Aaron Greenberg, director of product management, says: "I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary."
Adds another Microsoft source: "Don't believe nonsense on the internet is all I'll say. We'll do the right thing for Natal."
During the weekend, 1UP reported that a "new" Xbox console would be launched in fall 2010, with improved hardware and full backwards compatibility with the 360.
Rich Leadbetter, editor of Eurogamer's Digital Foundry channel, also says: "The fact is that an enhanced Xbox 360 is rather unlikely simply because the tech requires none of the console's processing might to sift through the data acquired by the 3D camera."
"All of the really clever stuff that Natal does is carried out onboard [the camera device], with the data then streamed across to the 360 via USB. If, as the 1UP report suggests, the 360 update is only offering a minimal amount of extra power, then the question surely must be, what's the point of that?"
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2009 15:50