A Destructoid reader reckons this was shot at a "Christmas Party", though that's where the information dries up. On the "could be" side of things, there's lag at several points, and even a freeze, both issues that are reportedly affecting early development for the camera.

On the "probably not" side, however, is the fact at several instances the movement of the guy's hands have no bearing whatsoever on what's happening on-screen.

Whichever the case may be, it's still an interesting look at how Natal has the potential to change the way you approach a game. Normally, Geometry Wars is a raw shooter, a seat-of-the-pants kind of affair. Combine it with Natal, though, and - provided that's how you'd actually control the game - it suddenly becomes a more synaesthetic experience, as you move from "player" to "conductor".

Is this a Natal-powered game of Geometry Wars? [Destructoid]

Not that it'll go away any time soon; indeed, as I've said, I think the humble d-pad-and-buttons-thing has a few years left as the dominant control method.

But when it does die out, as it inevitably will (everything must come to an end at some point), people will look back to 2009 - and particularly E3 - and say this was the year the rot set in. That the decline began.

Why do I say 2009 and not 2006, the year of the Wii's debut? Because until now, motion-control gaming has been confined not just to the Wii, but to select games on the Wii. Some, like Wii Sports, did it well. Others, like Red Steel, did not do it well, while for many more - from Twilight Princess to No More Heroes - it was an awkward addition, a bullet-point feature that fit the game like a square peg in a round hole.

But in 2009, both Microsoft and Sony revealed controllers and peripherals to support motion-sensing (in case you can't tell, I am ignoring completely, as most developers did, the Sixaxis). What had been a unique point about one of three consoles suddenly became a universal feature. A clear signal of intent that motion control was the future of the entire console industry.

Even Nintendo contributed to the movement in 2009, releasing Wii MotionPlus, an add-on for the existing Wii Remote that brought a finer degree of recognition to a device that had until then only partially delivered on its promise of 1:1 motion recognition.

Both Microsoft's peripheral (code-named "Project Natal") and Sony's controller (with one code-name among many being "Gem") are scheduled to hit the market in 2010, and what's most interesting about their respective launches is not their proximity to each other, but in the different approaches each is taking towards the technology.

Sony's controller is "traditional", if only in the sense that it's similar to the Wii Remote. A controller, with buttons on it, that you hold and wave around, the device replicating an on-screen object or movement. It differs from the Wii Remote, however, in a few key areas. For one, it's got a giant glowing orb on the top of it, which Sony claim allows for incredibly fine recognition of the user's movements.

Another difference is that it appears to be lacking a d-pad, something Nintendo's controller retains so that it can be used on older games. An interesting omission, particularly given Sony's penchant for re-selling you older games, and it lends credence to the rumours of additional peripherals being made available to "attach" the device, similar to the nunchuk available for the Wii Remote.

Microsoft's, meanwhile, is slightly more exciting. And a riskier proposition because of it.

"Project Natal" is essentially a camera that is plugged into the Xbox 360, which can detect a player's movements in three dimensions and replicate them on-screen. No controllers required. It was demoed to good effect at E3, but the sheer audacity of the tech has many suspecting that while it may work fine in tech demos, creating functioning games - for example with accurate movement recognition and no noticeable lag - with the tech may be more difficult.

But hey, it's not out yet. And neither is Sony's. With both devices not expected until late 2010, there's plenty of time to fine-tune them, ensure that they're ready to hit the ground running.

And when they do - entering a market already dominated by the Wii and it's now-improved Wii Remote - we'll be looking at a very exciting time for the video game industry. A time that kicked off in 2009.

[Sony image: T3]

Now this year was no slouch, with Xbox 360 console exclusives Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and a pair of Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable episodes—not to mention Live Arcade hits Shadow Complex, 'Splosion Man and Trials HD—making Microsoft's console a solid platform of choice. But the console's third party efforts, particularly Modern Warfare 2, sometimes outshine the first-party content.

Fortunately for Xbox 360 owners, 2010 starts off strong with new games that won't be available on its chief competitor, titles like Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake and Splinter Cell Conviction. But will Microsoft's focus on motion control with Project Natal leave "core gamers" wanting?

Let's take a look at 2010's offerings on the MS side, minus a few games we hope, but can't confirm will hit next year.

Note: We'll be looking at every platform's currently announced and estimated 2010 slate over the course of the rest of the week-and much much more.

