Microsoft at E3 2011: Halo 4 out 2012
New Fable and Kinect experiences wow the LA crowds
Kinect in 2011: the mass market pitch
Next up is a comprehensive run through of all of the new casual, dancing and major movie-and-entertainment-brand-licensed titles heading to Xbox 360 very soon, with the new
Kinect Disneyland Adventures, a virtual tour of the entire park at Disneyland (due out this coming Christmas) the first 'game' to really show the mass market potential of Kinect at E3 2011.
Kinect Star Wars is then shown off, with lots of speeder bike, space combat and Imperial Walkers' action clearly pleasing the series' fans in the crowd.
The Jedi and Sith action is soon followed by Double Fine's Tim Shafer showing off one for the family/younger crowd, a new Sesame Street game – described as a "living storybook full of monsters and friends" called Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster.
Following this, Kinect designer Kudo Tsunoda shows of a new IP called Kinect Fun Labs which he describes as a community portal which is set to be a permanent addition to Xbox Live to show off the coolest new Kinect hacks and unexpected or new ways of using the tech.
Demos such as "Kinect Me" – which instantly creates a personalized avatar from your photo – and "Kinect Sparkler" which tracks your finger as you write in the air with a virtual sparkler, both looked fun.
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Kinect Fun Labs is up on Xbox Live today, so you can check it out for yourself if you have the service at home.
Two much-anticipated Kinect sequels are then demonstrated, with both Kinect Sports: Season Two (featuring games including football, tennis, golf and skiing) and Dance Central 2, both now set to feature lots of new voice control aspects.
One last thing...
Last but in no way least, Xbox boss Don Mattrick returns to the stage to quickly rattle through reminders of the many new titles Microsoft has shown in under the space of an hour, with one last major reveal.
"The dawn of a new trilogy for Xbox 360," reads the teaser slide.
Yep, you guessed it. Halo 4. Out Christmas 2012. And, on that bombshell, Microsoft wrapped up its E3 2011 presser.
