Robbie Bach: Project Natal a 'midlife kicker' for Xbox 360, 'absolutely confident' Courier innovations will appear elsewhere

Now that the proverbial cat's out of the bag, Tech Flash has caught up with Robbie Bach about his impending retirement from Microsoft. In a far-reach interview, the former President of Entertainment & Devices Division says he made his ultimate decision just last Thursday, and that while he and also-gone J Allard "had been talking [Allard's] situation for awhile," the conversation never went both ways and the timing of the departures is "pure coincidence... serendipity." Bach further claims that it was his choice and was not asked to leave, and as for pundits who might've thought he was in line for one day taking the reins from CEO Steve Ballmer, Bach downplays that possibility and says he never had interest and such discussions never took place.

But enough business talk, what about some of the projects Bach oversaw? There were a couple choice quotes we noted from the report. First up is Natal, a motion-sensing project that he views as a "midlife kicker for the [Xbox] 360." For those watching a calendar, that would give the console an approximately nine-year perceived lifespan on the corporate side -- from November 2005 to 2014. Of course, we could be reading too much into that, but we could certainly believe it. On the subject of Courier, Microsoft's now-cancelled internal tablet project, Bach is "absolutely confident... a bunch of that innovation will show up in Microsoft products." It's a stronger wording that what we originally read, and given just how excited we were watching that leaked video, we can only hope his prophecy is foretold. Do yourself a favor and take 15 minutes to read through the interview -- hey, you're welcome.

[Napoleon357 Posted May 25th 2010 6:05PM]

Fuck Natal! Give me live MLB broadcasts like PS3!

[Wesscoast Posted May 25th 2010 7:21PM]

@Napoleon357

Seriously, an accesssory for a games console??~?

What is wrong with this company?? Talk about small markets..

[wackyanimation Posted May 25th 2010 8:39PM]

@Wesscoast
Xbox is not a small market at all for microsoft. when you look at Natal as being something to almost ensure the life of the 360 to double, thats a big deal. Its not that its an accessory, but what it is capable of doing to the market.

[Wesscoast Posted May 25th 2010 9:34PM]

@wackyanimation

the console gaming market IS a small market, and Xbox is in 2nd place, and barely profitable. Now, what, 20% of those gamers will get Natal? Maybe???

[tom1881 Posted May 26th 2010 5:43AM]

OT, but is it just me when I read Lord Vader's comments that I actually read it in Vader's voice?

[icemansven Posted May 26th 2010 7:38AM]

I do not think, that Natal 1.0 would be that great. Natal 2.0 or 3.0 could be something. But 1.0 is destinate to fail. Also Move from Sony. Sony failed, by using its Eye, They should have made a Eye 2.0 or Eye Move.

I really hope, we will have soon new consoles.