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Natal launch details leak from secret Microsoft tour

MCV can this week reveal first details regarding the launch of Microsoft's Project Natal. Our sources say the innovative controller-free 360 camera will be released worldwide in November 2010.
Alternative Sources:
Project Natal Launch Detail... - wonderwallweb.com | By: wotta
Project Natal Launch Plans ... - xbox-360.nowgamer.com | By: jimmins
Natal rumoured to be launch... - brutalgamer.com | By: moosehound
Natal Launch Details leaked - connectedconsoles.com | By: mjolliffe
Project NATAL Launch Detail... - electronictheatre.co.uk | By: kevco33
NATAL launch details leaked? - dpadmagazine.com | By: Simeon Paskell
Project Natal Arriving Nove... - gamingunion.net | By: mephman
Natal for November 2010 - xbox360.ign.com | By: AclayPS3
Agent46 - contributor
Published: 43 days 22 hours ago | News | Xbox 360
 
 

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Cold 2000 - 43 days 23 hours ago
1 -
MS said they were going to treat it like a new conbsole launch.

So theyre preparing Halo Reach with all the craze and frenzy that goes with every new Halo + Natal especially if this rumor is true and that they're planning 5 million untits for day one alone...

I think their is going to be major mayhem next fall... and even more if thet $50-$60 price is true which would make sense.
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THE MAX SPEED 21 - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.1 -
it's 1 year from now though which kinda make me not interested at the time.

still there's some good stuff in MS bag though.

NamcaBandai
Konami
Rare
Ubisoft
Capcom

all working on games that will be Ready at Launch. November 2010 Christmans ready Release could really mean something Big.

just imagine ;

Natal Bundle Including Halo Reach for 299$.

I hope the NamcoXBandai game is an RPG .

EDIT: @ green

Yep.
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green - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.2 -
£30 - £50?
14 launch titles?
Halo reach and Fable 3 support?

If all of the above is true, then Natal will be off to a flying start.

edit: "Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Disney, EA, Konami, MTV, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ and Ubisoft all committed to make games for the device ". That is a lot of studio support.
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gaffyh - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.3 -
They need to show the damn games before I buy into the hype, show at least one core game MS. Knowing MS, this will come out in November 2010, just so that they can try and win the holiday season, the same thing they did this year, which meant we had pretty much no games to play until October :(
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IronFistChinMi - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.4 - Very glad
To hear this price point banded about. I was always of the opinion that MS had to be aggressive in the pricing and marketing of Natal, in order make an impact with it. Let's hope it's true!
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callahan09 - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.5 -
I fully agree with gaffyh. I have seen a few things of Natal so far, and none of them look appealing. The Breakout minigame looks like it'd get boring after about 2 minutes. The Burnout game doesn't look nearly as fun as controlling it with a standard controller. It just seems way too hard to effectively control the steering wheel and apply the amount of gas and break that you want. Everybody I've seen try the thing out has done nothing but wreck into walls and completely fail to drive in a way that could ever win a race. Milo is not my kind of thing, just no interest in it. I want to see some more games for it because nothing yet has been interesting to me.
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THE MAX SPEED 21 - 43 days 22 hours ago
1.6 -
Sony fangurls are on a roll with the Stealth Disagrees.

Can't wait till 2010 you lame-os
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Mr Bun - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.7 -
If MS actually sell Natal for that cheap, it will be the first time they sell a peripheral at a reasonable price point
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360CommunityAbovePS3 - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.8 -
HALO REACH + NATAL = Unstoppable Combo

MS *OWNED* 2010
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snipermk0 - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.9 - @above ^^
Now, lets not get ahead of ourselves shall we? The magical crystal ball of a gamer I tell ya.
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CrazzyMan - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.10 - That`s cheap for a new technology
Sony is better to sell their wands bundled with PS3 Eye Toy for something like 30-40 pounds.
And start to bundle them with as many games as possible.
I mean, 50£ or even 30£. I would consider it as some threat to sales.

