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[gogojira]

Eep, that's scary.

 

[brain_stew]

Expectations for the price became screwed up when people found out Microsoft was removing the processor from the unit, to keep costs down. Some people were estimating the unit would cost as little as $50 at retail, and come bundled with a collection of demo titles.

So Microsoft has a problem: any price higher than $50 is going to create the impression that it's more expensive than it should be.

The solution to this problem is to leak false information about the price being $150, so when the announcement is made that it costs $100 with a demo disc, and will be packed in with consoles starting at $250, people will be more accepting because it's lower than the rumoured price.

This is active PR folks, I would expect the true name of the unit to be leaked before the final price point is.

I look forward to seeing if I'm right. Hopefully it even slightly lower than that.

They can try and massage it all they want, that's still be way too expensive. It needs to come with compelling software and sell for no more than $80/£60, $100 with a demo disc isn't going to cut it.

 

[Stormwatch]

Not that I'm doubting you or anything but has there been confirmation that Natal accepts input from 2+ players? I would have to think it does but I don't remember seeing anything on it.

That is a good question. I admit that I could be mistaken. That would suck if Natal was 2 player only.

 

[scitek]

I love how everybody is comparing the Wii and Move to Natal's prices. Even if the Move is under $100 that is for what? 1 camera, 1 controller and 1 wand? For 4 people to play you need to buy another 3 wand/controller combos. Those were rumored to be about $60, right? So, for 4 people to add the Move capabilities to their PS3 it will cost $280. Wii controllers are about $80 retail once you add the nunchuck and the Motion Plus. So, to add 3 more controller setups to Wii it will cost $240. Natal is $150 for 4-player support, right?

Natal would also be $150 for ONE player support, which is how most people will be playing it anyway. Alone.

EDIT: beaten, but still...

 

[Interfectum]

Because natal is a webcam.

an overpriced webcam.

 

[soco]

The Wii was never $300.

yeah fixed. i meant say with an extra wiimote as was needed for most of the multiplayer experiences, which is the target audience.

 

[nocode]

What are they nuts? Both this and Move will be laughed at with those price points. Every impression will come with the "but is it worth the expensive investment" line somewhere in there. E3 is going to be damn interesting this year though. So will NPD days this fall.

 

[Mrbob]

Driving up the console price by $100 at this point in the lifecyle is idiotic.

Worked for the PSP GO. Oh...wait.

I hope this really isn't true because I'm ready for some new hardware in a year or two.

 

[MomoPufflet]

Remember when I said Natal would cost $50? Turns out I was right! The Wiimote IS Natal. This is what I've been saying to everyone. It just says "Nintendo" on the box and isn't actually Natal.

 

[AceBandage]

Because natal is a webcam.

Then what is it?
What can it do that a typical $40 web cam can not?

 

[Rad-]

I seriously doubt it will be that expensive. 100 bucks with a bundled game would be my guess.

But if it really ends up that price, yeah I'm not touching it. :lol

 

[brotkasten]

It essentially is.
I had a Logitech Web Cam in 1998 that could play motion games like basketball and pop the bubble.

Good for you, but you're talking about something like EyeToy. From the technological perspective, Natal is much more than that. I can't wait to get my hands on it and play with it on my PC, but 149 bucks? lol no.

 

[MinnesotaFatz]

The Wii was never $300.

Hmm, I'm reminded of a family I observed at Gamestop that thought they were going to walk out of the door only spending $250 for their Wii and maybe get a game. Long story short, that salesman should have been paid on commission. :lol

 

[Pooya]

Its also $150 for 1 player support. That's the issue, not everyone want to stump up for a full 4 player setup right off the bat. Plus, most multi player party games work just fine passing remotes around, two is more than enough than most will ever need. Plus, who exactly has enough space infront of their TV for 4 grown adults in full on arm flailing seizure mode? I sure as hell don't.

nope it supports up to four players IIRC.

 

[gofreak]

Driving up the console price by $100 at this point in the lifecyle is idiotic.

Trying to think about this, but if they can create a sensation will it not sell anyway?

It makes me wonder though if Natal will be bundled as standard starting at $300 or if they'll keep a new Natal-less Arcade sku at $99 or something.

Good for you, but you're talking about something like EyeToy. From the technological perspective, Natal is much more than that. I can't wait to get my hands on it and play with it on my PC, but 149 bucks? lol no.

There are webcams out there sold at profit that do HD video capture, in the ~$60 range. Multi-mic arrays are cheap (see: PSeye). Does the depth sensor really add THAT much expense? I'm highly skeptical of that.

 

[Tabz]

:lol Pachter

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Its also $150 for 1 player support. That's the issue, not everyone want to stump up for a full 4 player setup right off the bat.

It's targeting families, though, and I'm sure software will mirror that. That fits well with what we've been hearing about the launch line-up, that it will be mostly comprised of casual games. We also know that core games are coming later (Capcom's core IP revival, for instance), and by the time the second wave of games hits, the price will probably go down to $99.

