What's What @ E3

This is going to be a massive post so click 'Read More' for all the details. Between Microsoft announcing the new console and Kinect to a mass of confirmed release dates, day 1 of E3 has not disappointed.

Xbox 360

Here's what you need to know about the new console. The new xbox 360 console will replace the current ones and go on sale at the same price (elite price, i presume). It will come standard with a 250 gig harddrive, built in Wi-Fi-N adapter and come prepared for Kinect. With the consoles being shipped today, America will have them by the end of the week while Australia has been confirmed for July 1st.

Kinect

Kinect is the official name for Project Natal and is a camera system for the xbox which allows games to be played completely controller free. The camera will be able to recognise players and use skeletal mapping and voice recognition to make controlling easier and more effective. Kinect will ship for November 4th and there will be 15 launch titles for it.

Kinect Launch Titles

• Kinect Joy Ride: A racing game that uses Kinect to allow control of steering, tricks, etc.
• Kinect Sports: A lot like wii sports but it seems to have a bit more depth to it
• Kinect Adventures: Mini-games based on... well, adventure
• Kinectimals: Allows you to play with and train one of 40 animals... Possibly the cutest game the xbox will ever see
• Motion Sports (Ubisoft): The inevitable sports mini-game title
• EA Sports Active 2: Sequel to the Wii title which acts as a personal trainer.
• Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft): Another personal trainer... Got demo'd during the Xbox press conference
• Zumba Fitness (Majesco): Workout game based on the Zumba fitness program
• The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout (THQ): One more personal trainer... Based on the TV show
• Dance Central (Harmonix/MTV Games): A dance game made by the people behind Rock Band. Expect DLC
• Dance Masters (Konami): Another dance title... My guess is something closer to DDR
• Game Party: In Motion (Warner): More mini-games... Based on the Game Party series already out on various platforms
• Adrenalin Misfits (Konami): Sports mini-games... Possibly more adrenaline pumping though?
• Deca Sports Freedom (Hudson Soft): One more sports mini-game title... ran out of ways to explain this about three titles ago
• Sonic Free Riders (SEGA): Sonic hoverboarding... just like Sonic Riders but without a control

Exclusivity

Activision have made a deal with Xbox to bring all Call of Duty add-ons to Xbox LIVE before any other platform. PC gamers the world over rage for a moment then go back to playing Bad Company 2.

Microsoft partners with Crytek for a game currently titled 'Codename Kingdoms'

Release Dates

Release dates have been confirmed for the following titles: (may be slightly different for Aus)

• Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - November 16th 2010
• Bulletstorm - February 22nd 2011
• Dead Space 2 - January 25th 2011
• Fable 3 - October 26th 2010
• Medal of Honor - October 16th 2010 (multiplayer beta next week)
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - November 16th 2010

Other Stuff

Ubisoft announced the return of Rayman for 'Rayman: Origins" which looks to be a 2D platformer which apparently only had 5 people working on it.

The Driver franchise will be back with 'Driver: San Francisco'. The game will feature over 100 fully licensed cars, a unique shift ability that lets you switch between any vehicle in the city and has been confirmed to have multiplayer.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has been on display with a bundle of new tech and weapons, but the main reveal is 4 player campaign co-op.

Crysis 2 has been confirmed to support full stereoscopic 3D. This means all you people who went out and bought 3D TV's might be able to begin justifying it.

Bad Company 2 will have an expansion in the form of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. This seems to be EA's latest attempt at sticking it to the CoD team. In the same announcement, EA also revealed EA Gun Club. Working like a loyalty program, Players can earn points and rewards by playing EA's FPS games.

Criterion have confirmed the new Need for Speed game is heading back to a familiar setting with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Closing

There's likely some stuff that i missed or perhaps you want to know more about something. Feel free to leave any questions or news i might have missed in the comments below and don't forget to check back tomorrow to see what else E3 has in store for us.