420°

No one will buy Natal and here's why

Microsoft's project Natal has quickly become one the most talked about new devices on the videogame horizon for some time with analysts predicting that within two years Natal will reach a 56 percent attach rate. That's right. It's been predicted that more than half of new and old 360 owners will rush out and spend $50-85 for Microsoft's attempt at adding motion control to the Xbox 360 according to Goldman Sachs.

To put it simply, these analysts are living in a world of make believe and here's why.

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smgamers.com
GR8 15170d ago

And this get's approvals another reason why this site is run by ps3 fanboys.

Mr_Bun5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

That's right, for every positive Sony article there are about 4 negative Sony ones...but you're right...it is run by PS3 fanboys. Just last week N4G posted the article claiming Heavy Rain was destined to fail...Guess you have selective amnesia.

*FACEPALM*

FaSeCeX5170d ago

read the article...its actually funny haha

u're guarantee'd to lulz, even with its valid points

gee, cant wait to pick up my gears of milo! haha..i just dont see natal cutting into the wii either..sure 360 owners will buy it but it wont move more consoles than what it alrdy is doing now..unless u alrdy own a 360 this isnt gonna create a wii-like craze

Cold 20005170d ago

I would love to have that crystal ball of his.

ape0075170d ago

great precise 3D scanning that can provide great experiences in my favorite games, I might give it a try, like opening locked doors in conviction, punching scene in manhunt, these kind of things lol

to be honest, Im not too sure about natal, on the other hand if sony got a nun-check like extension to the gem, it could be very very interesting, Imagine free hand control in a game that have full destructible environments like red faction

I hope sony does thing and if they did, it gonna be a day 1 buy for me

TheDudeAbides5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

they suck and they don't know sh!t, they're fanboys, their articles are bs

Biggest5170d ago

Instead of a crystal ball, let's use logic. Can you give an opposite outcome based off of his thoughts? Can you come up with actual thoughts of your own? He asserts that Natal was once proclaimed failed hardware by Nintendo. You can prove that to be true or false? He says that Natal is bogged down by a serious and inherent lag. Can you prove that false? He says that Microsoft is targeting casual players with the Natal. Can you prove that to be wrong? He feels that casual players will pick the Wii over the Natal/360 bundle. Do you not feel that is the case? He believes that the core 360 audience prefers games like Gears of War and Halo over games like Dance Dance Ball Kick. Do you disagree? I feel that his points are valid and encompass most of the doubts gamers have with Natal. You can't say it failed yet. But he most certainly explained why he feels it is destined to do so.

MmaFanQc5170d ago

your first day on N4G?

for every good ps3 article theres is at least 10 others ps3 bashing blogs approved on this site.

you are clearly new on this web site

Anon19745170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Exactly. If you don't agree, that's what these forums are for. Explain why you don't agree, or talk about the faults you see in the logic of the points brought up.

Edit @ Idle below: Just a note, the article doesn't claim Natal is laggy. We don't know if it is or not. The article mentioned that Nintendo was worried about Natal tech being laggy, and it mentioned that the buzz among internet forums is one of concern regarding lag issues.

Cold 20005170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Natal is planned for this fall and we are 8/9 months from release.

Can you prove that false ? No.

Till then let Natal be the work in progress that it is until D-Day.

edit:@below. I just proved you wrong with a couple of words.
If I'm living in a dream world and that Natal isnt a work in progress then maybe all you points above have some value.

Since natal isnt out yet and is being improved on, until the day it launches everything you said right there is completely worthless.

If you want to waste your time righting paragraphs based on assumptions well go ahead.

I have better stuff to do.

Biggest5170d ago

Good job in countering those points. I know your comment wallet is thin and you don't want to waste your words on an actual conversation. But you have 1 left. Try to be the smart guy and counter with reason. Dumb guys have a tendency to get beat down on public buses by old men wearing fanny packs. Don't be that guy.

IdleLeeSiuLung5170d ago

This article doesn't even discuss the opposite side i.e. the positive side. All the article does is construct a negative criticism based on a bunch of assumptions on assumptions.

Sounds like fanboy drivel to me.

sikbeta5170d ago

Gear of milo? What a Mess!!! lol

Wait for the Final Product, don't jump in the Motion-hype-wagon...

Gamers FTW!!!

iFLOWLIKEWATER5170d ago

Am I reading this article right? "No one will...", I'm sorry but if anyone believes that then they should go get checked out for some slight mental instability...

IdleLeeSiuLung5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

"He asserts that Natal was once proclaimed failed hardware by Nintendo. You can prove that to be true or false? "

What reason Nintendo didn't pursue it is unknown. Instead it is made into believe that something is wrong with the technology, instead it has been reported that it was a cost issue during a time when Nintendo was about to release their new console.

Besides, when Verizion turned down the iPhone guess who is laughing all the way to the bank now? AT&T or verizion?

