Eurogamer Expo: The Kinect Report

When reading various forum posts by avid gamers you get the impression that many people seem to want Kinect to fail, whilst many industry journalists tend to brush over the obvious issues with the device in the hope that the final experience will be on par with what they have been promised.

Complaints usually centre on the high levels of latency and inaccurate pointer tracking, both of which make the whole experience a rather flawed one. And while this is in fact very true, I can’t hep but feel that at least some have forgotten about the fun factor - the reason we actually gather round and play these things in the first place. Because whether or not Kinect actually works technologically as it should – which it doesn’t at the moment, at least not consistently – there’s no denying that the software can be incredibly enjoyable to play, especially for the casual crowd, in which latency is just another tech buzzword being thrown around in another write-up of the device.

That’s not to say Kinect’s lack of precision and pin-point accuracy doesn’t put a downer on things, because it clearly does. It does affect the gameplay, and it does reduce the feeling of immersion you get from almost being in the game.


Some experiences fare better than others. Kinect Sports for example, does in most of its games provide decent, and reasonably accurate full body tracking. Sure, there is noticeable latency, and the game does make allowances to compensate for the users actions in accordance with its own somewhat limited physics system. But it also delivers a more in-depth experience than anything the Wii has to offer in terms of similar software.

Compared to the PlayStation Move however, it feels like a backwards step. Sony’s motion control solution has completely proven itself with regards to featuring 1:1 accuracy with low latency precision. Kinect on the other hand, even now just over a month away from release, still has much to prove. And a load of promises, and conceptual gameplay ideas to deliver on.

The likes of Volleyball and Table Tennis in Kinect Sports actually shows some of that promise in the device. They’re both very fun to play, and feature pretty accurate tracking of your movements.


Table Tennis stood out more in this regard being comparative to its PlayStation Move counterpart in Sony’s Sports Champions. Latency was clearly higher of course, and like for like precision definitely seemed paired back in comparison. However, it wasn’t as far off as I originally expected. And using your entire body in combination with just your arm for movement and positioning seemed slightly more natural for me. Reaction time and accuracy was clearly reduced compared to the Move, and a lot of the time the tracking wasn’t as smooth or quite as precise as it could have been. Controlling the paddle in Table Tennis on the Move showed how much better the tracking was in Sony’s solution.


The same could be said about Beach Volleyball, in which your actions don’t always translate well into real-world physics in the game environment. The downside: It felt like the game was slightly on rails, slightly more in control than it should be. And the upside: It was both easy to get into and pretty enjoyable to play. Though, it remains to be seen how much depth each experience provides. However, this is something we won’t find out until the device actually comes into homes, away from controlled demonstrations, and limited playtests.


The worst game I played at the event for sure was Joyride. There’s very little to the experience as a whole. You play the game standing up, like with other Kinect titles, so there is no way in which to accelerate or to brake – the game does both for you. Instead all you do is steer your car around the track using both hands held out like you would when holding a steering wheel. Hardly inspiring, and overly simplistic. Occasionally you get the opportunity to boost, in which case you hold both arms close to your chest, and then thrust them forward in unison to activate it. You can also grab bonus items by reaching out to the sides whilst racing, and that’s about it.

Latency was noticeably higher than in Kinect sports, with there being a unmistakable amount of delay between your actions, and seeing them represented on screen. Whilst this may be understandable given the complexity of the full body tracking involved, and the processing required to pull it off, it was clearly apparent that most of the software just didn’t do it all that well. Joyride being one of the worst offenders.


Of course, Kinect isn’t aimed at the core gaming market. It’s currently aimed at the casual audience. And for them I think that it will work quite nicely. There’s no question that the amount of latency may be quite frustrating for some – think Motion Plus enabled Tiger Woods on the Wii and you have some idea of what I’m talking about - and that will definitely spill over into the people MS is aiming Kinect at. Though it certainly won’t be the be all and end all of the discussion.

Saying that the software on test at the EG Expo was clearly work in progress. Whilst I was surprised that Kinect was quick to scan in additional players, I was also disappointed to see how slow and inaccurate using your arm as a pointer was. It’s downright buggy at this point. In game things were noticeably better in all the titles I tried, though at this point in time, polish definitely needs to be made with regards to the smoothness in the overall body tracking, with less in the way of pre-scripted movements representing your actions on screen.

Disappointingly, nothing has really changed on the software side in nearly two years since the Kinect was first unveiled, since it turned from being a cool design idea into a workable reality.