Providing this rumor is true in the first place, of course.

 

[soco]

Natal would also be $150 for ONE player support, which is how most people will be playing it anyway. Alone.

most GAF people, perhaps, but GAF was never their target audience.

 

[Malio]

Until there are at least half a dozen "killer apps" for this, I'm not touching it.

It'll probably be $99 though. Waiting and seeing.

 

[WasteLand Soldier]

seeing as they've gotten 360's price down i'm gonna say this rumor is partially true. meaning it won't be the arcade we know today but a slim arcade with a decent amount of storage. ms will want people using natal to buy things. i think the arcade slim will have 16+ gigs of some sort of memory built in. that's the only way this rumor makes sense. otherwise FAIL. they can't price themselves $100 higher than nintendo.

 

[Alx]

I would buy it at this price... knowing that it would obviously fail. It's still a nice piece of technology for the geeky crowd (which I'm part of), but it wouldn't convince anybody else.
Maybe a few choices were not so wise, too : I was suprised to learn that the camera is now motorized. I think they could have spared a few $ by keeping a fixed camera, which should be ok for most gaming applications (plus I don't think regular people would like having a camera following them by turning by itself while they cross the living room)

With that said, this is annoying me to no end :

That's $100 too much for a fucking webcam...

$149 for a freaking camera?! This won't end well.

Isn't this supposed to be an underpowered POS?

There's nothing attractive about paying $100 for a fancy webcam.

This is basically two webcams taped together now, right?

I had a Logitech Web Cam in 1998 that could play motion games like basketball and pop the bubble.

THIS - IS - NOT - A - REGULAR - CAMERA ! (nor 2 cameras stuck together).
There is no other product on the market that can do half of what Natal does for less than 1000$.

 

[Door2Dawn]

Come on guys, there is no way natal will cost that much. Microsoft isn't stupid.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Edge rumors are 99% true
:lol :lol :lol :lol good luck with that Microsoft, 360 had a good run etc etc
They are out of their fucking mind wow. DOA confirmed:lol .

what rumors has edge had before?

i don't believe microsoft is that dumb. im calling fake.

 

[The Shift]

$180.00 Australian Dollars!

Just show me convincing head-tracking in driving games/FPS and I'll bite but way to rip the lint from a poor mans pockets MS.

Still, they can't be serious with that entry price.

 

[Y2Kev]

Worked for the PSP GO. Oh...wait.

I hope this really isn't true because I'm ready for some new hardware in a year or two.

So shouldn't you hope that it IS true?

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

Most of the computing being done by.... the XBOX 360.

That's not my point. Developing it wasn't cheap.

That said, 150 is way too much which is a shame because I found the tech to be interesting.

 

[Kafel]

$599 over again but with all the leaks before the announcement so MS can wake up.

 

[AceBandage]

I would buy it at this price... knowing that it would obviously fail.

With that said, this is annoying me to no end :








THIS - IS - NOT - A - REGULAR - CAMERA ! (nor 2 cameras stuck together).
There is no other product on the market that can do half of what Natal does for less than 1000$.

Nothing Natal is doing is because of the hardware of the camera, though.
All the razzle dazzle is being done by the 360.

 

[Vinci]

This can actually sell decently if they can advertise the fact that you won't need to store a bunch of clunky peripherals and up to 4 people can play with the same unit. Once you get that value proposition across, they could actually get away with selling this thing at $150 to casuals.

People have to want the thing in the first place to care about this value proposition. I don't care what sort of discount I'm going to get on a Swiss Army Knife if I don't want a Swiss Army Knife.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I see people keep saying "If it catches on like the Wii, then the pricepoint is fine."

Which to me seems like kind of fallacious logic. Nintendo spent millions upon millions on R&D and market research, pairing the two together to make a system that is still pretty flawed, but managed to tap in to the consumer veins. Microsoft has some cool technology that someone asked them to look at and they are deciding to run with it because motion controls are the cool thing right now.

This is the kind of thing where you can't just sit back and say "Well, if it happens to become successful, then why worry about the price?" The key to being successful here is to price it extremely aggressively. You can't just slightly undercut the competition and assume consumers will see the value, you're already fighting an uphill battle because you are considered an also-ran, a copier, even if that's not necessarily true.

People tend not to give a shit if something is subjectively better, or at least not to the extent that they will shell out $150 for unproven console refreshes.

 

[mentalfloss]

But what about $299 for the whole package?

Sure, that works too. Casuals do not really care about online unless it's facebook/twitter, etc. The arcade unit for $299 could definitely stack up to Wii's $199 if they advertise this correctly. Even if they do a comparison promo - better graphics, no additional hardware, lower cost for 3 or more users, etc.

Hey, it's not going to be a huge seller, but it will probably meet their initial targets after launch.

This is the kind of thing where you can't just sit back and say "Well, if it happens to become successful, then why worry about the price?" The key to being successful here is to price it extremely aggressively.

