Natal to cost a hundred quid - report

By Ellie Gibson Published 27 May, 2010

Launch slated for October, says source.

With just weeks to go until E3, details of the price and launch date for Microsoft's new Project Natal technology appear to have leaked onto the internet.

Edge Online is quoting a "trusted source" as saying the camera will be priced at $149. It will also be available bundled with an Xbox 360 Arcade unit for $299. Using today's exchange rates, that's equivalent to around £100 / £200.

The source also said Natal is slated for a global launch on 26th October, although it could arrive a few weeks earlier. Or later. Oh, and it won't be called Natal. The official name is set to be revealed at E3.

Microsoft reckons it will shift "millions and millions" of units in the first year, according to the source. Apparently, "You can expect the software launch line-up to target non-traditional gamers."

The platform holder has declined to comment on the report.

Expect more news at E3, which takes place in Los Angeles from 15th - 17th June. Eurogamer will be there, typing so fast sparks fly off our fingernails.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (139) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Eraysor #1 2 years ago

    If it comes out at the same time as Rock Band 3, I'll probably end up buying RB. I want the keyboard already! And judging by the time I've spent playing Rock Band compared to the time using the Wii...
    Edited by Eraysor at 27/05/10 @ 08:49

  • midnight_walker #2 2 years ago

    Don't technology exchange rates usually work out at £1=$1? Even £100 is too much, IMO, and I think it will push this thing into 32X territory.

  • woodnotes #3 2 years ago

    Natal will be amazing - report.
    Natal will be terrible says source.

  • KayJay #4 2 years ago

    Not bad for people new to xbox. But it kinda looks a little pricey as a stand alone product.

  • Lexx87 #5 2 years ago

    £100 quid!

    Haaahahahaha.

    And i'm a 360 owner!
    Edited by Lexx87 at 27/05/10 @ 08:50

  • wardeana #6 2 years ago

    Yup, I was quite interested in it as a gimmicky toy but 100 quid is insane. the reports that came out a few months a back had it pegged below 40-50 quid, at which point I thought it would do well, but a 100 quid is daft.

  • LHH #7 2 years ago

    £100 seems off putting but not as much as the "you need 4 meters of space behind you" that was mentioned sometime back.

  • des #8 2 years ago

    Sold.

  • Madafunkola #9 2 years ago

    The only way one of those will make it into my living room is if they release a new slim xbox that has one compulsorily bundled with it. But even then I'll probbably put that on eBay...

  • woodnotes #10 2 years ago

    @LHH

    You don't need 4 metres of space, that was cleared up by MS.

    And you certainly don't need 4 metres of space behind you (which shouldn't be in inverted commas because that quotation doesn't actually exist) .
    Edited by woodnotes at 27/05/10 @ 08:54

  • TheJuriel #11 2 years ago

    So, 150$? So that'll be 'converted' directly to 150€... Damn. I'm very interested, but not sure I'm that interested in a gimmick.

    And I'm someone who's reaaaally been looking forward to this. How will overpricing stuff ever get the generic public to embrace it, which is required to actually have continued support for it? Ugh.
    Edited by TheJuriel at 27/05/10 @ 08:57

  • jag10 #12 2 years ago

    'to target non-traditional gamers'

    don't worry, you know where to go.

  • Vordred #13 2 years ago

    at £50 i would have snapped it up for a bit of fun

    at £100 not a bloody chance

  • pacifika #14 2 years ago

    Every one has to find their own balance weighing the cost of Natal with how many games they aim to buy requiring it

  • LHH #15 2 years ago

    @woodnotes

    Thank god for that then. In that case I'll now take a mild interest in it.

  • Deckard1 #16 2 years ago

    needs to be half that for me to even think about buying it

  • Dizzy #17 2 years ago

    I guess it will all depend on the bundled games.

  • phAge #18 2 years ago

    I just hope the British economy is even more in the shitter, come October. 100 of your monies for Natal seems very fair to me if the current exchange rates persist.

  • onyxbox #19 2 years ago

    Hmm... £100 is too steep when you can do stuff like this with a £20 camera:

    <a href='http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/05/26/kung-fu-live-for-ps3-you-are-the-controller/'>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/05/26/kung-fu-live-for-ps3-you-are-the-controller/</a>

  • RodHull #20 2 years ago

    Too much. Should've aimed for £70 tops and some kinda game buying incentive to lure people in. The casual market will no doubts look at that and look at the cost of the Wii and plum for the latter. How much is the PS Move likely to cost?

  • killyourtv #21 2 years ago

    £100?

