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Walmart offering $200 Kinect bundles, includes game and gift card
The saga of the ambiguous price point for Microsoft's Kinect continues today with a new hardware bundle from Walmart. For $199.99, shoppers can pre-order the peripheral itself along with one of the device's launch titles, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, Dance Central, Joy Ride, Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures. Shoppers can also grab another game from this list for an additional $60 (or $50 for Harry Potter). The bundle also includes a $30 Walmart eGift Card. It's worth noting that Walmart's $60 price point for Kinect software and $150 price for the device itself corroborates listings we've seen from other retailers. Of course, Microsoft has yet to confirm any official pricing details for the motion-sensing peripheral -- still, with that free gift card, Walmart's offer seems like the most cost-effective one to date. Unless, of course, Kinect ends up being cheaper than $150, in which case, just tell us the freaking price already.
Kinectimals plush pets unlock in-game content
Upon leaving Microsoft's Project Natal ... er Kinect event, we were presented with the plush kitties you see above. Adorable, to be sure, but they conceal a deeper purpose -- a Kinect-related purpose. The animals come with a special code that can be scanned by Kinect (note the colorful "K" in the image above). Once scanned, the cat is unlocked in Kinect's precious pet sim ("Project Natal Animal" here) for some motion-tracked cuddle time. We've seen similar functionality in Rare's Viva Pinata with the Vision Camera. The real question is whether Microsoft will make these available for purchase in the future. The ones handed out at Kinect's unveiling event are marked as "promotional purposes only."
Kinect library for Xbox 360 revealed by USA Today
Update: Oops! It looks like USA Today jumped the gun on the announcement and has since pulled the piece from its site. Stay tuned for Microsoft's official unveiling later. USA Today has spilled the proverbial beans on Microsoft's Natal project -- not only has the paper confirmed the Kinect product name, but they've posted a few of the games in the pipeline for the system. Here we go: Kinectimals features over 20 different virtual pets, including lions, tigers, and cheetahs, to play with or raise. Joyride has returned to life as a controller-free racing game, apparently. Kinect Sports will offer sport games to play: "boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis." For each one, you will make motions to play the games. Kinect Adventures has a river raft and obstacle course to navigate -- this is likely the demo we saw last week. MTV Games will release Dance Central, where you can cut a virtual rug. And there will be more games announced later featuring both Disney characters and Star Wars characters, in conjunction with Disney and LucasArts, respectively. Marc Whitten even namedrops Nintendo in USA Today's piece, but he says that without a controller, Kinect will be "fundamentally different." We'll keep our eyes open for these games all this week, so stay tuned. Thanks, Jake!
