The new Kinect was a major focus at the Microsoft Press Conference, and several big announcements for the new interactive controller have come to light. Seeking greater immersion, they showed off demonstrations of speech recognition and uncanny user tracking.
New features include a new sub-dashboard specifically set up for the Kinect. With Kinect Video, interactive Zune and other features, the Kinect showcased a wide variety of games and features targeted towards the social audience. Also mentioned was the ability for the Kinect to stream effortlessly with the Windows Live voice chat features.
Several games showcased included Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, Kinect Joyride and Kinect Adventures. All of these games will utilize account avatars, and displayed a side that rivals the Wii’s softer image.
Several publishers and developers have already pledged support for the motion platform, with 15 titles confirmed for launch. Ubisoft is looking at releasing a fitness title in Your Shape, Harmonix has now moved on to dancing with Dance Central, and Turn 10 Studios has unveiled a Kinect version of Forza Motorsport. Star Wars fans will be pleased with an as of yet named game that will allow users interactivity with the Lightsaber as never before (the latter two aren’t planned for release until 2011).
Kinect will launch on November 4. There’s still no word on pricing or any bundles with Xbox 360 hardware.
