Looks like Kinect is real, with USA Today detailing the system previously known as Natal’s first games. Microsoft’s Marc Whitten credits Nintendo with setting things in motion, naturally, says the website:
“They have done some amazing things and brought new people to the category. This is fundamentally different. It’s (about) my body being the controller (and) being able to communicate with just my voice to the system.”
These are the games USA Today lists as being ‘in the works’:
- 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.
“For lots of people, [the] controller is a barrier,” says creative director Kudo Tsunoda. “We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls.”
We’ll have everything from the Natal conference in the morning.