The overall latency is still the same, and the errors in tracking are still unresolved. The only real difference is that Microsoft seems to have lost much of its initial imagination with regards to planned software for the device. This appears to have happened in conjunction with the reduction of tech powering Kinect. The lack of internal processing capabilities in the device, and a lowering in camera resolution does seemed to have limited what is really possible, to the point that many of the originally extensive, and rather creative experiences once planned are just no longer viable.

Saying that, software is still rampantly being worked on, having last minute touches added before release. Plus what we have here is just the first batch of titles taking a stab at using the technology. If it is indeed true what developers have recently said; that it’s squarely down to the software, more so than the actually hardware (though a little at odds with what we know about how the Kinect actually works), then things should change for the better with second and third generation games. I wouldn’t expect hardcore types experiences like Gears Of War and Halo however, as they would need a Nunchuck or Navigation Controller style add-on to work. But certainly something more fully featured than what we are seeing now.

Ultimately, the very nature of how Kinect works limits its potential compared to the PlayStation Move, which is not only considerably more accurate, but is obviously more versatile as well. Though it will no doubt over time find its footing with specific genre types, and different kinds of experiences outside the traditional ones expected, it has much to prove before it lives up to expectation. That is, if more developers actually get creative when working on new software for the device. Rather than dishing out the same old stuff the Wii crowd is beginning to tire of.


The one area in which Kinect currently does succeed is fun. However you feel about the latency, or mixed results of early body tracking, you can’t argue that although bizarre, and at times rather pointless, it still brings something mildly enjoyable to the table. Maybe Kinect isn’t the deepest motion control experience around, being initially quite shallow. But some of the games are in fact very fun to play, and will no doubt bring both friends and family together for some loose and decidedly non-serious gaming sessions.

I’m willing to bet that this will be one of the most popular things in gaming this Christmas. It’s different enough from the Wii in order to make it interesting, and not bad enough to be utterly forgettable. Despite not living up to it’s initial claims of truly ‘making you the controller’, and delivering on the promise of having new innovative experiences, it is far from the disaster many people on forums are making out it out to be.

New Xbox 360 Controller Unveiled

We’ve long suspected that a new 360 controller was in the works, and Microsoft has even mentioned its development in the past at one point. But now it is official, and today the company revealed just what they had been working on.

Those expecting some kind of motion enhanced control additions, or perhaps something more along the lines of a dual twisting Sidewinder style joypad may be disappointed. However anyone looking to gain a much better d-pad for use with the likes of Street Fighter, Tekken, or just about any other games that uses it will be very pleased indeed.


Unlike previous controllers, this new one not only features a brand new d-pad that is apparently suited for fighting games, but also one that is switchable between two different modes. With just a quick 90 degree turn of the d-pad, the base surrounding the + on the controller immediately raises up slightly (by around a few millimetres) to allow for greater precision and more direct movements to be made over the current d-pad on the standard 360 controller. Whilst turning it again makes it submerge back into place.

This adjustable functionality means that gamers should have the best of both worlds – a d-pad that when lowered, will allow for all the smooth rolling motions required for both 2D and 3D beat’em ups, and when raised, used for simpler tasks requiring more straight up actions.


The controller also comes complete with a brand new colour scheme that eschews the traditionally bright, multi-coloured face buttons for differing shades of grey, along with a matt silver finish for most of the casing, whilst the underside of the pad features a shiny black finish like the one found on the controllers that come with the Xbox 360 S.

You may also notice that the rubber groves around the edges of both analogue sticks have been changed. The slightly raised edges are now more pronounced, and the centre of each stick has a noticeable concave indentation for extra grip.

Despite the somewhat radical change in appearance and d-pad functionality Microsoft currently have no plans to make this the standard Xbox 360 controller, or to provide matching console hardware, instead positioning it as a premium item; something for the professionals to use. So anyone expecting similar functionality to arrive on the joypad found boxed up with either the 4GB or 250GB consoles will be sorely disappointed.

The new Xbox 360 controller will only be available as part of a ‘controller plus Play & Charge kit’ bundle – not as a standalone product, and is expected to be released on November 9th in the US for $64.99, with a UK release to follow early next year – February has been sighted.

New Xbox 360 Announced, Kinect Pricing Revealed

Yesterday we brought you our in-depth hands-on with the new 250gb Xbox 360 S, and a few days before we reported that a potential replacement for the 360 Arcade was on the cards. Well, today Microsoft officially announced not only the brand new version of the ‘Arcade’ console, but also full pricing details and bundle information for Kinect.

