“Kinect.” That’s what Microsoft have settled on as the final name of what we’ve known for a year as Project Natal. The motion-sensing camera is scheduled to be shown off at a locked-down press event at the University of Southern California, with a performance by Canada-based entertainers, Cirque Du Soleil, tailor-made for the device, today.
Prior to the event the event, USA Today have the scoop on some of the new software built around Kinect.
•Kinectimals lets you train and play with 20 different virtual cats, including a lion, cheetah and tiger.
•Joyride, a racing game, lets players use their hands to hold an imaginary steering wheel — pull your hands toward you and push back out for an acceleration boost — and their bodies to execute jumps and tricks.
•Kinect Sports has six activities including boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis. To serve a volleyball, you mimic the real motion; in soccer, you can kick the ball or do a header.
•Kinect Adventures includes a river-raft time trial and obstacle course, playable by up to four players. On the raft, playing as a duo, you and a partner must lean one way or another to steer. Jumping helps the raft reach special areas for extra points.
•Dance Central, in development by MTV Games, brings a So You Think You Can Dance experience home.
•Star Wars characters and iconic Disney favorites will be featured in separate new games being developed at Microsoft in conjunction with LucasArts and Disney.
As of this post, a price point and release date have not been announced for the Kinect.
