Natal is for the hardcore too

Those who fear that the motion-based casual games revolution that was E3 jeopardises the core games market can rest at ease – Microsoft has assured users that Natal will be a platform for hardcore titles too.

We love the existing controller, it’s not going anywhere and there will continue to be games that are specifically made to only work with a controller,” Project Natal director Alex Kipman told Eurogamer.

We’ll have games that are specifically designed to work only with Natal – not just arcadey games, but real, hardcore, triple-A titles.

Then you’ll have some games that are essentially a hybrid – games that work both with the controller and with Natal. Why is that interesting? Think about a first-person shooter where I’m using the controller but I’m doing facial tracking by just moving around and looking round corners.

Or you could have a hardcore gamer like me playing a game with a controller, while a non-hardcore person sitting next to me enjoys the experience by playing with Natal.

"I could be having my Halo experience with the controller and the friend next to me, who’s not a hardcore gamer, could be throwing grenades or driving the Warthog or doing any number of things with Natal.”