Project Natal To Launch At $150?

Sources and financial figureheads have been trying to peg the price of Microsoft'sProject Natal since its reveal without a consensus. I've heard $50 more than once, $80 a couple of times, and beyond $200 before the chip removal. And while I dislike this kind this kind of financial guesswork, the latest rumor on Natal's price--this close to E3 mind you--seems a bit more solid: Natal may cost $150 at launch.

This rumor is brought to you by Edge and its "trusted source" who successfully stole Cliff Bleszinski'sGears of War 3 debut thunder shortly before his appearance on Jimmy Fallon's TV show. 

The source says while a standalone Natal unit will be $150, a bundled unit will only cost $299. The source believes Microsoft will put Natal alongside a harddrive-less Xbox Live Arcade console at this reduced priced. And allegedly, we should expect Natal this October 26th, although the date may shift. Previous reports, mind you, have stated Natal would hit in November and December.  

"Microsoft expects to sell millions and millions of Natal units in its first year on the market so you can expect the software launch line-up to target non-traditional gamers,” the source told Edge, almost breaking into corporate talk. “A major marketing campaign will also play a key role in attracting and educating the expanded audience about Xbox 360’s controller-free revolution.” 

You know, predicting the price of upcoming hardware is like a bad game. Bad games don't have redeeming qualities; the characters are stiff, the mechanics are all sorts of busted, and design often slips manically from whatever momentary standards the game desperately tries to grasp onto. See: Damnation. See also: Things on Wheels. There's no point in taking stabs at hardware prices before the hardware is even finalized, even if you're Michael Pachter. At the end of the day, as consumers, we don't really care until the device is on store shelves. 

Besides, I get the sense that no one, other than a very select few corporate types who would never speak to the media, knew what was going on with Natal's price. Prediction, then, was just guesswork based on previous price points on loosely related hardware. That's pretty shaky. 

Following up, Edge received the standard, and understandable, Microsoft non-response to "rumors and speculation." The price is supposedly going to be revealed at E3, which makes more sense than the device's supposed price tag. Microsoft has invited press to a world premiere event on June 15th. A media briefing will accompany this on June 14th. The media briefing will be considerably more boring considering Cirque de Soleil won't be performing live. 

But this price talk doesn't really matter, does it? Those who want the Minority Report dashboard experience and want to jump around smacking pretend balls with their heads will buy it regardless. Those who know they don't want it, probably won't want it. See: the Wii Motion Plus. See Also: the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak. 

I feel like that is expensive, but the bundled unit sounds fine 
 
EDIT: oh also first...

Damn...

150 for a glorified camera that uses motion. Nah, I have the Wii and that already sucked.

That's... expensive. Like, really expensive.

unless this thing is actually completely revolutionary, which I doubt, 150bucks (which would be 150euros in europe) is way too much

 ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE US DOLLARS

This will end in tears.

This is the reason J Allard quit. I honestly don´t care about Natal until there are some good games for it- and mini game compilations don´t count.

Better have good games to back that price point.

None of what I've seen of this has proven itself yet. And it certainly hasn't proven itself 150 dollars worth.

Yeah $150 for what the $50 EyeToy from Sony is already doing isn't cheap.

Hmm a bit pricey, especially an item that really depends on what games they unveil at E3. If they reveal full budget titles that make full of the motion from big devs and not stupid party games, then this supposed price tag may be worth it. 
 
If the games are shite tho then yeh, too expensive, better off getting a Wii or look at the other competitor Sony.

That is way, way too high for what it is, especially since they cut out any additional hardware meaning it's basically just a camera.
I knew Natal would fail before, but damn, it's like they're trying to kill it.

Lame. This is going to flop like shit, I garantee. Alot of people are already burnt out on motion gaming. If Sony do something crazy and sell their stupid controllers and camera for under $80 they could interest alot of people (I'm thinking 2 controllers + camera bundle for 80 bones). For $150 I want a new console.

mmm i don't trust this to be worth every cent.

 So it may cost about five or six playstation eyes, huh.

But see, there are two cameras in Natal, so it's like two EyeToy's taped together. So, the price of three EyeToys may put it out of my price range.

would have to be damn good to justify $150

This is whats wrong with gaming. Please stop marketing towards the retarded casual gamer. Please.. for me..

Well, looks like I wont be buying Natal.

