Former MS exec: Natal will fail

Scot Bayless, a long-term member of the games industry and former studio manager at Microsoft has warned that Xbox 360 will fail” unless Microsoft adapts its sales strategy.

Bayless’ former employers include EA, Midway and, most recently, Capcom, where he served as VP or product development between 2007-2009.

He was also an instrumental part of the Sega team that helped launch the ill-fated Mega Drive expansion the 32X in America. The demise of that device has in subsequent years been blamed on the fact that potential sales were limited to existing Mega Drive owners, excluding a large part of the market.

When I met with Microsoft in 2008 to look at Natal I asked ‘When will you integrate this into the 360?’” Bayless told Retro Gamer, as reported by NowGamer.

Their response was ‘We’re probably going to wait and see on that’. To which I said ‘Then you’re going to fail’.”

Certainly the talk of the industry this morning is the apparent confirmation of a 100+ price point for Natal – a figure that has surprised many members of the industry and cast doubt over the possible success of the device.