I think MS and Sony have already given up in trying to grab Nintendo's marketshare right away. The smarter thing for them to do, is to slowly infuse their fanbase with casuals - which is why these pricepoints actually makes sense to some degree. They want to start off a high and grab some tech fetishists first, and then they will gradually lower their pricepoints so that they can spread this technology over the course of the next 5 or so years.

 

[1-D_FTW]

So they took out the hardware something-something and are still charging 150 bucks for it? Has anyone told MS it's not a law to mark everything up a gazillion times its cost?

 

[brain_stew]

This can actually sell decently if they can advertise the fact that you won't need to store a bunch of clunky peripherals and up to 4 people can play with the same unit. Once you get that value proposition across, they could actually get away with selling this thing at $150 to casuals.

Yeah, playing the whole "value proposition" card sure worked wonders for Sony............

 

[scitek]

most GAF people, perhaps, but GAF was never their target audience.

They're going after the audience that buys one game, plays it for a bit, then lets it sit for months until a family get-together or something.

 

[Balb]

Maybe I'm being pessimistic but I don't see what kind of software Microsoft can come up with that will make Natal a must-buy. I forsee a ton of soulless Wii Sports-style games, like the Move.

 

[soco]

With that said, this is annoying me to no end :

...


THIS - IS - NOT - A - REGULAR - CAMERA ! (nor 2 cameras stuck together).
There is no other product on the market that can do half of what Natal does for less than 1000$.

that's an important point. it means MS is failing miserably so far with showing off the "power" of the device and is going to have an uphill battle with it.

 

[TheKingsCrown]

THIS - IS - NOT - A - REGULAR - CAMERA ! (nor 2 cameras stuck together).
There is no other product on the market that can do half of what Natal does for less than 1000$.

This sounds like an argument I heard in 2006.

 

[emomoonbase]

Microsoft expects to sell millions and millions of Natal units in its first year on the market

I'm guessing more like 200,000.

 

[Pooya]

what rumors has edge had before?

i don't believe microsoft is that dumb. im calling fake.

most recent one was Gears of War 3, they nailed pretty much everything, date of reveal, details, release date, everything 1 month before the announcement.

 

[soco]

They're going after the audience that buys one game, plays it for a bit, then lets it sit for months until a family get-together or something.

which is perfect for making money off of, and possibly the reason for not taking a loss on the cost of it -- assuming the price numbers are even correct.

 

[falconzss]

it wont.

you might get some early adopters this fall but this shit is going to drop like a rock next year.

i've been wrong about so many things this generation to be able to predict this will fail for certain.

 

[ULTROS!]

I would buy it at this price... knowing that it would obviously fail. It's still a nice piece of technology for the geeky crowd (which I'm part of), but it wouldn't convince anybody else.
Maybe a few choices were not so wise, too : I was suprised to learn that the camera is now motorized. I think they could have spared a few $ by keeping a fixed camera, which should be ok for most gaming applications (plus I don't think regular people would like having a camera following them by turning by itself while they cross the living room)

With that said, this is annoying me to no end :








THIS - IS - NOT - A - REGULAR - CAMERA ! (nor 2 cameras stuck together).
There is no other product on the market that can do half of what Natal does for less than 1000$.

I dunno but for me EyeCam comes in pretty close to it (of course Natal is more sophisticated). :lol

 

[otake]

What's the market for this again? Is there any big game coming out next to it?

Like, is anyone actually interested in this or the PS3's motion gimmick?

 

[Vinci]

They're going after the audience that buys one game, plays it for a bit, then lets it sit for months until a family get-together or something.

Even if this were true, it only underscores exactly how foolish this sort of price would be.

 

[soco]

Nothing Natal is doing is because of the hardware of the camera, though.
All the razzle dazzle is being done by the 360.

This is false.

 

[noisome07]

that's an important point. it means MS is failing miserably so far with showing off the "power" of the device and is going to have an uphill battle with it.

yet they have a night planned just for Natal... we'll know if they'll need to have an uphill battle with it afterwards.

 

[lljride]

its a deliberate leak just to see the responce I bet :lol

I kind of agree honestly, I don't see any way they release this at $149. Doesn't seem like something MS would do at all. Unless they have a ridiculous amount of faith in Cirque de Soleil to help move units at that price...

 

[brotkasten]

Nothing Natal is doing is because of the hardware of the camera, though.
All the razzle dazzle is being done by the 360.

If you don't know how Natal works then please, please, stop posting. It's annoying.

 

[gofreak]

IF this were true, I wonder if publishing partners knew about it?

Or are they confident regardless?

As much bitching as there is here, if there's a new Slim 360 with a - ding ding - 360GB HDD with Natal available this Xmas for $399 or something, I bet many of you will 'jump in'.

If Natal is going to be put in every box at increased cost, with no other options - i.e. if it's your only way to get a Slim - I foresee grudging acceptance over time.

 

[JudgeN]

Consider the price of Microsoft other accessory I'm not sure why people thought Natal was going to be in the $50-$80 range. Hell $100 is still to much IMO.