That's a lot of money but I'm hoping that it might be worth it.

" But see, there are two cameras in Natal, so it's like two EyeToy's taped together. So, the price of three EyeToys may put it out of my price range. "

As most of us will say it depends on the games. 
 
If it launches with a bunch of party games then I can't see myself picking it up.  However if it offers something cool with a more traditional  title this Christmas then I will.  Fuck knows what that game will be.

looks like natal is going to fail then

I'm not sure I follow that analogy with bad games. Doesn't seem relevant at all.
 
On top of that, if Natal can do exactly what it says it can do, $150 doesn't seem especially pricey, even if just for the convenience of navigating menus. And sure, I won't be getting any party game compilations, but little motions and whatnot in games could be cool.

Good thing I'm not buying this, that's highway robbery. 
 
@Waffles13: Yes 150 dollars to wave you hand to navigate menus, sounds exciting.

You could spend $150 on Natal or buy a Nintendo DS.

"Microsoft expects to sell millions and millions of Natal units in its first year on the market so you can expect the software launch line-up to target non-traditional gamers,”     
 
Hopefully that doesn't mean they're gonna copy the Wii's party game format. But that's probably what it means.

That's a lot of money to play break out.

I can't see this being a success at $150. Plenty of reasonably priced accessories have failed at much lower price points. I'm guessing more support will be put into software for Natal, but it'll be hard to get publishers to commit to a second wave of games if nothing sells for 6 months after launch. Microsoft needs to get this into lots of hands, and with unproven technology, I can't see that happening at this price.

"For $150 I want a new console. "

hmm, seems a bit too much but I could see it as $100 with a couple of games bundled with it. 
Also, I would imagine MS wants to see how far they can take the tech so any higher than $100 would probably hamper them in the long term.

" That's not cheap at all. It's utterly ridiculous. I would've picked one up, but not at that price. Not a chance in freaking hell, Microsoft. Not a goddamn chance. "

Like I posted on Kotaku (yesterday) Natal works for the whole room and whomever is in front of it, making it equal to 4+ sets of Wiimotes and nunchuks or whatever the Move will consist of.  So $150 is a fair amount if you consider it's one little box that takes no batteries and doesn't require 8 $30 peripherals laying about your living room to use.
 
The difference will be for the gamer that rarely plays with others in the room, making $150 pricey for one person to play Natal games.  The money is in the R&D, I'm sure MS would love to sell it for a reasonable $50 or so, but given it's been a big project of theirs for years I'm sure the price is just trying to break even on the budget getting it to work.  Given the reasons above the $150 price can be "sold" if they spell it out, the big job is pressing that issue and getting people to do the math that $150 is comparable to the other offerings.
 
Expect a graph on the Natal box showing the cost of 4 Wiimotes and nunchucks with batteries, and possibly the Move if it's out by then, itemized in comparison to Natal.

Cheap? Really? 
 
Credibility lost.

"For $150 I want a new console. "

How the hell is that cheap?  I hope this fails.

I saw J Allard and $150 and immediately thought I could buy him for $150, then I saw natal then I saw natal and now I am sad, there's no way I'm paying that much for that shit, hell I wouldn't want it if it was free.  I rather play my gears 3 with a controller.

" @Scooper said:

"For $150 I want a new console. "

...are you a crazy person? "

" @Scooper said:

"For $150 I want a new console. "

The next-gen consoles are going to cost far more than $150.  I mean, the PS3 alone was close to $500.
I think many people are forgetting that Natal is supposed to be a new console.  At least, that's what they're marketing it as.  It'll be interesting to see what they do at E3, since we still haven't even seen the thing properly demonstrated, let alone start talking about games for it.  But again, it's going to have to be mighty impressive to win me over.  Or be released with Black & White 3. "

Wait, why would you put the subtitle of "cheap"? This is just a camera with some IR, Xbox cameras are sold for $20, for the rest it would be like $50 more. $150 for Natal is no cheap at all.

I never thought I'd say this but I think I'd rather just pick up a Wii for that money. Or buy some real games for my PS3/360. Yeah, that's a better idea.
 
Edit: Also, are they REALLY going with that name? Natal, come on dude.

" Cheap? Really?  Credibility lost. "

" I'm predicting a uk price of £79.99 with basic software, avatar gifts and a one month live subscription. "