At a fancy pre-E3 kickoff event, Microsoft officially unveiled Project Natal as Kinect with the help of Cirque Du Soleil. They not only renamed their controller free motion control system but they also revealed a catalog of titles that will launch with Kinect. The aptly named Video Chat feature was also shown off tonight that allows you to, you know, video chat with other 360 owners through the Kinect camera. And I was surprised to see the users able to swipe through the dashboard with just a flick of their hands.
But is it any different than what the Wii can do? The jury is still out on that one. And what about PlayStation Move? Evan and I have seen what Move is capable of and it just seems as though Microsoft is looking to one up Nintendo but not much more. We’ll likely find out more at Microsoft’s press conference.
The following are a handful of titles in the works, including a Star Wars lightsaber title.
Star Wars – LucasArts is working on a lightsaber duel title for Kinect that includes Force Powers. Un-freakin-believable.
Joy Ride – Microsoft actually showed this title off at last year’s E3 and now we know why it’s been delayed. To accelerate or brake you simply lean forward or back whilst holding an imaginary steering wheel.
Kinectimals – This one sounds an awful lot like Sony’s EyePet where you can train and play with virtual pets. Up to 20 different animals are available including lions, cats and tigers.
Kinect Sports – Kind of like Wii Sports that includes bowling, beach volleyball, boxing, track and field (including hurdles!), soccer and ping pong.
Kinect Adventures – river rafting! With up to two players!
Dance Central – gyrate and jiggle like a goof in the comfort of your own home thanks to MTV Games.
That’s the stuff that’s been confirmed. Rumors of a slim Xbox 360 have been swirling for quite a while and now it seems as though someone has slipped up less than 24 hours before Microsoft’s E3 press conference.
Italian gaming blog Console Tribe was running an ad of what looked like a slimmed down Xbox 360. Before it was pulled, we learned that whatever it was has built-in Wi-Fi, a 250GB HDD and Kinect compatibility.
