Microsoft unveils Halo 4 and Kinect titles at E3

GAMES CONSOLE FLOGGER Microsoft announced a slew of Kinect titles and updated Xbox Live features at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) today.

After six months with nothing but a few rubbish in-house games and unresponsive gesture control, Microsoft's Kinect technology somehow bagged a Guinness world record as the fastest selling consumer device, like, evah!

We blame hackers for realising the potential of Kinect and now big media games publishers and developers are putting their dollars behind the kit to make money by rolling out Kinect specific games.

Microsoft also announced new features for its Xbox Live online service including the addition of live TV, Youtube and Bing for searching. Xbox Live VP Mark Whitten rolled out the Xbox Live Kinect services and said Microsoft wanted to be a one stop shop for "all entertainment" and "make the technology invisible", which sounds like he has been taking development notes from the book of Jobs.

What makes the added features a bit more interesting is that they'll all be controlled by you as you wave and shout about in front of your Kinect controller. So Kinect is the most expensive remote control you can possibly buy and it takes you one more step away from being a consummate sofa surfer.

The demo was like watching a complicated version of Simon Says with participants having to shout "Xbox" followed by "Play TV" or " Bing" every time they wanted to operate something. It was enough to drive any sane person mad, so thanks for fanbois, eh?

Microsoft showcased upcoming titles like Halo 4, Gears of War 3 and Tomb Raider, even though those aren't Kinect specific. However, Star Wars, Mass Effect 3, a new Fable title, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Ryse and EA Sports titles including Fifa, Madden Football and Tiger Woods Golf will support all the Kinect features. µ