KinectForXbox360
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NBA Baller Beats for Xbox 360 encourages you to play ball in the house
Forget everything your mother told you about playing ball in the house, Majesco thinks it's a terrific idea. NBA Baller Beats takes a rhythmic music game-like approach to the game of roundball, incorporating a real live basketball as a controller for the Xbox 360 title, as part of its full-body tracking Kinect action. And in case you're having trouble motivating off the couch, the gamemakers have brought the likes of Kanye, Run DMC, The Gorillaz and Common to help get you to your feet. Just make sure you remove that priceless antique vase from the living room before you do. At present, all we've got is a teaser trailer, which you can check out after the break. More info is coming at E3.
Microsoft moves 18 million Kinect sensors, leaves behind a lot of lonely couch cushions
Here's a fun little tidbit from tonight's Seacrest-heavy Microsoft Keynote: turns out that Redmond has moved 18 million Kinect sensors in just over a year, according to the Steve Ballmer's numbers. The news came amidst a few announcements that should help the company push even more of the gesture-based peripherals out the door -- Kinect for Windows, anyone? Of course, this being the company's last CES keynote for the foreseeable future, it'll have to find another convention hall full of people to brag to when it announces the numbers this time next year.
Kinect / Arduino hack makes stuffed monkey dance for your amusement
Just when you thought that people had squeezed the last drop of creativity out of Microsoft's Kinect, something like this comes along. It's a stuffed monkey with a robotic skeleton that can mimic the movements of the person standing in front of it. "Monkey Business" is an art installation of sorts created by Jan M. Sieber and Ralph Kistler. It uses a camera sensor from a Kinect, an Arduino mircocontroller, and 10 servomotors. The smirking robo-monkey, meanwhile, is suspended from the wall, giving it a full range of movement. The resulting video is pretty darn delightful.
Kinect for Xbox 360 review
And just like that, all three of the major game consoles now have some semblance of motion controls. Unlike the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Move, however, Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 opts to get rid of buttons altogether, relying on body gestures and voice commands. As the (estimated to be $500 million) ad campaign says, "you are the controller" -- for better and for worse. Read on for our full review! %Gallery-106702%
Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 launching on November 10 in Europe
While Microsoft's new controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360 will be hitting US shores on November 4th, we've just learned that it'll officially land in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa on November 10th. Sure, that's a bit of a wait, but take heart in knowing that Microsoft's targeting an October launch of its Xbox Live lovin' Windows Phone 7 handsets in Europe compared to a November release in the US. Otherwise, we're looking at the same 15 exclusive Kinect game titles already announced at E3.
Switched On: Token gestures
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In early 2005, even after the launch of the Nintendo DS, Switched On critiqued pen computing, noting that it was too cumbersome and unnatural to become a mainstream input method. That column was validated by the launch of the iPhone, which banished the stylus to "blown it" status and popularized "finger-friendly" handset designs from all major smartphone OS developers. Many have described the user interfaces of products such as the iPhone and Surface as ushering in the post-WIMP (windows-icon-mouse-pointer) era. Former Windows Magazine editor Mike Elgan has referred to the new paradigm as "MPG" (multitouch, physics, gestures) However, while these user interfaces feature streamlined designs and more direct manipulation, they still form a bridge with the graphical user interface. The main shift has been to more direct manipulation as the device processes more natural inputs. The same can be said for Kinect. For a tidy sum and some untidiness, Kinect enables the kind of motion-sensing gameplay that has become the Wii's hallmark without having to strap the controller to various limbs (as with EA Active for Wii). In fact it eliminates the need to hold a controller entirely, just like the iPhone and iPad free users of mice and styluses. Beyond Soviet Russia, the input device uses you.
Kinect now playable at Microsoft Stores nationwide -- all four of them
Not lucky enough to find yourself in front of a Kinect sensor at E3 last week? Then it looks like you might not have to wait until November after all -- Microsoft has just announced that you can now try it out at any Microsoft Store nationwide. That includes the San Diego store that just opened today and, well, all three others -- in Scottsdale, AZ, Mission Viejo, CA, and Lone Tree, CO. Interestingly, Microsoft is also reminding folks that they can pre-order Kinect at the Microsoft Store website, but that site now states that "official pricing has not yet been announced," and that "$149.99 is an estimate only and subject to change."
Kinect priced at GameStop: $149, $399 for Elite bundle
Microsoft didn't say a peep about Kinect pricing at its E3 keynote, but GameStop isn't being shy: Kinect is now listed on the retailer's website for $149.99. The page is dead if you try to click through from search results, so it looks like the listing may have gone up in error -- we'll see if this is the real price come November 4. We'll let you know if we can confirm anything. Update: And the hits keep coming: GameStop is now listing a $299 "Arcade Bundle" which obviously pairs a $149 Kinect with the now-$149 Arcade, as well as a $399 Elite bundle that seems to pair a $149 Kinect with the older Elite, which is now $249. So where's the bundle with the hot new 250GB Stealthbox? And are these the real prices? We'll have to wait and see. Update 2: And now Walmart's confirming the November 4th ship date and $149 MSRP. C'mon Microsoft, what are you waiting for?
