Project Natal Will Be Premium Priced on Launch

We already know quite a lot about Microsoft's Project Natal, the hardware device unveiled at this year's E3 that will allow the Xbox 360 to get motion tracking capabilities and players to game around without any physical controller in their hands.

We also know that the hardware and software are all new and cutting edge, that Microsoft is planning to support a lot of new titles for Natal and that older titles will likely be unable to use it in any way. Moreover, the Redmond-based company has not decided yet at what point into 2010 it will release the new hardware device.

Robbie Bach, who is one of the leaders of the Microsoft Xbox 360 team, told the audience gathered for a so-called Open House event in New York that “Relative to Natal, we'll see how the pricing cost works out. But people should except that it will go through the usual price curve.”

This probably means that those who are willing to pick Natal up early should be prepared to pay the price of the console to which the hardware will be attached. The drops will probably arrive after quite a while, considering how long the Xbox 360 went without a price cut.

The strategy might not be the most appropriate for Microsoft. After all, Nintendo Wii still offers motion tracking, now enhanced with the Motion Plus add on, and it's cheaper than the Xbox 360 Elite.

If Microsoft really wants to make those who like Wii interested in Project Natal, it needs to be sure that the cost of its device is not too high on launch and goes down quickly enough to make the console look popular rather than elitist. Of course, nothing is set at the moment and the software giant's plans might change.