Btw, with Eeye Pet you can already experience some Natal features and even more. So, it`s not a fact, that Natal will be THAT succesful. It depends on games, BUT MS is sure to advertise Natal like 2nd coming. Time will tell, IF that upgraded "Eye Toy" will be sucessful.
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vhero - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.11 -
MS has proved for them to win to in the past they had to be first. Sonys wand is out in March which means they are gonna 7 months behind Sony! Sony has proved its name and history has the pulling power to pull back from that kind of time but has MS? Thats a massive advantage for Sony. I cant wait for the new Resident Evil in March with the new wand that is a great combo. The NATAL looks good but honestly why is it taking that long?? The technology's already here. they PSEYE can do everything the NATAL can do its just the software we waiting for now.

Obviously MS started later than Sony this means. Which also Means as usual MS jumped on the bandwagon. Not only being the last to go motion sensor having to copy everything Sony does but having to clone the PSEYE. Very sad MS very sad...
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ThaOutKast - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.12 - At CrazzyMan
Isn't the PSEye an upgraded EyeToy?
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vhero - 43 days 21 hours ago
1.13 -
you also know the natal can only track 1 person at once? meaning no multiplayer motion sensor games unless online. Another way of MS forcing live on customers. Sony's wand system allows upto 4 wands to be tracked at any 1 time. So unlike the 360 Sony can get ports of wii classic games to PSN etc..
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IronFistChinMi - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.14 - @Vhero
Natal can scan and track 4 players at once.
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ThaOutKast - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.15 - Uhm
Natal can track more than one person at a time, that's one of it's main features.
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green - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.16 - @ Vhero
That is so untrue.Natal is capable of viewing multiple people at once. http://www.youtube.com/watc... .Go to 1.31 and 2.52 secs and see a family of 4 playing 1v100 and 2 people playing soccer split screen.
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leeger - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.17 -
by the time Natal is out, ltd sales of the PS3 is already ahead of the 360. Watch how the PS3 will outsell the 360 by more than a million units this holiday season alone, add to that GOW3 and of course GT5.
I wanna see some decent games first before I believe the Natal hype, because as of now all i am seeing is a laggy casual gaming device
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Shadow Flare - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.18 -
I love how 360 gamers are viewing natal as the second coming but in reality you guys will probably use it for a week and never use it again. You're gonna quickly learn that you need a controller for some experiences. How's an FPS gonna work unless its on rails? Believe me, if you think natal will be as big as the wii, it won't.
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beans - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.19 -
Eyetoy is good for Sony but in no way has anything to do with NAtal and the impact it will have. The guys running around in fear of NAtal and spreading fud will be laughed at when it releases. MS shouldn't have to show anything until it's time so go enjoy your updated eyetoys lol.
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Bubbles_Kitty_Cat - 43 days 20 hours ago
1.20 -
@Shadow Flare

What makes you think that it will have to be all or nothing?

I'm sure that a lot of games will use both a controller AND Natal at the same time.

I can't wait to see what developers do with it.
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callahan09 - 43 days 19 hours ago
1.21 -
I've been getting a lot of disagrees up there for stating that there's been no Natal software shown that interests me. So I take it that you disagreers are interested in some Natal software that you've seen? Please, let me know which Natal games are interesting to you, because I'd love to see some awesome stuff.
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Bubbles_Kitty_Cat - 43 days 19 hours ago
1.22 -
People are excited by the concept and the possibilities.

Wait until some actual games get announced before asking people to name some games that they are looking forward to.
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gta_cb - 43 days 19 hours ago
1.23 -
although i love to see innovative ideas such as the Nintendo Wii i will NOT be buying this. i am more of a traditional controller player. I did buy a Wii for my family but i never use it, never seen a game i have thought "wow that would be good on the wii" compared to on PS3 / Xbox 360
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ArmrdChaos - 43 days 19 hours ago
1.24 - @1.18....for the 1000000001 time...
I am losing count at the amount of times this has had to be repeated. It must be more convenient for Sony supports to just pretend the information doesn't exist. MICROSOFT HAS STATED THEMSELVES THAT NATAL WILL WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH REGULAR CONTROLLERS. They even admitted that some of the games that come out for it will be hybrid games that use both like.....FPS most likely. There are other things that Natal can do other than control which can be used within game. MS is making sure the Devs have enough time to explore those possibilities prior to launch.
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ReBurn - 43 days 19 hours ago
1.25 - @leeger
You have no way to substantiate any of what you've said. At this point it's all opinion. How can you possibly know that ltd sales of PS3 will have surpassed 360 by this time next year? Honestly, you can't. Even if the PS3 outsells 360 by 1m units this year that doesn't mean that a cheap Natal won't have an impact.

