Kinect and a Cirque "Inspired" event

School is winding down for my boys, which means there is a flurry of activity these last couple of weeks. That didn’t stop me from picking my kids up from school and driving them downtown to play Xbox.

We tried the new game Kinect a month or so ago when it was a beta version known as Project Natal, but the changes made for the most recent version are amazing. With Kinect for XBox 360, you can make the avatar move just by moving your arms and legs. Crazy, Spooky.

Speaking of crazy, even though the invitation said recommended for kids 8 and up, I took my 4 and 6-year-old boys to the unveiling performance of Project Natal for XBox Experience Imagined by Cirque du Soleil. I don’t know much French, but apparently “Imagined” means minimal involvement by Cirque du Soleil. After getting stuck in traffic, yelled at by a police officer, and standing in line for 45 minutes, we waited an hour for the show to start. Once it started, it was clear it wasn’t the “circus” I had promised them, but my kids sat with their mouths open during the entire show, which was a long demonstration of all the new games.

Here is a little video I took…

Cirque du Soleil and Project Natal

I don’t usually do giveaways, but this is so amazing I just had to do it. The kind people at XBOX gave me 5 passes to give away to the premiere of Project Natal for XBOX 360, which includes a performance imagined by Cirque Du Soleil.
Here is XBOX’s description of the event on Monday, June 14 in Los Angeles.
Cirque du Soleil and Project Natal
Heralded byTIME Magazineas one of the top inventions of 2009, Project Natal is set to forever change the way we interact with entertainment. In the world premiere experience, the creative visionaries at Cirque du Soleil created a stunning production that brings the idea of controller-free gaming and entertainment to life. Witness an original and exclusively created consumer spectacle that pushes the boundaries of live entertainment with cutting-edge technology, pulsating music, amazing puppetry, futuristic video projection, and unbelievable physical dexterity.
If you and a friend would like to attend just leave a comment below before Thursday, June 3.

Here is the post I wrote about Project Natal a few weeks ago.

And the winners are…Everyone!! XBox gave me an extra pass so everyone can go!. I’ll email the winners with the passes. 


Lalo and Sydnies, I don’t have your contact information. Please email me at yvonneinla@yahoo.com

XBox 360 Project Natal

What I didn’t mention in Too Much, my blog about my crazy week, was the one event that was all about fun. The husband, boys and I went to the G2 Gallery in Venice to try out the new Xbox 360 controller Project Natal. It was simultaneously creepy and amazing. Rather than holding the controller in your hands, the controller is you. The Project Natal scans your body (and copies your DNA!! – not really). A camera senses your movement and sends the information into the game. Your body makes the character move. If you punch at the virtual ball coming at you, it will bounce away. If you kick, it kicks, if you move your body to block the ball, its body moves. My older son had a great time and a great workout playing the demo game Ricochet.

The controller is coming out in the Fall. What I’m really intrigued by is at the end of this video. You can use the controller to operate your TV and DVD player. It’s quite possible that I may never have to get up again. If only the controller could bring me wine and chocolate.

Here is a video I took of my son playing the game (which I took with the Flip camera Xbox gave me). We couldn’t film the television so that’s why it’s just him. I had to include the picture at the top. Xbox hired a balloon animal entertainer, Tyler from Pretend, Inc., and he almost stole the show.