Well it’s official, the name Project Natal was just a code name, the retail name for Microsoft’s new control-less device is Kinect. While Kinect relates to the connected experiences it provides, I actually preferred Natal as the name. There’s been a lot of discussion about Natal since it’s unveiling at last years E3 and brand awareness was already high. With a renaming, that process needs to start again.

Update
Engadget have more info on Kinect and have confirmed video chat will be a key feature.

Kinect will launch a number of compatible titles while some previous titles may receive an update to make them Kinect compatible. Joystiq list the launch titles as:

• Kinectimals features over 20 different virtual pets, including lions, tigers, and cheetahs, to play with or raise.
• Joyride has returned to life as a controller-free racing game, apparently.
• Kinect Sports will offer sport games to play: "boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis." For each one, you will make motions to play the games.
• Kinect Adventures has a river raft and obstacle course to navigate — this is likely the demo we saw last week.
• MTV Games will release Dance Central, where you can cut a virtual rug.
• And there will be more games announced later featuring both Disney characters and Star Wars characters, in conjunction with Disney and LucasArts, respectively.

Gizmodo have an impressive gallery of hands-on photos from the E3 launch party. The final production model of Kinect actually looks a lot smaller than early Natal builds, but is a slick shade of glossy black. One possible issue I see with Kinect is its location in your home entertainment setup. Most decent setups have 5.1 surround sound, including a middle speaker placed below the TV, right where Kinect wants to be. It’s a lot larger than the Wii sensor bar, so sitting Kinect on top of your flat screen is not an option. Not sure what the right solution to this problem will be, hopefully Microsoft will tell us tomorrow morning.

GDGT users, be sure you add Kinect to your want list. Apparently 2 people already have it.

More @ Joystiq

Get ready gaming fans.. the insanity that is E3 is almost upon us. The worlds biggest gaming expo kicks off bright an early tomorrow morning with a keynote from Microsoft. They’re partnered with Fotel’s FOX8 channel to stream the keynote live for the first time. So if you have Foxtel, forget about the hassle of connecting your laptop to the big screen and head to FOX8 at 3:30am AEST tomorrow morning.

The event being titled Xbox 360: The Future Revealed will take a detailed look at Project Natal for the Xbox 360. There’s sure to be plenty of game demos, pricing and availability details. Reports in this morning from USA Today suggest Natal’s official release name will be Kinect.

This live broadcasting of technology events in Australia is a great thing, if only it was on free-to-air, then everyone could enjoy it.

More @ InsiderX via Kotaku

News out of today’s E3 Press Conference from Microsoft.

The video stream from G4 on Justin.tv was some of the best live coverage. Played flawlessly with over 21,000 viewers. Update: ok the stream just died. 5:22am.

Beatles RockBand announced

Personally I’m not a fan of the Beatles, but I know a lot of people are, so I’m sure they’ll be happy about this announcement.

10 new games demo’d
Tony Hawk
- includes peripheral (skateboard)

My thoughts: I really hope this board is wireless, I seen some ports on the side that made me a little nervous, but hopefully that’s just for charging. Ultimately it’s l

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Xbox 360 gets the first 2 map packs first.

My thoughts: The demo was set in the snow, it looked good, but we’ve come to expect this from COD, there didn’t look to be anything particularly innovative about this sequel. Still this game will probably be

Final Fantasy XIII
Announced last year, shown off running on the Xbox 360 for the first time.
- Spring 2010 release date
- Also available on PS3

My thoughts: This game looks pretty good, but is still so far away.

Shadow Complex

My thoughts: While it looked like the best Xbox Live Arcade game, I’d rather spend my time and money on a full game.

Joy Ride
- Will be free
- The most comprehensive use of Avatars yet

My thoughts: Actually pretty keen to check this one out, reminds me very much of the movie cars.

Crackdown 2

My thoughts: OMG OMG OMG, *runs round in circles with excitement I loved the first Crackdown, very excited about the next iteration.

Left4Dead2
- November 17th Release Date

My thoughts: Another will buy game

Splinter Cell Conviction

My thoughts: Some of the best pre-rendered faces, I wish in-game looked that good.

Forza 3 !!!!
- 400 cars from 50 manufacturers
- New graphics engine.
- Includes the Audi R8
- Drifting !!!
- Release date: October 09.

My thoughts: My most anticipated game from E3, can’t come soon enough.

Halo 3 ODST
- September 22nd
- Buy this and get a multiplayer beta invite to Halo Reach

My thoughts: I’m a big Halo fan, what’s not to like ?

Allan Wake
- Spring 2010 release date

My thoughts: Not much to say here.. another first person shooter. Looked good, still going for Left4Dead 2 though.

