Risk pays off: 70-80% of publishers to make Natal games

To demonstrate Natal so early and so boldly at E3 – this was the move that Microsoft exec Robbie Bach deemed to put the whole project at risk. It was a risk that they took and a risk that paid off. Big time. Since the E3 demo, Microsoft’s motion camera has not only caught the eyes of its would-be consumers, but those of the game developers as well. As a result, 70-80% of all the publishers worldwide are making Natal-based games.

To demonstrate Natal so early and so boldly at E3 – this was the move that Microsoft exec Robbie Bach deemed to put the whole project at risk. It was a risk that they took and a risk that paid off. Big time. Since the E3 demo, Microsoft’s motion camera has not only caught the eyes of its would-be consumers, but those of the game developers as well. As a result, 70-80% of all the publishers worldwide are making Natal-based games.

Bach was with Canada’s CBC news for the interview, and here’s what he had to say:

Part of the reason we showed Natal at [the Electronic Entertainment Expo video game trade show] — which is actually a little bit risky to be honest because it’s a new technology, very cutting edge and relatively early in its development — is that we wanted third-party publishers to know that it was real and we wanted them to have developer kits and to get them working on it. We have something like 70% or 80% of the publishers in the world already doing Natal-based games.

Bach also addressed the problems that third-party developers had with the Wii, and assured that this will not happen with their motion control system. “I think it has a little to do with the trend towards natural user interface and much to do with differences in the business models between Nintendo and Microsoft and Nintendo and Sony,” he said. “Our model is certainly about third-party publishers making money. We design our system for third-party publishers,” he added, pointing out that Nintendo’s business model generated revenue mostly off firsty-party games.

That said, Bach believes that the Xbox 360 and the PS3 still have a long way to go in terms of the lifespan – something that he can’t say about the Wii. “”There’s still plenty of power available in the Xbox 360, there’s still plenty of power available in the [Sony] PlayStation 3,” he said. “Nintendo probably can’t say that. They may have a capacity and a power problem on the graphics side that they need to deal with. But when I look at the [overall] cycle, I think there’s still plenty of upside given what we have today.”

[via CBC News]