One Geek Nation

Today, Microsoft kicked off the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) with a bang, by unveiling not only a new way to interact with the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, but also a new Xbox 360 itself. At a press event in LA, Microsoft began their event by inviting popular game developers to show off their most highly-anticipated upcoming titles for the Xbox 360. Some of the more notable games displayed include:

Call of Duty: Black Ops

This show literally starts with a bang (read: plenty of explosions). After the trailer was shown, Mark Lamia, studio head of Treyarch, comes on stage to play through a couple parts of the game.  This game looks like a lot of fun, and fans of the franchise may already know that it is coming out November 9, 2010, as see at the end of the trailer below. If you would like to see Mark Lamia demo the game, check it out here:

Part 1 Part 2

Halo : Reach

Check out the trailer below, and you will how amazing this game looks. After the trailer was shown, the head of Bungie came on stage to talk about and play through part of the game.  Halo fans should be pleased to know that Reach will be hitting store shelves September 16, 2010.  The Halo Reach demo can be seen here:

Halo Reach Demo

Gears of War 3

The trailer below shows plenty of reasons why I am eagerly anticipating the April 11, 2011 release date of Gears of War 3. I am a huge fan of this series and it looks like the action is going to be kicked up to a whole new level. Cliff Blezinski demoing some Gears of War 3 gameplay can be seen here:

Gears of Wars E3 Demo

Other Upcoming Titles

Click the following links to see the the games trailer:

• Metal Gear Solid Rising
• Fable III

Microsoft Kinect

After those games were shown off, the moment everyone was waiting finally happened. Marc Whitten, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Live, came out to introduce the world to Microsoft Kinect, which is their new motion and voice controller for the Xbox 360. It truly is a magical device.

This is the first interface that can be described as Minority Report like. Wave to sign in to Xbox Live, speak the words “Xbox play” to play a movie. The Kinect interface states “If you see it, say it” meaning, programs can be loaded by simply saying their name preceded by “Xbox”. For example, saying “Xbox Netflix” will load Netflix, and saying “Xbox Facebook” will load the Facebook interface. To select an on-screen item, just move you hand over it in the air. It really is a simple and natural interface.

Video Kinect takes Xbox Live’s social integration to a whole new level. It not only allows friends to video chat, but also watch movies, TV, sports, news, or even listen to music together. Just like the rest of the Kinect interface, voice commands can be used here too. Saying, “Xbox start chat” opens a video chat session, and saying”Xbox end chat” closes that chat session.

Later, several Kinect games were demoed on stage, and all of them make use of the device in their own unique way. Kinectimals is a game that lets the player interact with a on screen animals. Seeing is believe, so check it out below:

Kinect Sports will look very familiar to those who have played Wii Sports:

Kinect Joy Ride is a driving game that literally puts the player in the drivers seat:

Kinect Adventures allows players to go on an adventure with their friends:

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is a workout game that tracks the players skeleton to ensure proper and precise movements:

Dance Central is a fun dance game that includes music from popular artists like No Doubt, Lady Gaga, and M.I.A:

On top of all that, Microsoft also unveiled the new Xbox 360, which is much smaller than the original and has a built-in 802.11n wifi adapter and a 250GB hard drive.

You may now pick your jaw up off the floor and rethink what you know about video games, because the game has changed.