Halo: Reach
Bungie takes us back in time, back to the future, delivering a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Players will assume the role of the Lieutenant fighting off Covenant forces sometime this fall.
Alan Wake
Max Payne developers Remedy give Xbox 360 (and PC) gamers a flashlight-focsed dose of literary horror, sending the titular Alan Wake to the Pacific Northwest to confront his writers block, only to find himself in a nightmare of his own creation. It's gonna be scary!
Splinter Cell Conviction
Sam Fisher is back and looking less haggard than originally planned. Expect Splinter Cell-style stealth gameplay, with a few new innovations, including more cooperative and competitive multiplayer.
Crackdown 2
Start up Ruffian Games picks up where Realtime Worlds left off, filling Pacific City with gangs of street mutants and, eventually, lots of explosions.
Fable III
The fabled franchise from Lionhead Studios takes a different path in the third Fable, giving the player the royal responsibility of overthrowing and later running the kingdom of Albion. Series lead Peter Molyneux wants to add a sense of "touch" to Fable III and Project Natal support.
Joy Ride
This Avatar racing game for the Xbox 360 shouldn't put a pinch on your wallet. The core game is free.
Mass Effect 2
BioWare's epic space saga continues, now with better shooting mechanics on top of the already intriguing intergalactic soap opera.
Project Natal
Perhaps you've heard of it. Microsoft's big E3 push should garner plenty of attention for the company in 2010. The console maker has already tasked some of its owned studios with making Natal games and developer support from Lionhead and Epic seems already strong.
Final Fantasy XIII
Square Enix's long-promised, gorgeous role-playing game is finally here. Already out in Japan, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is the first multi-console release in the series, the first for Sony's current gen console.
Army of Two: The 40th Day
EA Montreal's co-op shooter leads a very long list of shooters coming in 2010. The 40th Day improves upon the first in many ways, including the toning down of some of the "bromance."
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Another shooter bound for the PS3 is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which will fight MAG for big, bombastic multiplayer FPS for the year.
Bayonetta
PlatinumGames witchy woman Bayonetta brings more Devil May Cry-like action to the platform, but with a much more attractive package. The PS3 version may get knocked for lagging behind that other version, but Bayonetta is worth playing on whatever platform you prefer.
BioShock 2
Be the Big Daddy in 2K Games' sequel to the mega hit BioShock. The prequel adds multiplayer, if you consider that a positive or negative.
Dark Void
Capcom's oft-delayed jetpack hero adventure may have a hard time standing out in a crowded early 2010, but the third person shooting, climbing, flying and UFO hijacking sounds like a good combination.
Dead Rising 2
Zombies require killing in Fortune City and you're just the right guy to do it. Kill 'em again with motorcycles, roulette wheels or moose antlers. Your choice.
Dead Space 2
Visceral Games follows up on the excellent Dead Space (and very good Dead Space Extraction) with a new Necromorph dismembering adventure for old Isaac Clarke. Rocket boots? Yes, please.
Dante's Inferno
If God of War III leaves you wanting more God of War, why not try Visceral Games very God of War-like descent into Hell, Dante's Inferno. It has decaying purple boobs...
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Another Prince of Persia? Yes! And this one looks a lot like the Prince of Persia movie that will hit theaters around the same time. And it looks not too dissimilar from the Prince of Persia game the movie is based upon.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Just recently revealed, we're mostly excited to see just how LucasArts fits this new Star Wars adventure into the timeline.
Lost Planet 2
Get up in them giant bug guts with the sequel to interplanetary adventure shooter Lost Planet. Everything's bigger!
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar returns to the Red Dead realm, now with a more open-world environment, filled with random encounters, train robberies and all manner of varmint to shoot.
Super Street Fighter IV
New characters, new old characters and new online modes—plus a more budget minded price—make the quick addition of Super to Street Fighter IV that much easier to swallow. But when's Cody going to get some new clothes?
Castlevania Lords of Shadow
Hideo Kojima's game that will likely make a 2010 release could result in the best 3D Castlevania yet. Just try not to think too much about developer MercurySteam's other games.
Medal of Honor
EA reboots Medal of Honor, taking the series from World War II theaters and into the modern age. Could have more beards than any other first-person shooter released next year.
Mafia II
Shoot things '40s style with Mafia II, another game that should've been released in 2009, but will settle for a 2010 release nonetheless.
Max Payne 3
Max is back and far less attractive to women. The paunchier, less follicled Payne is drawn back into the dive and shoot at things world he tried to leave behind him. Expect this one late in 2010.
Blur
Bizarre Creations gets colorful with Blur, a frantic arcade racer with kart racing-style power ups, but none of them banana peels.
Resonance of Fate
Sega's futuristic RPG collaboration with developer tri-Ace follows a group of sharp dressed teens who have access to guns, but not clean air, in this forthcoming adventure.
Aliens Vs. Predator
Aliens and Predators settle their differences in this, the first Sega game that will actually take advantage of the Aliens license. Rebellion is at the helm again, which can only mean good things.
Fallout: New Vegas
Crap, they got Vegas too? We don't know too much about Bethesda's follow up to Fallout 3, only that gambling and mutant showgirls are likely to be involved.
EA Sports MMA
EA Sports challenges the UFC's dominance in the mixed martial arts space. Can EA compete? Or will Dana White put them into a headlock?
UFC Undisputed 2010
THQ sees more success for next year's UFC Undisputed, now with additional Kimbo Slice.
Alpha Protocol
The espionage RPG!
No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise
Travis Touchdown and crew get the high-resolution, waggle-free treatment in this remake of the Wii original from Grasshopper Manufacture
Brink
Splash Damage's squad based and class based tactical shooter is brighter and more promising than most, featuring a unique movement method dubbed SMART.
Singularity
Raven's time-traveling first-person shooter was moved out of Modern Warfare 2's way, but now lands directly in the middle of 2010's busy first half. Perhaps that time glove will find it a better spot to find an audience...
R.U.S.E.
Real-time strategy? On my video game console? From Ubisoft? Yes, at least based on our hands-on time with the game, which seems to work quite well.
Darksiders
Be the Apocalypse as one of four horsemen in this gritty action adventure game from THQ.
Joe Danger
Hello Games handsome stunt 'em up is already on our short list of Xbox Live Arcade games to watch in 2010.
After Burner Climax
Still unofficially announced by Sega, but that won't stop us from rabidly anticipating the long awaited port of this intense arcade game.