    I do the jokes

  • davisorle #22 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • menage #23 2 years ago

    Don't know, does sound expensive but if it really works like it supposed to it may even be cheap for tech like that.

    I just need to see some actual games next to whack a mole before I get excited though, that's the real test for me. i don't need a Wii 2.
    Edited by menage at 27/05/10 @ 09:15

  • GamesConnoisseur #24 2 years ago

    I m very sorry, those who knows me would know that I favour X360 despite being a multi platform owner, but £100 for an accessory and calling it as going to be a run away success?!!!

    I just cant see it.

    Nope.

  • mcmonkeyplc #25 2 years ago

    I dont think so sunshine, sub £100 and we'll talk.

  • mcmonkeyplc #26 2 years ago

    Also a report a few months ago said it was more around £50 so this is probably just guess work. It better be!

  • thewool #27 2 years ago

    Can't justify spending £100 on this when I've got a Wii sat there doing nothing.

    Would also need to invest in some good blackout blinds so the neighbours couldn't see me prancing around like a tit.

  • Negotiator #28 2 years ago

    An incredible deal to be part of the future of gaming," £100 Sir, don't mind if I do".

  • Quint2020 #29 2 years ago

    All I want is a slim 360.

  • dr_shambles #30 2 years ago

    £100?! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Bet Nintendo and Sony are laughing even harder.

  • ZeroAX #31 2 years ago

    ah microsoft. why didn't you study your gaming history. the wii-mote was a success cause it launched and is bundled with the console, and the Mega CD and 32X failed cause they were just like natal. Trying to extend the lifetime of a console with stupid gimmicks. Just release an XBOX 720 with natal bundled

  • Geordiemp #32 2 years ago

    Gents, since when do we get prices the same as the USA, if its $ 150 in USA it will be £ 150 over here, well at first anyways,

    Guess I will leave it for 6 months, if the take up is slow, and the software becomes more interesting and disciunted, then it will probably be £ 100 bundled with some games 6 months after launch.

    If those games are good, thats the time to jump in.

  • BillMurray #33 2 years ago

    I honestly thought it'd be more than £100.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #34 2 years ago

    I always thought it would be priced such that it would cost something similar to a Wii when bundled with an Arcade console. £100 (or £120, perhaps, given exchange rates) on its own gives me pause though. They'd better have some bloody good titles on show at E3 for it.

  • ignatiusjreilly #35 2 years ago

    To my mind this really seems like it will be an instant failure. I honestly cannot imagine it succeeding if it really costs that much.

    But I am aware that I'm increasingly unrepresentative of an average gaming audience, so maybe they've got it spot on.

  • d00dl #36 2 years ago

    £100? It's a tough one. They'll need to do a great bundle or offer existing 360 owners an enhanced trade in price to get a bundle or something. The other option would be to bundle it with a Super Elite and sell for £270/80 that way a buyer would get a 250GB Xbox with 2 controllers, a pack in game, one of their game packs (pref one that retrofits Natal) and Natal with a couple of casual pack in games. Heck they could even sell that for £299 (if they throw in 3-month live sub) and people would likely buy it as it's a complete set up.

    I guess I'll be saving my pennies as I'm sure I'd love to have EA sports active spot and coach me on form etc through Natal and my daughter would love to better interact with Just Dance and Lips. I'm not a proper casual gamer but some of these lifestyle/party games are really good fun.

  • sfp_noodle #37 2 years ago

    I was never really interested in Natal but would have considered buying if it was priced reasonably. The most I would have ever paid for it is £70, so if this report is true then MS aren't going to gain any customers that were on the fence about it

  • dirtysteve #38 2 years ago

    so - $150- £150- E170 in Ireland. We always get the shittiest deal, whether it's tax or profiteering I don't know, but the screw job is usually predictable.

  • Moribundman #39 2 years ago

    I probably will buy ASAP in any case, but look at DJ Hero haemorrhaging in price 8-9 months after release... Nobody was prepared to buy that peripheral for £100, and unless the launch line up is stellar (and they include a game bundle with the kit) there are going to be far too many "wait until it comes down in price" people.

    MS were really excited about Alan Wake, and after a few mediocre reviews, they launch it the week before the riduiculously good and hyped to high heaven RDR...

    Alan Wake 2 is now not a foregone conclusion, and if MS charge outside the acceptable price bracket then they won't do well with Natal.

  • busboy33 #40 2 years ago

    @LHH:

    Yeah, the range was 4 meters, as in it would be able to sense up to 4 meters away as a maximum range, not as a required minimum.

