Jun 2, 2009, 3:04 GMT
Los Angeles - Microsoft fired back at video game leader Nintendo Monday, lining up living legends Steven Spielberg and Paul McCartney to unveil a new hands-free control technology and a Beatles video game.
Microsoft hopes that the hands-free technology will enable its Xbox 360 console to regain the market lead from the Nintendo Wii, which updated the traditional controller with a device held by the player that is tracked by the console.
Microsoft's so-called Natal technology goes one step further by eliminating the controller altogether and using sophisticated motion-tracking technology to discern the player's movements.
Director Steven Spielberg unveiled the new system on the first day of the E3 video game confab in Los Angeles. The device tracks players' voices and body movements and recognizes their faces. It includes a camera, and software.
Microsoft did not say when the system would become available but a video showed the potential in martial arts, racing, skateboarding and trivia games.
'The gamer in me went out of my mind,' Spielberg said about his initial experience with Natal. 'I felt like I was present for a historic moment.'
Earlier in the day Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow and son showed off The Beatles: Rock Band game, which is due out in September and is the first video game the Beatles have licensed their music for.
In other Xbox news, Microsoft also announced an alliance with Sky satellite television which will allow users of the video console access to many Sky channels in the UK over internet lines. The company did not say when similar services will be rolled out in other countries. Microsoft also said that it had reached deals to connect the Xbox with Facebook, Twitter and music site Last.fm.
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