In their Game Hunters column, they also revealed some of the likely titles that we’ll see for the controller-free game control system. According to the article, the games in development include:

• Kinectimals lets you train and play with 20 different virtual cats, including a lion, cheetah and tiger.
• Joyride, a racing game, lets players use their hands to hold an imaginary steering wheel — pull your hands toward you and push back out for an acceleration boost — and their bodies to execute jumps and tricks.
• Kinect Sports has six activities including boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis. To serve a volleyball, you mimic the real motion; in soccer, you can kick the ball or do a header.
• Kinect Adventures includes a river-raft time trial and obstacle course, playable by up to four players. On the raft, playing as a duo, you and a partner must lean one way or another to steer. Jumping helps the raft reach special areas for extra points.
• Dance Central, in development by MTV Games, brings a So You Think You Can Dance experience home.
• Star Wars characters and iconic Disney favorites will be featured in separate new games being developed at Microsoft in conjunction with LucasArts and Disney.

There’s still no word on the pricing or release date for Kinect, but Microsoft plans on a big gala reveal during their Cirque Du Soleil spectacular, scheduled for Tuesday, 6/15 at 3:30pm ET on MTV.

[via Joystiq]

Halfway into the episode, during a scene where Chloe Sullivan (the show’s proto-Lois Lane before Lois was introduced in season four) flexes some journalistic muscle and feminine wile to charm some answers out of Alec, Smallville’s latest super-powered showboater, the two take turns dancing erratically playing Natal’s Ricochet. In the process, they confirm all my fears: Natal will be the most embarrassing way to play video game games ever. Don’t believe me? Check out this clip:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I haven’t watched any Smallville in years. This certainly doesn’t compel me to return. That the episode is about a prepubescent boy who finds a magical comic book and turns into a superhero doesn’t help, either. The whole thing is a giant nod to Shazam!/Captain Marvel, one of the most bizarre comic book characters I have ever read about.

However, this ham-fisted product placement does remind me of something…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Eat your pop culture references, Smallville!

[via Joystiq]

Mundie’s sample office setting eschewed the keyboard, mouse and even the monitor. His desk was a multi-touch surface computer, and the walls were monitors as well, capable of displaying “a virtual window or collection of digital photos to a corkboard of sticky notes or various workspaces.” That’s nice, except I hope that in the future we’ll still have real views and not “virtual windows”. Mundie also showcased a Project Natal-like tech, wherein he put himself in the middle of an architectural demo. Imagine being able to see and walk through a life-size model of your house before it’s actually built. The future is going to be awesome. To those who can afford it anyway.

[via Crave UK]

As someone with a love-hate relationship with the mouse, this could be really exciting to me. I might even switch back to Windows! It might be worth it to be able to really flip through my music and photos when I flip through my music and photos, though the whole idea of manipulating nothingness would probably take some getting used to.

Just as with everything else Project Natal-related, there’s nothing concrete here, just an interview, a remark, and a dream, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

[CNET via Xbox-Scene]

Unlike Nintendo’s Wii-mote, the Project Natal (pronounced “na-tall”) sensor box can detect movements of your entire body, and can also recognize voices. The compact device will mount above or below your television set and has an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphones to detect movements and voices around your room.

From the looks of Microsoft’s demo footage shown today, the system aims to significantly improve on the basic gesture control found in devices like Sony’s EyeToy. There’s also full gesture control for interactive with menus without the need for a controller.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Project Natal’s cameras can even detect faces and scan objects in real time and inject them directly into the games you’re playing. This concept footage should give you a pretty good idea of where Microsoft wants to go with Natal:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While most of the demo footage shown was for more traditional fare like fighters, racing and sports games, one standout was Peter Molyneux’s “Milo”.

Milo is sort of like a modern-day take on Seaman, but with a boy who can respond to your emotions, voice, facial expressions  and movements.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Cool stuff, but a little bit creepy. We may have officially crossed into the Uncanny Valley. Keep in mind that all of the tech demos and video footage shown at this point are only conceptual, and the features and functionality of the final product could (and probably will) change.

Microsoft hasn’t announced a release target for Project Natal, but if they manage to work out all the kinks, I’m hoping we could see the system as early as the 2009 holiday season. On the other hand, we could be waiting until some time in 2010. Stay tuned for more details.

[Project Natal for Xbox 360]