Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) has announced that it will work with Facebook, Twitter and British television provider Sky to transform the Xbox game experience. Xbox users will be able to use their Facebook profiles and access Twitter through the Xbox network, reported The New York Times.
“[British] users will be able to watch television in a virtual party room with their friends, discussing the program as they are watching,” Microsoft said.
But, these are not the biggest additions being made to the Xbox 360. By far, the best addition is “Project Natal.” Microsoft previewed the project at the E3 conference, the biggest video game convention in North America.
“Project Natal” uses full body tracking to make controllers and remotes obsolete for some games. That’s a step beyond the Nintendo Wii, which used a handheld controller in conjunction with the users hand movement.
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Microsoft’s new technology “uses a camera to track a user’s movements via full skeletal mapping,” Reuters reported. “It also recognizes voices and vocal commands.”
“You are the controller,” Shane Kim, the Vice President of strategy and business development for videogames, told Reuters.
“Project Natal” was made for the Xbox 360, not a new gaming system. “We can leap into a new era of interactive entertainment without launching a new console,” said Don Mattrick, another Microsoft executive.
Editor Zach Scheidt of Taipan’s New Growth Investor has taken an interest in gaming stocks. He recommended one Chinese gaming company that reaped triple-digit gains, and recently he recommended another play that could perform just as well.
Zach calls some types of games recession-proof, “because the game can essentially be an escape for people who are unemployed or strapped for cash.”
It seems that even our own editors can’t ignore the gaming industry.
Microsoft sold 1.7 million units of the Xbox 360 in the third quarter of its fiscal year for 2009. That’s up from 1.3 million units in the same quarter last year. Game revenue also increased by 8.3% while accessories revenue jumped 8.9%, so demand for this new “Project Natal” technology will certainly boost profits for Microsoft.
Certainly, video gamers all over will be antsy to get their hands on Xbox’s newest improvements, but they will have to be patient.
When questioned about when “Project Natal” will be released, Shane Kim said, “It’s not a 2009 thing.” Evidently, eager gamers will have to wait till next year.
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