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TotemBall dev working on two more for camera

Plus, poker patch due soon.

TotemBall developer Strange Flavour is in the early stages of development on two more games that will take advantage of the Xbox Live Vision camera.

Speaking at a launch event in Central London this morning, representatives said the first would also use gesture-based controls, and should be ready in early 2007, while the other game would be more traditional.

TotemBall was released this morning on Xbox Live Arcade - and Microsoft reps were insistent that it would remain free, while Strange Flavour said it planned to release map-packs and other downloadable content in the future.

Meanwhile, those of you hoping to take advantage of the camera, which retails for GBP 34.99 from Friday, to keep an eye on each other's poker-face will be pleased to learn that a Texas Hold 'Em auto-update adding support is due out within two weeks.

Other games that support the camera include UNO (which is provided free with the camera if you haven't already bought it), Activision's World Series Poker and Ubisoft's Rainbow Six: Vegas.

In that game, facial mapping using the camera will allow you to play as yourself - with full support for custom faces in four-player co-op and sixteen-player multiplayer matches.

Microsoft also noted that other publishers are currently considering how to make use of the camera, with big-hitters like EA Sports said to be "thinking about it".

One thing that isn't being planned at the moment though is cross-platform chats between Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 users, despite the fact that the camera itself works with Windows as a simple USB webcam.

Look out for our review of the Xbox Live Vision camera, which also comes with an Xbox Live headset and a month of Xbox Live Gold access, in the near future.