Xbox Kinect Games Revealed

Microsoft has released a list of games that will be among the first to be compatible with the company's new hands-free motion control system for Xbox 360, known as Kinect.

The roster includes a Star Wars game from LucasArts that's due out in 2011, as well as unspecified titles from Disney. More immediately, Microsoft and its partners will ship a number of activity games that take advantage of Kinect's ability to mimic human body movements.

A title called Kinectimals (Frontier Studios) lets players interact with on screen zoo animals, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft) provides exercise routines with the help of a virtual, on-screen trainer, while Kinect Sports (Rare) lets users play simulated soccer, bowling, volleyball, and other games.

Kinect Joy Ride (Big Park) is billed as the world's first hands free racing game, and Dance Central (MTV Games) allows players to groove to tunes by artists like Lady Gaga, No Doubt, M.I.A., and more. Kinect, along with many of the games, will be available in the U.S. on November 4.

Kinect features a camera, audio sensors, and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body. That means players can control on-screen action simply through physical gestures and verbal commands.

The Kinect sensor, a slim, black device that resembles a Web-cam, is designed to plug directly into the Xbox 360 console.

Kinect, developed under the code name Project Natal, could up the stakes in the game console wars. If it works as advertised, it could steal momentum from the Nintendo Wii. The Wii also offers motion control, but players must hold a physical controller for it to work.

Microsoft unveiled Kinect Sunday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles.