Rumors have been circulating recently that suggest that Microsoft will be launching a new Xbox 360 console with the Project Natal camera. Today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke at the Executive's Club of Chicago and seemed to mostly confirm the reports floating around the Internet.
The Microsoft executive said, according to TG Daily [thanks Kotaku], that a "new Xbox 360 will hit the store shelves in 2010." This bundle was described as having a “natural interface,” with a camera able to recognize movement and sound, which sounds exactly like Project Natal. Rumors also suggested the new Xbox 360 would have enhanced hardware, but Ballmer apparently made no mention of that.
The pieces really fit for this, given how big Microsoft thinks Natal is going to be. Whether the Xbox 360 hardware is improved or not, Shane Kim did compare the launch of Natal to that of a new console. And if this new Xbox 360 does have improved specs, we'd like to note that it'd be right on time for the next five-year console cycle starting in 2010, despite the fact that most executives and industry analysts have talked about this being a much extended console cycle than past generations.
