Kinect and it's effects on the WORLD.

[Havok83]

From what I remember, $30-40.

Likely getting bundled with some software.

where'd you read about it being that low? Rumors Ive read was in the $100 range

 

[KALEL114]

Here is one of the rumored price(s):

According to these undisclosed sources, Microsoft plans to ship 5 million Natal units when it launches in both stand-alone packages and packed in with Xbox 360 consoles. One anonymous source from a publisher said that Microsoft is "trying to get as close as possible to 'impulse buy,'" with the price likely to be set below £50 ($80), and possibly even as low as £30 ($50).

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176878

 

[Soapy]

Nah, I've heard it's going to be pretty low as well. Supposedly the whole reason they took the processor out was to get the price <60 dollars. Coincidentally I also hear from people that have seen it since E3 that it isn't nearly as impressive as it was then.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Coincidentally I also hear from people that have seen it since E3 that it isn't nearly as impressive as it was then.

THAT...is my biggest concern.
Not that i´ve read anything on that regard, but that price tag so low makes me wonder if Natal is nothing more than a mediocre product.
I hope not.
Than again, Peter Molyneux loves Natal and is always saying how revolutionary it is and whatnot, and that gives me a certain kind of hope.
Like him or not, Molyneux is one of the biggest visionaries in video game history, so, i don´t expect him to be excited about any crap.

 

[Addendum]

Just the stuff that he works on. Game designer/PR

 

[Soapy]

THAT...is my biggest concern.
Not that i´ve read anything on that regard, but that price tag so low makes me wonder if Natal is nothing more than a mediocre product.
I hope not.
Than again, Peter Molyneux loves Natal and is always saying how revolutionary it is and whatnot, and that gives me a certain kind of hope.
Like him or not, Molyneux is one of the biggest visionaries in video game history, so, i don´t expect him to be excited about any crap.

IH, you can't believe anything Peter Molyneux says. He just pulls words out of ass.

Is he really a visionary if he fails time and time again to fully realize his "vision" in a game?

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Either you guys don´t know, or you guys forget easily.

Peter Molyneux started his career in 1982, he is the creator of the so called "God games" with the amazing Populous and Powermonger.
He also did classics like Sindicate, Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital and Theme Park.
And, after the closing of Bullfrog, he created Black & White at Lionhead.
Little Big Planet, made by Media Molecule, which is a studio formed by former Lionhead employees, was created when they still where at Lionhead, and the majority of the ideas came from Peter Molyneux (which he allowed them to take and make the game, they said so in several interviews and in an episode of the Bonus Round on GameTrailers.com)
He was elected among the 5 best game developers ever (With Miyamoto, Romero, Wright and someone else) by his peers (don´t ask me for the list, i googled it and can´t find it).

Yes, since Fable is he pulling word out his ass, but, even so, and knowing all his background, i have the utmost respect for him.
But that´s me...

 

[Addendum]

And I never said that he "pulls crap out of his ass". Just that he gets excited about the crap he works on. So of course, he's going to be excited about Natal.

But thanks for the rehash from Wikipedia about Molyneux.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

But thanks for the rehash from Wikipedia about Molyneux.

But believe when i say i didn´t looked at wikipedia when i wrote that.

 

[KALEL114]

You can respect the man for his past work, but you can not take him for his word at anything. He is notorious for over hyping things. You just can't over look that because of past achievments.

Speaking of Peter and Natal.

Peter Molyneux, the guy who designs those Fable games and runs Microsoft's European studios, sees Project Natal as more than just another motion peripheral.
For him, it's the peripheral is akin to some like the computer mouse.
"If you're thinking that Natal is going to give you another version of an FPS, you're just not thinking broadly enough," Molyneux told Gamereactor. "After all, it was the invention of the mouse that gave us computing as it is today &#8212; not the invention of the microprocessor."
That, the game designer points out, is how we have come to control our computers.
"The mouse was the real revolution of the PC &#8212; not the Intel processor. And who's to say Natal couldn't end up creating something you and I can't even imagine now. It forces us to approach technology in a completely different way. Before the mouse, we only had the keyboard."
But we already have a controller...to control our video games... Okay, fine, I see what he is saying!

http://kotaku.com/5466590/peter-molyneux-natal-could-change-interaction-like-the-mouse

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Peter Molyneux, the guy who designs those Fable games and runs Microsoft's European studios, sees Project Natal as more than just another motion peripheral.
For him, it's the peripheral is akin to some like the computer mouse.
"If you're thinking that Natal is going to give you another version of an FPS, you're just not thinking broadly enough," Molyneux told Gamereactor. "After all, it was the invention of the mouse that gave us computing as it is today &#8212; not the invention of the microprocessor."
That, the game designer points out, is how we have come to control our computers.
"The mouse was the real revolution of the PC &#8212; not the Intel processor. And who's to say Natal couldn't end up creating something you and I can't even imagine now. It forces us to approach technology in a completely different way. Before the mouse, we only had the keyboard."
But we already have a controller...to control our video games... Okay, fine, see what he is saying!

That is from the interview i posted a link of.
And....he is right, so?
The mouse was indeed the biggest thing to ever grace the video game industry, it is still the best peripheral there is, and can only be surpassed by motion control.
Because many "motion control haters" (i´m not saying you are one) don´t realise that, the mouse is, to some degree, motion control.
The mouse is nothing more than an extension of your arm.
And Natal can very well be the "new mouse", we don´t know until we tried it out.

In that same interview he gives another example, movies.
Back in the day, all sci-fi movies where about keyboards and whatnot; now, every sci-fi movie has characters working computers and whatnot with movement, in a "Minority Report" style, well....Natal is like that also.

Bottom line, we don´t know until we see and try it

But i give you, since Fable, he does have the tendency to overhype stuff

 

[Addendum]

I'm fine using a controller for my consoles and my emulated games on my PC, and a mouse and keyboard for my PC games.

 

[Cth]

Pandamar is right.. the lower price is due to the chip being pulled.

Which makes sense, in a few ways:

1) It does lower the physical cost
2) It alllows them to upgrade the camera without replacing the entire line.

It's software based, and MS is pretty good when it comes to software. Small system patches/updates pushed globally, etc.

Anyways, I think Natal will be fine, it's just a matter of developers taking advantage of it properly. Most will utilize it as a form of "logging in" or simple interface navigation (flipping pages).. most will ignore the FPS aspects outside of racing games.

Most will allow for dual input presumably.

You'll likely see hybrids where you control the character and toss grenades or look around corners, etc.

 

[Benstamania]

Say what you want about Peter Molyneux...but I was happy with Fable and more so with Fable II. Based on what he said about his decision for Fable III and how it could "Really tick people off" I have a feeling that you will HAVE to have Natal to play it.

Which...really wouldn't tick me off. If it ends up as low as 50 bucks, I'll have no problem buying it.

...As long as Microsoft SUPPORTS it so it doesn't become EyeToy/PlaystationEye 2.0.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Say what you want about Peter Molyneux...but I was happy with Fable and more so with Fable II. Based on what he said about his decision for Fable III and how it could "Really tick people off" I have a feeling that you will HAVE to have Natal to play it.

Which...really wouldn't tick me off. If it ends up as low as 50 bucks, I'll have no problem buying it.

Molyneux said that it will tick people off, but it´s a change that makes sense at this time, so, yeah, i bet that it is the Natal support.

...As long as Microsoft SUPPORTS it so it doesn't become EyeToy/PlaystationEye 2.0.

That, i´m sure will not happen.
I don´t see Microsoft letting Natal die.

 

[Soapy]

Fable III requiring Natal wouldn't piss me off, I would just lose interest. Although I'm sure it would probably piss off the business-minded folks at Lionhead.

 

[Cth]

I would imagine that Fable III comes bundled with Natal, but is limited in how it's utilized.

Like say, scanning in your head and creating a character likeness using your face as a base model.

From what we know so far of Fable 3, the first half is overthrowing a king, and the second half is reacting to an invading army. A big part is supposedly making judgements on your subjects, so we'll likely get a Thumbs Up/Down/Off With His Head type motion game.

Hard to say really without more information. It sounds like the ticked off part is in reference to dropping some of the RPG elements and making it more of a sim type game.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

An easy way to use Natal in Fable III is the expressions, with we, the gamer, making the expressions insted of choosing them.
If people like it or not it´s irrelevant, but the point is, imo, the worst thing that can happen with Natal (or any other form of motion control, for that matter) is using both control methods, the motion and the classic controller.
For example, to be controlling a character with the gamepad, and then, having to put the controller aside to make somekind of hands movement, that´s, imo, a big fail.

Like say, scanning in your head and creating a character likeness using your face as a base model.

I believe that will happen more than once with 360 games after Natal gets released, but i don´t see it in Fable.
But i do see it in Halo, when Master Chief takes his helmet off (it will happen, it´s a matter of time), he looks like the player (but in in-game graphics).
On the other hand, we all know MC is a man (he is called John), so, it might be a little problematic for women gamers.

 

[Dark_Lord]

This is from Major Nelson's (Xbox Live Director of Programming) twitter

DVR Alert: Check out Chloe playing "Project Natal" for Xbox 360 on Smallville, tonight, 8:00 P.M. on the CW.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm sure the 10 people who've managed to continue watching Smallville without gouging their eyes out with rusty spoons will get a kick out of it.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Still no word on Natal.
Guess we will have to wait for E3 to see it in action

 

[Coca Cola Duracell Franklin.]

We've already seen Natal in action. Now we just need to see a game that actually makes motion control (on any system) worth a damn.

 

[SuperAl]

i dont really see how this will work in actual REAL games, not stupid party games and painting ur screen/blocking balls i have no interest in that stuff. Unless they want us to physically run/walk in place to make our character move, im guessin theyll end up releasing some joystick you have to hold in ur hand while u play a game. Also how will it detect you pulling a gun trigger in shooters, so many questions there will most likely be all these extra accessories youll have to buy to play normal games, im still very very skeptical that this will appeal to anyone other than casual gamers.

 

[Soapy]

Well...that's kind of the point. Natal was made specifically to appeal to casual gamers. Not sure why you thought otherwise.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

...there will most likely be all these extra accessories youll have to buy to play normal games...

Don´t expect that to happen, unless Microsoft is on drugs.
If they released accessories, it goes against the all "controller free gaming" thing.
Of course, if by acessories you are not talking about controllers.....then ok...

Well...that's kind of the point. Natal was made specifically to appeal to casual gamers. Not sure why you thought otherwise.

And you arrived to that conclusion because....
No one in Microsoft as said that it was made specifically to appeal to casual gamers, and no one ever will because it´s not true.