EA will annouce a big bucket load of new games at E3 in Los Angeles in June.  The slew of new releases will also be available for the PS3 Move toy.  E3 is the biggest gaming extrvaganza on the planet and EA wil use the platform as a showcase for their new addtions.

John Schappert, EA big boss, said: “We’ve only announced Tiger Woods for Sony Move to date. We have more announcements at E3, inclusive of demos of some of this technology. That said, we’re bullish on these new controllers and the new technology.”

Schappert didn’t go so far as to announce which games would be available but Need for Speed is a likely candidate. Another big games manufacturer throws it weight behind Natal super cool.

What do you think, which games are you waiting for for Natal?

Ste

Here’s a short video of some Spaniards messing with Natal, they look like they’re having a laugh but the girl looks bored as hell. Nothing new there then . . .

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did you spot the Spanish lady looking bored to tears? That’s all for now byeeeeee!!!

Ste

More rumors about the super-duper Xbox 360 Slim to be bundled with Project Natal when it’s released in Autumn. Michael Pachter told GameTrailers TV that Microsoft will ship a skinny Xbox 360 with Natal and added that it won’t be called ‘slim’. We reckon they’ll call it the Xbox Atkins ….

Super Slim XBox 360

Pachter also confirmed that the Skinny Xbox will come bundled with Natal and retail at under the $300 mark with a larger hard drive, probably 250GB.

Super fuses, we can’t wait!! But what do you think, will it be skinny, latte or the Atkins…?

Steve

Another strange piece of Project Natal news today, this time from Dawn of the Dead, Slither writer and director James Gunn. The horror specialist play-tested a couple of Natal Games at a recent Microsoft bash. One was Richochet, which we reported on here, and the other was a brand-new offering called ‘River Rush’

Zombies Not in River-Rush

Gunn reports on his blog:

“It’s a game where you stand side by side in a river raft, so it’s two people playing at once. To move right, you have to step right; to move left, you have to step left.  As you rush down right rapids, you have to jump up and slap floating stars in the air – the whole raft jumps up every time you do.”

No gore, zombies or shotguns in sight but the director was suitably overwhelmed by what he saw, particularly with the marriage of gaming and fitness, he added “it’s “sort of a dream come true, an hour of playing Natal every night will definitely burn calories” And also “Gunn concluded, “The Natal was an amazing piece of technology and I’ll be the first one in line to buy one when they come out during the holidays… I really, really can’t wait to shoot someone on that f***ing thing.” So he wants one!!!

Project Natal River Rush Weeeeeeh!!!!

Whilst it remains to be seen where exactly in the market MS will pitch Natal, more and more evidence seem to point to a direct attack on Nintendo’s Wii market. I’m not a fan of the Wii, it’s a toy, and I hope Gates’s people don’t turn the 360 into a  me-too glorified Wii with improved graphics.

What do you think? Will MS dumb down the 360 to pull in the dollars?

Ste

Head Honcho Simon Prytherch of Lightning Fish Games, is suggesting that both Project Natal and the Sony Move Toy will probably lure non-core gamers who use their games consoles for recreational play in addition to health and fitness routines rather than for simply blasting aliens and building super-hero’s.

Talking to MCV, Prythrch said he think that these types of consumers may “benefit more” from the innovative movement sensors than traditional hardcare gamers, the more typical XBox 360 audience.

“The non-games sector will benefit more than any other sector from Natal and PlayStation Move,” he explained. “These devices are suited to non-core audiences. The important element of these gadgets is the capability to precisely observe user positions.

“We will see new ways of interacting and new genres emerging as creative minds get to grips with the technology.”

Health and fitness game titles for the revolutionary sensor would certainly not be unexpected, given that games of this genre generate oodles of cash for Nintendo through the Wii.

Use your Xbox 360 and Natal to get from this . . .

To This . . . Believe us, Natal will do this to you ... just buying one makes you slimmer

For Sony’s Move, there is the likelihood that EA Sports Active 2.0 will be available for Playstation 3 and will function with the new controller, and as we’ve reported previously there’s also the prospect of a yoga game for Project Natal and the 360 (Ommmmm ).

Additionally ultra secret sources maintain that Rare are developing a workout title of sorts, and with the rumours of Microsoft touting for advertising business in magazines ‘for the ladies’ we reckon at least one ‘health and fitness’ title is on the cards. Hopefully MS won’t do too much dumbing down for the general public . . . . Hell I might even start doing Yoga myself . . . OMMMM

‘Til next time

Ste

Wedbush Morgan expert Michael Pachter has forecast a brand-new lean-Xbox 360 hardware mod just before the end of 2010. Speaking about the possible sale price reduction to combat loss of marketplace share to the PS3, Pachter informed investors, “It is far more likely that we will see a slim version of the Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hard drive and with Project Natal bundled into the box while maintaining the $299 price point, especially if Sony does not lower the price of the PS3 by the time Natal and Sony’s Move controllers launch in the fall.”

Kate Moss - Slim, But Not as Slim as an XBox 360

This is actually not the very first whisper of a possible 360 component modification in the recent past. Several weeks back, Joystiq obtained pictures from a Far East technical online community which were proposed to show a size-zero variant of the actual 360 system board. Include to this the quotation from Steve Ballmer which referred to “more form factors in the future,” as well as a recent Microsoft employment offer with regard to an Xbox 360 Motherboard Design Engineer, and Pachter’s proposal appears much more than a possibility.

