Natal vs. Kinect: The Hullabaloo

Gamers of all sorts really liked the name “Natal.” Well, at least that’s what everyone thought… but in this case, everyone was wrong. According to Microsoft’s Albert Penello, Kinect won over Natal by a “landslide” in a survey which pitted the names against one another.

Not only did Natal roll off of varied tongues, it also was a unique title. On the other hand, Kinect feels too pleasant and fastidious. As much as we adapted to the Natal name, Natal was never planned to be the final title. “Well, you know, we launched it as a code name,” explained Microsoft’s Penello in an interview with Industry Gamers. Should it have been more than just a code name, though?

na•tal
-Adjective
1. of or pertaining to a person’s birth
2. presiding over or affecting a person at birth

Ah, the birth of controller-free gaming… why not use the name Natal, which literally relates to origin? Plus, it’s Microsoft director Alex Kipman’s (incubated the Kinect project) hometown in Brazil. Who wouldn’t want to have their new name based off of their boss’ hometown!

Alternatively, you could always use the name “Kinect:”

ki•nect
-Unidentified Part of Speech
error//no definition found

What, exactly, does Kinect even mean? It’s not a person, place, or thing (noun), and I’m pretty sure that that door isn’t kinect (adjective). Who knows, maybe you can kinect (verb)! Regardless, the part of speech is unknown, but some of the word’s Latin origin is decipherable.

The prefix “-kin” is found in many words throughout various languages, most notably kinetic, directly relating to the act of motion. “-Nect,” on the other hand, comes from the Latin word Nexus, meaning to connect.

At the end of this, both names have sagacity for this intuitive experience. Kinect might not flow as well, but it gets the job done in conveying its message and purpose, and will definitely appeal to the casual audience more than a title such as Natal might. Natal is stuck to so many people, but Kinect has a more consequential meaning, explains Penello: “It’s always one of the challenges: once the name gets out and people kind of get over it or react to it, then it sort of sticks. Our intention was never to call it Natal. I mean… we thought about code names that might be more meaningful or could evolve into the product names, but Natal was actually the real code name. Again, Alex Kidman sort of heritage from him and Microsoft city names as code names.”

Code names changing to different launch names aren’t rare, we even saw it with the Wii preceding to its launch. Previously the “Revolution” name didn’t hurt their standing with investors and consumers – shown by their millions of invaded households. Penello sees no danger in this change, either. “Yes, we got some mainstream press, but I feel like, again, we oftentimes forget that the consumer audience, the mass consumer audience, you know, they really get invested in things right before they launch and right when you’re about to sell stuff. So, we didn’t really see a lot of danger that people would be confused.”

This new name, paired with some well-placed advertising and a strong campaign should allow Microsoft to begin a home invasion of its own.