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Today brought about two distinct, homemade Kinect game concepts -- though both share a proclivity towards the bizarre. The first, MazingerZ, comes from a Japanese modder with the YouTube handle Ken450000, and has the player rocket-punching virtual balloon targets projected in front of them. The other, from Pierre Méar and Rahman Kalfane, is called Duck Leonard, and tasks the player with flapping their wings to navigate a mallard through the rooftops of Brooklyn. That's weird, right? What are you doing there, mallard? Ducks belong in ponds, silly.

Check out video demos for the two proofs-of-concepts after the jump!

#kinect Continuing the trend of Kinect doing awesome things in everything but video games, take a look at this web browser that's been built specifically for Microsoft's motion-sensing camera. More »

We've seen how the face-mapping works in Avatar Kinect, but we haven't seen how the, uh, everything else works -- until now. Win Rumors posted a Microsoft-guided video tour of the upcoming Dashboard app, which you can see for yourself just past the break.

#video This year's Taipei Game Show recently wrapped up. And while it's short on breaking news when compared to the Tokyo Game Show or the E3 gaming expo, it does look like a grand time. More »

#video Microsoft's upcoming "Avatar Kinect" was pitched as a glorified chatroom. It didn't sound that exciting. This real-time demonstration, though, at least makes it look remotely interesting. More »

#china With the "eBox", China already has a Kinect-like motion sensing controller. And apparently, the country is also getting a totally different motion-sensing-controlled PC game. If only there was more to go on than some lady waving her hands around. More »

Microsoft is going to give amateur and professional programmers expansive tools to program its Xbox 360 sensor system for Windows 7 computers this spring, according to details dropped to our friends at Gizmodo. Translation: Better Kinect computer hacks coming soon! More »

Turns out "the right time" is going to be this spring. As rumored, Microsoft is busy prepping the release of an official, non-commercial Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit this spring in the hopes of advancing the work already being done unofficially by hackers, scientists and of course, musicians. Would-be German SDK creators may want to hurry things up.

Revealed during Microsoft's internal "show-and-tell discussion" known as TechForum, Microsoft chief research and strategy office Craig Mundie, along with Interactive Entertainment Business pres Don Mattrick, announced their plans to release the SDK as a free download this spring. The project is a "collaboration" between Microsoft Research and IEB and promises to "give academic researchers and enthusiasts access to key pieces of the Kinect system -- such as the audio technology, system application programming interfaces and direct control of the Kinect sensor itself."

Of course, being a non-commercial offering, we expect to hear more about the commercial counterpart for those who may want to charge for Kinect-enhanced software. Us? We're just interested in seeing the next evolution in our ongoing Kinect Hacks series!

Intrigued by Microsoft's demo for Kinect Adventures' Rally Ball minigame and its Windows Phone 7 integration? The minds at Supertouch have created a mock-up of the program, which swaps out the Windows-branded smartphones for iOS devices. Check out a video demonstration of the hack below!

#video From France comes the latest Kinectmod - fully playable Space Invaders, whose control scheme turns the 1978 Taito classic into an exergaming ordeal. More »

In the unending competition to create the preeminent simulation racing game, Turn 10 Studios has kicked it into overdrive for this fall's Forza 4, reports MSN Autos. Let's run through some highlights from the development process (as documented by MSN), shall we?

• 3-D laser-scan "select cars, including the Bugatti Veyron?" Check.
• Obtain "proprietary performance data from tire manufacturer Pirelli" to create "the most up-to-date simulation of how modern tires grip or slip in a variety of racing conditions?" Done.
• "[Isolate] the intake, exhaust and engine sounds from each vehicle" in the game to record realistic audio? You have to.
• "[Rent] out each track that appears in the game for two to three days, [shoot] terabytes worth of video and photos, and [trace] the inside, middle and outside portions of the road surface with a commercial-grade GPS system?" They did that.

Of course, as MSN observes, "[few] players will notice this level of nuance mid-game." It's only through the endorsements of "the tiny, exacting minority of hardcore players and professional racers who train using Forza" (and other sim racers, like Gran Turismo) that we few can trust that the iterative updates over the years are actually bringing us closer to the the most accurate simulation racing game of all time.

It's worth a chuckle, then, that Forza 4's most marketable feature is "more gimmick than breakthrough," according to MSN, and is perhaps a mini-step backwards in the race to ultimate realism. That feature, of course, is Kinect support.

Aside from the "advanced ogling tool" (which allows players to walk around and inspect their virtualized cars; as seen at E3 2010), Forza 4's "Kinect-only mode" will also feature a "more interesting" head-tracking ability, by MSN's account: "when you lean to one side or the other, the driver's perspective edges with you, letting you peer around a blind curve or just slightly around a car before passing it." Still, even coupled with "the phantom steering wheel you can grip and steer," this experience is more "potential" than achievement.