For the latest version of the 360 Microsoft have dropped the ‘Arcade’ suffix instead naming both the current S and the new machine by their memory capacity. The 4gb Xbox 360 becomes the new entry level console, and will be released on 3rd August in North America, priced at $199.99, and 20th August in the UK for £149.99, with the rest of the world taking delivery of the unit sometime later this month.


This new 360 will have 4gb of flash memory instead of a 250gb hard drive, whilst keeping the full functionality and other features of the 250gb model, including the built in Wi-Fi adaptor. The hard drive used inside the 250gb slim will also be compatible with the new model (in which the expansion bay is empty), although Microsoft currently have no plans to release it separately, or in any other sizes at this point in time. You can probably expect another announcement about this later on down the line.

Like with the 250gb 360 S that launched last month in the US, and last week in the UK, the 4gb version will feature the very same slimmed down design, complete with the trademark chrome highlighting and touch sensitive buttons. However the shiny aesthetics of the 250gb S model has been discarded for a more favourable matt finish, much like the old model 360’s and PS3 Slim.

Along with confirmation of the Xbox 360 Arcade’s replacement Microsoft also announced full pricing details for Kinect, both as a solus bundle (Kinect + game) and as a package with the new 4gb 360 console.


Kinect will be released sometime this November (date to be confirmed) and will come bundled with Kinect Adventures. The device will retail at $149.99 in the US, and £129.99 in the UK. All first-party software will retail for of $49.99, and £39.99 respectively. Third-party games will have no baseline retail price, with the publishers of individual titles being able to set their own price brackets accordingly.

Both the Kinect and 4gb Xbox 360 S console will be available as a package. It will be available the same day Kinect launches and will retail for $299 in the US, and for £249.99 in the UK.

Microsoft also confirmed that around 15 games will be available at launch, with a large selection of first and third-party titles being available.

On a final note, the revelation that the console and Kinect bundle will contain the 4gb version of the machine is perhaps unsurprising.

Previously many people suspected that the Kinect + 360 would contain the higher-end model of the console. However, this simply isn’t the case with Microsoft opting to instead package their entry level model with the device in order to maintain a cheaper price point. Interestingly this puts the machine and Kinect in the same bracket as the stand-alone 120gb PS3.

Tech Report: A Look At The EDRAM On Valhalla

We brought you our inside the 360 slim feature just over a week ago, revealing the internal layout of the console, and the all important details surrounding the chip and die shrinks contained within. However, one piece of the puzzle was missing – both the size and exact whereabouts of the EDRAM in the CPU/GPU package. This is something which is of particular interest seeing as this piece of silicon has always been behind in terms of process node changes, and has yet to be intergrated into the same die as the GPU.

This still seems to be the case - as you will see in the image of the console’s motherboard below – that the EDRAM is a separate entity from both the CPU/GPU combo, which now appears to be housed on a single die.


So, both the GPU and CPU are firmly on a single die, and the EDRAM is once again separate, all of which is housed on a single package, codenamed Valhalla. The CPU/GPU is now on a 45nm process node, although the EDRAM looks to be noticeably larger. The overall die size is some 34% smaller than the Jasper chipset’s CPU and GPU combined, inc EDRAM. And is 53% smaller than the ones used in the first 360 chipsets. For reference the Jasper chipset featured both the CPU and GPU at 65nm, whilst the original 360 featured 90nm versions of both chips.

From the above image it doesn’t look like the EDRAM has been fabbed at 45nm – it’s far too large in size for that. Instead all signs point to it being around 55nm or 65nm as speculated in our original article from a couple of months back. Interestingly, this is opposite to what the latest pieces of scattered information were saying in our later article – in which a 45nm EDRAM was hotly expected to be included.

Why the difference in die size compared to the other chips then? Well, the EDRAM itself has always been behind on process reductions, with complications in shrinking the chip being the main reason behind such slow comparative progress being made. Cost is also another factor. It could be that it is simply too expensive to economically reduce the EDRAM in size whilst obtaining optimal yields during production (a certain number of chips produced are unusable). Plus, the slower progress of reliable die shrinks to the EDRAM could have also held back development of the Valhalla CPU/GPU combination, with the complex integration of the EDRAM at a different size posing unnecessary problems and expenditure.

