The buzz for LucasArts’ Kinect Star Wars is decidedly negative. But the Force is strong with this new live-action promotional trailer.

Since it was first announced, Kinect Star Wars video game has filled fans with anxiety. The idea of using Microsoft’s motion-sensing technology to control a hacking-and-slashing Jedi is an alluring one, but the game is saddled with dreaded on-rails gameplay and controls that are reportedly full of bugs. All in all, it looks like a lackluster cash-in title, but consumers will make the ultimate judgment when it’s finally released in April.

But even if it’s a stinker, when you’ve got as much money as Lucasfilm does, you can afford to create awesome promotional materials like this one for any product you choose. The video — which contains no in-game footage whatsoever — imagines what would happen if an everyday, dorky kind of guy was put into Obi-Wan Kenobi’s shoes for his final duel against Darth Vader aboard the Death Star. Things don’t quite go the way Vader’s expecting, and the results are pretty funny.

I should point out that it’s all good fun until the very last “payoff” shot, which will either make you laugh hysterically, or want to gauge your eyes out. When you see the buildup that precedes it, it won’t be remotely surprising. But it’s worse than you’ll be imagining. You’ve been warned.

I don’t normally get excited over avatar clothing you have to pay for — be it Mii apparel, PlayStation Home gear, or Xbox wearables — but this might be worth making an exception for. Threadless, maker of some of the coolest t-shirts and hoodies on the planet, has brought a collection of their classic shirts to the Avatar Marketplace.

Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace is selling Threadless’ selection of twenty-four items for 80 MS Points ($1) per t-shirt, and 160 MS Points ($2) for hoodies. Right now there are just two hoodies available, but I’m sure more will be added if Threadless’ virtual clothes sell well.

Among the classic Threadless tees that fans will recognize are “Cookie Loves Milk,” “Funkalicious,” and “Living in Harmony.” Head over to the Avatar Marketplace to window shop all twenty-four designs, and buy some for yourself.

The more I see of Ubisoft’s forthcoming download-only first-person survival game I Am Alive, the more I’m digging it. This new trailer shows you how realistic combat is in this survival-focused, post-apocalyptic city.

The name of the game is “resources,” because they are so very few. As one player in this trailer says, since he’s not going to fight you, he’s literally not worth one of your precious bullets. When was the last time you heard an NPC say something like that?

Guns are just one way you have to dispatch enemies, but that’s only when you must fight at all. Ubisoft advises you to avoid combat whenever possible, by staying clear of hostile encounters or even bluffing your way out of a fight. When fighting is unavoidable, you can use a knife to slit your opponent’s throat, or snipe them from afar with a bow and arrow, after which you can retrieve your arrow from the body.

What impresses me is that this is really how you’d fight in the real world, in a scenario such as the one presented in the game. You wouldn’t have unlimited ammo; you’d have whatever you can get your hands on, and you’d use it sparingly because you wouldn’t know when or if you’ll be getting more. You’d favor bladed weapons that don’t require ammunition, and you certainly wouldn’t seek out other city residents just to try and kill them.

I Am Alive hits Xbox Live on February 15th.

Doom on Xbox Live

Bethesda announced today that a day Xbox gamers have been awaiting for a very long time has finally come: the original Doom is available for download from Xbox Live Arcade.

Scheduled for release today (it will probably be available by the time you read this), this crucial piece of video game history will cost you 400 Microsoft Points (US $5).

Doom, first released for the PC in 1993, is widely regarded as one of the most important video games of all time, because it propagated the 3D shooter as a major new genre for games, and was the first widely-available multiplayer game — footsteps hundreds of games have followed in. It’s also remembered as one of the most controversial games of all time, thanks to its excess of blood, gore, and satanic imagery.

Id Software’s classic game is fully Xbox Live compatible, so you can jump into deathmatch online, or team up with a friend to play through the game in co-op.

From the screenhots below, the technology used to power Doom seems downright archaic today. I can’t help wondering what it would be like if Id had given Doom an HD upgrade; not a full-blown remake, just higher-res textures, character models, etc., like Halo: Anniversary.

Is this earth-shattering news, or just “yeah, duh”?

The Daily is reporting an exclusive scoop today that Microsoft is working on its own answer to the likes of AppleTV and Boxee, in the form of a Kinect set-top box that doesn’t require an Xbox to run.

