11:50 a.m.: Senior Vice-President of Xbox Don Mattrick takes the stage to introduce a franchise that Xbox fans have long clamored for: Metal Gear Solid. Hideo Kojima appears onstage to announce that he's bringing the MGS franchise to Xbox 360. The next MGS game will be called Metal Gear Solid: Rising (Lightning Bolt Action!), and it's coming to the Xbox 360. Ah, it's apparently not starring Solid Snake. We're shown a series of still images showing our favorite cybernetically enhanced ninja, Raiden. It's a completely new Metal Gear experience, and Kojima assures us that we can look forward to many great things.
Mattrick thanks Kojima for his announcement, stating that, "with Metal Gear Solid on the Xbox 360, our console is now complete."
But do Metal Gear Solid fans want an MGS game that doesn't star good old Snake? Will a Raiden-focused game be enough? It's too early to tell.
11:55 a.m.: You are the controller, in this demonstration of the latest control method being introduced to the Xbox 360. It's an entirely movement- and gesture-driven system, with no controllers in hand. Honestly, it looks like the players would make great mimes, as they pull off these exaggerated movements to play racing games, a martial arts game, and even a soccer match. It's full-body motion capture technology, and it actually looks impressive. You can scan in a skateboard, for instance, and then play a skating game without the board.
Video chat is then shown, along with a few tricks. Two girls use the video chat technology to try on dresses for their avatars, and cycle through selections by simply moving their hands. It completely removes the need for the remote control to accomplish tasks like selecting options in the blade system. It's called Project Natal, and it's an impressive presentation. It's a 3D sensor and voice recognition device that will work with every Xbox 360 and every future Xbox 360, showing that MS is committed to the project.
12:00 a.m.: Steven Spielberg takes the stage to talk up Project Natal, telling us what we already know: Game controllers can be too intimidating for non-gamers. Apparently, Mattrick and Spielberg have always agreed that the technology has to be invisible, that it has to recognize not just your thumb and your wrist, but your entire body.
Spielberg seemed honestly enthused about Project Natal. "I can envision new ways of personalizing the gameplay experience, to even change the paradigm of social interaction. It's not about reinventing the wheel, it's about no wheel at all," he said.
12:05 a.m.: We're one step closer to the technology you saw in Minority Report, folks. This is pretty nuts. This tech takes what the Wii does with the Nunchuk and Remote and completely takes it to a whole other level. The entire body is represented on-screen in a game demo for a simple game called Ricochet. Full-body tracking and real-world physics. Swinging harder and faster will actually generate more power. Crazy stuff.
Microsoft Games Business Manager Kudo Tsunoda even takes a jab at the Wii, saying that you have to be active to play this game, dropping waggle as a dirty word. Definitely a cheap shot, and the audience reacts.
The next tech demo is for a painting game where you use your whole body to paint, calling out the color paint you want with voice recognition. To create an elephant for his tropical landscape, he brings an assistant onstage, and the two create an elephant stencil with their bodies, playing at shadow puppets. It started as a fairly silly demonstration, but in the end the tech remains impressive.
12:10 a.m.: This is scary stuff. Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead have been working on what looks like a virtual friend named Milo, and he's just frightening. You interact with Milo and with Milo's world through voice and gestures, and it all looks very real. You get to know Milo, and Milo gets to know you, through your shared experiences.
In a later part of the demo, the player draws a picture, and then holds up the drawing to Natal. Natal recognized the paper and the drawing, and Milo reaches up to take it and comment on it. It's blurring the line between the real world and the virtual. According to Molyneux, "this is technology that even science fiction hasn't written about, and it works now." In a day filled with surprises, Project Natal will likely be the talk of the show.
12:12 a.m.: And that's a wrap. Check back later today for our liveblogs of the EA and Ubisoft press conferences!
