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.