    The software from the 3d camera company they bought specifically "cut out" backgrounds, so it could ignore the back wall or people/pets moving behind you. I'm assuming this tech made it into Natal (or whatever its called now), but I guess we'll see in a few weeks.

    On Topic:
    No goddamn way $150 (the price being tossed around the States) sells in any meaningful qualtity. I could se $100-120 IF it came bundled with either a must-have killer app (which nobody knows if they have yet or not) or two cheapo party game - slash - tech demos. Maybe. But $150? The Arcade is only $200 by itself.

    The last game I soent $150 for was Steel Batallion, and again it was for a controller . . . but at least the experience I got was worth it. 150 bucks won't fly if the experience is "trust us, some day we'll have really cool stuff to do with this". For that kind of money there needs to be a absolute must have game, something amazing.
    I'd love to think that MS have this magic code just waiting to show us . . . but frankly at this point I doubt it. I'm really worried in two weeks we're gonna see a whole lot of rush-jobs and shovelware-partygame crap, and alot of trailers for magical adventures at some time in the future.
    The promise of magical adventures in the future is fine for me . . . to be interested. But give you $150 now (and $60 more if/when the magic is ready to happen) on the non-guaranteed promise that at some point in the future you might develop something I might enjoy . . . no.

    $50 -- I'll buy one just to play with it and control the interface.
    $80-100 -- I'll but if the pack-in is sufficiently uber-cool
    $150 -- Steel MF Batallion, and nothing less

  • Mkwone #41 2 years ago

    At sub £50 i'd of most likly got it, mainly out of curiosity, at the 70 mark i might of contemplated it depending on the general review consensus of the tech and games. At £100 quid there's no way i'll be buying it.

  • StooMonster #42 2 years ago

    Don't forget the VAT.

    US prices do not include sales tax, whereas UK ones do; so a like-for-like comparison is $149 versus £85 (ex VAT) an effective 1.76 exchange rate. If this is the price, then the UK is paying significantly less than USA.

    However, key assumption here is that VAT stays at 17.5% whereas some think it will rise to a European level 20% to 25% in order to help dig the country out of the super massive black hole of debt we're in.

    Using today's exchange rates (and this will be worse if Pound Sterling continues to slide downwards) of 1.45 this prices Natal excluding VAT at £103.44 then if VAT continues to be 17.5% the price will be £121.54 but if VAT rises to 20% it will be £124.13 and if a pocket busting 25% then £129.30.

    So, IMO the price will be £120 to £130 depending on the level of VAT at the end of the year.

  • BigJonno #43 2 years ago

    It does sound a bit pricey, at least until you compare it to a full set of Wii/PS3 motion controllers, that is. It's still £55-60 for a Wiimote, nunchuck and motion plus. For someone with a family who are all likely to use it, £100 isn't bad at all.

    I'm more concerned about the launch titles appealing to "non-traditional gamers." It sounds like code for "Wii rip-off shovelware" to me. I hope I'm wrong though.

  • Whizzo #44 2 years ago

    Microsoft's accessory pricing tends to actually work in the UK's favour, the 250 gig HD is $130 but £80 in the UK and that's including 17.5% VAT on the UK price as well.

  • StooMonster #45 2 years ago

    Whizzo: that's a fair point, and is prolly due to Microsoft (and others) pricing for "Europe" and then in UK we get price discount because of strength of Pound versus Euro.

  • ignatiusjreilly #46 2 years ago

    Conversions and stuff are pointless. MS will sell it at whatever price is best for them in the UK, regardless of exchange rates or VAT.

  • jumpdeveraux #47 2 years ago

    Aren't non-traditional gamers surely the one demographic that would have many other non-gaming related things they'd be thinking of spending £100 on?

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #48 2 years ago

    So the swedish retailers where kinda right? No buy.

  • StooMonster #49 2 years ago

    ignatiusjreilly: Conversions and stuff are pointless. MS will sell it at whatever price is best for them in the UK, regardless of exchange rates or VAT.

    Yeah right, because they are a charity and don't care about margins.

    Edit: which is why exchange rates and VAT are important; they define how much profit Microsoft makes in UK. If VAT goes up or Pound Sterling goes down do you think (a) Microsoft will eat it, or (b) customers will pay it? You appear to be saying (a).
    Edited by StooMonster at 27/05/10 @ 14:25

  • brseg #50 2 years ago

    Considering the price of MS hard drives, we shouldnt be too shocked I suppose. However, I really thought they'd go for a loss leader 50-70 quid in the hope of building the customer base.

