Robbie Bach, the soon-departing head of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, sees Project Natal as a “midlife kicker” for the Xbox 360.

Talking in a retrospective Q&A, the executive called the controller-free motion controller the ‘holy grail’ of the console world and sees it as something that can be used to produce innovation for years to come.

“…there’s a tremendous opportunity from a business perspective to produce a new experience for people without shipping a new console,” he told TechFlash. “I mean, that’s sort of the Holy Grail in many ways of the console world is how do you ship completely new game experiences without actually forcing everybody to start over again, and I think Natal certainly presents that opportunity.”

Natal will come with some ‘wowing experiences’ as it launches later in the year, Bach adds, after which “the creative teams will really hit their stride, then the technology team will really hit its stride, and how it integrates with Live will get enhanced.”

“Because it’s software and services oriented, you’ve got three, four years of some really cool innovation that can happen.”

“So, for me it’s a jumpstart catalyst. It’s a midlife kicker for the 360, and it’s an opportunity to really drive that business in a dramatic way.”

http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2010/05/26/project-natal-a-midlife-kicker

Posted: May 27, 2010 3:46 am