Project Natal - What the heck is it?

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, Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game 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 for Project Natal will be starting at $80. Project Natal will reportedly also serve as the basis for a new Xbox 360. Though it is rumored that the launch of Project Natal 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 Project Natal will be fully compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft indicates that it considers Project Natal 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 was even mistakenly referred to as a "new Xbox" by Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer at a speech.