    If it really is 100 squid lets hope they have some killer apps lined up to justify that price. Must have, right?!?
    @jumpdeveraux - yup. Wii will prob get a price drop before xmas, so Natal vs Wii price could be close.
    Edited by brseg at 27/05/10 @ 10:22

  • muscleblade #51 2 years ago

    I like the price point. This make me think its actually a quality product.

  • IronGiant #52 2 years ago

    £100 for shovelware aimed at 'non traditional gamers'? So basically tripe that your mom, dad and nan will like. This could crash and burn in a big way! Just buy a wii instead, if you haven't already.

  • ignatiusjreilly #53 2 years ago

    ignatiusjreilly: yeah right, because they are a charity and don't care about margins.

    Huh? I said Microsoft will set the price at whatever makes them the most profit, regardless of its price in the US or Europe.

  • Doctor_What #54 2 years ago

    I'd place a bet that this is a deliberate leak - they say it will be £100 so that when they say £80 at E3 hardcore gamers go 'oh, that's not so bad'. If they'd announced £80 straight out then everyone would have told them where to stick it. Doing it this way makes it sound cheaper despite the fact that we all want it to be around £50.

    It'll be interesting to see if I'm right. I have seen this happen before in the industry and I love a good conspiracy theory!

  • phAge #55 2 years ago

    This thread is hilarious.

    Stingy twat going apeshit over a POSSIBLE UK pricepoint? Here - have some good karma!

    Enthusiastic about a possibly revolutionary add-on even at a slight premium? DIE, DIE, DIE!

    LOL.

  • Mkwone #56 2 years ago

    @phage

    Yes of corse i'm stingy for being reluctant to pay the rumoured £100 for a non essential gaming accessory. In the same way i'm being stingy about not paying 2k for a 3D tv or £100,000 for an Aston Martin.

    What ever way you look at it £100 is a sizeable sum for most people to spend on gaming, regardless of income.
    Edited by Mkwone at 27/05/10 @ 10:45

  • JimJam #57 2 years ago

    I thought the £50 price suggested a while ago might be unrealistic, but it's not an impulse buy for me at £100. Will have to be a 'wait and see' for me now...

  • ParanoidZombie #58 2 years ago

    My own trusted source said Natal will cost 99.99$, which is less than 100$. He told me not to tell anyone, but I decided to announce it to YOU. Yes, I am that friendly.

  • feistycheese #59 2 years ago

    We can all moan about the silly price for a gimmicky toy, but the sad truth is that MS will still sell a shitload of these at that price, as dumb American kids and their dumb American parents will fall for all the hype and Microsoft marketing.

  • phAge #60 2 years ago

    @Mkwone

    I'm not saying that 100 quid isn't "real money" - but:

    A) We don't know if that will be the final price.

    B) Talking about prices of 50 pounds for a piece of hardware as sophisticated as Natal is - IMO - borderline retarded.

    C) We still know next to nothing about how Natal well Natal works, and what games it will come bundled with. Even 100 quid is only the RRP of 3 games - if Natal comes with just a few games and works as well as MS wants us to think, then your "sizeable sum" is more like "bloody good value for money".

    Hurry up and read this post before the MSLOL Brigade buries it. :)

  • cyacomini #61 2 years ago

    Package it with Fable 3 for £100 and i'll consider a pre-order.

  • Johnson #62 2 years ago

    £100/$100 is suicide for the simplest of reasons - only 20% of 360 owners will get it and that means developers will be looking at a choice of either making a game for 6m consoles or 30m consoles. That's not a tough choice for them. At least with the Playstation Move they can convert Wii games nearly directly and just worry about upgrading the graphics a bit - with Natal, they virtually are back to the drawing board.

    To be honest, this price point suggests Microsoft aren't that confident about Natal - given the recent management shake-ups, this could well be the new lot throwing the acts of the old lot under the bus, ready to start fresh with a new console in 2012.

  • des #63 2 years ago

    People should realize that Natal target audience is Wii Fit,Play crowd,not some EG reader or poster.

    For them this is not a bad deal...$299 "360 slim",Natal,few games,probably some USB stick

  • beastmaster #64 2 years ago

    @cyacomini
    Yep, that would be sweet. I suspect it'll have a few packages. I expect Rare will have something up their sleeves too.

  • stampax #65 2 years ago

    Bit relieved to be honest - at 50 quid i would have bought an xbox for it probably, at 100 quid with no cheap packages this will save me a ton of money.

  • drumbaby #66 2 years ago

    Nearly the price of a new system? Yeah, that's going to sell millions...not.

  • Bagpuss #67 2 years ago

    Lol...this is going to be such a flop....