It’s not like it’s hard to imagine. With all of the inroads Xbox has made over the last year to carrying live television from broadcast and cable networks, as well as on-demand viewing apps like Netflix well established, you might even call this notion a no-brainer. The idea here is to remove the Xbox from the equation for those looking for a simplified, all-in-one entertainment experience.

“Kinect Box,” as the device may be called (“Kinect HD” is also under consideration, which implies upgraded technology inside) is expected to be a flat, box-type device resembling a small DVD player — unlike the swivel-friendly current Kinect sensor — that can sit alone atop your TV set or on a shelf. Simplified ports and cables are expected as well, with a single cord that branches out to USB, HDMI, and power.

Presumably the device will have a sizable hard drive, but no optical drive, so it wouldn’t play Xbox 360 discs. Everything would be based on digital downloads, and while a big emphasis will likely be on movies, music, TV, and the social apps, downloadable Kinect games from Xbox Live Arcade will also be playable. It’ll have wifi built in, to accommodate all of those downloads.

Since it’s Kinect, you’ll control it with voice commands and gestures, and it’s expected to be compatible with the new Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone, as well.

The Daily reveals that Kinect Box, or whatever it ends up being called, was intended for release right about now-ish (probably in time for CES in Las Vegas, which just ended), but it’s been pushed back to an unknown time frame. But it’s still expected to arrive before the third generation Xbox (the gaming industry’s worst-kept secret is that Microsoft has been working on the next Xbox for months, if not years), which most pundits have pinpointed for 2013. So you’ll probably be able to get a Kinect Box of your own before this Christmas.

As for the price? The Daily believes it will be aggressively priced at around $150.

Details about Xbox Live Arcade’s “House Party” promotion have leaked today, revealing the four titles that will be available in weekly succession, most likely starting in February. This year’s batch takes the “arcade” out of the picture, with a lineup of mostly top-notch first-person shooters.

Watching the above leaked trailer for “House Party 2012″ reveals that the four games being released once a week are: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Warp, Nexuiz, and I Am Alive. Microsoft hasn’t announced the exact order or release dates about any of these games, but here’s a quick rundown of what we know about each title:

Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare: It’s not exactly a “sequel” to the underrated FPS from Max Payne creator Remedy Entertainment. It’s a new chapter to Alan Wake’s story, a sidequel that tackles the mystery of the evil Mr. Scratch. It also introduces some wild new game modes and fun weapons. Expected to be an Xbox exclusive.

Warp

Warp: The only puzzle-based game on the list, EA’s Warp is a top-down stealth adventure that puts you into the shoes of Zero, a little orange alien who’s attempting to escape from an underwater prison. What makes Warp unique are Zero’s five special abilities: warp (teleport anywhere), frag (teleport into objects or enemies to destroy them from the inside out), echo (distract enemies with a replica of yourself), swap (trade places between your Echo and any object), and launch (teleport into objects and shoot them at high speeds). Looks like a fun, quirky game that could generate a lot of buzz.

Nexuiz

Nexuiz: No idea how you pronounce it, but it’s described by publisher THQ as a fast-paced, competitive “arena shooter.” It’s powered by Crytek’s powerful CryEngine 3, and features a futuristic art style influenced by Victorian architecture. It pits members of two alien races in broadcasted combat with one another, as part of a treaty to end a very long-running war. Of the four, this is the one I’m least sold on, but hopefully it will be a fun surprise. Despite that wretched name.

I Am Alive

I Am Alive: I just recently mentioned how intrigued I am by this long-delayed, post-apocalyptic survival game from Ubisoft. Back in the day, it was first planned as a retail purchase, but over time, it’s transitioned into a download-only title. Its immersive, open-world action mixes scavenging with fighting, while the protagonist searches a destroyed city for his missing wife and daughter. Expect lots of emotional, moral choices that will leave you feeling good about yourself — or show just what a terrible person you really are.

Since this list is leaked information, we’ll call it “unconfirmed,” even though that splashy trailer from Microsoft is all the confirmation anyone needs. Release dates and prices will no doubt be announced by MS when the time is right.

