148w ago - Today Microsoft has officially announced the Kinect pricing, which comes bundled with Kinect Adventures, alongside the Xbox 360 Slim Arcade console.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has confirmed that Kinect will indeed be the long-rumored $150 price when it is released this November.

The budget edition of the new version of the Xbox 360 will be released on August 3 for $199.99 and come with some differences beyond the storage space size.

Microsoft is also offering a bundle that includes a new Xbox 360 "S" Arcade and Kinect with Kinect Adventures for $299 that comes with 4GB of storage space.

Those that pre-order the bundle will also receive the following, to quote:

• Two exclusive levels of Rallyball--"Chomper" and "Twisters"--where you challenge multiple waves of spinning and chomping Rallyball patterns!
• One exclusive level of Reflex Ridge, "Champion," where you dodge obstacles, collect pins and race against time.
• An exclusive Kinect Adventures Helicopter prop for your avatar.

Kinect Adventures will come with 20 mini-games and support up to two players at a time. 15 other games will launch with Kinect on November 4.

The new Arcade will also have a matte black finish as opposed to the glossy black finish that...

149w ago - This weekend C4E released BenQ iXtreme LT v1.2 which includes an internal PFI that improves the reading of some discs and Samsung iXtreme LT v1.0 for XBox 360 alongside JungleFlasher v0.1.75 Beta (152).

Download: BenQ iXtreme LT v1.2 / Samsung iXtreme LT v1.0 / JungleFlasher v0.1.75 Beta (152)

To quote from the NFO file:

• Supports all BenQ Drives (62430C, 64930C)
• Supports all Liteon Drives (74850, 83850V1, 83850V2, 93450)
• Totally re-written code optimised for minimal patching
• Whole banks of firware now untouched
• New Drive response timing engine accurately mimics original drive timings
• Full disc stealth used by default
• Waveless booting , disc images are assumed to be correct!
• Split-Vid used as default

152w ago - During an E3 interview, Square Enix senior vice president of software development Hiromichi Tanaka has said that there are currently "no plans" to bring the game to Xbox 360.

To quote: "Currently there are no plans for a version for the Xbox 360," Tanaka told RPGSite.

"We are still talking with Microsoft about an Xbox 360 version, but at the moment we are only working on the PS3 version and Windows version."

At last year's E3, Senior Vice President of Square Enix, Shinji Hashimoto, said that "in terms of other hardware devices, including Microsoft's, we're considering all possibilities [for Final Fantasy XIV]."

We'll see if this changes in the future.

153w ago - At their E3 2010 conference today, along with Kinect Microsoft also revealed a new XBox 360 Slim redesign dubbed XBox 360 S with a propietary 250GB HDD and built-in 802.11n WiFi for $299.99.

This new Xbox 360 Slim Black Edition is 10 to 20 percent smaller than a regular Xbox 360, incapable of RRODing according to JoyStiq and confirms the leaked Italian advertisement in the video below.

It's also equipped with a smaller power supply, a dedicated connector for Microsoft's upcoming Kinect motion control system, and five USB ports.

Currently the XBox 360 Slim is available for pre-order from Play.com with the console hitting retailers in North America today.

XBox 360 Slim details include the following, with teardown pics available HERE:

• Smaller And Quieter
• Integrated CPU/GPU based on 45 nm fabrication process
• Internal...

153w ago - Alongside some videos (below) of it in action, at Microsoft's E3 2010 press conference Project Natal was officially renamed to Kinect, which is slated to launch on November 4, 2010.

Microsoft's Phil Spencer also confirmed that there will be 15 launch titles, and re-confirmed the hands-free motion control system will be compatible with all existing Xbox 360 consoles.

Kinect features motorized tilt function and a multi-array microphone, in addition to the camera and movement sensor... so it will swivel to follow you.

An engineer for Kinect took to the stage at E3 to show how 'natural' the device is. Within his presentation, he showed signing into his Xbox just by waving, and he could navigate the dash via speaking.

VG247.com are also reporting that Kinect is expected to have two versions, with the most expensive costing $189.00.

Finally, according to GameStop.com, Microsoft's Kinect will be priced at $149.99 for those who wish to pre-order the device.

Check out some of the Kinect E3 2010 launch video demos below!