The video game world is about to be greatly enhanced by this game-changing product called Kinect. It’s almost time for the hot new Xbox game controller called Kinect for Xbox 360 (originally known by the code name Project Natal). According to Microsoft, Kinect is a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" for the Xbox 360 video game platform. This is hot!!!

Based around an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base.

The technology behind Kinect took Microsoft Research twenty years of development. The product was first announced on June 1, 2009 as "Project Natal". Microsoft said that over one thousand software development kits began shipping to game developers that same day. Although official pricing has not yet been announced, one source claimed the price would be US$149 when purchased as a standalone accessory or US$100 when purchased as part of an Xbox 360 Arcade bundle.

It was rumored that the launch of Kinect would be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console. Microsoft dismissed the reports in public, and has repeatedly emphasized that it will be fully compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft indicated that it considers it to be a significant initiative, as fundamental to the Xbox brand as Xbox Live. Kinect was even referred to as a "new Xbox" by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a speech for the Executives' Club of Chicago.

The skeletal mapping technology shown at E3 2009 was capable of simultaneously tracking up to four users for motion analysis with a feature extraction of 48 skeletal points on a human body at a frame rate of 30 hertz. Depending on the person's distance from the sensor, Kinect is capable of tracking models that can identify individual fingers.

According to a leaked instruction manual, the sensor contains a "motorized tilt mechanism" and requires more power than is available via USB. On redesigned "Xbox 360 S" models, this is achieved via a special connector that combines USB and additional power source. On older units, an adapter must be used to split the connector into separate USB and power connections, with the USB connecting to the console with the power being drawn from the mains by way of an AC adapter. Kinect hardware is confirmed to be based on a reference design and 3D-sensing technology made by Israeli developer PrimeSense Ltd.

On June 13, 2010, Microsoft revealed prior to its showing at E3 2010 that the device would be officially named Kinect. It will officially go on sale November 4, 2010.