We’ve seen case mods for the XBOX 360 everywhere. From turning the whole console portable, to injecting it with a nitro-cooler, to paint jobs that are just so crazy-awesome. This, however caught my eye as a marine enthusiast and diver: a total conversion of an XBOX 360 into a nano-reef. Yep, that porcelain crab you see up there isn’t living out in the open. That’s actually magnified by a lot and it’s living inside a gaming console.

What is it: It is a custom build XBOX 360 nano-reef.

What’s a nano-reef? Scientifically speaking, marine tanks (sea water) operates very differently from fresh water tanks. The latter cab ne summarized with a gold fish bowl with water and things can actually be fine. Salt water tanks are different. You’ll need to delicately keep water current flowing, temperature monitored to roughly 24 degrees celcius depending on what types of coral you want to grow, lighting to simulate moonlight and daylight and a lot of other “behind the scenes” tanks to generate protein and keep the salt water clean. Now, the smaller a tank is, the harder it becomes to maintain because you’re basically trying to recreate a complete eco-system with under 10 gallons of water.

Jacques Costeau himself said that the ocean is the world’s sewer because of its sheer size. Imagine having a sewage system that’s about 5 gallons capacity. It’s going to be pretty tough maintaining this.

Setups like this won’t allow for a lot of life. In fact it’s highly discouraged to even have fish living here. Invertebrates, crabs and shrimps are your best bet.

Nano reefs such as these need a lot of TLC. 60% water changes every week. Fresh saltwater mixes. Cleaning. It needs 24/7 power and a backup generator system in case the power goes out. All the stuff that needs commitment. This hobby is generally not advised unless you’re 101% serious in building tanks. You can actually start with gutting out an XBOX 360, waterproof it and instead of salt water, start with a fresh water setup which won’t require as much backend wiring. You’ll basically just need an aerator and a filter to get one of these going. And a gold fish.

[source]

We already know that Microsoft is hard at work on its third-generation Xbox as we speak. And it goes without saying that that console will come with Kinect technology built in. Today, a report is circulating that suggests this “Kinect 2″ will be able to do some downright astonishing things.

Eurogamer says they’ve heard from an “inside source” that the Kinect tech that will ship with the next Xbox will be capable of reading lips, detect the direction players are facing, and even read players’ emotions. Yeah, you read that right: pretty soon your game console will track your vocal modulation and facial tics know when you’re pissed off.

I don’t know what Microsoft plans to do with that data, but I can imagine things like game developers having the option to build games with adaptive difficulty that eases up when players grow irate, or amps up the challenge when players are too relaxed. Or maybe it will learn from our silly human emotions and become self aware, launch a nuclear holocaust, and create killing machines to hunt down the last remnants of humanity. But that’s just one possibility.

The new Kinect will be part of the new Xbox, tossing out the silly USB cable that currently connects the two in favor of a Charge-Coupled Device. Eurogamer’s report says this will enable its sensors to record a lot more information, with significantly a higher resolution and frames-per-second.

Industry scuttlebutt has it that the next Xbox will launch sometime in late 2012 or early 2013. Expect to hear the first official details about the device via next year’s E3.

Because I love you, dear reader. That’s why I scoured through all of the Black Friday ads to compile this list of the best deals for scoring quality gaming hardware at deep discounts. ‘Cause if you’re going out on Thanksgiving night to wait in line in the cold, darn it you should know if it’s worth it!

Smart buyers are also advised to remember that Amazon is offering round-the-clock deals on video games (as well as all sorts of other products), but they have no pre-published list.

$100 Kinect Bundle

Toys ‘R Us, Walmart
If your must-have Christmas gift is Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, you won’t find a better deal than this $100 bundle, which includes the sensor, a disc copy of Kinect Adventures, and download vouchers for both Fruit Ninja Kinect and Gunstringer. That’s the hardware plus three games for considerably less than the sensor alone usually costs ($150). If you’re only going to Best Buy and don’t feel like fighting the crowds at Walmart or Toys ‘R’ Us too, you can get just a Kinect sensor there for $100. But when you can get that plus three games, isn’t it worth the extra trip?

$200 160GB PlayStation 3 Bundle

Best Buy, GameStop, Radio Shack, Sears, Target, Walmart
The good news is that if you’re in the market for a great PS3 deal, you won’t have any trouble finding one — it’s the exact same bundle and price you’ll find at all of the retailers listed above. And every one offers the same bundle of the system, a DualShock 3 controller, and both LittleBigPlanet 2 and Ratchet & Clank 4.