The term "Gem" was "an early code name for the product," according to Sony Computer Entertainment of America director of communications Patrick Seybold. "We haven't announced final name at this point."

Yesterday morning, EA's Riccitiello told a gathering of investment analysts in New York that he expected impressive things from Microsoft and Sony's motion control technologies, referring to them as Natal and what sounded like the word "Gem."

Microsoft has been public since E3 that its hands-free "Project Natal" name is a codename for its device. Sony, which has announced plans to launch their wand-like device in the spring of next year — and, unlike Microsoft, has even begun announcing software support for it — has publicly named the set-up as nothing more specific than the PS3 motion controller.

This fall, at a different investors conference in New York than the one Riccitiello spoke at, Kotaku witnessed Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot dub the controller the MoCon, an apparent simplification of the term "Motion Controller."

While no name has been made final and official just yet, the Sony statement this morning does leave open the chance that Gem could be the final name after all. But it's clearly not the official name today.

Kotaku has followed up with Sony and will update this post with any further information.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during a financial earnings calls earlier today that the publisher expects 10 titles to "come for Natal during the first six months of the launch."

"We expect four to five games for [Sony's motion controller]," Guillemot added. "That's the picture at the moment. It can change in the next 12 months."

When asked to clarify if that includes releases like the newly announced Prince of Persia game, Guillemot made clear just what those Project Natal and PS3 motion controller games would be.

Yves said that he "didn't count the games that are supporting the new functions that those accessories will bring," seemingly indicating that the number of titles that will be motion control ready, but not necessarily motion control-only could be larger.

Guillemot said the ten Xbox 360 titles and "four-to-five" PS3 titles were along the lines of "casual games that we are doing on those two machines" and consist of about "70% new property."

With the Wii doing more harm to Ubisoft's bottom line these days, the company's reaffirmed "strategy of developing bigger franchises" will probably mean good things for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owner. That, or plenty of Imagine Babyz mini-games, now in mind-blowing high-definition.

So after 20 or so minutes of very positive talk about the work of the Gates Foundation to cure disease and help the needy, is Gates' response to Meet The Press host David Gregory about where computers might be heading.

Remember, Microsoft's Project Natal is an Xbox 360-oriented device that uses advanced cameras, sensors and a microphone to detect users' gestures, facial expressions, voice and even the color of their clothing.

