Microsoft is taking a page out of the Nintendo playbook if this thing is true. The Wii’s success came largely from marketing to non-gamers and convincing them that bowling, even with terrible graphics, is a lot of fun if it doesn’t play like a traditional game. It’s that same group of people Microsoft is after, people who may want something social to do with friends that doesn’t have the learning curve of a controller. The only real problem I see is that a lot of those people already own a Wii. How can you convince them they need a Natal, too?

MCV says Microsoft will be using celebrity endorsements to market Natal in “the parenting press, toy retailers and publications which primarily cater for non-gamers.” Good luck with that guys.

Source: MCV

MTV says the delay is about .1 seconds – just enough that you’ll notice it, especially in games like Burnout where to-the-millisecond response becomes important. That kind of delay is bad enough for finely tuned controls that it could take Natal down to something neat you show your friends once. That is, if fine control were all Microsoft was after.

One really cool feature of Natal is head tracking. It gives the viewer a whole new level of immersion by changing the image on screen based on the position of your eyes relative to that screen. It’s something Johnny Chung Lee demoed using the Wiimote some time ago. It’s just one facet of Natal that will take it beyond a simple control device to creating a new kind of experience with games.

“I think that the Sony motion controller will have some problems gaining traction, since it is not an ‘in the box’ solution,” he told PS3 Center. “That will probably limit adoption to 1 or 2 million at the outset.” He thinks the extra sales of Natal will help it gain a third-party advantage over the Arc.

The real shocker for me is that $50 price tag for Natal. For a company that charges more than a benjy for a low capacity hard drive, $50 for the latest gaming technology seems crazy. Of course, that’s exactly what Nintendo did with the Wii and I think we all know how that turned out.

The confirmation came after a leaked screenshot showed a targeting reticule off to the side of the screen.

“Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.”

Just to assuage any doubt, Bungie included the bug report for the anomaly along with it’s denial of Natal support. The full post was a “mythbusters” post, resolving other rumors like HUD and crosshair customization. You can find all those goodies at the Bungie website.

As Chris Lewis, Xbox’s head of Europe puts things, “Now you know better than to listen to that stuff! We will announce in good time.” Message received, Mr. Lewis. I can’t imagine how Microsoft could possibly get Natal down to the $50 range, or why they would. The install base for the 360 is big enough that people would pay much more for this kind of experience. Think about the Rock Band sets that regularly go for $200. With a bundled game or two, you can bet Natal will at least break a hundred.

As long as he had the world’s ear, Lewis was glad to keep the hype train rollin’. “I’m not going to be specific about what they might be,” he said. “I will say however we’re committed to ensure those experiences are unique, compelling and very exciting right from the outset. That has to happen and that will happen.” Don’t worry you little heads over a release date – just know that when we get one, you’ll be rushing to mark your calendars.

Source: Eurogamer

Here’s the text from Time’s list:

Since time immemorial — or at least since Pong — one barrier that has stood between gamers and total Tron-like immersion in their video games has been the controller: the joystick, trackball, mouse, light gun or whatever. This year Microsoft demonstrated a technology, code-named Project Natal, that enables players to control games using only body movements and voice commands, no controller required — the gamer’s body becomes the controller. Project Natal uses several cameras, plus a highly specialized microphone and a lot of fancy software, to track the gamer’s body and interpret his or her voice. You move your hand, and the Master Chief (or whoever) moves his hand. It’s that simple. And that cool.

Really, it’s not that simple. But it is cool, and nice accolade for the gaming industry.

The Halo listings are for designers, AI developers, animators, and a multiplayer game design lead. The Natal listings didn’t specifically mention a game or IP for the position, but at least one mentions “a large franchise.” That could mean, well, anything. Another of the Natal positions is for “an excellent next-generation” type thing, which again could be anything, just probably not something we would have seen or heard anything about.

Joystiq got in touch with Major Nelson to confirm that the posts are real. They are. That’s all he would say.

When asked about Natal in Lionhead’s RPG franchise, Molyneux said this: “And obviously what would probably happen if I started talking about this is you would see a little red dot appear moving on my forehead. And then as I would start to speak the words then there would be a shotgun fire, and I would be assassinated. Quite clearly, it is that sensitive.” That’s almost as absurd as everything he promised for both Fable games to date. Obviously it’s a bit of a joke, but he goes on to essentially confirm use of the peripheral.

“Do you really think, knowing me, as maybe you do over the years, I wouldn’t want to use something like Natal? I mean, that’s just mad, man.” I would love to say that the rest of the interview is interesting, but I didn’t really think it was. It’s nice to know that Molyneux is investing heavily in Natal – Milo and almost certainly Fable 3 – but he’s still comes off as a deluded individual with an overinflated sense of his contribution to the world at large.

Alex Cutting, a Halo 3:ODST Producer, told VideoGamer in pretty clear language the plans for Natal and the Halo franchise.

A lot of people are interested in what Natal’s presence in Halo’s going to be. We are committing to only doing it when it makes sense. We are not going to produce a gimmicky feature that just takes advantage of motion controls when it doesn’t feel right.

Glad to hear someone has that kind of focus. Natal seems cool, but even the driving games looked horribly gimmicky. Cutting does think the tech has its place in almost any genre, just that it needs to be appropriately implemented.

I think Natal can be integrated into most genres in some way. I think FPS, there’s a lot to be said for dual stick control. But, you know, before dual sticks came around and before Halo: Combat Evolved established it on a console, people were pretty doubtful about that, that it could ever move from keyboard and mouse.

Pretty sure I agree with that, though I’m not sure Halo was the game to actually pioneer the dual analog stick control. The idea, at the very least, existed in games like Goldeneye, with those yellow buttons on the N64 controller. Using a stick isn’t exactly the kind of leap that controller to Natal will be. Despite the gratuitous horn-tooting, I like that Cutting makes Microsoft’s position pretty clear, and that’s there might be some thought behind the whole thing.

“Natal motion-sensors – yes we have dev kits, yes we’re working on them,” he said. “Obviously, we can’t comment on games we haven’t announced. But those dev kits are embedded in all of our studios, or just about all of our studios, and everybody’s working with them to try to figure out new ways in which we can innovate and create the kind of content that this company is famous for. So yes, we’re working on it.”

That’s a pretty serious commitment as I see it. Take Two isn’t just big, they’re huge, and it sounds like they’re dedicating a lot of resources to what is basically a new platform. Of course that could all just be talk, but why say so much when it could have just been, “Yes, we’re working on it.”

Regardless, I’m excited to see what next year holds. As we get closer to hardware release you have to bet developers like Take Two will be showing off their stuff.