    WE WANT A NEW CONSOLE....NOT THIS GIMMICKY SHIT.

  • donwel #68 2 years ago

    Targeted at the casual audience with a price for the hardcore crowd? It will amuse me to see how many it sells until Microsoft realise that the reason the Wii has sold so well is because it's reasonably priced.

  • ignatiusjreilly #69 2 years ago

    The Xbox is already cheaper than the Wii, which is actually rather expensive.

  • bladdard #70 2 years ago

    £100 isn't really that surprising if Natal is the tech it claims to be and it comes with some decent bundled software. MS have already proved there are plenty of people with more money than they know what to do with.

  • metallicorphan #71 2 years ago

    ' MS have already proved there are plenty of people with more money than they know what to do with.'



    Funny i thought that was Nintendo

  • Mkwone #72 2 years ago

    Phage, you're right it could be a huge leap in gaming. I hope it is, i hope it isn't some gimmick that will be consigned to the back of a wardrobe.

    But as it stands i've seen very little to justify the price. Based on what i've seen so far it's not won me over.

    I mean that breakout game, sure fun for a few minutes, same for that painting thing. Even the racing games looked naff- moving your body to steer a car, come on that's not progression.

    Milo blew me away, but when we found out it was all smoke and mirrors and natal's hype took a hit.

    E3's coming next month and Natal has to prove itself.

  • lucky_jim #73 2 years ago

    I get less and less interested in Natal the more I hear about it. The dedicated processor has gone, yet it's still double the price they were throwing around when it was first announced? I'm not paying £100 (or more likely £150 given how we get ripped off in the UK) for a damn camera.

  • phAge #74 2 years ago

    @Mkwone

    So on the one hand you admit to knowing next to nothing about Natal and the games it will have, yet on the other you (and the rest of this thread) still feel confident enough to judge a 100 quid pricepoint as way too expensive?

    Wouldn't, like, waiting 'til you actually have a clue what is in the box before LOL'ing/hating be the more sensible course of action?

  • Retroid #75 2 years ago

    Needs to be ~£50 or it'll die on the shelves.

  • ignatiusjreilly #76 2 years ago

    @phAge

    £100 price point is way too expensive unless it turns out to be something extra special, but if that's the case it's still got a lot to prove. Better?

  • Caimbeul #77 2 years ago

    £50 too much...

  • phAge #78 2 years ago

    @ignatiusjreilly

    Sorta. I'm starting to suspect that our different nationalities and the associated economical issues are affecting our views on the matter, though. 100 quid is around 850 Danish Kroner - compared to the RRP of an ordinary 360/PS3 game of 549 DKR, Natal seems like quite the bargain - provided that it works as advertised.

  • jellyhead #79 2 years ago

    MS aren't looking to sell it to us existing owners, they want to sell it in a bundle to new customers. I doubt they're expecting much take-up amongst existing users and they probably don't care much either. They've already got their money from us, it's all about chasing Nintendo's tail into the blue ocean now.

    Unless the software is very compelling i'd only get one in a bundle when my current refurb dies. Ship it with a Slim 360 bundle and it'd fly off the shelves i reckon and i'd be surprised if that's not exactly what MS will do later on.

  • fizzyfish #80 2 years ago

    It seems to me that the only way that console accessories and add-ons become a success by any definition is if they achieve near-ubiquity. This guarantees support from developers, which further establishes its necessity to consumers in a feedback loop. In short, the kit needs to be elevated above mere 'accessory' status to becoming part of the kit. Best example that comes to my mind: the original PS1 DualShock controllers.

    I hope Microsoft decide to bundled Natal as standard in all new console packs (with minimal price increases, so perhaps coninciding it with a slim console revision) and to set the final price of the standalone unit for existing customers such that it is generous towards them (contemplating a net loss for MS on the hardware). After all, current Xbox owners invested in Microsoft's console relatively early in the game and if Microsoft believe Natal to be Xbox's future, then isn't it a pity to reward that loyalty with a fat top-up fee just to keep up?
    Edited by fizzyfish at 27/05/10 @ 12:29

  • richardiox #81 2 years ago

    if it's £100 now how much would it have been selling for if they kept the dedicated CPU in it? No wonder they had to scale back, £100 is steep for a peripheral, £150 is dead-in-the-water

  • M_of_the_sys #82 2 years ago

    Is Natal going to replace the controllers in the bundle or is it bundled with them?

    Edit: Thanks jellyhead. In that case, it's not such a bad deal for the bundle really.
    Edited by M_of_the_sys at 27/05/10 @ 12:55

  • local_celebrity #83 2 years ago

    £100?