Here's Gates:

Bill Gates, founder, Microsoft: We'll also have computers we can talk to, computers that can see what we're doing. So whether it's making a gesture in a business meeting to zoom in on a chart or try and look at what a house would be like before it's built, this idea of the computer seeing 3D displays and voice interaction leads you to where the keyboard and the mouse, which is how we think of the computer today, is not the only way we interact. It's a far more immersive, rich environment....

David Gregory, host, Meet the Press: We can talk to each other?

Gates: Absolutely. You'll be able to put onto the wall of your office a video conference with whoever you'd like and have the computer listen to what's going on there and create a transcript and make it searchable. And so, natural interface, I think is the thing that people underestimate right now.

Yes, this is also a very Minority Report-ish future. And a Gamer: The Movie-esqe future. But that stuff is fake. Natal is real and could do some of what Gates is talking about.

Meet The Press 11/29/09 Episode

Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten has designs on replacing the traditional TV remote with voice and gesture recognition, courtesy of Project Natal. According to a report from Yahoo! Tech, Whitten believes that Natal "will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control," providing better input options than the increasingly complex remote.

How? By recognizing common, button-less input via Natal.

"Laughter is an input," Whitten said at the Streaming Media West show last week. "Yelling at the TV when I know an answer on 'Jeopardy' is an input. Attention is an input. The number of people in the room at one time is an input." And, you know, that's a fairly interesting concept.

Microsoft Sees 'Natal' as Your Next TV Remote [Yahoo! Tech]

Neil Thompson, the U.K.chief, told GamesIndustry.biz that "We're still very much in the baking on Natal and there's a lot of things to get decided on it." That goes for word that the unit would be either £50 (about $80) or even as low as £30 ($50), with as many as 14 titles available at launch and 5 million units shipped. In the face of such specifics, which were said to come from Microsoft visits with developers, Thompson basically offered a general, "nuh-uh."

"No. They weren't accurate, they were rumours," Thompson said of MCV's report. "I've got nothing more to say about it. We're still very much in the baking on Natal and there's a lot of things to get decided on it."

GamesIndustry.biz says it will later have further in-depth interviews with both Thompson and Microsoft Europe boss Chris Lewis, but it doesn't sound like either are going much further on this subject.

Microsoft Dismisses Natal Launch Rumours [GamesIndustry.biz via GamersReports]

The following all came from half-hour presentations to investors and press today at the BMO Capital Markets 17th Annual Digital Entertainment Conference today.

-"By making [a] game relevant [with DLC] we all keep the average retail price point up to $59.99." - Dan DeMatteo, CEO of GameStop, describing one of the added benefits of releasing downloadable content for a major game, presumably keeping gamers hooked for longer, making a game hotter, and diminishing the need to cut the price.

-"For a long time critics said that the video game industry didn't care about females." - Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, before saying that Nintendo has identified two "broad propositions" that work for that audience: 1) games that appeal to their personal interests and 2) games that allow them to enjoy playing with the rest of their family.

-"This is like a relaunch in the middle of a console generation." - Dennis Durkin, COO, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft, talking about the 2010-slated Project Natal hands-free controller for the Xbox 360.

-"Top 20" - Eric Brown, EA CFO, saying that that's the list EA wants to have more of its games in and is structuring its business toward. That compares, he said to the Top 40 best-selling games, which was an older goal. The Top 20 is, increasingly, where the lion's share is.

[Pic]

The third in what is sure to be a long list of innovation awards for Microsoft's motion-sensing technology by way of time. The magazine's annual list of the 50 Best Inventions highlights Project Natal, along with less significant inventions like tank-bred tuna and teleportation. Xbox corporate vice president Mike Delman fails to contain the company's excitement.

"We're excited that TIME Magazine chose Project Natal as one of their Inventions of the Year, and thrilled to see the excitement around controller-free gaming and entertainment. This is the third major award "Project Natal" received this past month including the Popular Mechanics 2009 Breakthrough Award and Popular Science Best of What's New Grand Award."

Here at Kotaku we're pondering just making a Project Natal award post template, just to save time.

Controller-Free Gaming [Time]

The details apparently leaked during a round of developer visits in the UK, in which Microsoft toured studios showing off the technology.

