Send to KindleTweet The upcoming Xbox 360 Kinect release of ‘NBA Baller Beats’ adds a real basketball experience to to an upcoming action game that is due this fall. It’s the first announced title to use the Kinect motion-sensing controller to follow an object beyond the player’s own body. Majesco says, “you are pretend playing. You are moving your arms and doing different gestures,” says Majesco senior product manager Tony Chien. Here, “you are not pretending to dribble a basketball, you actually have to dribble a basketball.” Players bounce the ball to the beat of the music; your visual cue is a line of basketballs that flows on a musical trail — think Guitar Hero or Rock Band. The icon player prepares you for an upcoming basketball move you need to perform, also in time with the music. That may be a crossover from one hand to the other, a dribble between the legs, a pass fake or shot fake. Players learn to use left and right hands and look up while dribbling, skills used on the real basketball court. NBA Baller Beats is the latest advance for Kinect, which has sold 18 million units worldwide since November 2010. Read more »
Microsoft’s CES 2012 keynote a flop?
Send to KindleTweetOn January 9, 2012, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer took the stage at CES for the tech company’s final appearance at the electronics show. Along with him (for no real reason) was Ryan Seacrest. At the keynote, Ballmer didn’t really announce anything too special. Probably the biggest thing talked about was Kinect for Windows, which will be available in February for $250. Maybe a little too pricy for the general public, but indeed cool. So, altogether the Microsoft keynote was a little weird (with Ballmer and Seacrest chest-bumping; and the choir singing tweets about the keynote) and a little productive at the same time. But it was more weird, than anything. Read more »
Microsoft Shows Kinect to First-Time Users. They like it
Send to KindleTweet Microsoft decided to launch a new strategy for their ad campaigns, and it’s working out really well. The idea is that Microsoft gives demos of Kinect on a huge ass projector, and they capture people’s reactions. The video is pretty entertaining so give it a watch. Read more »
2010 Has Become The Biggest Year For The Xbox 360
Well a few days' ago Microsoft had reported that last year was their biggest year yet for Xbox 360. Read more »
Avatar Kinect Gets Official
Send to KindleTweet Another myth has been busted, Avatar Kinect has just been announced by Microsoft at CES. As you can see from the video, Steve Ballmer seems quite excited about it. Avatar Kinect will detect your facial expressions and show them on your avatar when chatting with your friends. This new hub on Xbox will allow you to virtually chat with your friends using this feature. Avatar Kinect will only be for Xbox Live gold members right now but we might see some expansion in the future. Read more »
8 Million Kinects Sold in The First 60 days
Send to KindleTweetWell we have some news straight for the Microsoft CES keynote. Microsoft have sold 8 million Kinects within the first 60 days of its release. Microsoft also announced that there are currently 30 million Xbox Live members and 50 million Xbox’s sold worldwide, The 360 has also been the top selling console for 6 months in the US. I think a congratulations is in order for Microsoft. Read more »
Kinect for PC?
Send to KindleTweet GamePrix, a Korean game development company has brought up the possibility of Kinect for PCs in an official form. Their latest game, Divine Souls, will support Kinect. The representative who spoke at their conference today, Jason Lim, said that Kinect will soon be available as a PC controller. While OTN along with other blogs are still quite skeptical, you’ve got to admit that this is a possibility, and an awesome one at that. We’ll keep you updated just in case Microsoft suddenly announces Kinect for Windows or something. Read more »
The OTN Podcast – Episode 7
Send to KindleTweetEpisode 7 of the OTN Podcast is brought to you by Robert Clarke and guest-host Carson Fujisaki. Robert and Carson talk about the latest tech news over the last few week. Read more »
Microsoft rolls out first batch of Kinect commercials
Send to KindleTweetMicrosoft has just released its first round of commercials for the much-awaited Kinect system. This is a $300 million dollar campaign but according to Aaron Greenberg, it will pay for itself easily. He expects 3 million units to be sold this holiday alone. Here are the 3 promotional videos that Microsoft has released. Update: The videos have been removed from YouTube by Microsoft and therefore, are unwatchable. Sorry. Read more »
The OTN Podcast–Episode 5
Send to KindleTweet Robert and Lucas kick off today’s podcast with 3 news stories: o New Kinect Details: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/microsoft-confirms-new-kinect-details-plus-a-new-xbox-360-arcade/ o HP Slate 500 specs leaked on HP: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/hp-slate-500-specs-leaked-and-confirmed/ Also: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/22/hp-slate-no-longer-a-consumer-product-will-arrive-for-enterpris/ o iPhone 4 Rescue Program launches: http://www.omnitechnews.net/2010/07/apple-launches-iphone-4-bumper-program/ The new poll on www.omnitechnews.com asks the question: What is your favorite phone OS? The website of the week is www.flickr.com, a great photo sharing website. Read more »
Microsoft confirms new Kinect details (plus a new Xbox 360 Arcade)
Send to KindleTweet Microsoft has just announced the official pricing and release date of Kinect. As rumored, the standalone device will cost $150 and will be available on November 4th. The other option would be to get the Kinect bundled with the just-announced new Xbox 360 arcade for $300. The new $200 Xbox Arcade will feature 4GB of internal storage, a matte finish, and like it’s older and shinier brother, 802.11n WiFi. It will ship August 3rd. So, to recap, you can get the Kinect for $149 on November 4th, the new 360 Arcade on August 3rd for $199, and the two bundled together for $299 sometime this holiday. Read more »