$140 4GB Xbox 360

Target
You won’t find a better price on a basic Xbox 360 console anywhere this year than Target’s bargain basement price of $140. Of course, for that price, you’re not getting any extras; it’s just the console and one controller. (GameStop has the exact same deal, but Target’s beats it by $10.) If you want a basic Kinect starter kit, you can get a 4GB console, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures for $200 from Walmart. If Kinect isn’t your thing but you’re interested in multiplayer gaming, try Walmart‘s other $200 bundle that includes Gears of War 3, a 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership, and a $50 Walmart gift card.

$100 Wii

Walmart, Sam’s Club
Only at Walmart (and its wholesale big brother) can you get this limited edition blue Wii console for just $100. It comes with the console, one Wii Remote, and one Nunchuck controller. No games are included, but at that price, you should be able to afford a game or two to go with it.

$180 Nintendo 3DS Bundle

Best Buy, Target
Options are very limited for buyers looking to score a discounted 3DS this Black Friday. This $180 bundle is pretty much the only deal in town. Target offers it with a bundled copy of Super Mario 3D Land, while Best Buy is giving you your choice of Mario or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

[Image credit.]

2011 Xbox Dashboard Update

Microsoft’s new Kinect-friendly, “Metro”-feeling Xbox Dashboard is coming to all Xbox 360 owners on Tuesday, December 6th.

Free for all Xbox 360 owners, the new Dashboard utilizes the blocky “Metro” design aesthetic that Microsoft is so big on these days (it’s currently in use on Windows Phones, and is one of the predominant features of the forthcoming Windows 8), enabling it to be even more Kinect-ified with enhanced voice and gesture controls.

In addition to the all new look, this update brings loads of new content to Xbox Live users, including the much-hyped live TV feature. You’ll also get Bing voice search, cloud storage so you can access your game saves and Xbox Live profile from any Xbox console, and a brand new feature called “Beacons.” You know how your console lets your friends see what you’re currently playing? Beacons takes this notion further than before, showing your friends what you want to play, letting you to easily and quickly organize a multiplayer game. Beacons will even broadcast your desires on Facebook, so your friends can see what you’d like to play when they’re not logged in to Xbox Live.

Aside from live TV, all of these new features and services will be completely free.

The original Halo was a transformative moment in console gaming. It’s singlehandedly responsible for launching the Xbox as a platform, as well as proving the viability of Xbox Live. Bungie’s magnum opus has gotten a major facelift just in time for its tenth anniversary, and it’s still just as fun as you remember.

There’s very little I can say about Halo‘s gameplay that would be news to you. Master Chief, Cortana, Pillar of Autumn, Covenant, Flood, yadda yadda yadda. You know what Halo is and how it works. Most importantly, you know how it plays. And its trademark run-and-gun bliss has held up remarkably well in light of the more advanced shooters we enjoy today.

Halo Anniversary screenshot

Halo Anniversary upgrades the experience with modern sensibilities, but does nothing to change the game’s perfectly balanced action. Its most clever conceit is the inclusion of a button that lets you switch between the Halo‘s original graphics and Anniversary‘s newness. I was surprised to find that my memory of the first game had evolved over the years as gaming technology advanced, to the point that the remastered graphics of Halo Anniversary are remarkably similar to what I remember. Of course, the new graphics are significantly different, they’re more crisp and detailed now, but my memory was far kinder to the old game than its reality.

Switching over to the old-school graphics (a process that’s not as instantaneous as the game’s trailers would have you believe — it takes a few seconds to fade out and fade back in) reveals imagery so primitive by today’s standards that it’s downright laughable to think back at how high-tech it seemed at the time. I thought beforehand that it might be fun to play through a level or two with the original graphics, just for nostalgia’s sake, but a few minutes was more than enough to have me switching back to the newfangled tech, just because it’s so doggone better looking.

