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Joystiq

Ballmer sorry about confusing Natal 2010 statement

by Justin McElroy on Jun 22nd 2009 10:15AM

It's not every day that the head of a multi-billion dollar corporation apologizes to you, so excuse us if we drink deeply of Steve Ballmer's statement to IGN, in which he apologized for referencing a new 360 console to launch in 2010 last week.

Specifically, he said "I confused the issue with my poorly chosen words. There is no news in my comments. Things are as reported after E3. Sorry." Tell you what, Steve, you give us one of your patented "World's Greatest Back Rubs," and all is forgiven. (Also, we're sure you meant a new Xbox 360 bundle, right?)

Source

Tags: microsoft, project-natal, steve-ballmer, xbox-360, xbox-natal

Reader Comments (29)

DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS

DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS

I. LOVE. THIS. COMPANY.

Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich?

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUWWWWWWWWWWWWW

JACKASS JACKASS JACKASS

I don't think I want any backrubs from him if he's going to be thrusting like pictured above.

I thought that's why they were World's Greatest

lol gentlemen... that was brilliant work there.

I am ready for some SCII beta info today!

completely off topic, but I'm excited about Starcraft 2 as well... is that what you ment?

If Natal is really going to take off, it will need to be packaged with the next console. I think a cheap bundle would be good for the 360, but the next console shouldn't be too far off or else the thing could easily flop. Assuming Natal gets delayed until, say, Spring 2011, I could see a new console in Nov ember 2011.

Yes, Natal will be bundled with every new Xbox 360 sold as of November 2010, both the Arcade and Pro versions. It will be a new Xbox 360 redesigned for better reliability, cheaper manufacturing costs, and will be quieter. It will come with the current wireless controller and will use the same current hard drives available. Current Xbox 360 owners will offered an incentive to add a Natal to their existing setup. It will have a massive world-wide launch. It appears that the Xbox 720 is a few more years down the road.

That scenario sounds fine for new buyers but I really doubt Natal could get off the ground without the support of current owners. Unless they create a cheap bundle - say Natal camera with a Wii-Sports-esque game for $19.99 - this thing needs to be in the standard package for the console.

To put it in perspective, how do you think the Wii controller would have done if it was released as an add-on to the Gamecube at $40+? It would have been under-supported for sure.

He's actually thinking "This is how you toast an invisible sandwich at Quiznos"

TORPEDOOOO!!!!!

yum yum yum yum yum......

Is Ballmer getting excited and blurting out inaccurate things so unusual, though? Anything he says requires a fact-check, it seems.

I don't think it's so much misinformation as misinterpretation. He doesn't have very good sentence structure and tends leave key words out of his sentences that can mean the difference in him saying one thing, or something completely different.

Hitting the Ballmer Peak is very difficult.

I love when these CEO types give backtracking press statements. Sustinatively, he didn't actually say anything at all. He didn't confirm that there would or would not be a new console. He basically said: "I didn't say that there wouldn't NOT be a console."

You're not NOT gonna get Randy Jackson's autograph!

Truth on not, now i's the best time not to buy an xbox360, or lat least just try to get it cheap since It's pretty much a given a NEW CONSOLE IS COMING as there was been a few comments during interviews that say this, not confirmations, just a few slips by management.

Not to mention they are holding on to Valhalla chipsets,

oh come on guys you know hes just practicing his shot put for the olympic trial runs

Thats a good pose for the new "Farting Paint Party Bundle"..yeah, you get the Corn edition too...

Balmer reveals that, on Lord of the Rings - Natal edition, Legolas is his absolute fave.

CAMMIE!

Seriously, though. I'm positive that half of all CEOs, COOs, and PR people in the games industry have no idea what they're talking about. So a minor syntax error like this would never have even registered on his radar.

Why do they get paid again?

CAMMIE!!!!

Quiet down Monkey Boy!!!

Ballmer's one UGLY M****R F*****R...(with Aunold accent).

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Ballmer sorry about confusing Natal 2010 statement

Reader Comments (29)

Posted: Jun 22nd 2009 10:21AM Levi said

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