Microsoft’s Project Natal to launch in late 2010

by Dean Evans at Wednesday 29th July, 2009 at 12:36 pm [0 comments]

According to reports today, Microsoft’s motion-sensing Xbox add-on Project Natal will launch at the back end of next year.

The news comes courtesy of THQ CEO Brian Farrell, who let the information slip during a run-of-the-mill Q1 earnings call.

“In response to a question about hardware price cuts and market changes,” blogged Gamesindustry.biz, “Farrell replied: ‘With respect to the cycle itself, if you look at what’s happening in the industry, the fact that we have for example, Natal from Microsoft, a platform addition coming late next year.’”

Microsoft has not officially revealed a launch date for Natal, but the new motion-sensing hardware will be key in extending the lifespan of the Xbox 360.

In fact, Microsoft’s Shane Kim has said that: “Conceptually, the launch of Natal will be like the launch of Xbox 360… It’s going to be that big. We’re not just going to ship it when the hardware and software are ready. We have to make sure that there are enough content experiences that are really good. That’s similar to how you would think of the launch of a new console.”

While the Nintendo Wii has made motion-controlled gaming a success, Microsoft’s Project Natal seeks to evolve the idea even further.

The stakes are high. But as the Wii has already proved, motion-controlled gaming has the potential to expand the videogaming audience beyond the traditional hardcore players.

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