Halo Anniversary screenshot

Halo Anniversary is not a remake; it runs on the engine of the original game. So the feel of the game is precisely what you remember — the physics, the way the Chief moves, the pacing of the fights, the size of the locations, and placement of objects — it just comes in a shiny new package. But there’s more to Anniversary than upgraded graphics. Scenes are lit with movie-style cinematography, nicely heightening the drama. The musical score has been re-recorded with a bigger, fuller orchestra and some additional cues, though just like with the graphics, the game offers you the option to switch between the original score and the new, enhanced version. Sound effects have been upgraded as well. You can even play the game in 3D if you have a 3D-capable TV.

Halo Anniversary screenshot

There’s no getting around how weird the human character models are when you first see them. They look more like real people now, but the transition is as jarring as a cartoon character suddenly being portrayed by a live-action actor. Their lips also seem to move with a peculiarity that leaves them lost somewhere in the uncanny valley. But Master Chief and the alien characters look great.

Another new addition is a series of mythology heavy, pre-rendered cutscenes that flesh out the backstory of the Forerunners, Halo, and Guilty Spark. There’s one of these polished scenes for every level, but they’re hidden almost like Easter eggs, and it’s up to you to find them. Some are easy to locate, others are almost diabolical.

Halo Anniversary screenshot

A teeny bit of Kinect functionality has been added to the game in the form of a downloadable update. With Kinect, you can issue orders by voice for things like throwing grenades and turning on your flashlight. It’s sorta nifty, but still feels like an afterthought, and it’s in no way required to excel at the game. Multiplayer is a bit more hit-and-miss; some of the classic maps have held up with better balance and flow than others, though there’s one fun new firefight map included. The addition of two-player co-op over Xbox Live is extremely welcome, and can really change the overall dynamic of the game.

Bottom line: Halo Anniversary is a must-play for the series faithful, if only to get a second chance at besting it while putting your Xbox 360′s processing power through its paces. But if Halo never interested you before, this won’t change your mind. On the other hand, newbies might finally find this as their excuse to jump on board the Halo phenomenon.

Can you imagine the office somewhere in Microsoft HQ where a team of Xbox staff members have been hunkered down for months, locked in feverish negotiations with countless cable providers, and premium networks all over the world, trying to make their promise of “live TV on Xbox” a reality? Not too many companies would have been able to deliver on such a big promise, but Microsoft announced today that they’ve succeeded. (It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s list of nearly 40 partners is comprised more of video-on-demand services than live TV, but the live stuff is in there.)

AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon are the big headliners here in the U.S., but dozens of others have signed on for Xbox owners all over the world. Microsoft’s tactics seem to have been to get anyone and everyone they can onboard with their “New Xbox TV Experience,” as it’s being called, because aside from cable providers, their announced partnerships also include cable networks (like BBC, Bravo, and Syfy), premium networks (HBO), and even individual programs (The Today Show). There are also a number of Internet-based video providers on the list, and it’s a virtual “who’s who” that includes the likes of Crackle, Daily Motion, Epix, Hulu+, Netflix, Vevo, and YouTube.

The New Xbox TV Experience is optimized for Kinect users and enhanced with Bing voice search, so that (as you can see in the video above) all you have to do is tell your Xbox what you want to watch — be it a TV show or a movie — and Bing search will bring up every available instance of it for you to choose from.

Of course, most of this content will only be available to Xbox Live Gold members, and some of them, like HBO Go, have separate subscription fees as well. More than 20 countries will get the New Xbox TV Experience come this Christmas with the next Dashboard update. Users will find deep integration with Facebook and Twitter for social sharing, and as always, users can watch simultaneously with friends across the Internet, and use Kinect’s voice and gestures to control the action.

Check out the screenshots below, and then you’ll find the complete list of Xbox’s new partners at the bottom of this page.

