Kinect for Xbox 360 Goes on Sale at 12:01 A.M. on November 4

Kinect for Xbox 360 is now just hours away for some gamers. Microsoft’s innovative Natural User Interface sensor for Xbox 360 consoles is scheduled to become available at 12:01 A.M. on November 4 in North America.

Excitement is great around the launch of Kinect, with Larry Hryb, the Xbox Live Director of Programming at Microsoft Games Studios (aka Major Nelson) handing out fresh hot doughnuts to customers waiting in line at Toys R Us in Times Square to buy the new device.


Kinect for Xbox 360 brings NUI gaming to a whole other level. Gamers can use gestures and voice commands in order to play, with Kinect delivering what the Redmond company calls controller-free gaming and entertainment.

“We see the future being about computers and sensors learning how to respond to you, instead of you having to learn how to respond to them,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft.

“With Kinect, you are the controller,” Mattrick added. “All you have to do is step in front of the sensor and it instantly recognizes you and tracks your movements with no experience required.”

No less than 17 games tailored to Kinect will also go on sale come November 4th, 2010, enabling customers to take advantage of the new gaming experience available on Xbox 360 consoles.

Prices for Kinect will start at $150 for just the Xbox 360 add-on. However, retailers worldwide will offer special bundles with prices as high as $400, as is the case for the 250 GB Kinect Bundle.

Bundles contain not only the Kinect sensor, but also the Xbox 360 console as well as games tailored to the new NUI add-on.

“It was just three years ago that we had a $30,000 prototype, and now this week we are launching Kinect with a full retail game for a great value at just $149,” Mattrick added.

“What we have accomplished in this short period of time is transformative and will change the way people experience games and entertainment.”

Microsoft has already sold 45 million Xbox 360 units worldwide, and in mthis regard, it has a lot of potential Kinect buyers.

It is an exciting time for our company and we are pleased to see the reaction and enthusiasm for Kinect from the media, consumers and our partners,” Mattrick said.

Update: availability correction.

Xbox 360 dashboard update now out

The next time you turn on your Xbox 360, a major update will likely be available which brings with it a new dashboard (assuming you’re online, of course).

One major element this update includes is support for the upcoming Kinect motion controller, which is out on November 10th. It also sprinkles a fresh new look over the dashboard, making it a bit nippier to load and navigate as well.

Major Nelson (Larry Hryb) lists some of the other improvements on his blog, which include improved voice chat quality, a better designed virtual Qwerty keyboard, family settings, and the ability to sign out controllers in the sign-in user interface (a speedier method which will be particularly handy for Rock Band players).

Other major changes are the introduction of Zune Pass, the music streaming service along the lines of Spotify which costs £8.99 per month, and a revamp for the Sky Player.

The update is being rolled out gradually across all Xbox territories today, so if you haven’t received it yet, the download will be on its way imminently (in theory, anyway).