Natal's Business Sense

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There's one thing about Natal that bothers me. Yeah, it looks like good occasional fun now and maybe good hardcore gaming in the future, but what bothers me is how its being presented as innovative. The technologies being introduced by the big three are all old. The innovation is in how they will be applied, not the tech itself. What bothers is me is how Microsoft has been pushing it as a flash of genius from Microsoft specifically for their Xbox 360 owners.

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It bothers me because that's probably not true, not when Microsoft was pimping this tech to businesses in the form of Microsoft Surface. Yeah, you remember that? No, that's ok. It doesn't look that tech has done very well. At any rate, it can detect motion, recognize objects, etc. I actually don't know too much about it other than it shares a similar niche and Microsoft's vision of the future.

It sure makes business sense for them to repurpose that tech for gaming. They answer Nintendo's wiimote and save their investment in the tech. However, it seems to me they tend to prefer what makes more business sense for them over what's best for gamers. I'm referring to their choice to support HD DVD only to stick a thorn in Sony's side. Sometime's though, it's good for gamers (X360 owners). Like the millions they spend on exclusivity deals. In this case though, it's going controller free to stand apart, and maybe to avoid spending too much on the tech. Like their shady deals with IBM that got them Cell processor tech for much cheaper than Sony. It's not like IBM is afraid of shady business, either. They, sold mainframes to Hitler, after all. That's supposed to be joke, but it's not. I hope 360 owners don't get gypped out of the best that motion control has to offer because it doesn't make business sense for Microsoft.

I hope 360 owners get what they want, but I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft flat out refused to develop a physical controller despite demand for it.