Xbox One and Kinect at E3 2013

Microsoft kicked off E3 2013 earlier today with a press conference heavily emphasizing games for the Xbox One. While Kinect itself took a backseat to more traditional gameplay, it's expected that it will play some part in most, if not all, first party titles.

Prior to the conference itself Rare unveiled Kinect Sports Rivals, an Xbox One launch title that sees the popular franchise brought to next gen with 6 sports, including some favourites from the first two games. Climbing, Soccer, Wake Racing, Bowling, Target Shooting and Tennis will utilize the new Kinect for advanced motion gameplay, including the ability to scan yourself into the game to play alongside friends via the cloud. Check out the trailer below.
 

There were also glimpses of Kinect in new titles including Project Spark, which allows players to create and design their own game using a combination of Kinect voice control, Smartglass and a controller. The latest game in the open world zombie killing franchise, Dead Rising 3, will have zombies reacting to sounds in your environment as well as allowing the player to control their posse or taunt the enemy using voice. The Witcher 3 is also confirmed to use Kinect voice recognition for spell casting and management.
Two Kinect games previously announced for the Xbox 360 also made an appearance having moved to the Xbox One. The infamous Ryse from Crytek was finally shown and will use Kinect in combination with a controller, and Crimson Dragon from the creator of Panzer Dragoon makes a reappearance, retaining its Kinect controls.

Of course Kinect dashboard integration is ever present, with a new demonstration showing Twitch support allowing gamers to instantly stream their gameplay live across the internet, as well as share their favourite moments using voice control and Xbox One's new Upload Studio.

Other exclusives announced for the Xbox One include Respawn Entertainment's TitanFall, a first person shooter from the creators of Call of Duty featuring mech robots, a new edition of Minecraft featuring bigger worlds and expanded multiplayer support, Rare's re-imagined classic fighter Killer Instinct and Sunset Overdrive, a comical and bright shooter from Insomniac.

Finally Microsoft announced launch pricing for the Xbox One which will be hitting stores this November for $499 in the US and €499/£429 in Europe.

Expect more Kinect and Xbox One news as E3 continues throughout the week, including a look at new third party titles like Harmonix's new Disney-licensed Kinect rhythm game Fantasia: Music Evolved and more.

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Kinect Sports Season 2 Gets 9 New Golf Holes

We reported last month that Rare has plans to support Kinect Sports Season 2 with DLC every month until at least Spring next year, kicking off the schedule with 6 new mini-games. Now the December DLC has been revealed in a new teaser trailer for the Maple Lakes Golf pack.

The pack contains 9 new holes totaling 18 in the game, matching a traditional golf course. One of the holes will be free to all players, though a price and date for the remaining 8 is yet to be revealed. Check out the trailer below!

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Huge Kinect Software Savings at Microsoft Stores This Friday!

Black Friday is the start of the Christmas shopping season in the US, and a day notorious for huge sales and stampeding crowds.

Microsoft have announced the savings that can be had in their various US stores tomorrow, and there are a few great prices for Kinect and Kinect-supported games, including some amazing savings on newly released titles such as Dance Central 2, Kinect Disneyland Adventures and Kinect Sports Season 2. Check out the list below:

• Dance Central 1: was $49.99, now $15.00
• Dance Central 2: was $49.99, now $15.00
• Kinect Sports: was $49.99, now $15.00
• Kinect Sports Season 2: was $49.99, now $15.00
• Kinect Disneyland: was $49.99, now $15.00
• Halo CE Anniversary: was $ 39.99, now $15.00
• Forza 4: was $59.99, now $28.00
• Just Dance 3: was $39.99, now $24.99
• Rabbids: Alive and Kicking: was $49.99, now $24.99
• Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster: was $49.99, now $24.99

Expect more in store deals for Xbox 360 and Kinect hardware. Unfortunately these prices will only be available in retail stores, not online. If you live next to one of these, get yourself down tomorrow!

Microsoft Store Black Friday Hours, 11/25:
Bellevue Square Mall (Belleview, WA) – 12 a.m.
Westfield Century City (Los Angeles, CA) – 12 a.m.
Fashion Valley Mall (San Diego, CA) – 12 a.m.
Houston Galleria, (Houston, TX) – 6 a.m.
Lenox Square Mall (Atlanta, GA) – 12 a.m.
Park Meadows Mall (Lone Tree, CO) – 5 a.m.
Scottsdale Fashion Square (Scottsdale, AZ) – 5 a.m.
South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa, CA) - 5 a.m.
The Shops at Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA) – 12 a.m.
University Village (Seattle, WA) – 12 a.m.
Oakbrook Center (Oak Brook, IL) – 12 a.m.
Tysons Corner Center (Tysons Corner, VA) – 12 a.m.
Mall of America (Bloomington, MN) – 12 a.m.
Westfield Valley Fair (Santa Clara, CA) – 5 a.m.

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Activision Bringing Big League Sports to Kinect

Activision are bringing a new collection of sports mini-games to Kinect via Big League Sports. Featuring 18 activities including soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football and golf, the game will let you show off your sporting skills against friends offline, as well as via online leaderboards.

With Rare's Kinect Sports Season 2 and Ubisoft's MotionSports Adrenaline hitting stores later this year, will this game carve out a space in the market for itself? We remain dubious, especially given the response to the Wii iteration of the franchise.

Big League Sports will be available later this year.

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Kinect Sports Season 2 detailed, Dance Central 2, Voice Search, Ryse and Kinect Fun Labs Unveiled

Thanks to a major leak on the Xbox website, many E3 games and announcements have been unveiled just ahead of Microsoft's conference. Kinect Sports Season 2 has been confirmed, featuring sports such as golf, tennis, baseball and Skiing. Dance Central 2 was also unveiled, as well as a cinematic Kinect game called Ryse which is almost certainly the final name for Crytek's Codename: Kingdoms.

Our speculation about Kinect Fun Labs, Kinect Me, Kinect Bobble Head et al being smaller apps has proven true. Kinect Fun Labs is a collection of Kinect "gadgets" which consists of Kinect Me, Kinect Googly Eyes, Kinect Build-A-Buddy, Kinect Sparklers and Kinect BobbleHead. Kinect Fun Labs will let you scan your face in to create a bobblehead or an avatar, as well as scan in objects and play with them on screen, or do a bit of graffiti on your photos.

Lastly, we have a mention of Xbox Live Voice search, which will hopefully allow much quicker access to Xbox Live content.

Naturally we'll have a lot more details about all of this after the conference itself, as well as much more news. Check back for all the latest, including some exclusive content and interviews directly from the show itself!

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Is Fable: The Journey Lionhead's Kinect title? Plus Domains found for Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports Season 2!

With Lionhead working on an unannounced Kinect title, it was largely expected and rumored to be part of the Fable universe. Thanks to Twitter supremo Superannuation, the domain FableTheJourney.org has been discovered.

Although we can't say for certain that this is a Kinect title, it seems highly likely given Peter Molyneux and Lionhead's commitment to the platform. We also hope and expect the game to continue Lionhead's work with the Milo tech, rather than play as a direct sequel to Fable 3.

As well as Fable: The Journey, domains for Kinect Sports Season2, Dance Central 2 and Kinect Fun Labs were discovered, 3 titles long expected to be revealed at Microsoft's conference.

Check back and we'll keep you up to date with the latest E3 news, as well as exclusive news and previews directly from the expo!

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Rumor: Retailer lists Kinect Sports 2, Dance Central 2, Just Dance 3, Star Wars Kinect and Codename Kingdoms as 2011 titles

A user on the gaming forum NeoGAF has posted a list of upcoming game releases from a retailer featuring Kinect titles expected to be unveiled this E3. Sequels to popular launch titles Kinect Sports and Dance Central are listed and were largely expected, as well as a Kinect iteration of Just Dance, Ubisoft's most popular dancing franchise.

Codename Kingdoms, Crytek's upcoming 360 exclusive action RPG is also listed as a 2011 title, and is rumored to use Kinect. Kinect Star Wars, one of Microsoft's biggest Kinect titles for the fall is also listed. The dates themselves are tentative and likely represent the month of release rather than a specific day, so don't expect most Kinect games to launch on New Years Eve.

Check back with Inside Kinect for the latest E3 news. You can see the full Xbox 360 list below, which also features other exciting unrevealed games such as GTAV and Resident Evil 6 below.

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Rumor: Rare Planning Big E3 Demo Featuring Prominent Voice Control

Our friends over at 123Kinect have got word that Rare are planning to do a big E3 demo featuring much more prominent use of voice.

"[Rare's] working very hard on a big demo at E3 that will involve the voice aspect far more during gameplay." a source close to Rare told the website.

Rare are expected to unveil a sequel to their best selling Kinect launch title, Kinect Sports, at E3, but they're also rumored to be working on another secret game. Whether the voice demo is part of either game, or a more widespread announcement concerning all of Kinect is unclear.

Microsoft are also rumored to be unveiling Xbox Live Diamond featuring TV subscription services, and with limited voice support for the current Kinect Hub and its applications (Netflix, Hulu Plus), and a yet-to-be released update allowing voice support in more regions, voice control can and hopefully will be greatly expanded upon across the platform.

Whether true or not, Rare will almost certainly have a strong presence at E3. We'll keep you up to date with the latest as it happens next week directly from the E3 showfloor!

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How to Play With Your Food - A Look at Rare's Character Creation

One of the great things about Rare's Kinect Sports is the mascots. It would have been too easy to dish out a cheap Wii Sports knock-off, but Rare proved once again that they still ooze charm and care for their work. And it paid off -- Kinect Sports is the most successful Kinect game to date, having sold over 3 million units. Thanks to their blog, we now have a bit of insight into the creation of the mascots. Specifically 3 of the 6 new mascots created for their Calorie Challenge DLC.

How do you give calories a personality?
.
A question I'm sure few developers ever have to ponder, but one the Kinect Sports team had to deal with. Chunky Chocolate, pictured right, went through 11 different iterations before becoming the character found in the final game. Peppy pizza? Well sure, he looks cool with a pointy head, but turning it upside down makes him easier to animate thanks to a pair of comfortably placed arms (and Rare don't take awkward
arm placement lightly).

Steady Celery, well, he almost didn't make it into the game. And he started off as the most sinister vegetable imaginable. Can you picture a world without Steady Celery's jubilant smile? No, we can't either.

You can take a look at Ben Talbot's full post on Rare's blog here. Kinect Sports Calorie Challenge is available for to download now via Xbox Live for 320 Microsoft Points.

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