games are looking better and better so how much of a difference will there be?

 

[gkarris]

^^^ supposed to be 360 compatible.

Interesting...

MS is copying Nintendo's Wii Console (a slight upgrade to the GameCube with a motion controller)... 😱

🙄

Well, there's the hope that they copy the Wii's price tag as well... 🙂

 

[MRU]

Could be interesting. It'll be interesting to see - I'm not sure how developers are going to take this news though. I mean when designing a game do you design for the Xbox Natal and its incremental power increase, or the 25 million existing xbox 360 users ?

I'm not sure if incremental power difference is 'enough'.


I'd rather a proper new console altogether to be honest, that was backwards compatible, but offered 'substantial' increase in power rather than baby steps.

 

[0098386]

I'd rather see a whole new Xbox. There's so much that needs fixing; make it much quieter, more powerful graphics card (1080p in all games?), faster at doing tasks like getting to the menu from powering it on and getting faster into a game.

I can't imagine them achieving this with a minor update.

 

[jaw04005]

From the looks of things they still have a lot of work to do. You have to wear something neon-colored at the moment, and it still gets a bit wonky judging from E3 and Jimmy Fallon.

No you don't. The jumpsuits on Jimmy Fallon were for entertainment value. Contrary to reports, they're not required for Natal.

"Actually, the red jumpsuits were just for laughs," a Microsoft spokesperson told Kotaku. "The Jimmy Fallon crew wanted something funny for the guests to wear and decided on red jumpsuits and turtlenecks. We just wonder if the red jumpsuits will start a new fashion trend."

http://kotaku.com/5288145/project-natal-does-not-require-red-jump-suits-to-play

 

[windywoo]

I play computer games to get away from all that moving around bollocks, thats why I have an XBox not a Wii. If I wanted exercise I'd go outside.

 

[0098386]

But it isn't exercise for exercise's sake. It's about immersion and augmented reality. That's why we didn't see a sports game during the Natal presentation. Much like Brain Training on the DS all the market needs is one decent sport/exercise game and we have that with Wii Fit. So don't worry about it 😛

 

[sikkinixx]

Could be interesting. It'll be interesting to see - I'm not sure how developers are going to take this news though. I mean when designing a game do you design for the Xbox Natal and its incremental power increase, or the 25 million existing xbox 360 users ?

I'm not sure if incremental power difference is 'enough'.


I'd rather a proper new console altogether to be honest, that was backwards compatible, but offered 'substantial' increase in power rather than baby steps.

Problem is, Nintendo has shown that you can make a metric **** tonne of money by making a cheaper system that isn't much more powerful. We all know MS (and Sorny) REALLLLLLY want that money and if this idea were to be true, it's a way of trying to get it.

The more I think about it, the more I kind of like it. If the system is cheap (~$300) and provides an increase on 360 graphics akin to the gamecube -> Wii but adds more focus on downloadable stuff, motion and media centre I think it would be cool. Kotaku had an article "when does the 360 stop being called a gaming console?" since it multitasks so much with movies, downloads, twitter, facebook, netflix etc. Maybe the new "arcade" version doesn't even come with a controller and is just used as a media centre and casual box whereas the "pro" bundle keeps a 360 controller with more storage and the such.

 

[spyker3292]

From the looks of things they still have a lot of work to do. You have to wear something neon-colored at the moment, and it still gets a bit wonky judging from E3 and Jimmy Fallon.

Actually... the turtlenecks+jumpsuits was all just a joke. Or at least that's what they say.......

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Actually... the turtlenecks+jumpsuits was all just a joke. Or at least that's what they say.......

Idk, at E3 the one guy was wearing a god-awful orange sweatshirt, so i assumed bright colors were required at this stage of development.
It doesnt matter, with MS its hard to tell if they are telling the truth or not.

 

[JackAxe]

Kotaku had an article "when does the 360 stop being called a gaming console?"

When J Allard(Microsoft's surgically altered fat guy) introduced the 360 at E3 years back, while laying down on the stage might I add, he called it a "media center." This has been MS's goal since last century. Tech-TV even had a bit about the XBox and how MS introduced it as a media-center originally, but no one would develop for it, so they reworked it as a game console.

 

[MRU]

Well with the forthcoming SKY TV integration for UK + Ireland, the 360 in my room will be able to act as a extra SKY box without costing me the extra €15/£10 for multi-room.

The 360 also work's just as good as Apple TV, saving some more € there too.

So yeah, it certainly is more media centre'esque however the noiseiness of the machine in general is it's biggest downfall (as well as RROD which I thankfully have avoided since Dec 2005)....

So here's really hoping that Xbox NATAL is 'silent running ', the redesign finally sorts out any RROD issues, and then it will be heaven and prob worth upgrading too, even if it's only an incremental power change.

