Did Nintendo pass on Natal?

Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010


It’s too early to say whether Natal will be a hit — too early to really even say if it works or not, really — but we know it’s captured the imaginations of gamers and developers alike. But apparently it didn’t impress Nintendo when they were (allegedly) pitched with an early version of the tech back in 2007. To be fair, it was in a rougher state than we have seen it, and of course Nintendo already had a working motion control technology and another in the works. Still, it’s interesting to think what might have happened if the big N had snapped it up instead of the big M.

The source is a “very high-placed insider,” but could also be the author’s dog. He says that Satoru Iwata saw the technology and was impressed, but didn’t think they could make it happen for a Wii-like price point. That has some truth to it, since apparently Microsoft has been struggling to get the thing’s cost under $100.

[via Electronista]

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