Microsoft Kinect has been unveiled as the final name for the motion-sensing controller we’ve come to know and sort-of-love as Natal. At a circus-themed E3 event, Microsoft Kinect was introduced to the world with a first glimpse of its full potential but some rather important details omitted. Like, for instance, the Microsoft Kinect price and release date! Read on for all the Microsoft Kinect details so far…
Microsoft Kinect looks as we expected it to with the design matching the final Natal model that was outed at the D8 conference. However, there’s no sign of the white paintjob that we saw then. But we did get a look at some new Microsoft Kinect features that haven’t popped up in demos before.
The Microsoft Kinect menu interface was demoed and it’s suitably Minority Report-esque: you wave your hand to control a glowing pointer and push forward to select the element you want. There’s also a stripped down version of the XBox Live Dashboard which showed Twitter, Facebook, Zune and Netflix. Microsoft has been promising Natal living room domination for months so we should hear more about those functions soon.
Video chat has been back in the headlines since Apple uncovered iPhone 4 FaceTime calling at WWDC last week and Microsoft Kinect has its own version. The simply named Video Chat app will let you talk to up to four people at once and share videos and photos via Microsoft Kinect.
The Microsoft Kinect demo also showed how players can join a game. In a mining cart game, a second player jumped into view of the camera and the game switched to split screen. A football game showed a similar function with players taking turns by jumping into position.
So far Microsoft hasn’t revealed a Microsoft Kinect release date or given any clues on pricing but with another Microsoft E3 event planned in the early hours of tomorrow, we’re likely to find out then. Perhaps the Xbox 360 Slim will break cover then too.
Stay tuned for more details and a rundown of the first Microsoft Kinect games. Let us know what you think of the new name for Natal. Does Microsoft Kinect connect with you? Or are you waiting for a good look at Playstation Move?
Due TBC | £TBC | Microsoft
