E3 has officially started and Microsoft is leading the charge by having the first keynote press event of the week. The doors of the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles opened to the gaming press as Microsoft kicked things off. Here are the main highlights from today’s event:

Project Natal becomes Kinect

After showing off its motion-sensing camera at last year’s E3, Microsoft has finally renamed the code-worded Project Natal and given it an official name “Kinect”. Kinect will be shipping this Fall on November 4th 2010. Microsoft did not disclose prices but retailer Gamestop has updated its Kinect page, pricing the peripheral at $149.

Kinect uses a series of cameras to track movement and motion in real-time and space. Essentially, the cameras allow for controller-less gaming and menu navigation. Some of the non-gaming related capabilities showed off include Xbox-Dashboard navigation, voice control (say “Xbox, play Music” and it starts playing) and Video Kinect. Video Kinect is a video-chatting service working in conjunction with MSN Messenger.

Kinect will launch with 15 titles this Fall. Some of those titles include:

Kinectimals – A virtual pet game with tigers, lions, and possible bears (oh my).

Kinect Sports – It is exactly like it sounds. Microsoft isn’t mincing words when going after the casual Wii audience. Kinect Sports includes track & field activities, bowling, soccer, ping pong, boxing, and volleyball.

Kinect Adventures – Another minigame collection which includes some non-athletic events. One game demo included two players on a runaway river raft.

Joyride – A kart-style racer with Kinect controls. Put your hands at 10 and 2, and mime driving. The system can track your movements if you turn your hands- the wheel in the game turns.

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved – Ubisoft is trying to take a slice of the Nintendo-fitness pie. Yoga, strength training, and more are all possible, without the need for a balance board or controller.

Dance Central – One part Dance Dance Revolution combined with elements from Wii’s Let’s Dance. Dance Central, from the makers of Rock Band.

ESPN

ESPN has partnered with Microsoft to join the other services already available such as Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter. ESPN will be bringing over 3500 events per year to XboxLive subscribers. Thankfully, all of this will be coming at no additional cost to XboxLive Gold members.

New Model

An all-new model of the XBOX360 is shipping TODAY and will be in stores by the end of the week! The new model is about 20% smaller and said to be “whisper quiet”. The console also finally ships with built-in wifi and a 250GB hard drive.

Game Demos

Fable III
which ships on October 26th 2010.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
Hideo Kojima unveiled the first gameplay footage of the next entry in the MGS series. It looks like a crazy mix of hack-and-slash action gameplay combined with Kojima’s trademark sense of humor.

Cliff Bleszinski from Epic showed off Gears of War 3 coming in 2011.

The creators of Forza showed off a Kinect-controlled racing game.

Lucas Art’s debuted a Kinect light-saber Star Wars game.

Video & Wrap-up
Miss the Microsoft event? Watch the video below courtesy of G4.

Overall, not a bad way to kick-off E3 Week! It’s interesting to see Microsoft going so hard after the Nintendo casual crowed with Kinect. Minigames aside, it’s nice to see some “bigger” games supporting it. How those titles will turn out is still up in the air. The branding behind Kinect makes sense; a mix of ‘connect’ with the ‘kinetic’ movement of the camera system itself. It’s surely to be a hit with kids and families. On the flip-side, it’s nice to see ESPN partnering to bring some sports content. It rounds out the console’s experience and provides a greater breadth of entertainment options. Also, it seems Microsoft finally got its act together, made like it was 2005, and dropped some wifi into the console!

Source: Kotaku