Toymaker announces interactive Kinect toys

THE GESTURE CONTROL GAME Kinectimals will get some cuddly toys that interact with Kinect for the Xbox 360.

Already selling about 100,000 Kinect units a day, Microsoft wants to make sure that sales won't abate next year. The company has teamed up with Jakks Pacific to sell Kinectimals Plush Toys from Spring. The toys will be odiously cute and are designed to integrate with the ridiculously popular Kinect interface.

Jakks Pacific won't launch the toys in the mass-market until next year but if you can't wait to get your mitts on one of them you can buy a limited edition furball now.

You can buy Kinectimals and it will come packaged with a 7-inch plush toy. US residents can get hold of the King Cheetah toy or the Maltese Tiger for $59.99 from Toysrus or Gamestop.

The toys use Microsoft's Mtag technology so players can scan the tag using the Kinect sensor. This will allow the toy to appear in the game itself where players can make them fetch, roll over, play dead and purr.

"We are excited to launch an interactive product based on one of the Kinect for Xbox 360 launch titles and pioneer a new way of gameplay," said Jakks Pacific EVP Jack McGrath.

Kinectimals was one of the Kinect launch titles so it's no surprise that the Vole wants to exploit the kiddie market. Like Sony, Microsoft has had no decent headline game titles to push Kinect sales but the things seem to be selling well anyway. µ