Xbox 360 Project Natal release date

Mike Bantick
Thursday, 07 January 2010 10:34

Your IT - Entertainment

At CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas today Microsoft announced the release date for the Xbox 360 motion controller Project Natal, get ready to dance stupidly in front of your game console before the end of the year.

After a bit of a problem with power, including a darkened stage and rebooting Windows 7 machines, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer got his Keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) underway.

Part of the keynote from included some details from Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment devices division.  The details included the confirmation of a pre-Christmas release for Project Natal , the Xbox 360 venture into motion control.

Bach pointed out the install base of 39 million Xbox 360’s including the satisfying amount of 10 million sold in 2009. 

In echoes of last year’s CES show Xbox Live figures for 2009 were also showcased:
o   Xbox  LIVE enjoyed its biggest week ever at Christmas time, with a new member joining every second.
o   Xbox LIVE saw record peaks of more than 2.2 million people using the service at the same time.
o   The addition of new social features like Facebook, Twitter and 1080p instant on movies has been a huge success with nearly 10 million members utilising entertainment content on Xbox LIVE.
o   Over 1 million new friend connections have been made since the launch of Facebook on Xbox LIVE.

Microsoft also rolled out the Xbox 360 exclusive titles scheduled for 2010: “Kicking off the first-half of the year with back-to-back Xbox 360 exclusives like Splinter Cell Conviction, Crackdown 2, Mass Effect 2, and Alan Wake.  Our holiday line-up of games includes the highly anticipated Fable 3, followed by Halo Reach, which is expected to be the biggest title of 2010.”

Finally, Bach spoke about a new Xbox LIVE experience, “Game Room,” According to Microsoft: “Game Room” will be the ultimate destination for reliving the glory days of the classic 1980s arcade. “Game Room” will offer a library of 30 original arcade and console classics including “Centipede®,” “Asteroids Deluxe®,” and “Super Cobra,” which are shown in their original cabinet designs.  Buy once and play on both your Xbox 360 and Windows-based PC.

Apart from the “Buy Once” option, “Game Room” sounds very much like Xbox Live Arcade in it’s original form

“2010 is going to be the biggest year in Xbox history,” Bach said.