Natal, Microsoft’s Xbox add on for motion control gaming, isn’t out until the end of the year, but the company’s already working on a second version, according to one Microsoft exec. But what console could Natal 2 be destined for?
While we eagerly await the first gen Natal, Hsiao-Wuen Hon, managing director of Microsoft Research Asia, has spilled the beans on plans for a Natal 2 in a feature for the Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper.
Talking about Microsoft’s ability to innovate, he teased Xbox gamers with the following statement: “When we do invent something first like the Natal kind of scenario, while we have a researcher working with the product group for the first version, we already have a researcher thinking about the second version down the road so we certainly hope we will continue to be holding that technology.”
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What’s that? Microsoft is committed to motion control and already has staff dreaming up ideas for Natal 2? OK then! It’s a surprising way to let slip that a second gen Natal control kit is even under consideration, but we’ll take it.
What we’d absolutely love to know though is what console Microsoft would be aiming for with a follow up Natal. Both Microsoft and Sony are clearly committed to a much longer console lifespan with this generation, and Xbox bosses have always sidestepped questions about an Xbox 720 or Xbox portable. Cue plenty of speculation, and if we’re lucky, Natal 2 will debut at E3 in a few years or so.
Out TBC | £TBC | Microsoft (Via Sydney Morning Herald)