    Piss off.

    I just want a smaller, quieter Xbox thanks. You can shove this shite add-on up your fat hairy recti.

  • Morph4471 #84 2 years ago

    £100 peripheral + global econonmy on its knees = epic fail!

  • Mkwone #85 2 years ago

    Saying that i don't think i can justify £100 on natal is hardly hating it.

    Basically what i'm saying is that from what we've seen so far, natal for me isn't worth £100 of my money. And Natal's got a hell of a lot to prove to show it's worth that money.

  • ignatiusjreilly #86 2 years ago

    100 quid is around 850 Danish Kroner - compared to the RRP of an ordinary 360/PS3 game of 549 DKR

    So your games cost £65? Wow, I already choose to game on the PC but if prices were that high here I'd have no choice. I guess against that £100 for Natal looks more palatable, although it does suggest it'sd be even more in Denmark anyway.
    Edited by ignatiusjreilly at 27/05/10 @ 12:45

  • jellyhead #87 2 years ago

    M_of_the_sys, It has to be bundled with controllers in order to allow people to play earlier titles as i've heard that Natal can't easily be put into old titles due to it's memory requirements and MS would be insane to only bundle Natal with new systems when there's not many games at all for it and not many that use it exclusively rather than have it bolted on instead of a button press.

  • miiiguel #88 2 years ago

    As much as I want to say something real clever right now, such as "ahahah fail!"; "eye toy for 20£" or even "sold", I guess I'm going to go for the dumb option and say: "I'm waiting to see what it does and if I like it".

    What can I say, I'm a bit boring. Soz.
    Edited by miiiguel at 27/05/10 @ 12:55

  • Slipstream #89 2 years ago

    Really? People were expecing to pay less then £100 for Natal?

    Ha!

  • SlackMaster #90 2 years ago

    £100 far a camera is asking too much IMO. Why do MS and Sony both do things like this? TBH I cannot see many casual gamers paying £100 for a camera add-on, especially since the market they are going for probably does not own a 360 already. It's outside of the impulse buy and casual purchase.

  • makeamazing #91 2 years ago

    Just too expensive based on what people have been shown so far (a casual games machine aimed at the wii userbase ...granny and mom fitness games)... E3 MS have to show the games that are available, and these games need to include NON casual!

  • SlackMaster #92 2 years ago

    All you have to do is wait... the cost of the original xbox dropped by £100 in the first couple of months if I remember correctly after luke warm sales. If it is £100 or over just wait for MS or the retailer to absorb about half that cost when they sell very few units.

  • oupe #93 2 years ago

    Bundle it with a revised (=silent) 360 and I'll bite.

  • TravisTouchdown #94 2 years ago

    @BigJonno: Try GAME on the highstreet and it's north of £70 for a full Wiimote... Ridiculous, but they've already done the hard work in getting the tech into homes. Natal, £100 is way too much...

  • Ranger101 #95 2 years ago

    This piece of tech isn't for us - those that write and read this website. Our understnading of video games, the history and pricing won't correlate with the prices that they're setting, simply because we know better and their target market doesn't.

  • monkeywithnoeyes #96 2 years ago

    it needs to be less than £50..otherwise it's just not going to sell. How Microsoft dont release that i can't imagine.. they soon will though if they allow greed to get in the way

  • Shikasama #97 2 years ago

    How many people balking at the price of 100 quid (for a leap in consumer technology) will be buying an iPad I wonder

  • BlinxHDD #98 2 years ago

    It's not just a lot of money, it's a lot of money for a control system that's not even very reliable or consistent in its detection of body motion.

  • phAge #99 2 years ago



    @ Blinx

    I'd love to hear about your experience with (current state) Natal. What's it like?




  • onyxbox #100 2 years ago

    perhaps it will be £150 and include an XBox 360

  • StooMonster #101 2 years ago

    I think their price discovery research is driven by how many people paid nearly £100 for Nintendo Balance Board, at 23-million sold aren't there more of those than some rival consoles?

    IMO they reckon Natal is more sophisticated than Nintendo Balance Board so can demand a price premium.

  • LetsGo #102 2 years ago

    Considering you need a house the size of a mansion to play the thing, I'm sure the people planning to buy it can afford it.

  • ignatiusjreilly #103 2 years ago

    I guess it's just safer to start at the higher end. It's easy to drop the price if it's not selling, but much harder to increase the price if you found you priced it too low.