Integrating all three chips (CPU, GPU and EDRAM) would take the cooperation of ATI, NEC and IBM in order to make it happen given the increased complexity required for such a design. The cost of which would have been larger than simply producing three separate chips, or in this case two on one package. Another issue is getting the design and final production grade silicon ready on time, and given the increased complexity it is unlikely that this was ever going to happen. Effectively, all things considered, the cost/benefit ratio to having not only die shrinks, but also complete integration of all three chips on one die was perhaps too poor for consideration.

That’s not to say that later on down the line the EDRAM won’t be included in another internal revision of the 360, because it is very likely that Microsoft are working to do exactly that at some point in the future. It is possible for this to happen now, just not quite being the cost saving measure they are after at this point in time. Maybe with the next, and possibly last revision to the hardware, we will find that all three chips will have been completely integrated into a single die, rather than a single package. At that point, we expect that the EDRAM along with the now combined CPU/GPU will all be produced on the same process node.

With the current Xbox 360 S (slim) we have here what is clearly the best price/performance ratio available at this point in time with regards to heat reduction, and overall saving in silicon. Whatever changes we (and many others) might speculate, there is no doubt that Microsoft have done their very best in producing the most efficient, and cost effective version of the 360 to date. It is also the quietest and most solidly built too, which is not something you can really say about the console before the Slim’s arrival.

Editorial: Kinect - The Price Of Admission

The price of any new product is always hotly debated, especially when the item in question is being positioned for consumption by the mass market, the largely mainstream segment of gaming society. This is exactly what has been happening this past week with Microsoft’s Kinect. Ever since the estimated launch price for the US was revealed, people have speculated on how much the device would cost in the UK; how much it should, or would need to sell for in order to be successful, no more so than when ShopTo.net revealed what it believed would be the price for the unit here in the UK.


North American retailers have been pricing the Kinect at $150 for the last couple of weeks, which roughly translates to around £100 in direct conversion, and allowing for other market factors to effect overall cost. At the end of last week UK site ShopTo.net started taking preorders for the device set to cost £129.99 in the UK. Or so they are estimating. Many other retailers have also spoken out on how much they think Kinect will retail for when it hits the UK in November this year. A vast majority believe that anything from £100 to £150 is possible, squarely in the range of Nintendo’s Wii console, and firmly ahead of Sony’s PlayStation Move.

The price then, roughly equates to a direct, or near thereabouts conversion between US and UK, with the overall bracket set to ensure the best return for Microsoft but not the most value for money for consumers. Playstation Move on the other hand, is relatively cheap. It has a confirmed RRP of just £59.99 for both the Move controller and PlayStation Eye camera. The Navigation controller will go on sale separately for £24.99, taking the total cost of getting the complete Move experience to just £84.99, some fifteen pounds less than the £100 entry price so many retailers believe is necessary for the Kinect to have widespread success at launch, outside the standard core Xbox 360 user.

Speak to any retailer, or in turn most market analylists, and they will tell you that a sub-£100 price point is absolutely essential to drive forward sales aimed at the casual market - the Wii’s market. Many in that market won’t already have a 360 console, so in essence Microsoft would need to provide both to the consumer at an almost impulse buy price, something below £200 but confortably above the Wii. Though, for this to happen they need to have the base Kinect unit selling for somewhat lower than the £130 ShopTo.net seem to be suggesting.

£79.99 for the Kinect on its own, or maybe with one bundled set of mini-games is exactly the price tag most retailers in the UK, both on the high street and online want to see. A price tag that appears instantly more affordable to the casual user - something that isn’t going to break the bank, and that will tempt them in on there own accord. Suffice to say, that might not be happening, and might not actually be possible, as various sources have stated that the Kinect actually costs close to $150 dollars to make, meaning that Microsoft will be loosing money on every sale, or at least only just breaking even.

In that sense you can see why the company is being rather coy with UK pricing. Perhaps it is testing the waters, seeing how much interest there is for the device if it was to be priced up at over the £100 mark. And in this regard the low amount of preorders as reported by ShopTo.net seems to show that there is very little.

Of course it may not just be the price putting people off. At E3 most hands-on reports of software for the Kinect was poorly received, plagued by a high amount of lag, and a lack of any real precision when tracking player movements. Now, whilst this is unlikely to matter to the mainstream consumer – who is likely just to see the device and think ‘that looks like fun’ no matter the technical issues – it does create a negative buzz around the unit somewhat, especially when the PlayStation Move has already started to prove its worth in games like Socom, in which the response time and accuracy is said to be incredibly impressive - a substitute for the standard DualShock controller. You then begin to see just how important it is for Microsoft to get the launch price right. Too little, and they loose too much money for it to be viable as a way of propping up 360 sales, and too high, and they’ll fail to attract the mainstream consumer.

