Here’s the scoop, Coop. Details surrounding the anticipatory launch of Microsoft’s codenamed Project Natal has apparently been leaked from a “behind-closed-door meetings in the UK between Microsoft and third party developers.” According to the leak source, Natal will launch in November 2010 from a low, low price anywhere between $50-$80, thus making it quite the “impulse buy.” Natal will come packaged with an initial set of 14 games. Microsoft will manufacture 5 million units (that includes standalone and bundled-with-Xb0x 360s units) for a worldwide launch. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
Major League Gaming forum member “ToM MoReLLo” claims to have leaked some screenshots from Bungie’s highly anticapted Halo: Reach, the next installment in the Halo first-person shooter series. In the post MoReLLo shares information on new weapons and mission descriptions that relate to the events that happened in first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach. Though these images could all be fakes they look pretty legitimate to me, especially with all the other details surfacing with them. Bungie plans on unveiling the Halo: Reach beta to the masses (or everyone who purchased Halo 3: ODST and received an invite code) in 2010.
Gizmodo’s got the scoop on how the oft-rumored Microsoft Courier tablet will function. Some features include finger-swipes and gestures, “clip, tuck, and paste,” and a camera. The user interface includes Infinite Journal, Smart Agenda, and the Library. The device will have its own browser, information will stored on “the cloud” (allowing users to edit/share their data on various devices), and it will come with a pen (not stylus) that functions as a drawing tool and has two buttons. For detailed explanations on all of these features check out Gizmodo’s coverage. Or just look in the gallery below for some concept screen shots of this tablet-of-the-hopefully-near-future.
24, Day Eight looks AMAZING. New location – New York City, new and reinstated CTU, Kim Bauer, and an exciting new cast.
These leaked trailers are slightly different from each other, so make sure you check both of them out. I just gotta say this: 24 trailer + Run This Town = PURE GOLD. Enjoy.
The awesome dudes at Gizmodo picked up this story earlier this week, and boy is it a fascinating one. What was a big secret for Microsoft has now been reveiled to the public–a MS-hardware and software designed booklet.
Gizmodo has the details:
Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it.
Courier is a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the “late prototype” stage of development. It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.
So, the MS Courier is in fact a real device, it packs two 7-inch multitouch displays and an integrated camera, and has a UI design that looks sleek, organized, and most importantly, simple. For more on the UI, check out the video below for a quick tour of the Courier user interface, still in development. One question: What’s with the stylus? That’s so 1990s!
Engadget got some hands-on time with the upcoming Zune HD. See the action in the video above.
In related news, it seems like electronics giant Best Buy has outed the release date and price of the Zune HD. A spy shot of a Besy Buy inventory sheet reveals a September 8th release and two price points: $220 for 16GB and $290 for 32GB. A tipster also nabbed further evidence at Amazon; they too have the same price point and release date listed. Look after the break for the two screen shots.
This video was taken by an attendee at the recent gdgt launch party in San Fransisco. The Zune HD UI is slick, sleek, and sexy. Yeah, it’s got the 3’s.
The new version of Sony’s Playstation Portable was leaked today to the public through various sites and blogs. Reminicent of Sony’s aged Mylo “Internet device,” the PSP Go! will feature a large 3.8in. display, a slide out D-pad, the classic PSP nub, the Playstation shape buttons, and start and select. It contains 16GB of flash storage and built in Bluetooth. Interestingly, the UMD drive is gone. There is only a Memory Stick Duo slot–will this be the future medium for PSP games? Only time will tell. Sony is expected to go into more detail with this new device at E3 this week. Check out Engadget for a video of a Sony representative talking about the PSP, and see Gizmodo for official and in-use stills of it. Is that a PSP version of LittleBigPlanet I see? And was it mentioned that portable versions of Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid are on the way?!
