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MS boss Ballmer confirms "new Xbox" News
Xbox 360 News by Robert Purchese
Microsoft big boss Steve Ballmer has told a bunch of rich people that a new Xbox 360 will hit store shelves in 2010.
Speaking at the Executive's Club of Chicago, Ballmer said the console will have a "natural interface" and a built-in camera with the ability to recognise movement and voice, according to TG Daily. That will be Project Natal, then - but built-in? That's the first we've heard.
Xbox Live bigwig Larry Hryb - more commonly known as Major Nelson - was quick to react.
"As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade," he wrote on his blog.
"Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time."
Rumours of new Xbox 360 hardware related to Project Natal seeped onto the internet last weekend. Microsoft has left them unchecked all week, offering only timid and ambiguous comment on the matter.
Eurogamer's Digital Foundry blog was more committal, providing a host of reasons why new Xbox 360 hardware is unlikely - although concluding that an existing 360 with a new form factor is possible.
A "yes" or a "no" would be nice.
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Comments: 1-41 of 41 in total
Poster
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0
wow. coming from Balmer, that might say something...
it appears to me that MS is a loose cannon these days. they got new tech, want to market it asap (by lack of good games in the coming future or at least not covering a lot of genres?), so they think of launching an - arguably - new console with built in motion. this might as well stall current sales because a new version is on its way. hence the quick blog update... tststs. |
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jaguarwong
19/06/09 @ 07:52
+1
You know how with Freeview you can either buy a digital reciever or buy a TV one with one built in already - is it not obvious that MS are planning the same kind of thing for Natal.
I'm sure the gaming specs will remain unchanged. |
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Negotiator
19/06/09 @ 07:54
-2
This should read Ballmer freaks out on stage, Teamxbox.com have got a vid of him doing just that.
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login_name
19/06/09 @ 07:57
+1
i would rather have it built in than something extra pluged into my console
Having the camera built into the machine would be poo. It would severely limit your placement options. I suspect that the "built-in camera" is more of a packed-in camera. *Edit* I guess everyone thought the same thing as I was drinking my coffee :)
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 19/06/09 @ 08:59
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superted1974
19/06/09 @ 08:07
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Come on guys - he must mean this....
The Natal camera shown at E3 does the processing on board and sends the results via USB. The "built in" Natal will have a wireless camera is a sexy small form that can be stuck anywhere and send the prictures to the new xbox to be processes on board. Do I win? |
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Bigglesworth
19/06/09 @ 08:28
-1
"As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade,"
Cue much coughing and spluttering from those who usually laugh at Sony's frequent '10-year lifecycle' statements. |
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0
"As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade"
A non-denial denial :) Besides a 10 year lifecycle does not mean a new Xbox can't be launched 5-6 after the 360 - just look at PS1 and PS2. |
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asphaltcowboy
19/06/09 @ 08:53
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Of course Ballmer meant a new Xbox SKU... not an entirely new Xbox! 8)
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+1
This is much more of a console iteration than a "new" console. Apple do this all the time, new shapes, colours and memory for iPods and it works because they can push the price back up to what it was originally before (what it started at) because it is a new iteration and is seen to be a new "offering".
So, I guess now there will be the Arcade sku, the 20Gb HD Premium version, the 120Gb Elite and then the Natal sku. EDIT: No-one called the slim PS2 a "new console" did they? This is the same scenario.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 19/06/09 @ 09:58
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Ashen-Shugar
19/06/09 @ 09:33
+2
Use a little common sense people, of course the camera is not going to be built into the box. Just like the Wii sensor bar is not built into the Wii box.
A bundled 360+Natal SKU makes perfect sense though, just as a PS3+dildo SKU makes sense because these motion sensing devices are not being created to be optional extras. They will form the core of consoles control schemes moving into the next gen of consoles. |
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@Ashen-Shugar
Someone with common sense at last. The way the camera works (and yes I have seen an actual dev Natal) there is no practical way to build it into an SKU. I'm fairly certain that Balmer was talking about the built-in processor within the Natal unit and not about a new XBox 360 unless a new slimline version counts as a whole new console these days. It's not unlikely that a new slim 360 with bundled Natal could completely replace the existing SKU some time next year. However, if that is the case, then the first place you'd hear about it would be retail, where sticks of existing 360 SKUs would begin to dry up after the new year. From a dev perspective, the changes would make zero difference to new or existing 360 projects. |
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0
"i hope that Natal nonsene flops big time, especially after all those fake target videos they showed off at E3."
Why? I personally have no problem with MS showing that stuff (like I have no problem with target renders). They have a product (concept is probably more accurate) to sell and as long as it's not finished, this is the only way to present it. Though it does of course put MS snipes at Sony showing stuff prematurely into the proper perspective: Irrelevance. What does upset me is the total lack of critical thought within the video game press with regards to these kind of presentations. In part it is of course the fault of us gamers as well as we're always looking for the next thing to be hyped. |
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Domovoi
My mistake...I've just found this from the ShopTo guy: "Having three consoles on the market is enough without adding a fourth," ShopTo's Igor Cipolletta explained. "Maybe this will replace the [Xbox 360] Elite, as that seems to be the only one without any recent upgrades; it makes sense to bundle Project Natal with it to creating the new top tier hardware package." so the answer is actually... Three. |
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wellzy4eva
19/06/09 @ 13:53
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I wonder if this means they'll fade out the pro (Or whatever they call it these days) or the Elite, I hope they repackage pro and have a new Elite with a much bigger Hard Drive and the fabled wireless technology everyone wants.
Btw, does anyone else think that a new Xbox SKU could mean they could have wireless webcam facility? (Exclusive to the new SKU) |
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CHAZBIGPOTATO
19/06/09 @ 13:54
0
What a twat for saying that. As if there wasn't enough confusion already.
Edit. Balmer, that is
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 19/06/09 @ 14:55
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wellzy4eva
19/06/09 @ 14:07
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Probably marketed as something like the "Xbox360 Vision"
[edit] You heard it here first...
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 19/06/09 @ 15:08
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Seriously. The Natal system doesn't just have a camera. It has a number of other sensors too. There is no way to build that into a console and have it work as intended. The CD noise that close to the unit alone would kill it's mic pick-up unless they expect you to wear a portable mic like TV presenters do.
Balmer has the wrong end of the stick from somewhere. You'd even need to position your 360 so that it could see directly ahead and you wouldn't be able to put it on it's side etc. etc. The unit only works as an add on. If integrated into the console you'd be inviting trouble. I know people love to speculate but, alot of this speculation goes against any practicality what so ever. |
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drewman5150
19/06/09 @ 22:39
+1
"With built-in camera for 2010"
At that price, assuming it's dollars, I think they might just price themselves out of the market... |
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ObiChrisKenobi
21/06/09 @ 07:56
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Built in camera? Hmm, unless it has a pully out range there's going to be a lot of strangely balanced Xbox's ontop of flatscreen HD TVs...
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Comments: 1-41 of 41 in total
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