The same sources reckon 14 games will be available at launch, with 5 million cameras ready for sale on day 1, spread between standalone cameras and 360/Natal bundles.

Most interesting of all, however, is word on the price Microsoft are hoping to charge, with an expected price of £50 in the UK, which is USD$80. One source, however, indicated Microsoft may go even cheaper in an effort to make Natal an "impulse buy", and price it as low as £30 (USD$50).

Natal launch details leak from secret Microsoft tour [MCV]

CVG's source "close to the platform holder" says that sales of action-adventure eyesore Kameo: Elements of Power are largely to blame for the decision to stop development on a follow-up. According to NPD data, sales of the original Xbox 360 launch title totaled a little more than 300,000, less than half the sales of launch peer Perfect Dark Zero, so that decision may have been a wise one.

(On the bright side, Kameo: Elements of Power sales over the course of four years outperformed two other Rare titles, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.)

But it appears that Microsoft's first-party needs for Project Natal software is taking precedent. Rare is said to be hard at work on a handful of unannounced games for the controller, now under the watchful eye of Microsoft Game Studios creative director Peter Molyneux.

Kameo 2 canned by Microsoft [CVG]

Rare's Mark Betteridge tells MCV, as part of a feature on the first-person shooter, that the company's "sights are trained on Natal." Betteridge calls the Xbox 360's motion and voice controller a "a great opportunity to break new ground with content and gameplay."

Rare has been said by owner Microsoft to be "intimately involved with Project Natal in a number of different dimensions," according to soon to be ex-Microsoft VP Shane Kim. The developer was reported to be staffing up in anticipation of the Natal launch in 2010. Hopefully, that will help give them the identity that Peter Molyneux thinks they so desperately need.

"[Project Natal is] also an opportunity to exercise some genre evolution," Betteridge says, "so hopefully we'll be able to develop something on that front."

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? If the answer is a first person shooter/boxing game based on the adventures of Killer Instinct's T.J. Combo, than it sounds like we are.

Update: Microsoft wants to "clear up the confusion around this topic," saying that Betteridge's quote from MCV was "misconstrued."

"We have not announced an FPS Natal game nor any other specifics about Rare's projects in development," reads a statement from Microsoft. "Rare is currently working on several projects, the details of which will be announced at a later date."

Shoot to thrill [MCV]

Gamesbrief founder Nicholas Lovell has been posting snippets from Molynuex's talk on his Twitter account, as spotted by VG247, writing that the Fable lead confirmed Natal support in the role-playing game. Apparently, Molyneux also joked that Natal would be featured in the form of a "feces simulator" for the game.

Surprised by Natal support in Fable III? Doubt it, as Molyneux lead the unveiling of Microsoft's motion and voice recognition controller at this year's E3 with the Natal-powered Milo demo, enthusiastically showing his support of the technology. And Pete has "never said it's not going to use Natal," a roundabout way of saying that the Xbox 360 game was going to use it in some capacity.

"Do you really think ... knowing me ... I wouldn't want to use something like Natal?" Molyneux said at the PICNIC Conference in the Netherlands earlier this month. "I mean that's just mad, man."

Just no feces simulation, please.

VG247

In an interview with OXM UK, Rein says he also considers Unreal the "economic engine of Natal," the platform upon which developers should go to if they "want to get a big headstart and use the same tech as Microsoft." Sounds official enough to us.

Rein also says that, going forward, don't be surprised if you see Natal's motion and voice detection control schemes in future Epic Games titles.

"I have no idea what we're going to do from a game standpoint, but from an engine standpoint, it's definitely cool stuff, and we will support it," he says. "I think any future Xbox games we make will have some Natal support."

Mark Rein Interview [OXM UK via GameSpot]

According to Variety, Bach said that the pricing will start high and decrease over time. "Relative to Natal," said Bach, "we'll see how the pricing cost works out. But people should except that it will go through the usual price curve."

The tech was first demoed at E3 in Los Angeles earlier this year. Microsoft seems to be approaching Project Natal as its own platform, and not simply a peripheral. When asked when Project Natal will no longer be referred to by its code name "Natal", Bach replied, "When we tell you to call it something else."

Oh.

Elsewhere during the event, Bach discussed mobile gaming, possibly feeding the flames of those waiting for a portable Xbox gaming device. According to Bach, "The portable market is important." He's right, it is. But important enough for Microsoft to launch its own platform? Continuing, Bach stated, "So in the gaming space, you need to make a fork in the road decision on whether you're going to do a portable device or focus on phones. The way technology is advancing with phones, [they are] going to be a very strong platform. The only think holding it back today is battery life."