"He says that Natal is bogged down by a serious and inherent lag. Can you prove that false? "

Can he prove that the final product has inherent lag? Did he do a full out technical analysis? Is he even qualified to discuss the technical merits of the technology?

"He says that Microsoft is targeting casual players with the Natal. Can you prove that to be wrong?"

Why is that even significant to why Natal will be a failure? Besides I thought casuals is the ones interested in motion control in the first place? Seems like MS are targeting the correct audience.

On the flip side, I can prove that people are genuinely excited about this technology by both celebrities and the reaction of the general public. The only people hating on Natal are fanboys and to some smaller extent core gamers.

Everyone else is happy with a choice and the possibilities of Natal.

Also, no need to call names when people hadn't had a chance to respond to you.

velcry5170d ago

"your first day on N4G? for every good ps3 article theres is at least 10 others ps3 bashing blogs approved on this site. you are clearly new on this web site "

Honestly, I think that anyone who manages to comment FIRST on a story usually has been waiting patiently in the Pending Tips section.

By inference, that person is NOT NEW to N4G, and KNOWS what he is doing.

Furthermore, by looking at his bubbles, you can also tell it's not his first day here.

Trust me, he KNOWS EXACTLY what N4G is like, and he's playing up to it.

MmaFanQc5170d ago

no, that wasnt the article but simply the title....

next time try to actually read the article before posting a reply instead than focusing on the title....

Biggest5170d ago

I don't believe I called anyone names. If I did. . . Oops! The points he makes are not of a finished product. He points out that the 360 supporters are of the tech savvy brand. Everything he shows to be a problem is made so because the current 360 supporters know about the problems leading up to release. Casual gamers probably don't know what Natal is, minus the few that saw it on Late Night. Natal was announced and given the promise of hardcore gamers in mind. Yes, casual gameplay was a focus. But games were to also be a focus. So far, nothing has been shown to support that claim. Yes, Natal is a few months away from being released. But there has been a lot of coverage at the behest of Microsoft and their advertising campaign. You shouldn't judge Natal just yet, but they have it so visible right now that human nature can't control that urge. To say that what we see now is not indicative of the final product seems like a stretch. Preparation breeds success. And the prep stages of the Natal are not doing very well. They may pull it together before the clock strikes release time. But that doesn't change the fact that the target audience already has a toy, and the Halo audience won't play it. It's being set up for a big let down.

King_of _the_Casuals5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

This guy is saying that since Nintendo turned down Natal in 07 it's a failed technology. You do realize 2007 was 3 YEARS AGO!!! Technology is ever changing so any issues it had back then have probably already been corrected. And according to the people who actually work with videogames for a living, it works Great!!! (I think I'll take there word over a blogging fanboy)
Plus Nintendo has already said cost was one of the major reasons. Back in 2007, it would have been A LOT more expensive to do then what it wall cost now.

But I can't wait till Natal comes out!!!! I'll be inline the first day buying it when it comes out. But since I don't count....I guess No one will be buying Natal. (Sarcasm)

Blaze9295170d ago

I'm buying Natal sooooo...

Pennywise5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Yeah, like Cold said: waste your time RIGHTING paragraphs on assumptions.

What a smart comment!

EDIT: Cold I am glad to see that you live up to your 3 bubble reputation. Carry on.

iFLOWLIKEWATER5170d ago

Why waste my time unless you're telling me he contradicts himself, because thats the only thing left to be seen. He says no one will buy it in the title, but says people will buy it inside of the article?

Cold 20005170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Glad to see you are so butthurt you came in just to say that :D

Great to know I have so much effect on you :)

EDIT: Im glad to see you live up to your butthurt Sony slave reputation. Carry on. They might just fix that crippled PS3 of yours :)

Back to my 360 in perfect working condition :D

Eamon5170d ago

Mr. Bun, that argument of yours represents your age. Yes. It's a 1 digit number.

If you want less "hate" articles like "7 reasons why Heavy Rain will fail" or "Natal set to flop?" then don't go approving them.

It's fact that fanboys are running N4G. The approval process of these articles needs to be seriously relooked by the admins.

Oh wait, I just remembered that the admins and mods have abandoned this site and have lost interest and enthusiasm. As we saw by the new user called N4G Jewbot and sad strange little nerdy kids (Bungie), the N4G comments section has been plagued by lowlives.

Here are an example of the minority (the mature gamers): http://www.n4g.com/gaming/N...

Why are there no trolls in this comments section? Because Braid was an arcade game made by an indie developer. Not a blockbuster shooter with a multi-million dollar marketing budget.

