Home Gaming Natal To Sell For R500 – Michael Pachter

Natal To Sell For R500 – Michael Pachter

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Michael Pachter - Pach Attack
Michael Pachter, videogames industry analyst and man with glasses has given his verdict on the price that Microsoft will charge for Project Natal when it releases at the end of this year.

According to Pachter, Microsoft don’t really want to cash in on the sales of Natal but rather find it a lot more important to get it into every Xbox 360 console owners home, as well as entice even more people to buy the system.

Make sense? Actually… yes, yes it does.

In his new Gametrailers show Pach-Attack he says the following:

“I’d be very surprised if the thing is more then $79, and I really think it’s going to be $50.

Microsoft’s not trying to make money on the device, trying to get everybody to have the device so that they can sell us other things, eventually can sell us a lot more Xbox 360s.”

Now I don’t usually listen to everything that Michael Pachter has to say, but the man definitely does have a point.

Microsoft are not launching a new product, they are launching an entirely new “platform” in their eyes, one that needs to lengthen the Xbox 360’s lifespan by another 5 years minimum. If they present it as a huge console upgrade for a small price, they won’t have to worry about heavily convincing people to upgrade, it will just be a logical and relatively cheap step for everyone.

I am excited to see what Microsoft is going to show this year as they build up for the release of Project Natal. I am one of the people who believes that while actual Natal games might be a load of shovelware (as seen on the Wii), subtle uses of the platform may enhance our experiences in other games.

If they don’t and it’s all a waste of time, hey, it’s probably only going to waste R500, right?

Source: Pach-Attack Show

Note: I know that some of you may be pointing out that for $50 doesn’t actually add up to R500 but it usually does. To put it quite simply, once products are bought, shipped, delivered and put on shelves in South Africa, the price usually comes to the Dollar x 10, for example, the PSP was $250 and sold for R2500 when launched.

Last Updated: February 22, 2010

9 Comments

  1. This will probably cost moar than 2k here in sunny S.A. :face:

    Reply

  2. WitWolfyZA

    February 22, 2010 at 13:04

    Im guessing it will got to no more then R800, Its just a glorified eye toy anyways. Still wonder if this was the right move from MS.

    I would’ve made it like they promised it would’ve been when they showed it at E3 last year. Even at a tad higher price range. Software emulation lol what a joke

    Reply

    • Fox1

      February 22, 2010 at 15:21

      Software emulation is a good way to go with the power of the Xbox’s hardware. It also leads to future compatibility instead of us ending up with another Emotion Engine chip being too costly to produce scenario 😉

      Reply

  3. RSA-Ace

    February 22, 2010 at 13:08

    An easy $50 or $60. Like WitWolfy said, it’s a glorified eye toy. Especially since the hardware acceleration is out.

    Reply

    • Geoff

      February 22, 2010 at 13:15

      I dunno. Time-of-flight 3D-mapping IR camera’s are pretty impressive technology, and hardly simple webcams like the eyetoy.

      That said, I have no real interest in motion control from either camp, but I reckon Sony’s motion control system (call it whatever you like) lends itself better to “gamer’s games.”

      Reply

      • RSA-Ace

        February 22, 2010 at 14:05

        Yes TOF is really cool. But Natal isn’t based on a TOF system – at least according to Microsoft.

        It is simply “RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone” with some awesome software.

        The Playstation Eye is basically the same thing but the Eye focused on fps (up to 120fps) and natal focuses on depth.

        Reply

  4. Maxiviper

    February 22, 2010 at 16:32

    They should of kept that dedicated chip in natal, instead of using 15-30% of every bodies xbox 360’s processing power just to run this thing.

    How are they then going to integrate it into games like Halo Reach, they would have to down tune the games graphics and so just to be able to use Natal with it.

    Let hope this thing doesn’t turn into a Xii

    Reply

    • Nick de Bruyne

      February 22, 2010 at 17:29

      I think that when they saw that the hardware was gonna make the price too high, they chickened out because they really need to keep it cost effective so that everyone buys one.

      You make a good point about integration into heavy duty games though. What I would like to know is if Natal will constantly require those resources.

      Reply

      • RSA-Ace

        February 22, 2010 at 18:20

        When they announced Natal they said it could track 48 points, at any given time (they mentioned this when they stated that Natal would have dedicated hardware – I can only think this number would be lower and not higher since it’s software emu now).

        It has also been stated that it will use 10-15% of the Xbox’s CPU. Lets assume 20% because we all know MS can talk out there asses. So if a developer wanted to use all 48 points then it will have to cut back 20% of the power.

        But 48 points is actually quite a bit when you realise you only really need 5 points to track a stick figure (with no head, and no elbows, or knees, or hands, or feet). So for simple applications Natal could be practical. Remember you can’t just scale that 48->20% ratio. There will be a constant drain on the processor because each frame there will need to be image processing done to locate the points.

        Just remember though that hardcore games could incorporate this easily if they just use it for minor/specific things. They could always choose to use the tech when the processor isn’t being drained.

        Reply

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