And that’s the point. Unlike PlayStation Move Kinect isn’t designed to be some kind of hardcore device that also plays up to the casual market. It IS designed and aimed at precisely that particular market, and in order to meet the needs of that market has to be priced accordingly. The Move can been seen as a premium product as such, tied in with the PlayStation 3 brand but at a fraction of the cost of what ‘premium’ means to most people. Microsoft on the other hand, seem to be aiming Kinect at everyone but at a higher more premium-like price tag, if ShopTo.net have in fact got their estimations right.

So, I think it’s clear that in order to guarantee the success that Microsoft would like it is essential that the price of Kinect stays low, around £100 would just be the clincher, though at £79.99 everyone can be tempted in for a go. And ‘guarantee’ they must, as Nintendo’s Wii can be picked up for as little as £149.99 in most places, and for £169.99 with a game in others. Move also looks very attractive in its £59.99 guise, and especially at around £85 for the whole set.

Microsoft definitely needs to consider these things in addition to their target audience – they don’t appear to have the sometimes fanboyistic nature of the core gamer behind Kinect – and perhaps should meet at some kind of compromise. After all, while the device sounds promising on paper it has failed to back up any of its initial fanfare with any revolutionary, must-have pieces of software, something that the Move is slowly heading towards with the likes of Killzone 3 and Socom.

At the end of the day both companies need to come out flying, and so far neither of them has done anywhere near enough to justify a massively successful, sell-out launch. Pricing aside, the quality of software for both Kinect and PlayStaion Move leaves a lot to be desired. You need more than just a bunch of Wii-too mini-games, or a singularly impressive, hardcore experience in order to make this work. You arguably need a bit of both, coupled with the right price tag to boot. Just look at the Wii as an example, it’s a perfect combination of brilliant marketing, and some solid, but overly sparse, high-quality software.

The price given for Kinect on ShopTo.net is just an estimate, and not the final RRP of the unit. Microsoft have yet to set a final retail price for the device, although most reports strongly place it in the £100-£150 price bracket.

Tech Report: Inside The Xbox 360 Slim

Earlier on in the week at E3 in Los Angeles Microsoft unveiled the brand new slim version of the Xbox 360, finally ending rumours of a new outer casing design and internal component revisions. We first reported on the 360 slim way back in march when photos of its motherboard were leaked onto the internet, showcasing what looked like a combined CPU/GPU on a single chip or die, and boasting a more efficient single fan cooling system. Now, with the console starting to filter into homes and into the hands of various tech-savvy enthusiasts, we can finally take a look under the hood of the machine and its internals.

Those of you expecting any last minute revelations are likely to be disappointed, as much of what we said back in our original 360 slim report was pretty much 100% correct. The use of a combined CPU/GPU and EDRAM, internal fitting hard drive, optical output, and external power supply are all correct and present, as is too the lack of any memory card slots or ability to use the old 360 hard drives on the new unit.


Looking at the final retail console’s motherboard (pics of which are quickly circulating around online) we can see that this latest revision of the 360 console uses the long-time rumoured Valhalla chipset, which consists of a CPU, GPU, and EDRAM all on one package. I say package as each of the chips are single entities housed all on one die, with the CPU and GPU produced on a 45nm process node.

As for the EDRAM, well it looks like that might also be produced at 45nm like the other two chips, although this isn’t confirmed. Last we heard TSMC were having trouble shrinking down the EDRAM on a 45nm process so we surmised that it might have to be done on something like 55nm. This now doesn’t seem to be the case, with sources pointing to the chip being finally fabbed at 45nm, which also goes hand in hand with reports that the Valhalla chipset as a whole is being manufactured at the Global Foundries owned Chartered Semiconductor.

Anyhow, the brand new single die design means that the chip runs a lot cooler than previous versions, which are larger and more power hungry. The advantage is that the new slim can be cooled with just one fan, and an efficient heat dissipation system build around that design. To that end the fan covering the CPU/GPU/EDRAM package is housed directly below the vents situated on the top of the outer casing, along with the actual chip package itself. The fan draws in cool air from the top of the console and then blows out heated air through the sides, dissipating the heat far more efficiently than previous models were able to do.