 

[twoodcc]

well my 360 continues to crash all the time. i think they need to work on that first. it this next thing doesn't crash all the time, and is not as loud, i might just get it

 

[dscuber9000]

well my 360 continues to crash all the time. i think they need to work on that first. it this next thing doesn't crash all the time, and is not as loud, i might just get it

There are rumors that Microsoft will release a newly-designed Xbox 360 around the same time Natal launches. So if Microsoft is planning for the Xbox 360 to have a ten-year lifespan (which is flipping the bird to Sony, by the way 😉) then redesigning the console to get rid of these crashes, defects, etc. seems logical.

 

[0098386]

There are rumors that Microsoft will release a newly-designed Xbox 360 around the same time Natal launches. So if Microsoft is planning for the Xbox 360 to have a ten-year lifespan (which is flipping the bird to Sony, by the way 😉) then redesigning the console to get rid of these crashes, defects, etc. seems logical.

Well yes, that's what this thread is about.

 

[2nyRiggz]

I'm hoping they take their time with this Natal...they haven't sorted out the RROD/E74 issue for the 360 for christ sakes.

Please MS for the love of everything holy do some quality QA....PLEASE.



Bless

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I thought the XBOX 720 was going to be called XBOX Phoenix 😕

I also thought natal was going to be available for the 360 😕😕

 

[MRU]

I thought the XBOX 720 was going to be called XBOX Phoenix 😕

I also thought natal was going to be available for the 360 😕😕

All those could still hold true. No one knows. The new machine is not a next-next-gen machine, but could merely be a stop-gap before phoenix or whatever.

Natal will just come as standard with the new machine.

Natal will more than likely be released for all existing 360 users anyway, M$ are too $$ savvy to miss an opportunity of selling a $200 peripheral to some 30 million xbox 360 users.

 

[MRU]

Eurogamer = Microsoft Respond to 1up article...

Sources close to Microsoft have downplayed 1UP's report that a new Xbox console will launch in autumn 2010.

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management, told Eurogamer: "I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary."

Another senior Microsoft source familiar with Project Natal said: "Don't believe nonsense on the internet is all I'll say. We'll do the right thing for Natal."

On Friday 1UP reported that a new Xbox console would launch in autumn 2010 with slightly improved hardware and backwards compatibility with Xbox 360.

Rich Leadbetter, editor of Eurogamer's Digital Foundry channel, also casts doubt on the prospect of an autumn 2010 launch for a new console.

"The fact is that an enhanced Xbox 360 is rather unlikely simply because the tech requires none of the console's processing might to sift through the data acquired by the 3D camera," he wrote.

"All of the really clever stuff that Natal does is carried out onboard [the camera device], with the data then streamed across to the 360 via USB. If, as the 1UP report suggests, the 360 update is only offering a minimal amount of extra power, then the question surely must be, what's the point of that?"

 

[0098386]

Of course it will be compatible with the Xbox 360, like MRU said there are millions of 360's out there. Why try and get people to buy a whole console (in the current climate too) when they could likely make a fortune by trying to get as many current 360 owners buying the camera accessory?

If I was a betting man though I'd imagine the next Xbox will come with Natal as standard, along with a controller.

 

[Tsubame]

I don't know about other folks, but to me Motion Capture is NOT the future of gaming, and I don't want it. If it ever reaches the point that it is becoming a standard method of input, I don't want it, and I'll be having to find a new hobby.

You know what is immersive for me with a game? Strong story, tight gameplay, interesting mechanics.

You know what pulls me right out of that immersion? Waving my hands around like a ninny.

I haven't turned my Wii on since Mario Galaxy (a game that used the motion control barely at all) for that very reason.

Of the motion tech demoed, Sony's is perhaps the more relevant for gaming, but I still don't want to see it as a standard for games on the platform. If Natal becomes the platform for the future XBox systems, I think they will really be shooting themselves in the foot (the bottom of which they can't see). It could be useful for educational software, language tools (if it works even half as well as advertised, which I'm still skeptical about). But not for games.

 

[fireshot91]

What I want to know is, is there an accessory that does this Natal crap over wireless to my Xbox 360/Will there be one?


My 360 is in a hidden room nowhere near my screen. I have wires hidden behind walls to my projector, and then the projector displays the screen ~20 feet away.

I won't get Natal if they don't make a RF/Bluetooth camera/motion sensor.

 

[sikkinixx]

What I want to know is, is there an accessory that does this Natal crap over wireless to my Xbox 360/Will there be one?


My 360 is in a hidden room nowhere near my screen. I have wires hidden behind walls to my projector, and then the projector displays the screen ~20 feet away.

I won't get Natal if they don't make a RF/Bluetooth camera/motion sensor.

Sure, it will just be a $99.99 add-on like the WiFi adaptor 😛