Cool XBox360 Announcements From E3

At this years E3 Microsoft made some cool announcements for the XBox360. Here I’m going to look at the three that I think will have the biggest impact on the home.

The first of which was to announce that this Autumn Sky will be coming to the 360. Which is a pretty good move on both parts. It’s not clear at the moment exactly which channels will be available, or what the costs will be. But for Sky this means that they can get into all those homes that have cable and by pass the cable provider. A lot of 360’s are in the bedroom, and this announcement means that there is a way to get Sky into those bedrooms with out having to have a second Sky box, or pay for that second installation. For Microsoft this helps them position the 360 as the only box that you need under your tv in the living room.

But one of the exciting things that you will be able to do with the Live Sky broadcasts like football matches is the live chat. So if you and your mates are all watching the match on your 360’s you will be able to use the headsets and have all the banter while the game is on. Just like you do while playing Call Of Duty 4 or Halo 3 at the moment.

Over the last couple of years you can’t escape the impact that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are having. So the next announcement from Microsoft for the 360 will come as no surprise either. This Autumn Microsoft will be adding the ability for you to access your Facebook and Twitter accounts via Xbox Live. For this to be of real use to people they will need to get the messenger kit. This adds a little keyboard to the 360 controller that makes typing easier. So I expect to see sales of this messenger kit increase once this is available to use.

The final announcement that will be of interest to folks is Project Natal. So what is Project Natal? Well it’s a controller free controller! At a basic level think of the Wii sensor bar on steroids, but you don’t need the Wii remotes, or the need for a WiiFit board. It is easier to show what it does than write about it. So watch this video showing what Project Natal can do.

But the most impressive and incredible use for Project Natal was shown by Lionhead with their Milo demo. Just watch the following clip, it’s breath taking.

So can Project Natal be a Wii beater? If it works as well as the demos then I think it can and will be a game changer for the Game Industry. I’m so looking forward to when we can get this technology in our living room.