Other than the brand new combo chip package, the motherboard has also seen a complete re-design looking a lot more streamlined than before. Much of the excess fat has been cut, and components that were no longer needed have been cut away leaving a less cluttered design behind. Again, less stuff needed to be powered equals less overall heat, so there are less likely to be any issues of additional components creating heating issues in such an enclosed pace.

One thing that does appear to be the same as in the previous Jasper model 360, is the use of those 1 Gbit Samsung DDR3 RAM chips for the system’s unified memory. With a complete revision to the CPU and GPU, along with a streamlined motherboard, one might have also expected some kind of revised memory system as well. That doesn’t appear to be the case, and although two GDDR5 sticks would be preferable, Microsoft would then have needed to replace the existing memory controller as well. Plus at this point the use of GDDR5 isn’t at all feasible with low production numbers, and the actual cost saving using the new chips might not actually be that much cheaper, if at all at present.

Perhaps just a little too much work for minimal results, especially when it really isn’t needed as the new unit already draws far less power than before. Plus, it’s likely that MS will be making a large cost saving once these fabs ramp up production of the new components found inside the console.


Moving on, unlike previously speculated the 360 slim doesn’t have a built-in internal hard drive. Instead the HDD whilst technically being internal, is also completely removable and is housed inside a custom casing created by MS, which then lives inside the back of the machine. The new HDD being used is a Hitachi HTS545025B9SA00 1.5Gbps SATA hard drive, running at a speed of 5400RPM with an 8MB buffer.

Seeing as the new HDD connects via a standard SATA port it might be possible to hook up larger capacity drives to the console, either by swapping out the hard drive from inside the MS casing, or by simply connecting one externally via the SATA port. So far no one has tried this just yet, but the modding potential is definitely there for those of you out there who are skilled enough to do so.

Once again the system’s power supply is external. As we found no evidence of it being internal in our report on the motherboard back in march, that isn’t really so surprising, and given the cooling problems of previous units probably for the best. Thankfully though the PSU is much smaller than before, and is more stylish looking too – smooth curves and all. Well, it is as stylish as a PSU can be.


Lastly, and we though this was worth a recap over our initial reveal of the unit, is the inclusion of an input for connectivity with Kinect situated above the Ethernet port. This port both powers the Kinect device along with interfacing it with the 360 console for data transfer, and processing on the 360’s end. Users of any older model 360 will have run two separate cables in order to use the Kinect; One which plugs into a USB port on the 360 to interface with the unit, and another from the Kinect going into the plug socket in order to power the device.

Clear signs point to a 360 + Kinect bundle at some point, and the motherboard and overall design for the slim console shows that this was factored into it.

Overall, Microsoft has done well in creating a streamlined and power efficient revision of the 360 console. What we have here is a rather good combination of chip/die shrinks with improved cooling and heat dissipation, meaning we should see far less in the way of hardware failures, and of course high-levels of operating noise. It’s a nicely engineered piece of kit, both internally and externally, that finally presents the format as a premium product very much in same vein as the PS3.

The brand new 360 Slim hits retailers on July 16th in the UK, with most retailers now taking preorders for the console. It is priced at £199.99, the same as the current Elite model it replaces, which along with the Arcade SKU will see a price drop the same day the slim is released.

IQGamer will of course be bringing you our hands-on with the new unit as soon as possible, hopefully right around the time of launch, or very soon after.

'Project Natal' Evolves Into Kinect

At last year’s E3, Microsoft gave us a tantalising glimpse at their entry into the world of motion control gaming with ‘Project Natal’, a control system which foregoes the actual use of a physical controller and instead places you, the user, as way of directly manipulating the action on-screen. The demos for the unit showed members of the associated press and readers alike just how much further the concept of motion could be pushed, taking the game literally into the living room. Finally that concept has been given a name.

Last night at their Cirque-du-Soleil event in Los Angeles Microsoft pulled back the curtain on ‘Project Natal’, revealing the final name for the device as the ‘Kinect’ referencing both motion and the idea of bringing people together for new gameplay experiences. They also showed off the final ‘Kenect’ hardware, which looked smaller, and slightly sleeker than the early prototypes demonstrated at previous events.


A list of titles for the ‘Kinect’ was announced, with games varying from family sports titles, a multi-game action title, a racing game, and a virtual pet simulator of sorts.

First was Kinect Sports, in which MS showed off bowling, tack and field, soccer, and volleyball. It appears to be direct competitor to Nintendo’s Wii Sports, but somewhat more advanced, although not always completely accurate with some journos sighting a lack of 1:1 movement and lag as the main cause.