Xbox Live
- Last.fm coming to the Xbox, available later this year around the world for free !
- Netflix (US only) ads downloading / on on demand streaming from xbox, Sky TV for UK and Ireland.
- Video Library renamed Zune – This Fall, to 18 markets, I didn’t see an Australian flag..
     – 1080p, no disc, no downloads, no delay.. ? Not sure how they pull this off.

Facebook comes to Xbox
- Felicia Day from The Guild on stage
- Nice UI, access to manage friends, see facebook photos etc.
- Facebook connect support in-game allows screen shots to be uploaded to facebook
- Release date: Fall 09

Twitter comes to Xbox
- Live stream of updates
- Chatpad now becomes the must-have accessories
- Release date: Fall 09

Metal Gear Solid coming to Xbox for the first time
- Next edition is called Metal Gear Solid: Rising
- Completely new title, no Solid Snake ?

My thoughts: This is a big exclusive loss for Sony, definitely pays to have market share.

New Xbox features – Xbox Project Natal
- Sensor bar
- No need for a controller
- Video conferencing !!
- Voice controls !!
- Facial recognition
- Steven Spielberg on stage talking about the transformational technology.
- Available to all Xbox’s.

My thoughts: Looks great, but you know the motion sensing won’t work as well as advertised. Fingers crossed I’m wrong. The video really showcased some great innovation, Microsoft are making a big play for the casual non-gamers, clearly a response to the Wii’s success.

- Control your Avatar by moving your body.
- “This isn’t a game where you end up on the couch using some preset waggle controls” – owch!! A big swing at Nintendo.

- Peter from Leohead Studios shows off a 3D Natal, an interactive, interact with a 3D character. It’s like being able to interact with your imaginary friend

Natal release date: Developers get Natal SDK today.

More @ Xbox

Sony’s Press Conference was much less about system updates and more about the games on the way.

The exception to that was the addition of a video store, still waiting to have it confirmed if Australia will see the video store on the PlayStation Network.

Console update
The 40GB version will be discontinued in favour of a larger 80 GB model for US $399.99. There’s still some active discussion around wether Australians will see the newer model.

Games

MAD – 256 players
This game presents one of the biggest technological challenges ever in gaming. Presenting a single environment that doesn’t only contain a massive number, but an insane 256 characters at once, online.

It’s very early days, but if they can pull of this, it’ll be an awesome achievement. There was a lot of FMV shown, so I think it’ll be well into 2009 before we see this title released.

Little Big Planet
The very unique, very cute Little Big Planet is certainly a game with a difference. Don’t know too much about this game, but I’m looking foward to it’s release.

Motorstorm 2
The follow up to the launch title Motorstorm, as to be expected by a game with a trailing 2, then

Resident Evil 5
Videos of this game looks stunning. Despite the amazing graphics of both characters and environments, the shooting system looks terrible and almost unplayable. It appears an auto-targeting system doesn’t exist.

Bioshock
This was the smash hit from 2007 on the Xbox 360, I really think Sony missed the interest curve on this one.

Grand Turismo TV
Personally I’m excited about the new additions to Grand Turismo TV. The very popular Top Gear and many other SD and HD videos from racing events, to behind the scenes in factories and test tracks, will soon be added and available through GT5: Prologue’s GTTV.

The message from Sony was very much clear, they’re strategy is long term, and the best is still very much yet to come. Good in theory, except they’re competition is moving and moving quickly right now.

I’m still really excited about Home and the potential that offers. It’ll be very interesting to see Home go up against the newly announced Xbox 360 social and community additions.

This week the big 3, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo all deliver what’s coming in the future on their systems.

Some of the biggest news this year came from Microsoft, with an entire refresh of the Xbox 360 interface. This also bring with it new features, Avatars, Party Play and Primetime.

Avatars
Avatars are 3D personalised characters, similar to Mii’s on the Nintendo Wii, with one difference there’s actually a purpose for having them. Now some may criticise Microsoft for stealing the idea, I’m not so much concerned with that, the idea appears to be taken and improved upon both graphically and functionally. There’s clearly potential for Microsoft to monetise new DLC (clothes/objects) for your Avatar. Currently Xbox Live friends are simply displayed as a text list, with the new Xbox interface, your friends Avatars will actually appear when they’re online.

The real benefit will be in sharing experiences like photo slideshows, videos and best of all will be making the process of teaming up with friends and gaming online a whole lot simpler with up to 8 player Party-Play.

Primetime
Microsoft are aggressively trying to attract the non-gaming community with a new ‘Primetime’ feature. It offers virtual game-shows, starting with “1 vs. 100” in which your Avatar appears in-game, while you compete against your friends and other players online.

Overall
There’s massive changes on the way for Xbox 360 owners, the response online has been generally positive. Personally I’d like to see them focus more on the international rollout of Movies and TV Shows. The new partnership with Netflix is a nice addition for those in the US, however it means nothing  to the rest of us around the world.

The update is due in “The Fall” which roughly equates to a few months from now.