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With rumors of a motion control Halo being eat up by Halo fans like hotcakes, and continually vague responses being issued from Bungie, many 360 gamers have been eagerly awaiting confirmation of the speculation. Sadly, Bungie have finally issued a flat out no, killing the rumor once and for all.

“Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.” said Bungie in a recent report.

Like most rumors in the gaming industry, the Natal/Halo: Reach project did have some logical grounds, with the seed being planted by the Bungie head mid last year. When discussing the future of the Halo series with the Seattle Times, Harold Ryan expressed an interest in Project Natal and seemed enthusiastic about incorporating the motion control feature into Reach.

“I absolutely think ‘Reach’ could be enabled with it,” he said.

The rumor was then further supported by the appearance of an off-center crosshair in a Halo: Reach screenshot, which many assumed to be evidence of a motion control targeting system. This, however, was recently shot down by Bungie as simply being an error on their part.

This sway in Bungie’s interest in Project Natal does raise some issues. Although Project Natal’s vision of a controller free gaming experience is both clever and impressive, you have to consider the practical application of a gaming peripheral that dismisses several decades of games centered around the use of buttons. Even the Wii’s more serious titles implement buttons more, with motion control simply being a footnote. Let’s hope that Natal titles transcend the gimmick factor and shovelware that plagued the EyeToy and the Wii.

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