Next up Kinect Adventures. This looks to be a compilation of on-rails action mini-games, and both a rafting game and mine-cart ride were shown. The aim of the title appears to be collecting various goodies by reaching out to grab them whilst maintaining the speed of the raft or cart. Jumping speeds up the raft, and at certain points in either game players have to strike a pose for the camera adding to the fun.

Kinectimals is the resident virtual pet game for the device, featuring an array of big cats instead of cute little pooches and bizarre fictional critters. Users were able to pet and play with the on-screen cats, along with trying to teach them tricks and throwing them a ball. It looks like a glorified Nintendogs-meets-Invisimals from what I can see, definitely something that could catch on with younger gamers.

Kinect Yoga & Tai Chi was Microsoft’s answer to Nintendo’s Wii fit. The demo shown saw an avatar guiding you through how to do certain moves, and an outline of yourself next to it demonstrated how well you were doing. From what we’ve heard, the Kinect’s full body tracking will allow far more precision in the game’s monitoring of your movements compared what is available with the Wii fit and balance board, although only a sample of stuff was shown.

Joy Ride was the obligatory racing game, though apparently one of the least impressive of all the titles showcased. A simple arcade racer, you hold your hands out like you would when holding and real steering wheel and turn them to move left and right. Leaning in either direction pulls off a powerslide of sorts, and waving your arms around makes you do tricks.

Dance Central: Self-explanatory really. The game uses the camera to track your moves as you attempt to follow the prompts on-screen.

By far the most interesting title revealed though (and the one likely to be most wanted by hardcore gamers at the event) was non-other than a compatible Star Wars game.

Kinect: Star Wars visually looks much like the Clone Wars CG series aired on Sky, and is an on-rails light sabre battling experience. The player looks to be moved around on-screen automatically whilst they wave their arms around to perform Light Sabre slashes, (blaster shots can be repelled like in the films) and can use force powers by thrusting their hands back and forth. The demo ends in a cool duel against lead villain Darth Vader.

Outside of compatible games, Microsoft also revealed a brand new Dashboard interface that used the ‘Kinect’. Various applications such as Facebook, Twitter and a program that allowed both photo sharing and video chat with friends were shown. Icons on-screen showing the different programs could be selected by simply pointing at them, and control once in the selected program was handled using motion and gestures with the ‘Kinect’

Lastly, Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda announced that the ‘Kinect’, along with six separate software titles would see a release on 4th November in the US with a worldwide launch thereafter. No indications of pricing structure or a hardware and software pack were revealed, with such information likely to be forthcoming closer to launch.

Could This Be 360 Slim?

There have been rumours about an eventual slim line version of the 360 for a few years now, with various sources and unsubstantiated reports sighting plans for an all-in-one CPU, GPU and EDRAM chip, coupled together in one massive internal revision of the 360 console. That revision was allegedly known as Valhalla, which would see both the main processing components of the 360, along with the EDRAM, shrunk down into one power-efficient little chip, bringing down the cost of production, and allowing for a complete design makeover.

At the time, it was impossible to expect such a revision to appear for at least a couple of years, given the slow and struggling process of being able to shrink down the EDRAM in line with both the CPU and GPU inside Microsoft’s console. So much so, that only last year were the fabrication plants at TSMC were able to significantly reduce the size of the 360’s GPU, resulting in the much more reliable ‘Jasper’ revision of the hardware.

Yesterday however, two leaked photos seemed to show that those initial problems have in fact been alleviated, now allowing a combined CPU, GPU and EDRAM on a single chip, or at least on one single die containing all three separate chips, albeit much smaller in size than before. It also shows what looks like a complete re-engineering of the 360 motherboard into a much more compact form, at least one third smaller than the current design, and a glimpse into the potential release of a slim 360 console.


The two images in question were released on a Chinese tech forum, A9VG, and shows what looks like a genuine reworking of the 360 motherboard, while also revealing various other changes inherent in the basic design of the new console. The first photo above, shows the actual shape of the motherboard it self, demonstrating the new small size, at the same time teasing us with an image of a smaller combined chip underneath a stock Coolermaster cooling fan.

