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Microsoft Kinect and Slim Xbox 360 Get Official

by Thomas Houston on June 14, 2010 at 04:00 PM

Microsoft Kinect
Kicking off the series of keynotes at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (colloquially dubbed E3), Microsoft led the way with a new console (now with Zune music), more details on Kinect (previously codenamed Natal), a video chat service and an ESPN partnership. Some details about Microsoft's motion-sensing tech leaked yesterday, and the keynote confirmed a November 4th launch date for Kinect and 15 launch titles, like Dance Central and Kinect Sports. There's still no word on final price, although Gamestop has heard an unconfirmed rumor of the pricing being at $149.

Following Sony's footsteps with the Slim, Microsoft unveiled a brand new Xbox 360 Elite. Shipping today for $299, the new console gets a glossy paint job, built-in Wi-Fi and a 250 GB hard drive. The older Elite will be $249, and the Arcade drops to $149. The full Zune music catalog is finally coming to the Xbox 360, which is great since the lack of an integrated music service has been a gaping hole.

Xbox 360 Slim



Video Kinect, Microsoft's new video chat and stream sharing service, brings a social component to watching and playing content. It lets users view movies, news feeds, sports and other video while also chatting with friends and family. The new Kinect dashboard also adds your friends into Netflix, Facebook and last.fm, and comes with voice control -- bringing 'Star Trek' just a bit closer to reality.

Tags: e3, e3 2010, E32010, MicrosoftKinect, MicrosoftXbox, top, videogames, Xbox360

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