In case you haven't noticed, the casual gamer market has a lot of purchasing power as seen by the Wii's success. If they can pack Natal in with a 360 for $200 for next year's holiday season (and they probably can) we're probably going to see the casual market really light up, especially if the software is there to support it. The ability to support local multiplayer (as has been demonstrated with the preliminary Natal demos) will really go a long way to strengthening the appeal of the package as something to have at the center of family game time.
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Syronicus - 43 days 18 hours ago
1.26 - They just recently released information on the new WiFi adapter...
And they said that it will release at 100 bucks. Who here thinks it's absurd to think that this Natal will release at any less of a price than their own WiFi adapter? As for innovative, what a shill, this "innovation" was released when the Eye Toy came out and even before that with the PC. This tech will come out and be forgotten about by hardcore gamers all over the world in a matter of weeks. If it is not faddish like the Wii, it will flop. Heck, I don't even have that much faith in the Sony wand but this eye-toy tech has been around before and failed to grab the general audience.
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leeger - 43 days 18 hours ago
1.27 -
@reburn
yes, what i said is my opinion, the same way you said your opinion regarding the impact natal will do to the casual crowd....

geesh i guess people suddenly wants casual gaming to take over. I rather want MS focusing on actually making great AAA core games for core gamers rather than investing millions again to develope natal and not to mention the millions they are going to spend again to adverstise it like the second coming of Christ.
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JsonHenry - 43 days 18 hours ago
1.28 -
If their wireless N adapter sells for a $100 then there is NO WAY Natal will sell for anything less than $150, and that is being optimistic.
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Elven6 - 43 days 17 hours ago
1.29 -
gaffyh: Microsoft's release up until September 2009 (since you said October)

The Lost & Damned
Halo Wars
Ninja Blade
Shadow Complex
Trials HD
'Splosion Man
1 vs. 100
Banjo Tooie
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
Kodu
Uno Rush
Lode Runner

After September

Forza Motorsport 3
South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
Lips: Number One Hits
Halo Waypoint (which isn't necessarily a game, more Meta I guess)
The Ballad of Gay Tony

That's the first/second party lineup, factor in the third party stuff both exclusive and multiplatform and their was a lot to appeal to all sorts of gamers, did you really find nothing interesting this year?

On topic: That would be a killer price, while I would definitely buy Natal, I'm interested in seeing how the games would work for it.
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K1W1 - 43 days 16 hours ago
1.30 - A November 2010 release
would coincide well with the release of both Halo Reach and Fable 3.

So that makes sense.

14 games at launch is a good number. I was expecting 4 to 6 but 14 should cover both family/casual titles and a few hardcores as well.

All Rare needs to do is release Viva Pinata 3 for Natal and I'm good.
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Reibooi - 43 days 16 hours ago
1.31 -
If they are planning on selling the thing that cheap 2 things come to mind.

1) They don't care if they lose MASSIVE amounts of money(because the tech they talked about Natal doing would not be that cheap) to attract casual gamers and keep the 360 afloat.

or

2) They outright lied about what Natal is capable of and it's nothing but a glorified eye toy(which also sells for around that price) and will be a complete and utter failure.
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Hutch2355 - 43 days 16 hours ago
1.32 - I just got my popular science mag
and they gave natal the Grand Award winner for home entertainment. It was the top 100 best innovations of the year mag.
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dreman999 - 43 days 16 hours ago
1.33 - @Reibooi
How in dear lord did you come up with that?
Base on the price point I would say that they want to sell as much as possible. No one would buy it at $100
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sikbeta - 43 days 15 hours ago
1.34 -
Halo Reach + natal? you make Halo sound cheap, I thought natal will be a response to the wii-mote

The love for the motion crap goes to the controller, If you don't have a motion controller you don't have the love of the casuals motion control lovers and gamers always want a joystick or a keyboard

Now, how much space you need to play a fps/tps If natal track all your movements and put in the game and if it manage to do it'll be pretty damn laggy, like the avatar shoe stuff also if you play with natal you'll get physically tired, what's the fun with that?

