London Events Xbox Kinect LaunchXbox Kinect Controller - Launch
Countdown to Kinect for Xbox 360 – where your body is the controller. Launching and available to buy on November 10th in the UK.
The Kinect for Xbox 360 is being billed as the controller-free entertainment experience and most desired gift this Christmas more at http://www.xbox.com/kinect
What is the Kinect?
Originally code name 'Project Natal' - this has been a long time in development. Dispensing with traditional controllers, the Kinect is a web-cam style add-on for the XBox 360 console. It enables players to interact by using gestures and voice commands, with the camera picking up movements and the surround microphones picking up sound. It's released in the US on 4th November, Europe (including London) on the 10th and the Far East a week later.
The Kinect is an add-on to existing platforms rather than a new console, and is unique in this respect. No need to entice gamers into buying a new console, so it probably represents the surest bet in the history of gaming, with Xbox already being arguably the dominant platform. The voice recognition elements are only being launched in the US, UK and Japan - with the rest of the world having to wait until next year. It'll enable headset-free party chat over Xbox Live, in addition to in-game commands. Those using an existing console, need an extra power supply cable since the requirements of the sensor, exceeds current USB capacity. No biggie, I'm sure.
Game include numerous 'Fitness' and 'Adventure' titles, presumably to wrest some business from the Wii and its world-beating 'Fit'. There's also a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows title which dovetails conveniently with the cinematic release and offers 'Full Body Wizardry'. All without the least hint of 'double-entendre'.
See it in action at Selfridges, London.
