PROJECT NATAL IS set to be announced at E3 next month and should launch in October or November, at least in some parts of the world. There are still many parts that are unclear, including the pricing of what is set to be a potential winner for Microsoft in the console war. Now a Swedish online retailer has gone and posted a price of the upcoming Xbox 360 accessory and might prove to be a bit more expensive than expected.
The online retailer Webhallen is a fairly major player in Sweden which, in addition to its online business, has shops in several of the larger cities in Sweden and as such this seems to be more than just some small outlet trying to gain traffic to its website. So what about the pricing then? Well, the listing suggests that Project Natal will retail for 1400 sek, or about $191, but it’s important to take into consideration that you pay 25 percent value added tax in Sweden, to removing that we get the price down to about 1125 sek, or $145.
To us, that suggests a US retail price of about $149, plus tax where applicable. At $199 it seems too expensive to gain mass market popularity, something Microsoft is going to want it to have, as it’s not the accessory itself that will make the big bucks for Microsoft, but the sale of the games that will go with it. At $149 it’s still quite expensive, although as with all new technology, the initial retail price is usually much higher than the cost later on in the product life cycle. If Project Natal proves popular enough, Microsoft might decide to lower the price down the road.
We won’t know the official pricing until E3 next month, where Microsoft should reveal all the details about Project Natal. We can see the huge potential of full-body motion sensing gaming and judging by some of the early demo’s of what Project Natal can bring in terms of interactivity to some games, it’s possible the most exciting thing to happen for a long time in the world of console gaming. On the other hand, it can also prove to be a huge flop if Microsoft is unable to provide the right type of games to go with it.S|A
Lars-Göran Nilsson
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