Kinect (Reviews page 18)

MCV is laying claim to delivering the first details regarding the launch of Microsoft’s Project Natal. Citing a behind-closed-doors Microsoft tour of UK publishers, the report states that the controller-free Natal will release worldwide in November 2010, be accompanied by 14 games, and retail for below £50 when sold alone, making it FAR CHEAPER than most would have suspected (and by “most”, I mean “us”.)

The most interesting quote in the piece is that Microsoft is “trying to get as close as possible to ‘impulse buy’” territory and of course the low price tag would accommodate that.

Of course, none of these details are confirmed, but you can expect Msoft to respond in some way as we draw near to the eventual launch of Natal on the Xbox 360. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Until then, start dancing around your living room and flailing your arms to practice up…

As with any launch it remains to be seen if the games are games and not just fancy tech demos but i'd certainly order myself one.
One day someone will come along with a really good idea that will use the system in a new way that grabs all of us.
I'd expect some rerelease game with Natal support perhaps and a number of arcade games.....Totom anyone?

[Born2beSlicker]

It seems the Microsoft ship has sprung a leak!

A Robbie Bach interview intended for release later today at CES has leaked onto the web and confirmed a new feature called the 'Xbox Game Room' and seemingly confirmed Project Natal for release this year, as expected. Microsoft's Channel 9 developer community site accidentally posted the video interview with Robbie Bach, President of the Entertainment & Devices Division, hours before the company's CES press conference.
The video was quickly pulled, but Microsoft is still hosting the video which you can find here.

Expect all this to be officially announced soon.

Update: Here is a transcript to what Bach says in regards to Game Room:

Well, Game Room in some ways is sort of a retro approach. And it's interesting, there's a generation of people -- sort of my advanced, mature age [laughs] -- who grew up with a set of games like Centipede. They look almost like casual, fun games today -- at the time they were high-end, edgy games -- and so Game Room is the idea of bringing that back to the market. And bringing that to a very broad audience. And I think what we're gonna find is that when people can get 30 or more of these games, they're gonna love it for the experience. And it's not just you and I who are gonna love it, even the people who would call themselves "hardcore gamers" are gonna say "Oh wow this is fun!" In a retro way. It's sort of like my daughter going to watch Journey. I'm like, this is a band that was playing when I was growing up. And she thinks it's a cool band and I like the music. And I think you're gonna have the same phenomenon with Game Room. We're gonna enjoy the games and they're gonna think it's cool. I think that's very powerful.

Also, a rumored screenshot from a recent survey.

O great there going to make HOME for the 360
I dunno ,I think there doing some rather useless things with our sub money.
I think they should look more towards making Facebook functional,bringing down the Zune prices and work on thier partnerships to bring newer content to the service quicker,hook up with youtube on the 360 aswell as BBCi

Yeah, GameRoom seems like a waste of time to me. I've got Arcade, thanks.

I want less of this gimmick crap and some stuff that is useful like Dedicated servers, mod support, and better price marketplace products. Which I doubt will happen.

Pricing for games room.

It is free to download “Game Room,” which you can then populate with classic arcade games available for individual purchase. Buy games once and play on both an Xbox 360 system and a Windows-based PC for 400 Microsoft Points. Or, to purchase a game for only one platform, each individual Xbox 360 or Windows-based PC title is 240 Microsoft Points. You also have the option to pay to play a single game, just like dropping two quarters in the slot in the old arcades, for 40 Microsoft Points. Visit your friends’ “game rooms” and try their games free before you buy.

At least you can play all the games in Home for free, they might be shit, but they're free.

I remember Centipede when it first came out, it was shit then, I'm willing to bet that it's still shit now.

You also have the option to pay to play a single game, just like dropping two quarters in the slot in the old arcades, for 40 Microsoft Points. Visit your friends’ “game rooms” and try their games free before you buy.

Takes the piss!

Why can't they have some sales on stuff like Steam.

“Natal has to work on the existing hardware without taking too much hardware processing away from the games developers,” noting that Natal consumes between 10 to 15 percent of the Xbox’s computing power.

http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/07/natal-c ... cpu-power/

[Janus]

Home on the 360?! Sad face.

Looking forward to seeing some of the software for Natal tho!!

[Born2beSlicker]

Ok, Game Room has the original Tempest. It wins the game.

It's not bad, and the free client gives you the possibility of a few free achievements. I just don't think I would buy any/many games on it when you can get 10min free demos on each.

Mine doesnt work all the time, it gets stuck 1/4 of the way up the loading screen and hangs

Cant find any info online about what the problem may be

[Born2beSlicker]

1. Sign in
2. Load Game Room and press start.
3. When Loading hangs, press Guide, press X to sign out.
4. Remove network cable/usb for Wifi.
5. Sign in with profile.
6. Press Start and press B when it says you must be signed in XBL to use all features.
7. Room loaded, it asks you if you want to sign into XBL to get most of features (Note this is the second time its asked you). Attach Wifi/Network cable and wait till you get the green light (On Wifi).
8. Connect to Live.
9. Play.

The game server is fucked.

It's basically broken at the moment. Which is a shame.

Ah right i see, ill wait till they fix it i guess

Cheers though Slicker, will try that if it aint working later