This is just my opinion, but I really think that Microsoft has the experience, in both technology and business, to make Natal work, and here's why:
1. Microsoft is going to treat it like the launch of a new console, or so they say (http://kotaku.com/5287069/natal-launch-will-be-as-big-as-360s).
This means that not only will there be a lot of fanfare and media coverage before it's released (just like the Wii), but also they're devoted to actually having games that work with the peripheral instead of just blindly releasing it and having everybody forget about it.
From Nintendo's two big past peripheral attempts, one successful and one not-so-successful, we can see why this could easily work. The Wii Balance Board was attractively packaged with Wii Fit (the game overshadowed the peripheral), and it sold like hotcakes. The Wii Zapper, on the other hand, was released with no supported games, other than the pack-in of Link's Crossbow Training, but in this case the peripheral overshadowed the game. Now, there are some other differences that could have contributed as well; the Balance Board was a new method of control input while the Zapper was just a new place to put the Remote and Nunchuk, etc. But, it can't be denied that people will much prefer a peripheral with a fun-looking game or set of games over one where the company just expects others to release games that support it.
2. They will ensure that it works as well, or at least almost as well, as the demos showed.
Microsoft isn't stupid. They know that they're losing badly to Nintendo in the console wars. If they're going out on a limb and investing such a large amount of capital into a product in a market where they're losing, you know they're going to make sure it's successful. Bad word of mouth or an underwhelming experience with Natal would kill them after all the time and money they've invested into this project. Could this mean a longer delay between now and Natal's release? Absolutely. But, it also will make sure that Natal is everything they've promised, unlike what occurred with Nintendo where people now find themselves underwhelmed by the Wii (even though it still sells like crazy).
3. Natal will greatly support, but not overhaul, the Xbox 360.
It's no secret that a very sizeable chunk of the Xbox's market consists of core gamers, rather than the casual. Natal will allow for the Xbox to reach out to the casual crowd, but also not alienate the core crowd as did the Wii, since traditional games using the old controller will still be churned out at more or less the same rate. This way, Microsoft will gain a huge amount of software sales from both hardcore and casual games, and this will let them further enhance both the core and casual gaming experience.
Agree? Disagree? Your thoughts?
Log in to comment