When Microsoft first unveiled Project Natal, not only did they show off tech demos, but the company also worked with Electronic Arts to modify Burnout Paradise for the motion sensing device. By most accounts, it worked pretty well and certainly helped Microsoft show the potential of Natal even with an older Xbox 360 game. And just this week, during Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft also showed Namco Bandai's Beautiful Katamari being played with Project Natal.
So can we expect more Xbox 360 games to be patched to support Natal in the future? Not so fast, says Microsoft Game Studios GM and Natal creative director Kudo Tsunoda. Speaking to Destructoid, Tsunoda explained that although Microsoft was able re-engineer older Xbox 360 games to make them compatible with Natal, a hefty chunk of code had to be altered. As such, simply "patching" the game over Xbox Live would not be enough to make older titles work. A publisher would most likely have to completely rewrite the code and then re-release the game.
While it's not impossible that this could happen in a few cases, it's not likely to happen. That said, it could be an interesting learning experience (a way to get developers' feet wet) for companies looking to understand programming for Natal, and perhaps it would be easier than making a brand new game.
