Xbox Project Natal

Introducing Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun -- the only experience needed is life experience.

Project Natal is the code name for a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch agame controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base.

Project Natal was first announced on June 1, 2009 at E3 2009. Microsoft said that over a thousand software development kits began shipping to game developers that same day. It is scheduled to be released in time for Christmas 2010. Pricing has not been released yet.

Project Natal will reportedly also serve as the basis for a "new" Xbox 360. Though it is rumored that the launch of it will be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console (as either a new retail configuration, a significant design revision, and/or a modest hardware upgrade), Microsoft has dismissed the reports in public, and has repeatedly emphasized that it will be fully compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft indicates that it considers it to be a significant initiative, as fundamental to the Xbox brand as Xbox Live, and with a launch akin to that of a new Xbox console platform.Project Natal has even been referred to as a "new Xbox" by Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer at a speech for the Executives' Club of Chicago. When asked if the introduction will extend the time before the next-generation console platform is launched (historically about 5 years between platforms), Microsoft corporate vice president Shane Kim reaffirmed that the company believes that the life cycle of the Xbox 360 will last through 2015 (10 years).