We cannot give you a launch date or a price for Microsoft's Project Natal motion-sensing gaming controller, but we are able to show you an image of one of the prototypes.

According to the Seattle Times, this Gorillapod-mounted gizmo is the prototype Natal hardware that Microsoft gave out to game developers.According to DigiTimes, Pegatron have been granted the producing contract for the Project Natal controller that may ultimately sit on store shelves. They will seemingly begin production later in 2010. Project Natal uses an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array mic and

custom processor, which together can not only track gamer movement in 3D space but make a response to oral commands, too. We've no specific date of release at the moment but Microsoft have confirmed that it'll arrive in the vacation 2010 window.

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After a hiatus of over 3 years, Microsoft is re launching its series of "X" press expos to push the Xbox platform. The company will hold X10 in San Francisco.

Totally titled the Xbox 360 X10 Media Reception, it is Microsoft's first main "X" event since X06, which happened in Barcelona in Sep 2006. It's been a while since Microsoft has held a precise event / expo for the Xbox 360 software and hardware, all that is preparing to change with X10 - set to take San Francisco, CA by force on Feb eleven, 2010 at the Terra Event Center. The gaming company has not held an identical event since 2006 - X06, when it held X06, with the following years X07 being cancelled. It's been disclosed that Microsoft will show-off the most recent revision of Project Natal - the motion controlled hardware releasing in Vacation of this year, as well as a number of triple-A titles to be released in 2010 on the Xbox 360. Stay tuned for more info on this exciting expo

right here at PlanetXbox360.com, as it is revealed.So expect to be hearing lots more on the planned games line-up for Project Natal X10 is booked to last 4 hours on Thursday, Feb eleven at the Terra event center in San Francisco. Some prominent games on tap : "Alan Wake," "Crackdown 2," "Fable III," "Halo : Reach," "Splinter Cell Conviction," "Final Fantasy XIII," "Toy Soldiers," and more.

Lionhead tweeted the news this A.

M. regarding their appearance saying, "Lionhead is pumped up about showing the latest of Story III.".

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Microsoft filed a patent to match your Xbox LIVE avatar to the "physiological characteristic of the user, injecting a degree of fact into the capacities or appearance." this implies that they can gather physical data from a health info collection , for example a health-care smart card or something of that nature to see "blood pressure, heartbeat rate, blood glucose, top flow, pedometer, etc." So, if a player has more padding on

their body than others, their avatar will reflect that. Microsoft states the reasoning behind fluffy avatars, is to urge players to exercise. For some reason, I cannot help but feel this falls into that stereo type that all game-players are oversized. Perhaps Microsoft is going to have their own Wii Fit type games on Xbox to introduce Natal.

I don't know how some gameplayers will like it, as I am sure some create their avatars to look nothing like themselves.

We'll see how that pans out.

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Founder of Guitar Hero Kai Huang, has confirmed intentions to embrace Project Natal for the next instalment in the GH franchise.

Speaking to the Seattle Times, Huang put a little more meat on the Project Natal bones by revealing details of how ‘Guitar Hero 6‘ could look to utilize Microsoft’s motion control system which is strongly rumoured to land in November 2010.

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Now, it seems that Killer Instinct may well be coming back – but not in the way you might expect.

Rares CG art for KI was stunning, and in-game looked great too

Rare's CG art for KI was stunning, and in-game looked great too

In the new issue of Games TM, an excellent Rare studio feature contains a box out on the Killer Instinct franchise, in which Mark Betteridge reaffirms that Killer Instinct is an IP “near and dear to us”.

The real eyebrow raiser comes as he goes on to say: “It’s about timing, and it’s about the opportunity creatively and gameplay-wise that it would offer. Street Fighter IV looked great and they’ve done a great job, and I’m a big fan of those products, but with KI we want to do something different rather than go back into that arena.”

And then the money shot: “I think it’s about doing something different than with a conventional controller.”

George Andreas, head of design at Rare, also says that the challenge will be about making KI for “the masses”, and the magazine itself goes on to conclude: “Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until Natal hits the market before they discover if that question is to remain unanswered.”

Killer Instinct 3? We hope so. For Natal? Hmmm…

In the meantime, how about KI and KI2 arcade perfect on XBLA?

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