Xbox has opened a new era of entertainment for everyone, transforming the way the world plays, entertains and connects with friends and family. To kick-start the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft Corp. world premiered Kinect for Xbox 360, formerly known as “Project Natal,” in a spectacular live performance imagined by Cirque du Soleil. Unlike anything seen or experienced before, Kinect for Xbox 360 opens a new world of controller-free games and entertainment so everyone can have fun.

In addition to Kinect, Xbox showcased new and easy ways to enjoy music, movies and sports with friends and family. It also demonstrated that Xbox 360 remains the only place to play the biggest exclusive blockbusters with “Gears of War 3″ and what promises to be the biggest game of 2010, “Halo: Reach.” For its grand finale, the company surprised everyone with the launch of a new Xbox 360 console, designed for the future of games and entertainment. The new console ships to retailers tomorrow.

“At Microsoft, we believe fun is a universal magnet, uniting us and connecting us all together,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “We believe interactive entertainment is the greatest form of all entertainment, and it should be open and approachable to as many people as possible. It is this belief that led us to remove the last barrier between you and the entertainment you love. By making you the controller, we will transform how you and your friends experience games and entertainment.”

The Year We All “Kinect”

Kinect for Xbox 360 brings roaring rapids, wild tigers, mountainous obstacle courses and zooming racecars to living rooms in North America on Nov. 4 and will roll out to the rest of the world thereafter. Uniquely magical and instantly fun, Kinect for Xbox 360 tracks your body movements and gestures. It even understands your voice.

By taking technology out of your hands for the first time, Kinect lets people who have never picked up a game controller join the excitement. See a ball? Just kick it. Want to learn how to dance or get fit? Just follow the moves. With Kinect, all you have to do is be you — no controller required.

Kinect also puts your favorite movies, television shows and music at your fingertips, turning ordinary entertainment into an extraordinary experience.(1) Jump right into a movie in instant-on 1080p HD(2) by simply saying “Xbox, play.” Browse a selection of millions of songs with just a wave of your hand. Kinect instantly makes playing games, watching movies and listening to music more fun and interactive than ever before, and it is available only on Xbox 360.

The New Xbox 360

Microsoft also surprised the world with a new Xbox 360 console designed for the future. Back in black, the new Xbox 360 is sleek, silent and sexy. Connect in seconds to the always-expanding world of Xbox LIVE through built-in Wi-Fi N and store twice as many games and entertainment on a 250GB hard drive.

The newly designed console is whisper-quiet, so the silent tension of a game or movie is never broken. The new Xbox 360 system also comes with everything you need to get started, including an Xbox 360 wireless controller, Xbox 360 headset, HDMI input, USB flash drive storage capabilities and more, and a one-year limited warranty on the console, available this week and priced at $299.99 ERP.

Entertainment for Everyone

Xbox LIVE connects you and your Xbox 360 to a world of fun, friends and interactive social entertainment, with the best in games, movies, TV, music, sports and community experiences all in one place.

– The stadium experience at home. This November, Xbox LIVE Gold members will enjoy free, instant access to more than 3,500 ESPN live global events every year on ESPN3.com, including college basketball, college football and bowl games, MLB, NBA, international soccer, tennis including all four Grand Slam tournaments, golf majors and much more — exclusively on Xbox 360.(3) Members can also watch out-of-market games and access ESPN.com video clips on demand, refreshed daily.

With thousands of sporting events on ESPN3.com and the interactive social network of Xbox LIVE, ESPN on Xbox 360 brings the excitement of a stadium experience into the living room. Fans will be able to share the emotion, victory and heartbreak of world-class sports with friends and rivals from coast to coast on Xbox LIVE. They’ll also be able to see what games the Xbox LIVE community is watching, participate in polls, make predictions, play sports trivia and much more. With Kinect, fans control the action from their couches with just their voices or a wave of the hand. A first for home entertainment, ESPN on Xbox 360 brings the action to life like never before in an ultimate interactive experience for sports fans.

– Seven million songs at your fingertips. Building on the success of Zune video on Xbox, Microsoft announced the expansion of the Zune music experience to Xbox LIVE, bringing everything you love about music right into the living room. With a Zune Pass subscription (sold separately),(4) users can discover and play an unlimited number of songs from a catalog of more than 7 million tracks, all streamed instantly, on-demand and in crystal-clear quality.

Create a playlist for your next party, and watch as the music videos of your favorite artists play in the background. Get personalized song recommendations based on your favorite artists, and see your Xbox LIVE friends’ top songs. Plus, with the power of Kinect, you can control your music with hand gestures and your voice.

– Video Kinect. Share a smile and a wave with faraway friends and family as you come together from living rooms across the world, no headset required(5). Video Kinect pans to follow your movements and adjusts automatically to make chat on Xbox LIVE more intuitive and easier to use than ever before.

Next year, Microsoft will link Video Kinect with Windows Live Messenger, allowing the Xbox LIVE community to have rich, real-time video conversations with hundreds of millions of PC users around the world. It will also integrate custom news feeds, weather and videos from Bing, sparking conversation just like you’re in the same room reading the paper or watching the news together.

– Global expansion. This holiday, Xbox LIVE will roll out service to nine new regions — Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Russia and South Africa — delivering the core gaming and community features that have made Xbox LIVE the world’s premier online gaming destination. In addition, Australians will soon be able to watch live television and a range of video-on-demand programming on Xbox LIVE from satellite and cable TV provider FOXTEL with no set-top box required.