If you want to make physics exercises you go outside, games are to relax and have a good time, not like the wii-fit crap

5 million untits for day one, if that's truth is the typical M$ thinking:

-"hello I'm M$, look what I made, now buy it"

In the real world that kind of thinking doesn't apply to individuals
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K1W1 - 43 days 15 hours ago
1.35 -
"if you play with natal you'll get physically tired, what's the fun with that?"

Are you really implying that you cannot get physically tired without have fun?

Really?

Play sports do ya?
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sikbeta - 43 days 15 hours ago
1.36 - @K1W1
Read my WHOLE comment please

I wrote:

"If you want to make physics exercises you go outside"

Like football and stuff, no yoga and other craps, Got it?
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Isaac - 43 days 15 hours ago
1.37 - lol @ the comments
Look at the blatant fanboyism from 360 zealots, there are so many duplicate accounts of the same user, you can just notice by the way they type, it's just too obvious and I love how the mods really don't do anything.

Anyway, for Natal to be successful, Microsoft needs to distance itself as most as it can from the 360's image of an unreliable console by:

a. Redesigning the 360 aesthetically, i.e. make it like a 360 slim, approaching Wii size

b. Redesigning the innards completely, actually making it *RELIABLE*

c. If they can, add a better CPU and better GPU, a similar jump in power the same way it was from gamecube to Wii, just to leave PS3 in the dust. The problem with that would be making the 360 not compatible with Natal games, which may not be the best thing to do, but hell, Nintendo killed of the gamecube anyway and didn't allow gamecube owners to upgrade through an add-on, so it would be understandable.

d. Market it as a new console. Do not name it Xbox 360. Do not relate it to Xbox 360, just make it backwards compatible with 360 games. Also, if they don't add more power, just offer current 360 owners the possibility of an upgrade (and I'm sure they will).

This is the only way I can see Microsoft succeeding. But you know what, I love it how 360 fanboys are lately out in full force trying to evangelize non 360 owners and insulting everything non-Microsoft, especially everything PS3 related. They just keep talking about tessellation and things they don't really know anything about, as if hte 360, which will be 5 years old hardware by then, was still relevant compared to PC hardware. I got bad news for most of you kids, Microsoft is taking the Wii route by focusing on user friendliness, NOT on hardcore gaming, at least not as much as before. So why are you partying anyway?

Anyway, I had to lol at these comments from the Sonic avatar guy though:

"If they can pack Natal in with a 360 for $200 for next year's holiday season"

Big IF. The 360 also needs a HDD, all devs have clamored for it. The new Natal is a double-eyed webcam with a relatively sophisticated CPU.

"(and they probably can)"

Stopped reading there. lol, first you call someone on making assertions about PS3 outselling 360 and then you make assertions about probabilities of what some company can and can't even though you also have no evidence, only your own ignorant beliefs. Wow, just wow. Yeah, Microsoft probably can give the 360 away too LULZ. Hell, they can do anything. Do they WANT to?
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Unending Punishment - 43 days 15 hours ago
1.38 - @shadowflare
...so we get a controller and suddenly your fart of a comment disappeared into the wind.

Dude, Xbox 360 still has a controller. If you need a controller you'll buy one. I dunno why you think that Natal would prevent you from OWNING a controller period...
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Saigon - 43 days 14 hours ago
1.39 - IMHO
I think that is too late...they might as well wait for the next gen if they do that...I think the spring or even the summer would be more suitable...what if the Wii2 decides to launch then...what would MS do...
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slayorofgods - 43 days 12 hours ago
1.40 - THE MAX SPEED 21
Now their's an idea to actually sell Natal

Call it Natal-Halo project. lmfao.
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IcarusOne - 43 days 11 hours ago
1.41 - there's so much potential in Natal
Everyone seems to viewing this as an either/or scenario. "Just watch - you'll miss your controller!" "You'll get tired of using your body for everything!" You're missing the big advantage of Natal. It tracks your BODY, not a peripheral.