In my opinion, Braid is a masterpiece and will be more original and innovative than most released AND unreleased blockbusters. I will boldly say that I feel Braid is a better game than Heavy Rain. Insult me all you want or feel free to rape my disagree button but until you understand that every person has their own unique opinion then you will have truly grown up.

rroded5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

"Three things need to happen for Natal to have a market sufficient enough for the success Microsoft is planning for. The hardcore gamers that made the 360 what it is will suddenly have to ditch call of duty and develop a sudden love of party games, existing Wii owners need to suddenly dump their Wiis, their Wii-Fits, their Mario Kart and march down to pick up a 360 and Natal and all potential Wii owners need to suddenly forget what made the Wii appealing in the first place in favor of playing unfamiliar games on unproven technology running on proven bad hardware. None of these three things is going to happen."

as for the omg how could ng4 approve this LOLZ expect a flood more all us ps3 fat owners got not much else ta do now ;)

we won5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Pretty dead on to PS3 fanboys lol. Still don't understand why PS3 fanboys pretend to know the minds of 360 users. 360 gamers are big spenders on anything game related.

Does the *Biggest* ever comment in non Natal articles? The *Biggest* does nothing but troll Natal articles.

Bigpappy5170d ago

I am 100% sure I am getting Natal and I agree with the analyst on this one. If sell between $50-100, more than half the 360 owners will buy it and a shyt load of non gamers to boot.

Anon19745170d ago

You really believe that half of 360 owners - the same owners that buy Gears of War/Halo/CallofDuty...etc in the millions and shun games like Banjo Kazooie/I'm in the movies...pretty much anything that isn't a shooter or action game, you really believe they're going to rush out and plunk down $50-$85 bucks on Natal in the millions? To play Ricochet, Paint Party, Milo or the exercise game we know is right around the corner? Did these same owners rush out and buy a camera to play Uno?
In what world is this demographic suddenly going to want to throw down their controllers to leap around their living rooms? I have not once heard a fellow 360 gamer say "You know what's really holding back my enjoyment of Call of Duty? Having to use a controller. I wish I could jump around my living room."

Bigpappy5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Where did I say anything about preferring natal over a controller? I said I will be getting Natal at launch if it is under $100, and that I believe more than half the current users will eventually do the same. Natal is not a replacement for the controller. It is not the wand or Wiimote. Natal is useful for more than games. It can also be used while you have both hands on the controller. But yeah, I like the idea of also playing some of those casual game where a controller is not needed. I love puzzles, strategy games and board games. So having to just point at a piece then point to where I want it to go is attractive to me. It is better than having to drag a curser across a large screen every time I want to make a move. There are applications when natal just makes more sense than using the controller. FPS are not the games that come to mind when I think of buying Natal, but Natal + the controller can and will enhance the FPS Genre.

360 owners, that I know in the US, are mostly grown men. They are not into games like Mario, Banjo, Little Big Planet and Sonic. That is why those game do not sell on the console. Any good mature game sells well on the console because that is the demographic on the console. Just the names of the games put off grown ups like myself. Natal is great tech. It allows for a different, fun way to interact.

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5170d ago
feelintheflow5170d ago

Just as I couldn't stand the ps3 is doomed articles I will hate all the 360/natal doomed articles. Nobody knows until it comes out. I know it makes for great arguments, but please can we just talk games. There are so many good ones out there and so many good ones coming its ridiculous to flood n4g with natal doomed, or natal the second coming articles.

5170d ago
raztad5170d ago

@Eignub

I like your style man.

5170d ago
freediro5170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

us used the word 'like' 5 times with in that sentence, wtf? seriously work on some vocabulary skills and get off Halo. don't want to be a grammar nazi but damn.

"I like yours too, I like it like I like my Forza games, which is a lot but not as much as I like Halo 2"
^ your idea of a sentence and this is what a sentence with out 5 "likes" sounds LIKE! (lol)
I have a similar opinion and also like games such as Forza, which happens to be close to my appreciation of Halo 2.

glad you enjoy your games, good thing we don't have to shove it down each others face and then fight about it.

5170d ago
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ClownBelt5170d ago

That picture is fricking hilarious. Haha

JoelR5170d ago

it's just that an opinion piece. It has some interesting points and some stupid ones. all in all it's interesting - not great but always interesting to hear differing opinions.

Anon19745170d ago (Edited 5170d ago )

Just out of curiosity, which ones didn't you agree with?

JoelR5170d ago

I feel the author is selling both the hardcore and the casual crowd short. Sure some people in both groups will react as he is suggesting but on the whole people are harder to group than that. for the hardcore group they just need a application or game that appeals to them and they will plunk down the money - same with the casuals (though they may be harder to get to buy as they would likely have to buy 360 in the first place)

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50°

Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX

This could be fun as they make great tables. Go big or go extinct. Prime your senses for a neural handshake and step into the cockpit of a Jaeger. It is on you to cancel the apocalypse when Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX on May 16.

250°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv7221h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle8h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18816h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio5h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning771h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga8h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21837h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga6h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan2h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

romulus231h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv721h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

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purple10111h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos10h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-20m ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac9h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1019h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic7h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead42m ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein20h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno16h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k415h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson14h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu15h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson14h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -