A torn Achilles tendon might have kept David Beckham out of the World Cup, but he's still fit enough to be named to the EA Sports Active 2 team. Peter Moore announced the soccer superstar's signing during EA's Gamescom press conference today, as the first of what should be several promotional spots of an active Beckham aired on a big screen behind the executive.
Beckham will be on loan to EA in a "brand ambassador" capacity, which is to say his handsome mug will be plastered all over EA Sports Active 2 marketing materials across Europe and Australia; though it seems he will not appear in the US advertising campaign, despite being a "part time player" for the Los Angeles Galaxy. It also seems that he won't appear in the actual game -- too bad, since we've always wanted to learn how to bend like Beckham from the man himself.
EA just announced at its GamesCom 2010 conference that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 for Xbox 360 will magically lift butts off of couches, with some Kinect support. EA didn't put it exactly the same way, of course. The game features an on-rails mode in which players gesture to cast spells, moving automatically from location to location, and competing to achieve the highest score.
This would explain why Walmart offered Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in pre-order Kinect bundles. The game has, however, since been removed from the promotion.
Dance Central is fun! But you already knew that, having read our extensive preview of Harmonix's Kinect launch game. What you may not have known is that it's hella fun once you add someone to compete against.
Dance Central's Battle Mode was easily the highlight of the many features showcased during a recent Harmonix preview event. In this mode, two players switch off during a song, and each attempts to best the other's score. The song routine is broken up into parts, and players are scored based on how closely they can mimic the on-screen moves.
Beyond a traditional points-based HUD, Harmonix has cleverly designed sound and environmental cues that indicate how your performance is going. If you're not quite hitting the moves, then the bass will start to drop out of the audio track and the game image will become washed out. However, nail a string of moves to earn a multiplier, and the bass will grow louder and eventually the entire stage will transform. In the demo we saw, the environment turned black as a laser show and stage lights kicked in. When you're doing well, you'll know it.
Dance Central has the high level of polish we expect from a Harmonix game and is shaping up to be the closest thing to Kinect's "killer app" at launch. Of course, what's a dance game without good music? Take a peek at the newly announced songs after the break.
#europe
Kinect, the Xbox 360's motion-sensing camera controller, will be out in the US on November 5. But what about Europe? Europe, you won't have long to wait. More »
Kinect will be ready to interface with European, African and Middle East body controllers on November 10. Microsoft announced the release date this morning in preparation for GamesCom, which kicks off tomorrow in Cologne, Germany. The Xbox 360 device will debut with "more than 15 exclusive Kinect titles," with Kinect Adventures bundled with the sensor for 150 Euros.
The launch games appear to be the same ones already announced for North America, where Kinect will launch on November 4.
#gamescom2010
Upstairs at a two-story GameStop in scenic downtown Cologne, Germany, a young woman tries out Kinect, where du bist der Controller More »
#xbox360
Does your Xbox 360 feel incomplete? Is it full of save files and Xbox Live Arcade games, maybe a theme or two but no Kinect-enabled software? You can waste some bandwidth today and change that. More »
Back in June, the list of exhibitors and performers was revealed for PAX Prime, and now the official site just posted the full schedule for this year's show. PAX 2010 is looking especially busy, consisting of the usual Penny Arcade Q&A panels, but also an interesting Kinect justification panel, a look at Insomniac's next PS3 game and the future of PC gaming. Seriously, check out this link -- there's so much, we're getting tired just looking at it!
Industry analysts have already weighed in with their thoughts on Kinect's $150 price point -- now we're hearing from one of them on how well he thinks the gizmo will sell. The answer: really well, actually.
Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital has crunched numbers and deduced that Microsoft is manufacturing the motion sensor at a rate of two million per month, and believes that four million will be sold by 2011. That figure doesn't purely represent stand-alone sales, however. "The mix of Xbox 360 shipments for the holidays will be more heavily weighted toward the Kinect bundle," Sebastian believes, which is why he's upped his sales forecast from three million units in calendar Q4.
Interestingly, the analyst points out that sales of PlayStation Move, which launches roughly six weeks earlier on September 19 and "without as much 'buzz' as Kinect," could offer a better picture of how Microsoft's motion control offering will perform after it makes its bow on November 4.
The ESRB, in its noble quest to protect young ears from potentially offensive songs that were on the radio twenty years ago, has inadvertently revealed some unannounced Dance Central tracks. The ratings board identified several problematic lyrics, which Siliconera matched with their origin songs (warning: we're about to reproduce the offensive lyrics!)
"Did your girl's butt" and "You're bound to get shot" can be found in Craig Mack's "Flava In Your Ear," "Meet him at the door with nothin' on" comes from Christina Milian's "Dip It Low," and, best of all, "Body is soft, makin' me wanna squish her" means that Wreckx-N-Effect's "Rump Shaker" is in the game (yessssssss).
Other cited lyrics that Siliconera didn't identify include "The interior like suicide wrist red" (from Snoop Dogg's previously announced "Drop It Like It's Hot") and "Remove your underwear," which we can't quite identify either. We Googled it, but ... yeah.
#kinect
Microsoft's Kinect will not go on sale in China. The fact that video game consoles are banned (yet, still widely available through the gray market) means that Microsoft isn't able to give the controller-free peripheral an official launch. That's okay. More »
#rumor
The patent for Microsoft's motion-sensing camera Kinect suggested that the device could understand American Sign Language. Well, it can't. At least, the version going on sale in November can't. More »
#xbox360
Microsoft is offering a "limited audience" of Xbox 360 owners an opportunity to beta test Kinect and changes to Xbox Live before they're scheduled to hit in November. Check your e-mail to see if you're on the list. More »
If an invitation provided to Joystiq by several tipsters is accurate, Microsoft will soon begin the "Xbox Live and Kinect Beta Program." Several readers claim to have received the invitation via Microsoft Connect, a Microsoft service used to gather customer feedback on its products. The invitation itself includes little information about the program, though it notes that participants will be provided with "a unique opportunity to see pre-release software."
It also notes that an "audio change" in said software will not allow participants to use individual or party chat with anyone that is not part of the preview program. This could indicate that participants will be trying out the new Kinect dashboard seen at E3, which featured a new video chat application.
The email address attached to the invites appears to be valid, and it's worth pointing out that Microsoft has used Connect in the past, notably before it launched the NXE. Microsoft has yet to respond to Joystiq's inquiries into the validity of the invitation.
#screengrab
You can keep your raft-paddling and dance dancing. I'm hanging out for Kinect's moustache-twiddling minigame compilation. As seen on the USPTO. More »
#xbox360
The patent for Microsoft's motion-sensing camera Kinect was released to the public last week, and while we knew most of the stuff contained within, I'd be lying if I said I knew the device could recognise sign language. More »
#rumor
Microsoft's forthcoming Kinect camera controller for the Xbox 360 plays better with standing humans than it does with couch potatoes. Microsoft says it's still "calibrating" Kinect for seated players and may accomplish that with a little help from Amazon.com. More »
Would-be Kinect Indie Game developers out there should prepare for some bad news. Speaking to Digital Spy, a Microsoft spokesman stated that currently "only developers with established contracts with Microsoft" are allowed to develop projects for Kinect. Only those developers that Microsoft has "partnered with for the launch" will release Kinect games at first.
That's not to say that budding XNA developers will never get their hands on the Kinect. The spokesman acknowledged that Microsoft would "consider" the possibility for the future, though he added that "no plans can be confirmed at this time."
Here's hoping Indie devs get Kinect support sooner rather than later. The creative possibilities are definitely there and, besides, where else would we get Kinect-enabled fart simulators now that support for Fable 3 has been delayed?
During last night's Engadget Show, Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux revealed that, despite earlier claims, Kinect functionality wouldn't ship with Fable 3 this October. We got a chance to speak with Molyneux after the show and asked him to explain what happened. "We probably could've done some little side quest with Kinect, but I love Kinect so much and I love Fable so much that I think we needed to have some time to develop it," he said. Molyneux also noted that Lionhead has a team working on Kinect right now and, if he "were a betting man," Kinect would play some role in Fable "at some time, it's just not gonna be at launch."
Molyneux wasn't allowed to get too specific with regards to Kinect prototypes Lionhead was working on for inclusion in Fable 3, but he did explain why they got scrapped. "I just said to myself 'Is this what people would expect Kinect to be in something like Fable?' And the answer, quite frankly, was 'no.' We're still working on that stuff, we're still adding stuff to it, and, as I said, I think the future for Kinect and Fable is probably bright."
Stay tuned for our full interview with Molyneux later today.
#kinect
Kinect is more than an Xbox 360 peripheral, it's the future of Microsoft, or at least a very possible one. It's the beginning of Microsoft's plans for natural user interfaces, the step beyond the thing you're staring at right now. More »
Lionhead boss and Microsoft Game Studios Europe director Peter Molyneux has revealed on the Engadget Show that Fable 3 will not ship with any Kinect functionality, despite past confirmations to the contrary. Joystiq spoke with Molyneux following his appearance on the show and learned that some form of Kinect content is planned post-launch, and that whatever was initially planned to be built into the game just wasn't up to snuff.
We've spoken with Microsoft PR, which was unaware of Molyneux's exact comments. It reaffirmed that the legendary designer is a strong proponent of Kinect, and has spoken of its use in Fable 3 before, but also told us that it can't discuss what role the hardware will play in the game "at this time."
Look for our full interview with Peter Molyneux tomorrow morning, August 5.
Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:
I want to let everyone in on a little secret: Joystiq knew the name of the Kinect five days before it was announced to the public. For a variety of reasons, the story was never published, not the least of which was the possibility that "Kinect" was related to the ill-fated Kin rather than being the name for Natal. In any case, that is ancient history at this point. But where did this information come from? And more importantly, why is this relevant to the law at all? Well, it's a trademark issue, and one that's likely to be more and more prevalent going forward.
Everyone remembers countless times where trademark filings led to blog posts which outed new product names well in advance of their announcement. This is because trademark filings can be based on the "intent to use" a product name, rather than actually having the product available in the marketplace. "Intent to use" filings are a critical part of the modern product cycle, which requires a long term plan. It prevents someone else from showing up in stores the day before your product launches with a similar or identical name. But since filings at the Patent and Trademark Office are public record, it also lets everyone know what you're planning.
#clips
Microsoft tried something novel at a recent event in Hong Kong; they figured if you use a pair of scantily-clad booth babes to demo a Kinect game, maybe people won't notice the game not working. More »
Are you impressed by the Kinect's powerful motion-sensing capabilities? Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet -- the guys from Mega64 somehow managed to reach through a fold in time and retrieve the fourth version of the device. Unless -- ah, yes, of course. It's a joke. Pretty sneaky, Mega64.
#clips
Rockstar Games wasn't shy about utilizing the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as a killing tool in Manhunt 2, but will they follow suit and support Kinect for the Xbox 360? Could Grand Theft Auto V turn millions into sadistic mimes? More »
Even pricing details are delayed down here, with Kinect's rrp for the Aussie market only released today. The damage? AUD$199 for Kinect, AUD$449 for the 4GB Arcade/Kinect bundle. More »
