On Monday June 14 Microsoft hosted a pre-E3 event called World Premiere Project Natal for Xbox 360 Experience. It was described as “a spectacular live performance imagined by Cirque du Soleil” and that’s exactly what it was. Sort of. Here’s what went down.
So we get there and wait in an enormously long line. But that didn’t matter much since our tickets guaranteed entrance into the event. While waiting outside we could hear the faint sound of heavy drums, and as we neared the front doors “Cirque” people were there to greet us with exotic dancing. People in line received green and purple Xbox-branded wrist bands and we were eventually split up into two lines according to wrist band color.
As we start heading inside the jungle-themed Galen Center at USC we are handed yet another wristband; this time it’s an Xbox 360 USB band. Inside it’s rather dim when we’re welcomed by Xbox reps who are handing out white ponchos with over-sized shoulder pads (I felt like Lady Gaga). After bringing fitted with the ponchos, we are instructed to walk towards to large auditorium. On our way into the auditorium we are startled by an Indian “family” who is sitting in a couch inside a mock living room. There is a large square cut out in the wall and the family invites us to walk through the wall opening (which symbolized walking out of a TV and into reality). The two parents and their children said hello to us in some Indian dialect and then directed us into the main auditorium. You can say we were dazed and confused at this point.
The large auditorium housed all the white poncho-dressed guests; it looked like we were all part of some nerd cult. Before the main event, we all just stood around and watched a bunch of Cirque people bizarrely dance around us and interact with others. People with purple bands sat in the seats, those with green bands stood on the center floor. Around us were large screens populated with Xbox avatars walking around a virtual jungle.
After a bit of a wait the lights went down and the main event began. Three screens fell from the ceiling and a Cirque man introduced a “Prologue”. The first part of the show featured a child riding in on Cirque elephant, climbing up on prop rocks, and using an Xbox 360 controller to play through three undisclosed games. When he reached the top of the rocky structure a curtain was removed from the top rock and a bright green Xbox logo was revealed. Then our shoulder pads lit up bright green. Big applause. When the child turned his back to us the screen projected his avatar that copied his every move. When an arm was raised, the avatar lifted his arm in the same fashion. Since there was some lag, you could tell this was all pre-recorded, but the effect was still impressive. Then the big reveal: Project Natal is now Kinect.
Next a large boxy room appears above the Xbox logo and the child enters inside. The room begins to spins upside-down! Inside the box is a big screen TV with a family sitting on a couch ready to boot up a 360. Obviously they are all strapped in as the room starts to spin. I am still not so sure why the upside-down people was necessary; it’s a spectacle, I guess. Anyway, moving on. For the better part of the rest of the show, the family inside the box plays Kinect-supported games. They include river rafting & mining (from Kinect Adventures) racing (from Joy Ride), steering a flying car in the sky, light saber-ing (from LucasArts’ Star Wars game), a workout/yoga game (Ubisoft’s Our Shape: Fitness Evolved), javelin, sprinting, bowling, beach volleyball, and soccer activities (from Kinect Sports), super-cute tiger petting (from Kinectimals), and MTV Games/Harmonix’s Dance Central (featuring music from Gwen Stefani). Also demoed was Kinect Video (software that enables video chat between two partners who can view video and pictures together on-screen) and a Kinect dashboard that allows users to swipe and select Xbox menu options (they include Zune music, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm, and a few others). All the while screens around us showed the gameplay footage alongside the family members “genuine” actions.
After the gameplay footage ended the Cirque dancers began their final dance atop the rocks as loud drums created a new atmosphere. The family inside the box danced along, and even our Indian family joined the party in the seat aisles. Xbox avatars populated the screens around us one last time, soaring against a starry backdrop. The child stepped out of the spinning box onto the Xbox logo and a harness lifted him high into the air. Our should pads lit up again, this time in various colors. The effect was quite surprising and fun; the dark room lit up in a rainbow of colors. The words “Kinect for Xbox 360” came on screen, the lights went up, and the show was over. On our way out we were handed tiny stuffed tigers.
As a Cirque du Soleil show it was a blast. Knowing Microsoft had a hand in it (with the Natal tie-in and all) made everything seem a bit bizarre, but good times were had by all. The Microsoft-produced avatar-based games are clearly targeted to the most casual of gamers, a new market Microsoft is looking to expand to. Out of all the games shown, two excited me most. The Star Wars game that enables you to wield a light saber looks beyond awesome. And the other isn’t even a game, really. A gesture-based UI for the Xbox dashboard looks promising. I mean, there’s a little something in all of us that wants to control our TV content Minority Report style.
Be sure to look in the galleries for pictures from the event.