The Year of Blockbuster Games

Larger-than-life characters. Emotional storytelling. Groundbreaking gameplay. This year, the Xbox 360 is the only place to play the three biggest blockbusters — “Halo: Reach,” “Call of Duty” and “Gears of War 3.” In addition to these highly anticipated titles, games like “Fable III,” “Metal Gear Solid: Rising” and code-named “Kingdoms” are also on the way.

Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. This November, with the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play — no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as the largest on-demand library of music, standard- and high-definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with the leading social network of 25 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com.

Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360, connecting you to an ever-expanding world of games, movies, TV, music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play the best games, enjoy the largest on-demand library on any console, listen to millions of songs and share the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is also the exclusive home of controller-free online entertainment through Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before. With an active community of 25 million people across 26 countries, expanding to 35 this fall, Xbox LIVE, together with Xbox 360, provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, wherever you are. More information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/live.

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced the development of Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™, a free-to-play, action packed virtual world for fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series on Cartoon Network.

Developed and published by SOE, creators of the critically acclaimed kids’ game, Free Realms, and licensed by LucasArts, in conjunction with Lucasfilm Ltd., Clone Wars Adventures will launch online and in retail stores this fall.

“We have a long running and extremely successful partnership with Sony Online Entertainment and look forward to working together on our next project, Clone Wars Adventures,” said Mary Bihr, Global VP of Publishing, LucasArts.  “Working hand in hand with Lucasfilm, LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment ensures that Clone Wars Adventures will be the most authentic and accessible Clone Wars experience for kids and families to play in their very own living room.”

Focused on creating a fun and safe online environment for kids and families, Clone Wars Adventures offers exciting minigames, dynamic activities, lively social events and thousands of customization options.  Players can even battle it out with friends alongside iconic Star Wars characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Ahsoka Tano.

“Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate destination for fans of The Clone Wars series and will bring the action and excitement of the show to players online so they can experience The Clone Wars universe firsthand,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “We’ve worked with LucasArts and Lucasfilm to create a virtual world that is seamlessly integrated with the TV series and a true extension of the show. It’s also just flat-out fun to play.”

With Clone Wars Adventures a new generation of Star Wars fans can become the next great hero of the Republic and take their rightful place alongside the Jedi, Padawan and Clone Troopers.  Players can speed through space in a starfighter, take out waves of battle droids in Tower Defense or test their brains with challenging Droid Programming puzzles.  Players can also purchase legendary Star Wars outfits, items and accessories through micro-transactions using Station Cash, SOE’s virtual currency.

Features:

• Extend the Fantasy: Kids no longer have to wait until the next exciting episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series to continue exploring and enjoying the Star Wars universe.  With Clone Wars Adventures, kids can go online to experience exciting thrills as you duel iconic adversaries with your own custom lightsaber, speed through the galaxy in your starfighter, defeat enemies and take down starships.  Adventure online to discover your destiny!  
• Play Free or Upgrade: Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly membership.  Players can also buy cool Star Wars universe items from within the game through micro-transactions using Station Cash.
• Minigames & More: From Droid Programming to Speeder Bike Racing, Clone Wars Adventures puts you in the driver seat to experience epic action in immersive minigames that take you to your favorite locations in the galaxy.  Become the proud owner of a tricked out Droid pet or throw a party in your player house – the fun is endless!
• Fun With Friends: Whether you are on adventures with old friends or competing for leaderboard status with new ones, Clone Wars Adventures is a lively virtual world that connects players in fun and safe ways.  Show off your achievements in your Trophy Room, use safe chat and emoticons to express yourself and celebrate in-world events with the entire galaxy!
• Embedded Card Game: Clone Wars Adventures card battles lets players pit a variety of fun characters, creatures and vehicles from The Clone Wars television show against one another in a unique, fast-paced combat similar to the gameplay styles of traditional games such as War and Concentration.
• Kid-Friendly: Parental controls allow for the customization of safety options, including pre-canned chat and playtime settings for younger players.  

Coming this fall, Clone Wars Adventures is the ultimate virtual destination for a new generation of Star Wars fans.  Clone Wars Adventures, the Force is in you.

SEGA has announced that Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, the amusing and exhilarating party game shipped to retailers across North America. The loveable characters from the original Super Monkey Ball, AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon and Baby, are back with all new mind-blowing puzzles and party games specifically designed to fully utilize the Wii Balance Board accessory or the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

The Super Monkey Ball franchise, created by the famed developer, Toshihiro Nagoshi, has a rich lineage of games that began life in the arcades of Japan and later debuted as a Nintendo GameCube launch title. Now nine years later and with the addition of the Wii Balance Board, gamers have a blast, physically feeling what it would be like to roll around in a Monkey Ball. Known for its challenging levels and most recently its innovative ways to control AiAi and his friends; gamers are immersed into the Super Monkey Ball world like never thought possible. This newest installment of the popular series will offer new single-player puzzle levels, a brand new co-op mode as well as multiple new Party Games, giving players more variety of gameplay than ever. Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll’s myriad of game modes is sure to inspire friendly living room competition between family and friends.

SEGA is also partnering with Chiquita Fresh North America for a nationwide promotion with Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll for Wii. Starting this month, supermarkets across the country will feature special stickers to promote Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll on over 180 million Chiquita bananas and the branded bananas will appear in select sequences in the game itself. In addition, SEGA and Chiquita are announcing a “Super Bananza Sweepstakes” to support the partnership. Consumers will be able to enter online at www.chiquitabananas.com to win prizes, including the grand prize of a family gaming room makeover. One lucky family will receive a 50” HDTV, a sofa and four gaming chairs, a copy of Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, a Wii console, Wii Balance Board (includes Wii Fit Plus) and other great prizes from Chiquita.

• Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll
• Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll for Wii
• Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board