Project Natal May Cost You [Variety]

In an interview at the PICNIC Conference in the Netherlands last week, Molyneux's interviewer basically stipulates that there will be no Natal support in Fable III. Rather than move on to the rest of the question, Molyneux goes out of his way to correct the record, and then some.

Here's a transcript of Molyneux's relevant remarks, beginning with his questioner saying Fable III will not incorporate Natal.

I never said that.

I am going to say it's going to use a controller. But I've never said it's not going to use Natal.

And obviously what would probably happen if I started talking about this is you would see a little red dot appear moving on my forehead. And then as I would start to speak the words then there would be a shot, gunfire, and I would be assassinated. Quite clearly it is that sensitive.

But let me give this to you absolutely straight. I have not said that we're not going to have Natal in Fable III. All I have really said is it is a controller experience. That doesn't mean there isn't going to be Natal.

Do you really think ... knowing me ... I wouldn't want to use something like Natal? I mean that's just mad, man.

The entire video is here - the beginning narrative is in Dutch but the interview is in English. The relevant Natal comments begin about 7:00.

Big thanks to reader Rowan for the tip.

Interview Peter Molyneux [PICNIC 2009] [Game Kings]

According to a report from IGN, series lead Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka has said that the Pro Evo team is "looking at integrating those devices into our games very aggressively." We doubt they're the only ones at Konami HQ getting up to speed on the Wii Remote's pair of competitors.

While it could make headers in Pro Evo a dangerous prospect, we can see it working in other Konami titles. Just imagine being able to immerse yourself in a cardboard box in real life, then see Solid Snake do the exact same thing! Or imagine what Koji Igarashi could do with a motion controlled Castlevania.

I'm guessing a vampire slaying driving game.

PS3 Wands Coming to PES [IGN]

Motion control, Microsoft Game Studios' corporate vice president Phil Spencer told Kotaku, will change what gamers expect from games.

"Much like with multiplayer, I think it will become the norm," Spencer said. "If you are a racing game without multiplayer the game just didn't sell.

"We think that motion control, we think voice recognition, should become a part of gaming as well."

But Spencer points out that it's important not to shoehorn every franchise into the new tech. Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox 360 don't plan to bring every single experience to Project Natal, at least not initially.

"Hacked in or quick to market ideas are not what we're looking for," he said. "We want to make sure that those experiences are world class."

Spencer says he's been surprised by how quickly and how strongly the outside development community has reacted to Microsoft's E3 unveiling of the motion controls.

"In the three months that Natal has been out the amount of support we have been able to gain has been impressive," he said. Indeed, during the Tokyo Game Show Microsoft rounded up Konami's Hideo Kojima, Capcom's Keiji Inafune and Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi to et on stage and chat about the potential they see in the hardware.

"When you are starting something new it is important to get some creative talent to innovate," Spenser said. "The quality of the experience is going to be what defines it."

When Microsoft first decided to work on Project Natal the company shipped out development kits to all of their internal studios as a way of incubating different ideas, Spencer said. The result was a lot of interest and some new games.

What about Bungie or an internally developed Halo game, I asked.

"We're not going to hack something into Halo to get it to support Natal," he said. "We want to make sure we can only offer rich experiences."

But given the richness, the breadth of Halo's universe, it wouldn't be surprising if something came to Natal from it.

"We have great people helping out to evolve Halo," he said.

This week we seek to measure your attitudes on the PSPgo, whose pre-release has been marred by retailer unhappiness, criticism of its price point, and disappointment in its lack of UMD support. We're also interested in your feelings on motion control, as 2010 figures to be the year when all three major consoles will have some type of full featured system. Finally, two games we've written about provoked a great deal of reader reaction in comments about them. Approval ratings will attempt to crystallize how you feel about both.

Editor's note: For one of these we're experimenting with an open-ended answer capability. An explanation will precede that specific question below.

Again, you will not see the results of these polls after you vote. They will close tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. U.S. Mountain Time. We will publish the results and an analysis the following Thursday evening.

For this next question, because of the limitations of our poll service, we had to include at least two forced choices. These have been identified as null; do not check either of them. Click the third radio button and type your answer in the space provided in the third field.