  • monkeywithnoeyes #104 2 years ago

    @Shikasama. You dont need to spend £100+ for am iphone before you can get an iPad to work though. Natal isnt a standalone product..a 360's still required. And lets not forget that they actually downgraded the tech (removed the chip) in order to keep price down.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #105 2 years ago

    IMO, both Sony and MS are going to overprice these mocon techs. I agree that £50 would be more palatable for Natal, and that's coming from me who's not really interested in motion control stuff.

    These awful prices can only be trumped, by some decent enough games to entice us. E3 is going to have its work cut out to get me to buy into Natal, just as much as studios having a mountain moving task, for me to buy into 3Dtv.

    But of course, if the casuals bite, £100 will be nothing to them, a point I'm sure Sony and MS are both counting on.

  • sneetch #106 2 years ago

    Steep, if that's the actual price then it better come with an awesome game as well, expecting someone to splash out $150 on Natal and another $60 or so on a game is a bit much.

    I am doubtful about this "trusted source"; you can be incredibly trusted but without knowing where their information comes from can you really trust anyone on this? For all we know they (whoever they are) are purely going on what they guess it'll be worth.

  • CARL05 #107 2 years ago

    Pre-Natal depression D:

  • irve77 #108 2 years ago

    oh joy ... this is just a marketing trick .... you get 2 weeks of thinking it's gonna be $150 then at E3 MS announce it at the bargain price of $100 and everyone is like "yay it's so cheap"

    where as before today everyone was thinking $70-80


    If i'm wrong then MS are just fools ... they can't expect a high take up on something that costs just $50 less than a Wii !

  • WJF #109 2 years ago

    'I'd place a bet that this is a deliberate leak - they say it will be £100 so that when they say £80 at E3 hardcore gamers go 'oh, that's not so bad'.'

    I agree with Doctor What. I can see them dropping this to £79.99 for launch, with the '£100' price put up there to fool people into thinking it's a bargain.

    And next summer, depending on sales and Move, it'll be £50.

  • spiritsnake #110 2 years ago

    guys any links to article saying they removed the processor chip??

  • thepiedpiper #111 2 years ago

    the only thing i'm worried about is that the turnaround of this "project" has been so quick that it is going to be bug city and patch a plenty
    Edited by thepiedpiper at 27/05/10 @ 17:42

  • ronuds #112 2 years ago

    If that price is correct, you're almost better off just buying a new 360 with it bundled in.

    $150 looks very iffy to me, but who knows. I think if MS were really serious, though, then $150 is not going to cut it.

  • Lobosolitario #113 2 years ago

    At that price I can't see anyone in the casual market buying it.

  • devilmyarse #114 2 years ago

    What exactly are they selling for $150? They've already said that they've removed the custom processor and offloaded it onto the 360's CPUs. So you're paying $150 for two CMOS active pixel sensors some plastic and a USB cable? What an absolute joke. They can't be serious at charging that much for it, that's ten times the amount it costs to produce. £50 would be quite expensive but justifiable if it came with a decent game (as in a game worth buying the accessory for, not like RIDE).

  • Eraserhead #115 2 years ago

    "Trusted source" my arse... this is still just a rumour at this point. Why wail and gnash teeth before the actual pricing is announced?

  • monkfishjoe #116 2 years ago

    I have a (now year old bet) with a friend of mine that this would be over £99.99 so I kind of hope this is right, just to piss him off (and win an armful of lovely beers).

    I'm not so fussed about this as I was when i made the bet, so I can wait and see if the games are any good and if the price drops before I invest.

  • Sharzam #117 2 years ago

    I actually think £100 is very cheap, it probably will have more use and be useful in more games than say a rock band set. Hell remember that even back before rock band type games a single guitar hero game would cost £60 and that would only be useful in that 1 game and yet it still sold.

    If its £100 i would sure get it, however i dont think it will be that if say its $149 then that will mean £150 minimum exchange rates dont generally apply for 2 main reasons. Firstly tax UK prices are set to include but US prices are set before tax also if they can get away with charging more they will.

  • SEVQA #118 2 years ago

    spiritsnake

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/micros...

  • Sunyavadin #119 2 years ago

    I see this going the same way the 360 Camera did.

    I just picked up two brand new for a tenner, so I anticipate after Natal gets some iffy support in a few games and only one or two devs find a real use for it, it'll be available for maybe £20 as they try to clean out unsold stock?

  • mrboshingles #120 2 years ago

    Why is everyone so antenatal? Babies.......


    /Coat

  • busboy33 #121 2 years ago

    @jellyhead:

    "MS aren't looking to sell it to us existing owners, they want to sell it in a bundle to new customers."