Fresh designs tend to be at the core of the video game sector. Recently, Sony launched a leaner model of the PS3 this together, with a big marketing push, was able to significantly enhance consumer attention for the system. The Xbox 360 has already been on the marketplace for nearly five years and might be looking slightly tired, and it would certainly make good sense for Ms to pursue a corresponding strategy to overlap with the release of Project Natal this ‘holiday’.

We’ve reported this before but this seems more concrete evidence….. Of course what I’d really like to see ia a hardware upgrade along with the sleek new case… this seems less likely…

What do think? Will a slimmed down size zero 360 revive the comsoles reputation? Or are the PS3 fanboys rubbing their hands and saying ‘told you so’?

PS3 Fanboys Not Wanted Here

Let me know . . . (PS3 fan-boys need not reply )

Steve

Microsoft’s movement-control device, Project Natal is already gonna be huge but it may get even bigger than I predicted. Toy Head-Quarters, usually known as THQ in the video gaming world, could be designing a brand new game that will include production cost of upward of $40 million. THQ wants to show the world what the Project is all about and a game of such complexity and depth should just do it for the unique gaming system. But $40,000,000 (count the zero’s!)

Saints Row 3 - Worth $40 Million?

Over to Danny Bilson, THQ’s games big cheese:

“I have some concepts and some ideas that use Natal in a core game in a really, really cool way. But I don’t think the install base is there because the game I’m thinking about is a $30m to $40m Natal game and the install base isn’t there yet to support that”.

But we’ll have to wait, Bilson also said that the game delelpment could take up to two years and gave no hints as to the nature of the ‘uber-game’ . . . So don’t hold your breath.

But don’t panic :-O THQ also plans to release an ‘awesome’ Natal enabled game in time for the ‘holiday’ release of Natal.

$30 to $40 Million? WTF are they planning…? Anyway watch this space, we’ll let you know first . . .

Ste

OK just wishful thinking but here’s a list of 29 games that I’d love to play on Project Natal (but probs never will )and also why I’d love to play ‘em.

1. Oblivion - Shooting fireballs from my fingertips
2. Batman Arkham Asylum – Flying with the batcape
3. Modern Warfare 2 – Big guns online!
4. Fable II – Even the blacksmith job would be fun
5. Assassin’s Creed II – Diving off those veiwpoints
6. Pure – Big tricks dude!
7. GTA IV – Might finally understand what all the fuss is about.
8. Saints Row 2 – The firetruck missions…
9. Bioshock – Plasmids man, imagine letting those wasps go Sweet!!!
10. The Darkness – Tentacle powers
11. Halo 3 – Big futuristic guns
12. Dead Space – Choppin’ up them aliens with my bare hands…
13. Fight Night Round 4- It’s boxing, enough said
14. Bully – Doh, just go play it
15. Burnout: Revenge – The best burnout IMHO, imagine those huge crashes with no controller?
16. Crackdown – Flying high baby…
17. Dirt 2 – Driving will just be so sweeeet on Natal – drift man, drift
18. FIFA 10 – They’ll never do this but footie would be ace on Natal, imagine multiplayer in your games room?
19. Guitar Hero 5 – Shreddin’
20. Left 4 Dead 2 – Multiplayer chaos in your own home
21. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – Would you have to walk like they do in the game?
22. Mass Effect 2 – For the ‘special bits’
23. Resident Evil 5 – Scary man, hope Natal works with the lights down
24. Band Hero – Good for parties
25. Skate 2 – Skateboarding without the scars
26. Street Fighter IV – Nuff said
27. The Orange Box – For Alex .. that butt!!!
28. UFC 2009: Undisputed – Grappling ;-)
29. Virtua Fighter 5 - Best Kung-Fu game on the XBox… you focus on the finger … etc

So there you have it, the definitive list of Project Natal Games that they’ll never make …. if only they could ….

What do you think, did I miss anything?

Ste

A slimmer, sleeker Xbox 360? Looks like Microsoft will release a super-model super slim Xbox alongside Project Natal later this year. The size 0 box will most likely be bundled with Natal and will extend the product life of the Microsoft Console. Rumors are being fuelled by new 360 motherboard and portable hard drive developments for the 360. Obviously MS remain tight lipped about these whispers.

Super Slim Xbox Coming Soon?

Would seem logical that if you make the console smaller then a stand-alone hard drive could avoid any storage issues? Don’t bet your house on it but I reckon a ‘wow have you lost weight’ 360 is incoming…

Now if only they’d make it in black . . .

What do you think?

Will 2010 FIFA World Cup support project Natal? What’s certain is that 2010 will be an important year for Sports FIFA, the World Cup will certainly boost sales of the football franchise. Football and Natal would seem to be an obvious match and soccer would be great fun with a hand free motion controller.

‘Wow dude, I’m David Beckham’

‘More like Dudley Moore’

FIFA World Cup 2010 for Natal

EA is playing its cards close to it’s chest. Simon Humbler, 2010 FIFA World Cup producer said “Whenever any of these peripherals come out we think about what they could add to the football experience. I think the hard thing in respect of PlayStation Move, which has comparisons to the Nintendo Wii device, is that the type of football you can provide for this isn’t particularly authentic”

Doesn’t sound particularly promising, but the EA team are still considering options. Humbler said:

“As you can see from our Wii version, the game is a lot arcadeier, with the big gestures and actions,” he said. “I think there is a different experience there waiting to be uncovered, perhaps, but personally I think it is hard to integrate that into our football game.”

We hope EA at least do the groundwork to see if FIFA World CUP 10 and Natal could work together, it would be a truly awesome achievement if they could pull it off. However, if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work and hopefully EA won’t release anything that’s broken, we’ve seen that approach on the Wii … and it’s not pretty.

What do you think, will Natal work with soccer?

Ste