Halo is probably the signature Xbox series, as well as one of the most popular video game series of all time. On September 22 the next installment in the franchise, Halo 3: ODST will hit stores. Barring miracles or magic, there’s no way we’ll see Natal come out in time for Halo 3. But the next Halo game in the line-up, Halo: Reach, is scheduled for August of 2010, and it looks like we can expect to see it released as a Natal game.
This isn’t just idle fan speculation either. Bungie has announced that they are looking at the possibility of making Reach work with Natal. At E3 this year Bungie attended a super-secret Project Natal briefing, and they emerged impressed with the technology. Bungie President Harold Ryan has even said that,
“I absolutely think Reach could be enabled with it,”
The fact that Reach is being considered as a Natal game means that we can probably expect Project Natal to hit before or around August of 2010. It’s likely Bungie has more knowledge of when Natal will be hitting stores than the rest of us, and if they’re considering developing Halo: Reach to work with it than it stands to reason that Natal will need to be out close to when Reach is expected to hit stores. This is hardly confirmation, but it’s definitely the most likely Natal launch rumor I’ve heard yet.