    I disagree. For this to work, they need millions of Natal units in homes to entice developers to work with it, the more the merrier.
    If MS were JUST selling Natal to new customers, and MS sold 300,000 Xboxs a month, and each one was bundled with Natal, they'd have 3.6 million users . . . in a year. Developers probably won't risk developing for Natal without a large base, so they won't develop beyond what they've committed to so far until they see the adoption rates.

    Microsoft HAS to get adoption among the current (approx.) 40 million user-base. If they can get 10% of the installed base to adopt, they get a Natal base of 4 million out the gate, with steady increases due to the new bundles. That would keep development rolling. If I as a developer have to wait for over a year to see that 4 mil for potential customers, I'm likely to just say "call me when you have customers".

    Certainly, the new bundles are a big part of the plan, but if that's the WHOLE plan then personally MS is in big trouble.

  • smelly #122 2 years ago

    im a cynic.

    I recon they've "leaked" this price so that when the REAL price is announced and is cheaper slightly - they look like heroes. Also it allows them to judge public reaction to the "unofficial" price, before announcing the real one.

  • Lamb #123 2 years ago

    My Xbox is dead to me until Fable 3 and Mass Effect 3. Lousy hard drive space and lack of Wi-Fi plus lack of exclusives I'm interested in. RIP 360. RIP Original Xbox.

  • muscleblade #124 2 years ago

    Quality products cost more. If the price was 200£ my hopes for Natal would have been even higher. 100£ is fine but at that low price it probably not a revolution. At 50£ it would be a lousy crappy gimmick and nothing more. I do not get why nobody see this. Its how pricing works. A BMW is more expensive than a LADA. Natal should be more expensive than Move if its twice as good. We dont know that but with a much higher pricepoint the probability is higher.

  • Seoh #125 2 years ago

    £100 might be ok provided it come with sumat Wii sports like.

    If you already own a 360 and are tempted to buy a Wii £100 for natal would be a no brainer

  • SomaticSense #126 2 years ago

    As hs already been mentioned, surely $150 equates to a £150 UK RRP? It's usually $1=£1.

    In which case they can fuck right off. Over £100 for what amounts to an accessory which will only bring shitty minigames? No fucking way.

  • DefdumBlindkid #127 2 years ago

    forget the GIMMICKS and just bring out Halo 7 and Call of Duty 16 already! Forget casual gamers, the Wii is for them.

  • abot #128 2 years ago

    If people are willing to pay $200 for plastic instruments what makes you think they won't pay $100-$150 for Natal.

  • BonzoBanana #129 2 years ago

    People don't have to worry about the £100 price point it will be in the bargain buckets for a tenner soon enough.

    Mind you what do I know I thought the wii was going to be huge flop with its mildly accelerated gamecube internals.

    At the end of the day though it has to be pretty amazing to sell in big numbers for £100. Thats what people are paying for wii's now anyway and thats fully supported already.

  • crazyhorse174 #130 2 years ago

    Have no idea if anyone has said it so far, but if you dont like the price of £100, you dont have to buy it.

  • DiamondIce #131 2 years ago

    @Vordred

    Same here. I would have been tempted at around the £50 mark. I am not that interested in motion games but I am a intrigued as to how Natal will work.

  • Sonic_D #132 2 years ago

    £60, ok. £100, fuck off.

  • NotSoSlim #133 2 years ago

    How are we going to see Natal work when the conference is a no technology event? Makes people think they have something to hide...text conference it is then which sucks to be fair

  • Silvervein #134 2 years ago

    Price tag aside, what's that thing good for?

    Say you want to pull a five hours long gaming session on saturday. So, do they really expect people to perform aerobic in front of the tv for that long? I'd like to see a person that can last through that and still claim it's fun, and not some sort of self imposed torment.

  • Collymilad #135 2 years ago

    £100 may be a little too much, but all you people saying "For an eyetoy?" "I have a Wii already" "Blah blah blah":

    Get a clue.

  • Connobi #136 2 years ago

    £100? It'll need some AMAZING apps, & I mean ground breaking for me to pony up 100 quid for it. MS has a history of bringout out peripherals & not supporting them (xbox vision, chatpad). Sony got it right this time guys, for once! :o)

  • dfunked #137 2 years ago

    I've got a special kind of "wave" for you, MS...

    It only involves my middle finger, and I'll let you have it for free instead of £100

  • Madder-Max #138 2 years ago

    This will dive, then crash and then bomb and then explode

  • Madder-Max #139 2 years ago

    at least it doesn't look like a clitoral stimulator like the ps3 thingy does.