MS to hold special Natal event at E3

By Ellie Gibson Published 26 March, 2010

It'll take place before the press conference.

Microsoft has announced plans to host a special Project Natal event at this year's E3, before all the big news is revealed in the platform holder's conference.

A save-the-date invite published on Gamertag Radio has the "World Premiere 'Project Natal' for Xbox 360 Experience" event down for Sunday 13th June. The press conference will take place the next day.

"Just 1 press conference on Monday morning," comms man Aaron Greenberg confirmed on Twitter. "Sunday night is a "Project Natal" experience, not a press conference."

Speaking to VG247, Greenberg claimed E3 2010 will be "unlike any we've ever had before".

He added, "As a kick off to the week, we will be hosting a can't-miss exclusive "Project Natal" World Premiere experience designed for all ages and demonstrating the universal appeal of Xbox 360 on Sunday evening."

This year's E3 will take place from 15th - 17th June. Eurogamer will be there, in Los Angeles, where the helicopters got cameras.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    This is good. Hopefully they will get all the Wii fit rip offs out of their system and the main conference will get us some big announcements.

    SC2, GoW3 would be a nice start. Get cracking Epic.

  • tancredo #2 2 years ago

    I agree, good idea spliting the event.

    Natal, casual oriented games on sunday, with attendants being able to try the new platform.

    Then on Monday the heavy hardcore hitters. I am sure they will still have some section to talk a bit about Natal and its integration in casual and some hardcore games (i.e Fable3), but main focus should be on traditional experiences
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/10 @ 09:39

  • MORZTAN #3 2 years ago

    ^ ^

    Soul Calibur 2 was great, but we don't need a remake in HD

    God of War 3 just released and is a Sony exclusive...

    Man, some people just don't get it!!

    Edited by 1 at 26/03/10 @ 09:40

  • Murton #4 2 years ago

    Looks like E3 is where MS puts its cards on the table with respect to Natal and actually show us what they're doing with it.

    I'm expecting a lot of Eye-Toy style games in the first batch, possibly some headtracking or voice recognition added to a "traditional" game and a gesture controlled dashboard but nothing overly spectacular.

  • lennon #5 2 years ago

    Didnt he mean Gears of War 3 not God of War 3?

  • the_dudefather #6 2 years ago

    @MORZTAN

    you fool! He was clearly talking about Starcraft 2, hard it imagine it on 360 though

  • tancredo #7 2 years ago

    Morztan having a little obsesion with God of War. There is a life beyond that game.

    As Lennon mentions, Matrim83 was talking about Gears of War.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #8 2 years ago

    Imagine if Rare made a new Killer Instinct that required Natal air-punching to play...?

    The internet would assplode with fanboy apoplexy.

  • Zomoniac #9 2 years ago

    Soul Calibur 2 was great, but we don't need a remake in HD

    SC is Splinter Cell. Soul Calibur can be acceptably abbreviated to SoCal, cos it's so fucking gnarly, dude.

  • the_dudefather #10 2 years ago

    @Britesparc

    the average ultra-combo would destroy your arms

  • Moonprince #11 2 years ago

    @Britesparc

    Fighting games with those controls have been tried before. As you can see from the current popularity, they didn't really appeal...

  • Kill_Crazy #12 2 years ago

    Like the Snoop quote at the end :D

  • Xerx3s #13 2 years ago

    "Imagine if Rare made a new Killer Instinct that required Natal air-punching to play...? "

    Yeah, good luck trying to make that 85 hit combo.

  • Murton #14 2 years ago

    "SC is Splinter Cell. Soul Calibur can be acceptably abbreviated to SoCal, cos it's so fucking gnarly, dude."

    Actually the internet accepts StarCraft as SC and GOW as God of War as those games kinda got there first. Besides Morztan could be making the point that just listing initials can lead to nobody knowing what you're trying to talk about, as is the case here.

  • schnide #15 2 years ago

    Damage Limitation: The Conference

  • FogHeart #16 2 years ago

    Anyone who comes dressed in black will be turned away at the door.

    (edit: let's see who knows what I'm referring to there :) )
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/10 @ 10:46

  • doulema #17 2 years ago

    @ MORZTAN
    I think you dont get it. GoW3 = Gears of War 3. Thats what he meant.

    @Britesparc
    Killer Instinct was by far my fav Beat Em Up game.

    Like expected since last year Sony used all it's aces, MS will go all for it this year's E3 and the highlight is clearly Natal along whatever other kind of announcements. I honestly hope that we will see some impressive stuff going on there since it will be a whole side-event. Whats for sure is that it wont be 100% remakes of Wii games like Move was due to being different tech/peripheral. Im not convinced about buying Move at all and why I never thought of buying a Wii. Natal on the other hand has me hooked hoping it will offer that much more so I can go buy it :)

    Fingers crossed!

  • cen4pgb #18 2 years ago

    I suspect that they'll aanounce a raft of casual games for natel, an number of sports games and similar which support natel control schemes, and then a number of games with natel based enhancements to a traditional controller.

    Enhancemnts could start at headsetless voice chat/commands, and range onto for say Gears 3 hand singles to command squad members, incrimental leaning out of cover etc More immersivethis would be, but i suspect many pro gamers may find they are quicker with the traditional systems.

  • Dark_Stranger #19 2 years ago

    only matrim83 knows what he meant.

  • Machiavellian #20 2 years ago

    Maybe MS learned something from the Nintendo Event last year. If you focus your main event on the casuals, you chance it that you will receive a lot of hate from the press. Instead separate the events, focus on the casual market on Sunday, and take care of your core at E3 with a smattering of casual big stuff on Monday.
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/10 @ 21:52

  • Machiavellian #21 2 years ago

    The potential for things outside of gaming can also be announced and sell Natal. I really believe we will see such apps announced at E3.

  • busboy33 #22 2 years ago

    @Morztan:

    Well, I thought it was funny at least.

  • MORZTAN #23 2 years ago

    Thank you busboy33...

    oh my, I was starting to lose faith in the EG-crowd...

    Seriously people, do you need a "/sarcasm" to detect it?

  • Bander #24 2 years ago

    "Soul Calibur 2 was great, but we don't need a remake in HD"

    SC2 supported 720p on the old Xbox anyway.

    The real question is, will the XBLA version of SC1 support Natal, just as the DC version allowed you to fight by swinging the fishing rod controller?

    ...

    Blimey, we really haven't progressed very far in 10 years!