Imagine playing a FPS with your 360 controller. And you've got a squad. You reach a sketchy looking house. You let go of your joystick and hold up your fist. And your character does it in realtime with you. And you're whole squad stops moving. Then, using your controller, you slide up to the door and peek in. Looks clear. So you make a circle in the air with your finger. And again, your character does this in realtime, perfect tracking of your hand movement. And your squad regroups on you. It's like voice recognition only now it's BODY RECOGNITION.

This is just one example of how INTEGRATING Natal into already proven means of control - rather than replacing it entirely - can greatly enhance our immersion and interactivity.
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Saaking - 43 days 10 hours ago
1.42 -
If it's only around 60 bucks with a game bundled I'd probably get it just to try it out.

However I must still ask, all of you so hyped up about motion controls why not get a Wii? What's the big difference between Natal and the Wii? In fact, I'd say the wii is probably better suited for hardcore games than Natal. I suggest all of you praising Natal should check out the wii.
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Reibooi - 43 days 9 hours ago
1.43 -
@dreman999

It's incredibly simple. MS billed the thing as a higher res version of the eye toy(At least that's what there demos would have you believe)

The eye toy is around this price(cheaper really) And it cannot do all the things Natal is supposed to be able to do flawlessly in high res.

With that logic it means either it does have much more advanced tech then the eye toy(which would cost alot more then 100 bucks) and they are willing to take a massive hit in the wallet to try to get the thing into the market place for a long term victory(which i doubt will work anyway as I think Natal is pretty lame)

The other possibility is that Natal was all smoke and mirrors when it was shown and literally is nothing more then a eye toy(which would again explain how they could sell it that cheap)

This are really the only 2 possibility's with a price point this low. It's either crap tech they lied about with smoke and mirrors or it's high tech that they are willing to take a hit in the wallet for so they can invest in the future. It's that simple.
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SaberEdge - 43 days 9 hours ago
1.44 -
I am definitely taking a wait and see attitude towards Natal, but I do think that its potential is exciting and I look forward to see what developers can achieve with it.

I don't know why hardcore PS3 fanboys even feel the need to come in here and try to denounce Natal. It's an exciting piece of technology and it's obvious why it has many gamers excited by the possibilities. Will it succeed? No one knows. But why be so damn negative about it before we've even seen what it will bring to the table?

Saaking, I know you hate anything to do with the 360, but I will answer you anyway. Natal does everything that the Wiimote does, only it adds a bunch of other functionality that is not found in the Wiimote or Eyetoy. I don't understand how some of you continue to pretend to be ignorant of that fact. The other reason I think some gamers are more excited by Natal than by the Wii is that the 360 is a high def console with advanced graphics and the games that Microsoft and 3rd party publishers release for it are very different than the kind of games that get released for the Wii.

I'm not saying that Natal is going to be the greatest thing ever or that it will even succeed--none of us know that--but what I am saying is that it has potential and I think it is completely expected that gamers would be interested to see what comes out of that potential.
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Power_of_Black - 43 days 6 hours ago
1.45 - cause waving your arm everywhere is sooooo next gen.
Wow this will definitely turn the xbox 360 into a cutting edge next gen console.
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jav0918 - 43 days 4 hours ago
1.46 -
I like how everyone assumes Natal will be mandatory...
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DroidStation3rdPlace - 43 days 22 hours ago
2 -
Natal will OWN 2010

can't wait
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vhero - 43 days 21 hours ago
2.1 -
Just like the PSEYE owned 2008?? I Doubt it...
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ReBurn - 43 days 19 hours ago
2.2 -
Was there a game other than Eye of Judgement and a handful of PSN titles to support the PSEye? Sony didn't really throw much support behind that peripheral.
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