"I think we're just scratching the surface," game director Dan Greenawalt told MSN.

Twisted Pixel has yet to confirm the distribution method for its forthcoming puppeteer Western for Kinect, The Gunstringer, but the title's Xbox.com listing (pictured) indicates that the game is bound for Xbox Live Arcade. If accurate, this would make The Gunstringer the first American-developed Kinect title confirmed for XBLA (don't forget about those planned XBLA Kinect games from Japan); though it wouldn't be a huge surprise, given that all of TP's games have either been released on or are in development for XBLA.

Twisted Pixel has declined to comment on the listing, leaving a little suspense in the air.

If your loveseat sustains itself on a diet of channel changers, Harishankar Narayanan's Kinect hack is right up your alley: Using the peripheral and a Universal Infrared Receiver Transmitter, any ol' couch potato can turn their body into a remote that's virtually impossible to misplace.

As certified screenshotologists from the School of Hard Knocks, we've been trained in the brutally honest art of just knowing from a single, static frame. And so, we just know by looking at this image that THQ's Dance Paradise is best avoided when it's released next Tuesday, February 15 for Kinect.

Of course, if people just listened to us professional know-it-alls, then Just Dance wouldn't have happened like it did, and THQ wouldn't be trying to imitate that, and we wouldn't be writing this post, and what purpose would we serve, and ...

You know? On second thought, it doesn't look that bad, and you've already played Dance Central to death, and you haven't bought a Kinect game in awhile, and you did drop $150 for it, and ...

#rob Most Kinect hacks don't serve a societal good, right? Who needs the Xbox 360's wonder sensor to detect your breasts or make beautiful art? More »

We've highlighted German developer Evoluce before for its impressive Kinect hacks, both to control Windows 7 applications and command soldiers in Ubisoft's RUSE. This time, Evoluce has announced plans to empower more hacks through the release of its software development kit for PC. The "3D-Sensing Custom Software for Kinect" -- which could, admittedly, use a better name -- promises to provide would-be devs with "core features," such as "3D virtual reality experience with full-body avatars" and "touch-free user interfaces."

A region-restricted video demonstration of the SDK is available to German viewers on Prosieben.de, but the rest of us are going to have to wait until Evoluce actually releases its kit for a chance to check it out. But who knows -- by that time, Microsoft may have gotten its own, rumored Kinect SDK together. Hurry Evoluce!

#video Kinect music videos are not new. There have already been a few like this one from Echo Lake. But while impressive, it's not nearly as impressive as this. More »

Utilizing a Vuzix video headset and the Kinect, this project from the University of Amsterdam lets you pretend to be Superman. The experience offers many of Supe's abilities, including ice breath, super strength, heat vision and, best of all, first-person flying. Bonus, you can also zap Darth Vader.

Curious how Twisted Pixel's Kinect-powered undead cowboy marionette sim The Gunstringer works? Well, narratively, isn't it obvious? It's a western about undead puppets. As for the you-are-the-controller part, Twisted Pixel designer Dan Teasdale offers up a lengthy explanation on the studio's dev blog.

"From the start of development on The Gunstringer, we've focused on getting across the feel of puppeteering as well as the feel of being an awesome kickass undead cowboy," Teasdale says. "It's really only something we could do with the Kinect sensor for two big reasons: pure analog actions and full skeletal data."

Teasdale goes into some specifics on what he means by "pure analog actions" and, mostly, he means not waggle. "Gesture libraries and waggle are the designer's way to fit a square binary peg into a round analog hole," he says. In contrast, there's Kinect. Instead of the usual analog null points, The Gunstringer will actually use your body's position (see: skeletal data) to determine a null point. "'Your hand is stationary next to your hip' is incredibly more useful than 'this dot of information isn't moving,'" Teasdale relates.

But seriously, how does the game control? Instead of the "move left, move left, no move right, okay stop" input you'd find with an analog stick, The Gunstringer lets you move the marionette "anywhere along the screen just by moving your hand to that location." That's movement, but what about shooting dudes? "Since we know how your entire arm from your hand to your shoulder is moving, we can accurately extrapolate what you're aiming at with your hands, and place the reticle exactly where you're pointing," he says. And the "fire action involves literally firing your six shooter as if you just felt recoil in your arm."

Alright, even with all this detail we're still having a hard time picturing how it all comes together - it sounds a lot like Rez or Child of Eden ... but with undead cowboy marionettes. Luckily we'll all have a chance to try it out, together, at PAX East next month.

