Project Natal will finally be unveiled with it’s proper name, price and release date at E3 next week.
[Update] Accordng to USA Today, Project Natal will be called “Kinect”. Also Xbox 360 slim will be released.
Last year Microsoft explained that the future of gaming did not reside in controllers, but in a device that actually gets people into the game. Much like the Wii has already devised a solution to having people become more active, Project Natal will have people dropping the remote for a full experience.
Microsoft and Xbox are going to put on quite a show with the Natal, as MTV will be airing a life premiere event with Cirque Du Soleil. How this is going to incorporate the functionality of the Natal is impossible to say, but there is a good possibility that it will show how advanced the motion capturing has become.
Earlier versions and software working with the beta versions of Natal have proved it to be a laggy device; however, video has more recently show great improvements, when a break dancer had all of his motion fully captured.
Press Release
MTV Networks and Cirque du Soleil Partner
with Microsoft for E3
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, today announced a broad-ranging, first-of-its-kind programming partnership with Microsoft Corp. for Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010, the video game industry’s leading trade show. For the first time, only MTV Networks will take viewers inside the spectacular controller-free games and entertainment with The World Premiere of Project Natal for Xbox 360experience, a spectacular live performance imagined by Cirque du Soleil, and live to the Xbox 360 Media Briefing for game announcements, world premieres and breaking news on the future of the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.
“We look forward to making entertainment history again at E3 Expo 2010 and can’t think of a better partner than MTV Networks to exclusively share our news, experiences and Cirque du Soleil’s amazing creativity with an entirely new audience,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.
Cirque du Soleil and Project Natal
Heralded by TIME Magazine as one of the top inventions of 2009, Project Natal is set to forever change the way we interact with entertainment. In the world premiere experience, the creative visionaries at Cirque du Soleil created a stunning production that brings the idea of controller-free gaming and entertainment to life. Witness an original and exclusively created consumer spectacle that pushes the boundaries of live entertainment with cutting-edge technology, pulsating music, amazing puppetry, futuristic video projection, and unbelievable physical dexterity.
The World Premiere Project Natal for Xbox 360 experience, as imagined by Cirque du Soleil airs commercial-free on MTV, Tuesday, June 15 at 3:30 P.M. ET, and on Nick at Nite, mtvU, MTV Hits, and Logo, Tuesday, June 15, at 9 P.M. ET.
SPIKE TV
SPIKE TV, home to the SPIKE Video Game Awards, the biggest night of the year for the gaming industry, will be the exclusive broadcast home for the Xbox 360 E3 Media Briefing. Set to air live and commercial-free in high-definition on Monday, June 14, at 1:30 P.M. ET, the Xbox 360 Media Briefing is a blockbuster event where the future of the Xbox 360 system is revealed. Last year’s presentation included the debut of Project Natal, and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, came together to reveal MTV Games and Harmonix’s The Beatles: Rock Band. Hosted by SPIKE TV’s Geoff Keighley from the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, viewers won’t want to miss breaking news on Project Natal and Xbox LIVE, surprise new game announcements, and world premiere demos of upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive games, such as Halo®: Reach, Gears of War® 3 andFable® III.
Xbox 360: The Future Revealed airs live on Monday, June 14, from 1:30–3 P.M. ET.
MTV Networks
MTV Networks’ GameTrailers.com will provide live, high-definition video streams on the Internet of both the Xbox 360 Media Briefing and the world premiere of Project Natal, powered by the global Akamai HD Network platform. In addition,GameTrailers.com will present exclusive live pre- and post-shows for the Xbox 360 Media Briefing on June 14 with additional video game world premieres and announcements.
