E3 2010 officially began tonight with Microsoft's insane, surreal unveiling of Kinect, the new name for Project Natal. Hosted by Cirque De Soleil, the event featured mandatory, glowing smocks for all attendees, a life-sized elephant puppet, and some strange-if-friendly folk dressed up in costumes that looked like they were pulled straight out of Ruffio's wardrobe. Lots and lots of twine.
The first look at Kinect was definitely interesting and full of some surprises. The winner of the night was a glimpse at a "Star Wars"-themed light saber game which appears to give players one-to-one sword controls as they battle storm troopers and Darth Vader.
Unfortunately all of the demos tonight were brief and flashy, but Monday night brings with it extended hands-on time with many of the games, and I'll be updating Multiplayer with impressions as they come through.
Safe to say, though, that E3 started with a bang. Microsoft's proper press conference is tomorrow, so we'll see if they have any more aces up their sleeves.