Now you can preorder the new Xbox controller, Kinect, that is all the buzz in the video game world.

The showdown over movement-controlled video game playing has shot one more step ahead with Microsoft introduction of the price on its Kinect Xbox 360 accessory.

The firm has put together the system, which connects into the Xbox 360 gaming console, obtainable for pre-orders on for $149 US. The pre-order conditions said the Kinect’s price tag could change prior to its Nov. 4 kick off. The company, however, will honor whichever cost is the lowest.

A spokesperson for Microsoft was not able to officially verify the Kinect’s price, but the suggestion will probably end rumors about the maximum cost. Gaming industry advisors had indicated the Kinect, which delivers advanced voice-recognition and motion-sensor technology, could be priced at up to $399.

Microsoft hopes the new Xbox controller, which makes it possible for gaming and movie playback without any sort of handheld device, will help it grow the Xbox 360′s current audience over and above core video gamers. The gaming system console add-on is to be introduced with 15 games, varying from racing to fitness titles.

The Kinect will be competitive against Nintendo’s Wii, which made popular movement control when it came out in 2006, and Sony’s Move controller, starting this fall. Naysayers have said Microsoft and Sony are taking part in catch-up to Nintendo, which is being victorious the struggle over the present generation of video game consoles. All the while, Nintendo has sold more than 70 million Wii units, compared with Microsoft’s 40 million Xbox 360 consoles and Sony’s 35 million PlayStation 3 units.

Kinect may have an edge over challengers due to the fact it is the only one that doesn’t require a controller of any kind. Microsoft has also done wonders at securing the assistance of third-party developers, something Nintendo has had trouble doing.

“If you look at the innovative experiences we’ve been able to pull off with Xbox Live [online gaming] and third parties in general, we really expect to have some pretty amazing games and some really great support for this,” Craig Flannagan, Xbox Canada platform manager, said at media demonstration of Kinect in Toronto on Tuesday. “Those factors are all going to roll in the most robust support you’ve ever seen for a motion platform.”

Some experts have said that a current slowdown in Wii sales could suggest hard times for Microsoft’s and Sony’s motion-control efforts, while others expect sales to be good. One possibility is that the crowd is waiting (like me), to see what pans out for the Christmas season offerings. Microsoft hopes to sell three million Kinect devices by the year end.

At E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2009 in Los Angeles, Microsoft unveiled Kinect using the code name Project Natal. They announced Kinect’s official name at this year’s E3.

The concept is riveting although it certainly needs a lot of one-of-a-kind top quality software to ensure a great user experience.

Of course, if the Kinect is successful this may be the beginning of a multi-generational product cycle.

You can preorder your own new Xbox controller at Microsoft.com , by clicking here: Kinect

In a short piece in “The State Press”, author Shanen K. Lloyd shared thoughts about the present state of XBOX video gaming and the media:

Project Natal is a controller-free, motion-sensing game, created for the Xbox 360. They haven’t set a release date, but it is rumored to be out sometime by the end of 2010.

Without a controller, users are able to control the screen and the game through body movements, voice commands and even by using other objects or images they have around them. The game recognizes the player, can differentiate between people and objects in the room and even between different players. The technology of this new interface even includes facial recognition for player sign-ins.

I saw a few demo videos on YouTube [see new XBOX Controller videos below], and I’ll admit, it looks pretty cool. I suggest everyone to check those out to be able to fully grasp what Project Natal is. Words don’t really do it justice. Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s Wii, it seems this new form of interactivity with video games is the way of the future.

Read more of Shane’s thoughts here:  The State Press

Sony announced its own motion-sensing controller to compete with the Wii and Xbox’s Project Natal, at E3.

Here are some details mentioned:

• Scheduled launch date: Spring 2010
• When it comes to market it will be available to a “range of first-party and third-party content.”
• This new controller will function “with any games across all genres from casual to core.”
• “Face-tracking and head-tracking capability already in the PS3 SDK” will offer developers “powerful tools for new types of user interaction.”
• Works with the PlayStation Eye’s built-in microphone array for voice input and voice recognition.
• There can be up to four of the new motion controllers can be tracked at once by the PlayStation Eye.
• May combine motion control wand and PS3 controller functions.  “the motion controller as a sword and use DualShock 3 as a shield.”
• Utilizing PS3′s power: ”motion-tracking library has some SPU overhead and has an impact on memory as well, although these will be minimized.”

Will you adapt to this new kind of moving around gaming interaction, or will you still like to veg out – couch potato-like – mashing a controller  with your thumbs?

A brand-new gesture-based motion control system from Microsoft was unveiled on June 1st at E3. Known, right now, as  Project Natal this new XBOX controller makes use of an advanced camera and microphone system to grease the wheels of three-dimensional motion tracking, facial and voice recognition.

The high tech device was used to demonstrate new game experiences, including a facsimile of a virtual character that relayed one’s own movement in action games, interacting with an Artificial Intelligence character by passing real items into the XBOX world. Users have interface options that allow movement through menus with the wave of a hand.

The concern for Project Natal is that this technology will not be inexpensive. Although Microsoft has not released pricing, the company will be unlikely to include Natal in each Xbox 360 sold and keep its current pricing.  They do say, however, that the new controller will work with all XBOX360. For peripherals this will likely be an expensive (and essential?) option.

Using the new XBOX Controller

Project Natal hands-free controller and the Playstation Motion Controller both have to battle it out with  the Wii Remote, which has gone main stream and made some of the most unlikely people into gamers. The new technologies will make for an interesting competition in the video gaming console wars.

“The only way to bring interactive entertainment to everybody,” Steven Spielberg proclaimed at E3 in Los Angeles, “is to make the technology invisible. Only then can we shine the spotlight where it belongs, which is on you.”

When, in “Back to the Future: Part II”, Marty (Michael J. Fox) demonstrated his skill at Wild Gunman, a video game at Cafe 80′s, one of the two young boys he was showing said, “You have to use your hands? That’s a baby’s game!” Well, now you don’t havt to hold anything when playing, or better put, interacting with the x Box360 using the new xBox controller, referred to as Project Natal.

The handheld controller seems to be the thing that’s holding video games back from realizing their full potential (meaning complete immersion – utter suspension of disbelief). No more fiddling around with buttons and joysticks? That seems unlikely but, look at what a game changer was the WII. The WII redefined the way we play with video games with its physically interactive controllers.

WII brought video gaming to the mainstream, like no other device. This showed that there is a hungry audience from pre-tikes to grayhairs. The new Xbox controller, if it does half of what Microsoft’s marketing division has portrayed, will bring a wide spread buying frenzy to the Christmas season this year. Let this not be more vaporware!