On November 11, 2009 MCV reported some details of behind-closed-doors conference between Microsoft and UK game developers.

Here’s their info:

1. Natal will be released in November 2010.

2. Natal will cost below 80$. It may even cost as low as 50$.

3. 5 million devices are scheduled for production up to release date.

Yep, that’s a really good news about Natal price. However…

However, on November 17, 2009 Microsoft officially refuted this info:

Asked if reports on pricing and shipments for its motion control technology were correct, Xbox UK boss Neil Thompson replied:

“No. They weren’t accurate, they were rumours. I’ve got nothing more to say about it… We’re still very much in the baking on Natal and there’s a lot of things to get decided on it.”

So should we trust MCV info or not? I think we should. But only approximately. After all, Natal release date strongly depends on game developers. Whether they manage to create high-quality Natal games before November 2010 or not.

And device price depends on the number of Natal game titles as well. More good games will mean greater price for Natal device – that’s normal. Yeah, and price is not constant. It can be 150$ at release date and fall to 80$ three months later.

At the beginning of November 2009 Ubisoft held a conference about its earnings and future strategies. And they were talking about Natal as well. The most interesting phrase was:

We will also be ready with some very nice innovations when Natal and Motion Controller are launched on the Xbox 360 and PS3 next year.

Well, one more proof for us about Natal release in 2010.

What else did they say? Well, they confirmed they are working on some Natal titles. And they are satisfied with precision of Natal device:

You ask whether it will be more precise on Natal and on PS3 and I believe Natal we are quite satisfied by the level of precision we can get and we think it can be very good for the games.

Thanks to Joystiq for this news.

Nintendo boss, Shigeru Miyamoto, gave a long interview to Popular Mechanics. What does it have to do with Natal? One important thing. Nintendo is not going to introduce anything Natal-like, they are going to upgrade their Wii controllers:

With both the Wii remote itself and Wii Motion Plus, what we’ve been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience. And while we don’t have any concrete plans for what we’ll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient.

Do they simply underestimate Natal technology? Or do they know more than Microsoft about difficulties with gesture-based controllers?

Let’s not forget, guys, Nintendo was the first to revolutionize controllers. So I would respect their opinion and scepticism about Natal.

I still hope, though, that they simply underestimate Natal. )

Ok, Peter Molyneux said that during his BAFTA Annual Video Games Lecture, that Fable 3 will definitely support Natal:

The second part is more interesting. It means Peter is not going to leave traditional controllers behind. Natal will be not a revolution, but a nice cute addition to traditional gamepad playing.

Canesta… Who is this Canesta? And what is all the fuss about it regarding Microsoft Natal Project?

The thing is Canesta Company is developing a technology similar to Microsoft Natal Project.

And the recent news is it raised (got its hands on) 16 million USD. And they are using this money to put their device on shop shelves already in late 2010:

Will Canesta beat Natal? Who knows. Canesta claims their device will be really cheap. And it’s most likely true as they are going to use their technology to replace TV remote controls, so that can’t be too expensive.

However, their current tech demos reveal only the simplest hand-gesture recognition, not full-body tracking. Besides, Microsoft claims that their innovative software is a key element of Natal technology. And Canesta hardly possesses anything like that.

Watch a couple of Canesta videos below and decide for yourself.

Tech Demo Video:

Promo Video:

Please, share your opinion in comments.

Michael Pachter, game industry analyst, suggested, that Natal would cost 50$:

Well, I’m almost sure that he’s wrong. And it’s not just common marketing sense:

Natal device gives second breath to Xbox 360, why sell it a price of a cheap accessory?

It’s also about official claims. Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment division, said earlier:

And the “usual price curve” hardly starts at 50$. )

I asked Michael Pachter about his reasons for such a prediction, he didn’t answer. Well, may be he’s too busy predicting something else.

And what do you, guys, think? Please, share your opinion in comments )

Ok, I know, this Milo video has been circulating in the net for about 4 months or so. Still, I suppose, it should be added to this site anyway.

And in case you were living in the mountains for the last half a year without any access to Internet… The video is supposed to demonstrate how Natal device can interact with a player: recognize and identify his movements, understand his voice and answer his questions.

But let us be true, Project Natal is far from that at the moment. So consider this video as Peter Molyneux’s Natal vision and dream.

Proofs that Milo video is staged:

1. Cnet:

2. GameTrailers (watch video from 3:55):

Well, but anyway Milo project is definitely exciting and ambitious. Let’s hope they would make it right. Enjoy the video and share your opinion in comments )

Phil Spencer gave a really long interview to Joystiq.

Heh, so many words and so few new info on Natal.

Ok, here are important bits of facts from this interview:

• Most of Microsoft Game Studio developers are seriously experimenting with Natal.
• There are no games with Natal in the world yet. But everyone is experimenting with it.
• Rare is working hard on Natal projects.
• Natal will be fully compatible with XBox 360.

Well, nothing new. But as additional confirmation to previous news, it’s ok )

Okey, guys, let’s add some bits of scepticism to our Natal vision. Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President, doesn’t look to be afraid of Natal appearance.

Satoru Iwata told Financial Times his company had made experimental games controlled by camera-based sensors, but got better results with the accelerometers it eventually chose to use for its Wii console. And added:

Ok, and here goes the video where Natal is bugging horribly. The source is said to be Gamespot so it’s hardly a fake.

If you know something about this video, please tell me in comments )

Epic Games’ Vice President, Mark Rein, gave interview regarding Natal to official XBox 360 magazine.

Two interesting facts out of it:

1. Natal Ricochet demo was made with Unreal Engine 3.

Moreover, Epic is going to implement Natal support into this Engine. So developers, using Unreal Engine 3, could naturally include Natal support in their games.

So the nice thing is, we are going to work with Microsoft to make that available to Unreal Engine licensees who want to make Natal games. So, if you want to make a game on Natal, you want to get a big headstart and use the same tech as Microsoft, come talk to me. We are the unofficial engine of Natal, or maybe the official, I don’t know.

2. Epic will implement some support of Natal into all of its future titles: