MICROSOFT: Natal is the Xbox 360 successor

The end of the console cycle has been predicted with increasing regularity – but Microsoft has become the first platform holder to openly claim that its new platform will be part of its existing one.

Speaking of its brand new motion sensing technology, which dispenses with the need for any peripherals whatsoever, Xbox boss Don Mattrick stated: This takes us into the new era of interactive entertainment without releasing a new console.”

In an impressive demonstration by Microsoft studio boss Peter Molyneux, Natal’s tech was showed off by a Lionhead created piece of software called Milo. With the ability to recognise voices and images, Milo, who took the form of an on-screen young boy, interacted very convincingly with an on-stage aid.

Molyneux said of Natal: This is true technology that science fiction hasn’t even written about.”