A report reveals that Nintendo was offered the opportunity to use Natal technology for Wii.
According to a report by European videogame news site CVG, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was offered the opportunity to use the technology behind Microsoft's Project Natal on the Wii. Iwata turned it down.
The reason Iwata refused to accept the technology, despite being impressed by the demo created by 3DV Systems, was because he didn't believe they could release the peripheral at a mass-market price and couldn't see it as an add-on peripheral for Wii.
"3DV showed off a camera that detected motion in 3D, and had voice recognition - but Iwata-San was unconvinced he could sell it at a Nintendo price point. He also had some worries around latency during gameplay", CVG's insider at Nintendo explained.
Microsoft revealed Project Natal at E3 2009, showing off demos that showcased facial and vocal recognition as well as body movement in a 3D space. When Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about the technology, he said that "This type of motion-sensing camera technology has been around for quite a while. [We've] ultimately made the decision not to take advantage of what they can do", referring to the technology seen in Sony Computer Entertainment's EyeToy peripheral.