#deadspace2 The first bunch of games for Microsoft's Kinect were...crude. Resulting in a fear from many gamers that the peripheral may not be cut out for more complex titles. Well, this Dead Space 2 footage should convince you otherwise. More »

This latest Kinect hack demo is something of a mixed bag: Some aspects of playing Dead Space 2 using Kinect and a Wiimote don't work so well. Others work really, really well -- like stomping. If there's a more satisfying-looking gesture in gaming for the rest of the year, we'll eat our hats.

Though Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski has succinctly ruled out Kinect support for Gears of War 3, Kotaku's informants insist that Microsoft's motion-sensing camera will be used for a different Gears of War game (there's no indication of a connection to the recently trademarked title, Gears of War: Exile). According to "sources claiming to be familiar with the project," the unannounced game will be an on-rails shooter that automatically moves your meat head man-tank while you mow down enemies.

Sources claiming to be totally unfamiliar with the project were like, "What, how's that going to work?" and, "Is there going to be another train level?" Thus far, Mr. Bleszinski has offered only a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the rumor, and we don't expect to hear concrete details until an official announcement -- if there is one. Twisted Pixel's upcoming marionette-'em-up, The Gunstringer, is one of the first games to promise accurate shooting via Kinect, but we've yet to see hand-guided cursors that can move with enough celerity to compete with shooters on the Wii or PlayStation Move.

Then again, Kinect also allows us to defeat Michael Phelps in a swimming contest, so anything is possible.

#culturesmash The Wii is easy to peg — family-friendly and fun. The PS3 is also easy to categorize — slick and high-tech. But in Japan, the Xbox 360 has a category of its own. And that's starting to change. More »

#rumor Microsoft's Kinect may get its first taste of hardcore flavor—made a little bit softer—in the form of an on-rails Gears of War shooter, pictured above, said to be in development for the Xbox 360. More »

#kinect The march of mod progress has steadily delivered many cool things during the Kinect's short lifespan to date. We can add another breakthrough: The ability to recognize hand-drawn buttons. More »

Though it may be best known for its Wii-exclusive sci-fi shooter The Conduit, and its upcoming, The-less sequel Conduit 2, High Voltage Software makes most of its scratch putting out licensed games. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for Wii and DS? Yup, that's High Voltage. Iron Man 2 ... for Wii and PSP? Also High Voltage. And now the Chicago-area developer is working on another licensed game due out this year -- but there's something unique about this one: it uses Kinect.

"It's not announced yet," High Voltage's Eric Nofsinger told Eurogamer. "We're doing that with 2K. It's a licensed game. That's our bread and butter as a developer." Nofsinger added that this new game "works well with or without Kinect" and that, while it "works very well" with Kinect, "I don't think it's this brilliant, genius idea." As if intent on further lowering expectations for the Kinect functionality, Nofsinger said, "It works really well because it's a 360 game. I don't think it necessarily works really well because it's a Kinect game."

Regardless of how tacked on the developer thinks this bit of Kinect functionality is, we'll find out more "around GDC" when the game is expected to be announced. High Voltage previously made a licensed Family Guy title for 2K in 2006 and Go, Diego, Go!: Safari Rescue, based on the Nickelodeon series, for 2K Play in 2008.

#speakup In today's spooktacular edition of Speak-Up on Kotaku, commenter HeyCarl relays the twisted tale of the Kinect player that wasn't there. More »

#xbox360kinect 505 Games has teamed up with Olympic superstar Michael Phelps to create Michael Phelps – Push the Limit, "one of the most realistic and intense sports simulation video games ever." Is it time to flood your living room? More »

Much to the dismay of ingrained anti-evolution campaigners, 16-time Olympic medalist and super swimmer Michael Phelps is now a video game. 505 Games has announced Michael Phelps - Push The Limit, "a competitive sports journey" that sees you slipping into a speedo and diving into "one of the most realistic and intense sports simulations ever created." No, it really sees you -- you'll be doing this in front of a Kinect.

The claims of realism are obviously suspect -- you need some ropes and pulleys for this to really work, and you probably keep those in the bedroom -- but Push The Limit seems like it'll be split into different swimming stages, with digi-Phelps helping you manage your adrenaline on the starting block, time your finish to perfection and shop for size 14 shoes (probably). With enough practice and frantic air swatting, you could emerge closer to "the hope of taking down Michael Phelps." (Protip: It's easiest if you play as the keen-nosed photographer.)

"This definitely isn't your typical video game," says Phelps, perhaps unaware that evolution isn't all it's cracked up to be these days. Come this June, he's in danger of being beaten by a shirtless fat kid jiggling in front of a camera.

Though it's not the most useful superpower in terms of fightin' crime, the ability to shoot beams of light out of your hand would still be a pretty radical ability to possess. That's a dream made real by Phil Reyneri's recent Kinect hack, which has nearly limitless potential for DJs worldwide.