You all remember Peter Molyneux’s brainchild right? The little British boy in orange who captivated our hearts and minds at last years E3? (ha.) Well due to some misinterpreted mumbo-jumbo, Aaron Greenberg stated that Milo was purely a tech demo, and Microsoft had no intention of bringing it as a ‘video game’ to market. Shortly thereafter, Greenberg has revoked his claim, and indeed confirming the release of Milo to the market.

The news that nobody wanted to hear, so they announced it quietly through the website: Kinect is $149 dollars. We’re gonna go ahead and assume this isn’t speculation or a mishap since this information is coming from Microsoft’s own website, and that pre-ordering the item does in fact work. This isn’t some item that’s up for sale before it’s supposed to, true as the blue sky… $149 is the price.

Microsoft just finished up their huge Kinect section of the press conference. After showing a bunch of games (shown below) they announced that Kinect will be launching November 4th 2010 with 15 unique games. There were a few games shown off, but more importantly there was a bunch of nuances about the device itself that were very impressive:

Over the past year we’ve known Microsoft’s pursuits of the motion control idea manifest into a project named “Natal.” Today, a day before Microsoft’s E3 press conference, it has been revealed that Natal’s true name for the retail market will be “Kinect.” Along with this surprised announcement comes a plethora of news from USA Today including details of announced games for Microsoft’s Kinect:

You’re looking at a group of individuals having their faces rocked off by innovation and cutting edge technology. Here is a link to the video if this single screenshot is not enough for you, other than that… I don’t think any other comment is necessary. Other than: If this is how Microsoft expects me to use Natal I want nothing to do with that device or its future.

Edge is saying that according to a reliable source (who spilled the Gears of War 3 details a few months ago) is going for back-to-back accurate rumors. This time the latest word is that Project Natal will not only be out this October, but will be sold at a $149 dollar price point. It will also be packaged in with new Xbox 360s for $299, and there are a few other tid bits of information that should be noted.

Every day I come into work and I cross off another day on my Marvel Superheroes calendar (this month is The Thing from the Fantastic Four). Like most people, there are always dates I need to remember that are circled and with notes on them: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc., etc. When I came in today though and looked at my calendar, I couldn’t help but look ahead to the middle of June.

Anyone with his or her finger on the pulse of the video game industry has already probably concluded that I’ve got E3 on my mind. And I figured that as our collective countdown clocks approach the 50-day mark for the most celebrated video game event in the USA, if not the world, that I take a look at just what is riding on this one for our beloved Xbox 360.

Last year we were blown away with controller-less gameplay and an A.I. named Milo (which I still think will cause Arnold Schwarzenegger to come back from the future to protect someone from it) when Microsoft revealed Project NATAL. We were then pleasantly surprised to find out that it would be an accessory for the current generation console and not pave the way for a next-gen console.

“Come with me if you don’t want to play stupid mini-games”

The biggest shocker came though when we heard the release date. Many of us (myself included) were predicting something like a 2012 release date since we figured that we were still a couple of years away technology-wise from what we saw at E3. I mean face scanning and voice recognition on a home console? But Microsoft released shortly later that NATAL would be on store shelves in time for the 2010 holiday season and our jaws hit the floor.

But now we are only eight months away from the holiday season when this revolutionary accessory is supposed to drop and we are still in the dark as to what it can do, what games to expect, how much it will set us back, and how effective it will be in living up to the promises it made at last E3. Sure, Microsoft has been promoting that Alleyway/Brickbreaker style game that everyone saw at E3 to the press as they’ve been holding small events around the country to show off NATAL to those of us who couldn’t make it last year to Los Angeles. But aside from that, there hasn’t been much in the way of demos or information leaked about something that is supposed to revolutionize our industry.

That’s why, I believe, this E3 will make or break NATAL. The industry does not deal with broken promises well (at least in the short term) and if NATAL cannot provide what it showed us at last year’s E3, with a comprehensive library of compatible games and seamlessly interactive features, you could see the ground Xbox 360 has made on the Nintendo Wii in terms of sales in recent months slip and possibly fall back even further behind than what it was. We could be looking at a new Power Glove, Super Scope, or bevy of other failed gaming accessories just due to a lack of software, never mind if the technology is not up to expectations.

Is this the extent of Natal’s ability? We’ll find out this summer.

There is hope though. Peter Molyneux (who I still think would make a great James Bond villain) has been toting NATAL since Day 1 and there are signs that Fable III could be NATAL compatible. There has also been a leak of a white water rafting game that seamlessly follows your movements as you head down the Colorado River. This looks like it would be a great aerobic workout and tons of fun for the family unit. Don’t rock the boat!

There is also much speculation. Gears of War 3’s trailer should at least be on display at E3. If Epic was one of the highly touted 3rd party developers who got one of these secret development kits mentioned last year and can throw in with NATAL, then all may be well in Xbox land. If massive titles that are predicted to come out well after the release of NATAL are not compatible with it though, then the accessory’s sales could be crippled before they even get started.

It could be a big step in gaming. Wireless controls blew people’s minds and motion control turned gaming on its head. Throw those out the window altogether, and the next thing you know we’ll have virtual reality helmets and teleportation devices in our homes (yeah, I’m really invoking my creative license on this one). Honestly though, we could be on the precipice of something really big in gaming and I hope that Microsoft knows from previous mistakes that it would be easier to have something revolutionary be delayed, but have all the kinks worked out and backing from a full compliment of third party developers, than to just rush something out onto the market in order to be the first. Either way, I know I can’t wait for E3.

If a movie coinciding with the release of a new game isn’t enough, THQ have recently outlined plans of spending $30/40m on a Natal release. However, this isn’t planned as a launch title, THQ prefer to wait and see how the device does commercially.

This week’s podcast is plagued by crime and scamming. We talk about high profile games like Heavy Rain and God of War III, but more importantly we discover that well-known co-host Slade is in fact running a criminal organization similar to that of Keyser Soze from The Usual Suspects. That’s where this week’s show gets it title from, and here are the show notes: