Pachter: Natal Won’t be 50 Bucks, Will Expand Non-Gaming Audience

Videogames analyst Michael Pachter has back-tracked on his prediction that Microsoft’s Project Natal device will enter the market at around $50.

Pachter had claimed that it cost Microsoft only $50 (around £30) to manufacture the device and would be selling it without making profit, a common industry practice. However he now says he ‘œprobably aimed too low’ with the $50 price point and that he thinks ‘œconsumers will come to believe that the product and software has a lot of value.’ He also mentioned Sony’s Arc saying that for both companies, the higher they charge, the fewer sales they’ll make up.

He also had some interesting comments about that nature of the devices in bringing in newer, casual gamers onto the Xbox and PS3: ‘œI don’t see either expanding the gaming audience, but do see them expanding the user base beyond the core gamer in the household.’

He continued to say that this expanded audience won’t buy a lot of games but are ‘œmore likely to justify movie downloads [or] joining Netflix.’ This is an interesting angle and one that makes a lot of sense. The type of casual gamer this is going to attract is going to be similar to Wii owners in their purchasing habits: every now and again and a focus on family games. Depending on how Microsoft (and Sony for that matter) spin this, it may be attracting a wide range of audiences, or just a focus on regular people.

Right now, it’s hard to tell the answers to any of these questions and unless Pachter has gotten some inside info, it’s all speculation. We’ve seen so little of both Arc and Natal that we can’t really judge if they’re going to worth $50 or more. We’ve been told how revolutionary Natal is going to be and that when you play Arc ‘œangels will start singing’, but beyond that it’s all vapourware.

Personally the idea of Natal is appealing until I want to play a game like Fallout 3 where it’s about the solitary experience, not playing sports games in your living room. Hell, the Wii is almost fun with the family, but not really the immersive gaming experience I’m looking for on my own.  Who knows, I just wish Microsoft would launch the damn thing so I can get on with hating it already.