In case you’ve been living under a rock or you just aren’t interested in technology, the gaming industry revealed it’s newest advances and projects at the E3 2009 Expo recently.

As always, hardcore gamers around the world are foaming at the mouth to get their first look or news on their favorite gaming franchises (such as Halo, Mass Effect, Star Wars, Mario, Metroid, and more). The big console makers (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) all had their press conferences to reveal their console specific game releases as well as the new features and technologies they plan to release for their current consoles.

One of the biggest questions coming into E3 this year is how does Sony and Microsoft plan on competing with the amazing sales numbers Nintendo has shown with their less powerful, yet easy to pick up and play Wii?

Microsoft revealed a very interesting project called Natal that could be a very powerful answer. Though it won’t defeat the Wii’s approach of a simple controller, it does leave the door open for some interactive games.

Project Natal is technology that has full 3-D motion sensing to allow for the gamer to use their entire body as a controller with no actual interface (controller). The unit also uses voice and facial recognition to accompany a 3-D scanner. With all of this packaged together, there are a number of possibilities for new and hardcore gamers alike.

To start off with, the idea of just walking up to your Xbox and telling it to turn on is cool. The video shown in the conference had a family playing a racing game where one member using their hands to simulate driving. Then, seamlessly, in the pit, another family member got up to change the car’s tires without having to say "my turn" or do anything. This has a lot of possibilities for new party games to get families playing - could be good for simple kids games as well.

Article Author: Bunneh3000

Freelance music critic for Soultracks.com and Honeysoul.com, poet, and author of poetry book "Diary Of An Affair", BJ seeks to delve deep into the worlds of music and video games for your reading pleasure!

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