Doens't look like it...
Forbes said:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/02/mi...s-technology-business-intelligence-natal.html
Tommy McClain
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Doens't look like it...
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/02/mi...s-technology-business-intelligence-natal.html
Tommy McClain
LightHeaven
Regular
Now natal only recognizes two players? Fuuuuu
Edit: At least they say the software would run on a cell phone, so its probably pretty lightweight...
LightHeaven
Regular
Its probably invisible light (IR).
ShadowRunner
Veteran
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Knew it knew it!!!
I couldn't imagine how'd they be able to do upto 4 people accurately and reliably without a considerably large hit to performance.
It just isn't logical...
I'm rather eager to know how well Natal deals with two people now.
It may still do depending on what MS is willing to invest to increase user base. Loss-leading is an option.
LightHeaven
Regular
Does it says there it costs $40 to produce? Is it a speculation or Ms gave the details?
I'm kinda disappointed for that, but maybe Forbes got that wrong? (They seemed to get the IR light part wrong, and they are the first and currently only ones to make such claim, so maybe...)
Well, at least they haven't said smart phones, maybe on the processing side the overhead will be really lowDepends what cellphone they are talking about i guess
WiiFit, with the balance board, sold at $90/£70 and has sold to about 1/3 of the Wii user base. WiiPlay, with the additional controller, has sold even more at $60/£50. And then, of course, you have the Guitar/Band games.
If MS get it right and bundle it with the correct piece of software, and of course market it properly, then it will sell hugely at anything up to $100/£70. If they don't, then it doesn't really matter if it's only $40.... the uptake will be poor.
Couple of things:
1) Wii is a totally different market. IMHO the X360 is largely hardcore gamers who like FPSs - call the generalisin, but there's evidence to back this up.
2) WiiPlay is basically a controller with free games - additional controllers sell well anyway, but I know plenty of people who manipulated the system (and therefore screwed the accuracy of the figures) by buying the pack and selling the game on to help make the controller cheaper.
WRT Natal I can see a particular segment of gamers picking it up, and maybe it might entice some casual gamers - but they already have the Wii so I don't think that's likely.
A lot of this will be down to how well it's marketed and packaged, but I doubt most of the current X360 gamers really care at all about this...
So you think that is really targeting the current 360 owners and not the casual market?
What I'm saying is the casual market is already owned. What reason would the casual gamer have to buy X360 + Natal over the Wii/PS3?
As things stand (casual gamer market):
Wii
PS3
X360
If MS want to widen it's appeal (where they keep trying but largely failing - see their camera and Lips/scene-it), most casual gamers will think it's an eye toy or will already have a Wii...so no need to buy...their main concern (initially) is surely the 35M (or whatever it is) customers allready on board.
If the X360 had launched with this it might have been different.
Just my thoughts of course.
I'm seeing a different possibility. The Casuals liked Wii, but it's old hat now. There's nothing new happening with it, and spending more money on their Wii means spending on more of the same experience. Natal (and perhaps Arc to a lesser degree) will offer them something new. At the end of the day it's the experience consumers want, and we want new experiences. The interface limits that prevented Casuals from trying out the joys of gaming that we have known for years have blown away, meaning they can be opened up to lots of new epxeriences. It'll be down to the console companies and their interface options to draw in this new wave of gamers.
You really need to do more research before you jump to conclusion.
MS IS going after the casual market with Natal, and of course it can be used to play certain hardcore game in conjunction with the normal controller. This is exactly what they have been saying in their interviews. It will appeal to both end of the gaming spectrum but in differing experiences.
And also you've got third party developers who can do God know what with it.
LightHeaven
Regular
I really don't think it is... Facebook alone has over 100 million gamers, adding all casual game portals and that number could easily be doubled or even more...
Its only a matter of whether they will be capable of capturing those people or not, but there's literally a open ocean of potential consumers to buy.
Many reasons...some obvious ones being that it makes it easier for a husband to justify the purchase of a 360 if his wife also wants to play it. Or a dude wants to get his girlfriend to play games with him. Perhaps a young boy wants to get his sisters to like it, which makes the 360 easier to ask for as a family Christmas gift. Maybe that early 30's lady who has been eying a 360 to get netflix now will get one as that (inevitable) Natal exercise app pushed them to the point of purchase. Or perhaps early Wii adopters are bored with the machine and want to upgrade. And so on and so on... The casual market is far from locked down. I don't think Arc will succeed partly because of the PS3's price point, but also because Sony once again isn't taking it seriously and it will just land on stores as yet another neglected accessory. Natal on the other hand can be a viable Wii alternative. It should be similarly priced to the Wii and will be heavily backed with content specifically targeting new audiences.
It's surely a subjective list, but personally XBLive offers far more to casual gamers than PSN does, almost lopsided I'd say. Add in the ability to play demos for all content on XBLive and it's the obvious choice for the casual gamer.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Myspace owned online social networking until Facebook took it away from them, despite everyone thinking Facebook would fail when they started trying.
Nintendo and Sega owned console gaming until Sony launched the PS.
Nothing is ever set in stone.
That said, what the heck is "X360 + Natal over the Wii/PS3." Right now the PS3 is as much a casual console as the X360.
The Wii has a few demographics all to itself currently while the X360 and PS3 share demographics.Whether Natal ends up making X360 more casual than Arc makes PS3 might be up for debate. But from what has been shown and what has been said. PS3 is definitely targetting the Wii's demographics. While Natal (from apperances and statements from MS) is only tangentially targetting the Wii demographics while trying to create an all new demographic (one that is adverse to using/learning how to use controllers, arguable whether that exists or not).
Regards,
SB
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