Report: Microsoft Saudi Arabia Reveals Natal Launch In October?

Microsoft Saudi Arabia's marketing manager seems to have confirmed an October worldwide launch for Xbox 360's Project Natal full-body motion control sensor. Although Syed Bilal Tariq, represented as an employee of the company, said in an television interview passed on via Gamertag Radio that the official launch date would be confirmed at E3 this year, he noted the Saudi Arabia launch would be part of the global launch, "and in the world that is going to be somewhere in October." Microsoft's Redmond headquarters has not officially confirmed the launch window. It will, however, hold a "World Premiere" event for Natal in June at E3, and the company is widely expected to reveal the device's official name -- Natal is merely a project codename -- price, and launch lineup the way that Sony did with a similar PlayStation Move press conference in March. Fall 2010 is also the window for Sony's PlayStation Move device, which unlike Natal uses a physical wand to simulate user movements. Analysts expect the launch of motion control solutions from both companies ahead of the key holiday season to reinvigorate industry growth and extend the console cycle. [UPDATE: A Microsoft rep told G4 that the purported marketing manager isn't actually directly employed by Microsoft, although the company did not deny the rumored October launch window. "Syed Bilal Tariq is not a [Microsoft] employee. He is a vendor employed through a third-party company on behalf of the Microsoft subsidiary in Saudi Arabia," said a Microsoft rep.]