Microsoft has unveiled its new controller-free, motion sensor system, Kinect, for Xbox 360 at a launch in Los Angeles.
Kinect packs laser motion and voice sensors into a box on top of your TV and allows gamers to control the on-screen action by moving their entire body rather than bashing buttons on a game pad.
Hailed by Microsoft as the next big technological step in gaming, the American computing giant is hoping its more intuitive control method will introduce a wider audience to gaming, as Nintendo did with its popular Wii console. Kinect can be used to control games, TV services (including Sky), or even for video chat with MSN users across the world. However, unlike the Nintendo Wii and Sony's upcoming Move device, voice recognition and hand gestures do away with the need for a physical remote control device.
Microsoft have produced a selection of titles for the Kinect including a Star Wars game which allows players to wield a virtual light sabre; an instructional fitness and yoga lifestyle title; an urban dance trainer; and a children's game which lets players interact with a pack of playful baby tiger pets.
Video game fan and TV presenter Jack Osbourne, who plays Xbox Live games online with his father Ozzy, got to try out the Kinect and said: "It's literally a game changer. If you want to slob out and sit down you've got the controller but if you want to get up and move around you can, so it's the best of both worlds."
Microsoft also announced the launch of a new, slimmer and more powerful Xbox 360 console, featuring wireless connectivity for the first time. The Kinect will be on sale in the UK for Christmas but no price has yet been revealed.
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