I spent a few moments playing Limbo , an Xbox Live Arcade Game, at Comic-Con. It was immediately obvious this E3 darling was a game worth buying and playing through a few times. Its muted black and gray colors and echoing soundtrack evoke a dream state in the same way Ico or Shadow of the Colossus did. Limbo is a puzzle game and a darn good one too. While you might have to try a level a few (or a few dozen) times, none of the puzzles are so difficult that you can’t figure them out with trial and error. The brilliant brain-teasers use levers, weights, boxes, magnets, gravity and more to alter your character’s environment and are uniquely clever and fun in the same way that last year’s Braid was. The game’s puzzles are suitable for most audiences, however – and this is an important point and the reason the game is rated T for teens – the character does die, repeatedly, by means of machine gun, buzz saw and giant insect, sometimes being decapitated or disemboweled. Still, these events, like the rest of the game, only occur in silhouette. A complete run-through of the game can be accomplished in an evening. But completing all the achievements and finding hidden easter eggs will require multiple attempts. Rumor is that Limbo will be coming to other platforms soon, but for now is only available on the Xbox 360. A trial game is free, but the full game is 1200 points or $15 and is well worth it because Limbo is a really wonderful experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Aptina is the sole supplier of the 1.3 megapixel CMOS Image Sensors, CIS, for the upcoming Xbox 360 Project Natal. According to a report on DigiTimes, via sources in Taiwan, shipments of the new technology are scheduled to start the second half of 2010.

[digitimes]

Related Posts:

• Xbox Project Natal Preview
• Full Retail Games On Demand to Xbox
• Xbox One games will require internet ‘spot checks’, but Microsoft won’t charge to authenticate used games
• Microsoft planning Xbox dashboard UI and tile changes in preparation for next-gen console
• Imagining how Microsoft might make an Xbox Mini for your TV – Verge Forums

You can see more at the official Xbox site: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/

All in all this looks just bad ass! The videos below really speak for themselves. I first heard that the price point will be around $200 USD, which really turned me off to the idea of having one but after seeing the commercial below I had second thoughts about being without.

Facial recognition, motion sensing, voice recognition, voice command, personal equipment scanning for in game use, and super collaborative locally or across Xbox Live. Unlike the Wii there is nothing to hold in your hand when you smack the TV or overhead light. See for yourself.

[crunchgear]

Related Posts:

• Full Retail Games On Demand to Xbox
• NEW MICROSOFT XBOX 360 XBOX360 BUNDLE 4GB CONSOLE SLIM+ KINECT+ADVENTURES GAME
• Kevin Butler Makes Fun of Microsoft Xbox 360 ( Kinect ) Natal – Sony PlayStation Move Commercial
• Wall Mount Dock For Microsoft XBOX 360 XBOX360 Kinect
• E3 – Kinect “Project Natal” Microsoft Xbox 360 Announcement – Awesome Demo Video!

Coming soon to an Xbox near you…

Full retail games available for purchase and beamed directly to your console!

Starting in the fall with 30 titles the service will add new games weekly with matching retail prices. Not sure how I feel about paying full retail price for a digital product. Where is my box to loan to a friend, play on my other console, or read the manual while passing time?

I guess we will see when it arrives in the fall. But it is coming and that is all that matters I guess. It is only a matter of time until someone figures out how to make it possible to burn disks of the purchased content.

[engadget]

Related Posts:

• Xbox Project Natal Preview
• NEW MICROSOFT XBOX 360 XBOX360 BUNDLE 4GB CONSOLE SLIM+ KINECT+ADVENTURES GAME
• Wall Mount Dock For Microsoft XBOX 360 XBOX360 Kinect
• Windows Phone 7 Unites Microsoft’s Best, But Doesn’t Guarantee Success
• Xbox One games will require internet ‘spot checks’, but Microsoft won’t charge to authenticate used games