Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata was offered the chance to sign up the device that became Project Natal - but turned it down as he didn't believe he could launch it at a mass-market price.
That's according to a top insider (and we mean top insider) at the platform holder's Japan HQ, who told us that Israel firm 3DV Systems showed an early demo of the technology to Iwata and other Nintendo bigwigs at the end of 2007.
Despite being impressed with the prototype, Iwata was reportedly unsold on it as a peripheral for Wii - leaving the door open for Microsoft to snap up the tech and its creator a year later.
"Iwata-san only ever invests in something he can guarantee will work for a Nintendo audience," the exec told us.
"3DV showed off a camera that detected motion in 3D, and had voice recognition - but Iwata-San was unconvinced he could sell it at a Nintendo price point. He also had some worries around latency during gameplay."
The new information appears to confirm 3DV's involvement in the creation of Natal, which Microsoft has never certified.
"Honestly - I've heard Iwata describe the prototype he saw at length, and it's definitely Natal," added CVG's source.
"What we witnessed at E3 was smaller and the facial [reading] stuff had improved, but it's the same technology. We remain unconvinced Natal will deliver on the more sophisticated elements of what Microsoft is promising at the price they're aiming for."
Microsoft will no doubt internally disagree with the claims. MS has dubbed Natal a'new console' in itself. The hardware is set to launch late this year, with an expected price point of around £50.
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has previously admitted: "This type of motion-sensing camera technology has been around for quite a while. [We've] ultimately made the decision not to take advantage of what they can do."
Unsurprisingly, both Nintendo UK and Microsoft would not offer us a comment on the "speculation". (Trust us, it ain't).
What do you reckon, readers - was Iwata right to say "no" to Natal? Or will he look back on the one that got away?
Only time will tell if he was right or wrong to not go with a Natal enabled device.
If anything, Natal is certainly giving the Gaming industry something to write about and Gamers something to talk (argue) about. Thats a good thing, right?
Don't know. I do like the idea of Natal, but I also like the idea of having something in my hands. And we've yet to see the software (outside Milo - brr) and the price tag.
Besides, most of the Wii's best games have been fairly classical anyway.
THIS ISNT NEWS AND IT WASNT JUST PRICE THAT THEY TURNED DOWN IT WAS PERFORMANCE
I.E WHEN NATAL WAS SHOWN AT E3 NINTENDO CLEARLY STATED CAMERA TECK WAS LAGGY AND UNRESPONSIVE AND QUICKLY DROPPED BY NINTENDO
THIS NEWS IS LIKE A YEAR OLD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD
THEY DUMPED CAMERA IDEAS AS IT WAS STUPID AND DIDNT WORK AND THERE WAS NO POINTER MOUSE OR ANALOG STICK THINGS NINTENDO WANTED TO KEEP OR RUMBLE FEEDBACK AND SOUND FEEDBACK FROM THE SPEAKER
NINTENDO WANTS CONTROLLERS FORWARD LOOKING CONTROLLERS NOT NO CONTROLLERS
I myself can't say I think Natal will actually work, as said in the article it would cost quite a bit and we all know what happens when Microsoft try to lower production costs (which they obviously will, otherwise people just won't buy it).
Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, has said that Nintendo considered the approaches Sony and Microsoft have taken toward motion control and rejected them.
The Financial Times reports that it was told by Iwata that "his company had made experimental games controlled by camera-based sensors, but got better results with the accelerometers it eventually chose to use for its Wii console."
Sony's wand controller uses optical location detection, while Microsoft's Project Natal has no peripheral to hold at all - though there looks to have been some trickery involved in the video demo released.
Iwata also offered the FT some less passive aggressive, more modest words.
On building on the Wii's success, Iwata said, “First, we never use the word ‘success’. When overseas subsidiaries put ‘success’ in draft releases we tell them to delete it.
“Also, there are things that we did through ability, and things that were luck. You know, Nintendo was lucky. I was confident that expanding the gaming population was the right idea, but to actually do it in three to four years was incredibly lucky.”
I think Iwata's fair to play it safe. Nintendo already have some motion-based controls, so they can enhance what they already understand. Natal is something entirely different, and seems like a massive gamble.
It proves that natal must be a good thing because he thought it would be to complicated for your average Nintendo user. He just wants something that you can shake.
Now that I'm getting a 360, I'm trying to join the hype crusade for Natal, but it's failing. After the Wii, I am extremely apprehensive about motion control in general. I can see both Natal and 'Arc' getting lots of ports of Wii party games. In fact I'll bet on Game Party 3 being a launch game for at least one of the two.
Nintendo obviously saw what most other rational people are seeing, Natal just isn't practical. Not for games, not for anything.
Natal is something that nobody anywhere needs/cares about. I'm not surprised Microsoft are seeing things that aren't there, though. I mean, this IS the same company who thought it would be a good idea to design their own GPU chip to save on production costs for the Xbox 360 and look how that one turned out..........
last time ninty passed on some tech was back towards the end of the snes era, then playstation popped up lol
dont think i'll be buy either the natal or the ps3 wand thing after i got the wii, the fun wears off soon enough plus i like proper controls. as natal even if it is s**te, nothing beats the microsoft hype machine
Natal is a ploy to get the 360 under as may tellies as possible. Nothing more.
They want a slice of Wii pie and if that means making a load of crap thats a laff, minus anything along the lines of a narrative that requires more commitment, then so what?
People pay their money, get whatever they get out of it.
Unlike you nerdy lot, I know about two people with a Wii who are gamers. I know about ten people with a Wii who are not.
Natal is going to court that audience, so it only needs to be as sophisticated as Rabbids or Brain Training.
When I buy Natal (which is done not out of a fervent need to be bonked in the bumhole by fabulous technology but by having something else to do thats a tad more social than being a gamer point whore or l33t) I can imagine a few of my nongaming friends will think about getting a 360 of their own.
Anyone here bitching about expectations greater than casual are berks.
If Natal gets casuals to buy 360s, it's only a matter of time before a some of them realise they can actually get some kick-ass games for it too.
That's the problem with the Wii. Yes it sells loads, but once the owners have noone else around to play with they quickly realise how little variety there actually is. The 360 will have casual games, yes, but it also has (and will continue to get) very good games that don't involve flapping around.
Without going into why I think Natal will be good for some hardcore games, allowing people the choice and the ability to progress from casual to hardcore is much more than Sony or Nintendo are giving. And it's a good thing.
Once again MS have no idea what they are doing!!! Last time they built some hardware they decided to build there own GPU and look how that turned out RROD anyone?!?!?!?! i have aleady hear they have removed a chip from natal to keep costs down which will no doubt have a huge impact on performance. It will be expensive and pointless!!!!
Once again MS have no idea what they are doing!!! Last time they built some hardware they decided to build there own GPU and look how that turned out RROD anyone?!?!?!?! i have aleady hear they have removed a chip from natal to keep costs down which will no doubt have a huge impact on performance. It will be expensive and pointless!!!!
Nintendo price points? They have been pretty expensive over the years - games cartridges for £50/£60 (e.g. Conkers bad fur day).
Only wanting to release hardware of quality? Natal sounds better than the pulse detector they are looking at releasing! And what about the virtual boy, etc. There is a long list of failed nintendo hardware/peripherals.
Perhaps Natal was one risk too far? Not wanting to push their luck further than they already had?
I wonder if the Wii would have had more latency issues due to not having the power of the 360?
Probably because being able to interact with a small child on screen is a paedophile's dream.
Of course they turned it down, Nintendo brought motion to the table in the most popular form. It's like Little Chef offering McDonalds a burger they already make in a less popular, more expensive format.
Im quietly optismistic of the future of motion control gaming now that Sony and Microsoft have joined the band wagan as Ninty really have rested on there laurels.
Motion control with voice recognition in conjunction with 3d gaming doesnt sound too far off heck the ps3 might even be able to do that this year, the problem being the games that push the boundaries are going to have to have mega budgets as we have all played everytype of mini game there is im sure.
It proves that natal must be a good thing because he thought it would be to complicated for your average Nintendo user. He just wants something that you can shake.
For such a small comment its amazing how much stupidity there is in it.
The only thing more 'gimmicky' than Natal is the nintendo Wii itself. The Wii was fun for a while (admittedly) but mine has been put out to pasture as an elaborate dust collector.
I'm not surprised that Natal was turned down by nintendo - they didn't even have the balls to take a chance on half decent GFX components. The Wii was a last ditch gamble that paid off imo.
I think a load of people are thinking that Natal is replacing the controller? Thats never been the case. The controller will always be there for hardcore games like Halo and Call of Duty and MS have stated this. Natal is for the mass casual market. Its another section of the market that MS want to have a share in...its a business decission at the end of the day and I think its a really good one.
i always thought of natal as an extra bit of kit to compliment the controller. So long as its used well it'll be brill.
Like the wii i think it'll best be used for delicate touches. However i think that the pointer control aspects of the wii are often far better than the motion. wiimote and chuck is definately the best way to control fpss on consoles and is is almost as good as mouse and keyboard.Going back to analogue sticks on halo and resistance just feels unweildly after playing the like metroid prime and the conduit.
although using motion+ is a completely different kettle of fish.
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