Ballmer apologizes for letting slip wrong Natal release date
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 22nd 2009 2:56PM
posted June 22nd 2009 2:56PM
Microsoft has already come out and clarified Steve Ballmer's recent statement that Project Natal would be rolling out sometime in 2010 (possibly in the form of a new Xbox console), but it looks like the man himself also felt the need to set the record straight. Speaking with IGN, Ballmer said that he "confused the issue with my poorly chosen words," adding that, "there is no news in my comments. Things are as reported after E3. Sorry." Of course, this would be somewhat understandable if it were an isolated incident, but as you no doubt recall, Ballmer also recently dropped word of an earlier than expected Zune HD release date, which prompted yet another quick "clarification" from Microsoft. But hey, he only works there.
[Via Joystiq, image courtesy guardian.co.uk]
[Via Joystiq, image courtesy guardian.co.uk]
LOL. They should play that sound every time Ballmer enters a room.
well played, engadget
I'm surprised you didn't throw a Zune 30 picture up there too, Engadget.
Microsoft better give me win 7 free after i bought into their ultimate extras garbage.
*shakes head* They got a new lead for the Win development team and look what it accomplished. Please, please, please replace this monkey man, for the betterment of all mankind.
That said if such a thing did happen chair sales would fall 40% in Washington state overnight.
If Microsoft really believes in this tech they need to launch it standard with a new console or else it has little to no chance of succeeding. Add ons for consoles are very rarely successful because they split the userbase and developers don't bother supporting them. Add to that the fact that the next Xbox (and the PS4) will almost undoubtedly be out in Fall 2011 (unless MS wants to go for a record 7 years between consoles) and you have a "why bother" scenario for releasing such a peripheral for a console soon to be superseded. It'd take at least a year for decent games to show up that would support, it just like with a new console, because no developer is going to put money into something that maybe 5-10% of the 360 installed base would have.
I just really hope that the next Xbox isn't going to be a Wii style repackaging of the 360. If they want to include Natal-tech in a new console, fine, but don't just slap the 360 innards in a new casing and call it a new console. Nintendo got away with that because they were on the bottom and had nowhere to go but up, not to mention that it was/is a novelty. 360 fans are going to expect more out of a new console than the same graphics with motion control. It's going to have to be Blu-ray based (or download only with a MASSIVE HDD) have a cutting edge processor and GPU, 2-4GB RAM etc.
Sony has always maintained that the PS3 would be 10 year console, and they seem to be sticking to their guns. And the presence of Natal seems to confirm that Microsoft is following suit. Although I do agree that as an add-on, it does have to potential to split the user base. Although if MS can release Natal at $99 with a free game suite (a la Wii sports) I think it would a good coming out debut.
However I think the true essence in Natal is beyond the gaming aspect. Gaming will bring it to the mainstream, although if I were a big-wig at MS, I would be looking at the ubiquity aspect. A computer interface that requires no "middle-man" hardware takes us one step closer to a more ubiquitous computing experience which MS seems to be sighting for a long-term strategy. As processor specs are beginning to, IMO, surpass the ridge of usable processing power, it seems the next breakthroughs in computing (and gaming) are going to be interface, not speed.
The stock photos of Ballmer that are used on endgaget are, shall we say, unflattering. I think we need to keep in mind that one does not become the CEO of one of the world's biggest companies by being a dumbass. Let's see the results with Win7, WinMo7, IE8, Office2010 etc...
Or perhaps we should just look at the results of Vista, WinMo6, IE8, Office 2007 etc...???
(Oh, and don't forget with Xbox RROD Edition and Zzzune)
Wiimote and Eyetoys.. So yes, MS is (again) eating dust.
Natal is a vamporware?. May be not, but i don't think we will see Natal this xmas, or 2010's xmas: May be during 2011, just in time to compete against wii 2.0
They have a reputation of being early into the market now, all bets are off.
Nokia phones OS are so f-ing slow. My N82 took forever to go from one program to the next... It's kinda like the first generation of "All-in-One Printers". Great concept throwing all devices in one, but suffers greatly in performance.
doh
Do to the economic slow-down, the board members have decided to let go the positions of "Microsoft CEO Handlers". Their given reason: "What could possibly go wrong."
To be fair, I work for Microsoft as well and I don't know for sure when either of those are comming out. He is the CEO, he shouldn't know the exact release date for the next version of our over ~350 products are. Give him a break seriously.
I admit I don't know a whole ton about him. He seems like a decent enough guy. But whenever I see him I can't help but think he'd be better placed as a bumbling football coach in a teen sex comedy then the CEO of a major tech company.
do pictures of Ballmer ever appear normal ? the guy just freaks me out
DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS!
Can someone photoshop his picture. With devil horn and and fire coming out his nose.
It is starting to sound like Ballmer is senile. Put him in his retirement home before he forgets who Microsoft is.
That was an epic WIN! Price Is Right FTW!
Ballmer looks like Mean Gene Okerlund without the mustache and the raw animal magnetism.
So they show a supposedly working demo, then they say they can't roll out a product in 18 months? Geez, that's a bit pitiful isn't it, why show it at CES then, why not the CES after the next? This way they come off as.. well.. microsoft I guess.
I wonder when someone in Microsoft's HR department is going to hire someone to follow Steve around with a carton of eggs and every time Steve opens his mouth the individual with the carton of eggs skips one of those "chickadees-to-be" off his shiny, bald dome of dust and cobwebs.
Wasn't there an Eastern European guy that offered to do that for free a year ago?
As funny as the story is, I wouldn't want to be the person who had to tell Steve that what he said was wrong...
You have to wonder whether this is a case of Steve Ballmer forgetting what the project schedules are (worrying) or whether he simply is not being kept informed about what his company is doing (even worse).
Ballmer's weird.
But I wouldn't be surprised if there was a genius inside of that half-crazed mashup of Homer Simpson and Sam Kinison
Microsoft has already come out and clarified Steve Ballmer's racist statement..
Oh, Bill, please come back and give Uncle Fester a giant kick in the pants! (preferably in the front)
Man, I love that guy. The same way I loved Jocelyn Elders during the Clinton Administration - comedy gold. More Ballmer posts, please!