From what we can see, it’s pretty obvious to us, that use of an off the shelf cooling fan isn’t likely to be part of the final retail unit of this 360 slim. Instead all signs point to these photos being of a test unit, still under development and in the last stages of trialing, before being cleared for a final production to start. However what’s interesting is that the second photo clearly shows us a single CPU and GPU package on what could be a single chip, along with changes to the motherboard showing perhaps what kind of hard drive they will be using for the unit, in addition to changes with regards to the type of audio outputs available on the machine in this latest model.


This second shot shows us all of the motherboard and its features in clear view, most noticeably confirming that the CPU, GPU and EDRAM sits together on either a single chip, or more likely a single die, with the each of the three chips being separate entities integrated onto it. My reasoning behind this is that integration of the EDRAM and GPU into a single chip would actually require a major redesign in order to fit into the shader core, whilst also having to be produced on the same process node. Basically it would have to be fabricated at the same size as the main GPU, something that is still a problem at the TSMC from what I’ve been hearing.

Another thing, is that due to the photographer’s lack of removing the heat spreader, we don’t really know for sure just what is lurking underneath, or what process node the chip is on. I’m pretty sure it would have to be at least 45nm, but then it would mean that the CPU, GPU and EDRAM are definitely still separate chips housed in one die, rather than a single chip. It’s highly unlikely that the EDRAM could be processed at a 45nm; instead more along the lines of 55nm, making this part separate at least from the CPU and GPU.

Interestingly the motherboard looks to contain parts required for additional features to be present on the slim 360. Now, these are pretty much a reworking on the things which the current machine already has, just done in a different way. The first thing that comes to mind is the extra SATA connector available for use on the board, bringing the count up to two. On the current 360 the board only has a single connector, used for the DVD Rom drive, whereas here on the slim, an inclusion of a second seems to hint at an internal hard drive storage solution, or at least a new type of external connecting HDD.

An internal drive is unlikely, as it would prevent an upgrade path for arcade users, whilst also preventing Microsoft from selling larger hard drives later on down the line. However, they could in theory break free, and make a fresh start with the slim, whilst still producing HDDs for existing 360 owners. In fact, that is probably the most obvious choice, as a clean break is the only way for them to achieve a cost effect new hardware design.

Also there’s no sign of the mounting holes used to fix the existing DVD drive into the unit, and at any rate, it would not fit into the new slim design, leading me to believe that either MS are planning to give us a shiny slot loading type drive, or are simply moving its position around a bit. Perhaps they will use some kind of top-loading system for the slim, although more likely is another version of the current slot-loading drive found in the fat 360s.

Memory card readers have also been cut down to one unit now, and there is no sign of any inbuilt wireless adaptor, which is disappointing. I guess MS are making too much of a killing by selling the existing Wireless N adaptor at 60 quid, and would rather continue with their lucrative margin on accessories. However, they have seen fit to at last include an optical output on the back of the new unit, meaning the end of buying the overpriced audio dongle for surround sound when using a HDMI cable without an HDMI compatible amplifier.

From what we gather, the power supply seems to be another external jobbie, unlike the tightly integrated PSU of the slim PS3, which although mildly disappointing, at least allows the machine to be potentially much smaller than the current design. In that respect we expect the overall size of this new 360 to be smaller and more representative of its unofficial ‘slim’ moniker than with the latest PS3. You could say that from the motherboard photos it could well end up looking a little bit like the Dreamcast, just with a stylish slot loading drive instead of an outdated top-loader design.

That’s pretty much all we know right now, not being able to shed anymore light on that interesting single chip/die CPU, GPU and EDRAM combination, or to ascertain whether this latest revision of the 360 hardware is in fact a slim console, or just another revision, albeit a massively more drastic one.

All signs do point to something major happening though, with Microsoft advertising for a Motherboard Design Engineer for the Xbox console, who is being described as being responsible for "aggressive cost reduction of the console throughout the life of the product”, and at the same time, past candid statements from company execs, which detailed plans for a brand new version of the 360 console due to release at the same time as Natal.

As per usual Microsoft declined to talk about the matter, issuing the same “we don't comment on rumour and speculation” line heard many times before, but this isn’t the first time such unofficial leaked information has provided the solid background for hardware confirmation. PS3 slim was revealed in much the same way many months before it was announced and released.

Ultimately we don’t know whether this is going to be a 360 slim for sure, though all signs do point that way, and in any case, Microsoft like Sony, wouldn’t want to reveal anything too soon as not to disrupt current sales of the existing 360 console, especially many months before the new machine is ready to go.

Either way, it won’t be long before we find out even more details, and we're willing to bet that unofficial leaks will be the leading source of information long before any official announcement takes place.