Xbox 360 Project Natal Equals Microsoft Kinect?

Several websites are reporting that the cat is out of the bag and that Project Natal will be called Microsoft Kinect.

Kinect is Microsoft’s new motion control sensor unit that will allow Xbox 360 players to interact with the console and games using their body motions instead of hand controllers.

Here are some of the sources I have seen so far:

• Microsoft Kinect revealed: Project Natal finally gets a name (Engadget)
• E3 2010: Project Natal is "Kinect" (IGN)
• Microsoft Kinect gets into motion as E3 confab kicks off (USA Today – the apparent source of the leaked info)

The USA Today site also mentions some Kinect games that will be available when the hardware releases:

•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.

Now we just need to hear the release date and price.

Related Posts

• Kinect for Xbox 360 Launch Titles Announced
• Xbox 360 Project Natal on Amazon.com
• It’s Official: Meet Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360
• Microsoft’s Kinect on Popular Mechanics Most Innovative Products Of 2011 List
• Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 Pricing Officially Announced

Richard Hay  (3358 Posts)

Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for over 25 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 he received the award for the third time.