Following up from recent rumours that Microsoft's Project Natal would be launched alongside a new console, several sources related to MS have come forward to discredit that suggestion.

The latest to do this is Microsoft's Shane Kim, who has suggested that the (as yet un-dated) arrival of Natal would be "like the launch of a new Xbox" but also "it's not a new hardware architecture", qualifying this by stating that Natal "will work with every existing Xbox 360 out there".

It was a mere matter of weeks ago that Kim himself stated that the 360 is expected to have a life-cycle through to 2015 (though admittedly, other consoles have also had life-spans long after the arrival of the new models, especially the PS1 and PS2). So it seems as though you might not need to save quite as many pennies as you may previously thought you'd have to.