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Story by Patrick Garratt

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 | 15:01 BST

Ballmer – New Xbox in 2010: Greenberg and Nelson – No there isn’t

God’s sake. To cut a very long-winded story short, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said at The Executive’s Club of Chicago last night that a new Xbox 360 will hit the store shelves in 2010.

The machine, said Ballmer, is to have a “natural interface,” with built-in camera with the ability to recognize movement and voice.

The internet, obviously, went nuts, causing Xbox product boss Aaron Greenberg to get on the phone to various sites (including Destructoid) to say in no uncertain terms:

“I can tell you that we are not launching a new console in 2010.”

He added: “We’re not going to have to require customers to reinvest in an entirely new platform,” he says. “We’re able to add [Project Natal] on top of what’s already there.”

And: “This will work with your Xbox 360 if you’re buying one today, a year from now, [or] if you bought one at launch.”

Nelson also threw in his tuppence, saying, “We are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade.

“Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time.”

So what was Ballmer talking about? A new 360 SKU with integrated Natal, probably, although Greenberg insisted in the wake of his comments that Natal’s route to market hasn’t been finalised in terms of time or method.

Back to DEFCON 3. Unlock the mountain.