• ABC iView – Australia
• AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K.
• Antena 3 – Spain
• Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada
• AT&T – U.S.
• BBC – U.K.
• Blinkbox – U.K.
• Bravo – U.S.
• BSkyB – U.K.
• Canal+ – France, Spain
• Channel 4 – U.K.
• Channel 5 – U.K.
• CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S.
• Comcast – U.S.
• Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S.
• Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets
• EPIX – U.S.
• ESPN – U.S.
• Facebook – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
• FOXTEL – Australia
• GolTV – Spain
• HBO GO – U.S.
• Hulu – Japan
• Hulu+ - U.S.
• iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S.
• Last.fm - U.K., U.S.
• LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K.
• Manga Entertainment – U.S.
• Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada
• MediaSet – Italy
• MSN with MSNBC.com - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.K.
• MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K.
• Netflix - Canada, U.S.
• Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada
• RTVE – Spain
• SBS On Demand - Australia
• Syfy – U.S.
• Telefonica – Spain
• Televisa – Mexico
• The Today Show - U.S.
• TELUS – Canada
• TMZ – U.S.
• Twitter - Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
• UFC – Canada, U.S.
• Verizon – U.S.
• VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S.
• VimpelCom – Russia
• Vodafone Portugal – Portugal
• YouTube – Available in 22 markets
• ZDF – Germany
• Zune - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.

Xbox Live with Bing integration

“Metro” is the codename of this Fall’s annual Xbox Live update, which among other things is going to make your dashboard look an awful lot like Bing mixed with Windows Phone 7.

Here’s a breakdown of the major changes you can expect.

The big focus for this update is the integration of Bing and giving greater power to Kinect. You’ll be able to navigate the entire dashboard using Kinect if you want, primarily with voice control. But the look and feel of the new interface comes directly from Windows Phone 7, using a Microsoft design called Metro (hence the update’s codename).

It sounds as if the integration of Bing is going to fundamentally change how a lot of people use their Xbox. Using Kinect’s voice control, you can easily tell your Xbox what you’re looking for, and Bing will bring up results from every media type you use: games, movies, TV, music, and more, from sources that include not just your own media collection but Netflix, Hulu, Zune, and more. Under each search result, you’ll see a rating and an icon, showing what form of media it is. The thinking is that this Bing search function is so simple and powerful — particularly if you own a Kinect sensor — that many gamers may just forego traditional tabbed dashboard navigation in favor of Bing-powered voice search.

Then of course there’s live television. It’s coming, but deals haven’t been finalized yet, so Microsoft’s not saying who they’ve got or when they’ll have it. But according to Gizmodo, some TV networks will be available to view live television, while others will simply offer their top shows as video on demand. No DVR recording function is currently planned, but you will be able to chat with friends while watching live TV.

Another major new addition is sharing Achievements on Facebook. Game developers can set their games so that they automatically update Facebook every time you get a new Achievement, but you’ll always have the option of turning this off. Or you’ll be able to set your system to prompt you each time you get an Achievement, to manually make the Facebook update yourself.

A beta of the new Xbox Live dashboard is supposed to happen sometime in October, with a final release sometime before Christmas.

Every Summer, Microsoft gathers a killer lineup of great Xbox Live Arcade games and releases them once-per-week over a month or so. It’s happened for several years now, and many Xbox users have begun looking forward to this tradition because the games in the “Summer of Arcade” are usually top-notch. Here’s this year’s complete roster, along with screens from each game!

Bastion

Things kick off on July 20th with Bastion, from Supergiant Games and Warner Bros. Interactive. Bastion is a sprawling Action/RPG starring The Kid, a character who’s charged with building a new world from the broken remnants of the past. The big twist is the game’s “innovative reaction system” that includes stuff like a narrator who reacts and changes the story based on the choices you make and the things you do. Bastion is 1200 Microsoft Points, aka $15.

From Dust

From Dust follows on July 27th, from Ubisoft, and provides a distinct change of pace. This one-of-a-kind puzzle game from the creator of Another World stars nature itself, as you help decide the survival or destruction of a primitive tribe of people. From Dust will cost 12 MS Points/$15.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

On August 3rd, Fuelcell and Microsoft Studios present Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, a shooter with a wildly original visual style. It looks kind of like Limbo‘s more colorful, more alien cousin. This side-scrolling adventure will run you 1200 MS Points/$15.

Fruit Ninja Kinect

Super-popular iOS game Fruit Ninja comes to Xbox Live for a Kinect version of the game. Halfbrick’s crazy title will have you slicing and dicing those melons and berries via the magic of controller-free gaming on August 10th for 800 MS Points or $10.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

RTS game Toy Soldiers was a big hit as part of last year’s Summer of Arcade, so this year Signal Studios presents the sequel, Toy Soldiers: Cold War, on August 17th. The setting this time is 1980s-style warfare. The price is 1200 MS Points/$15.

Crimson Alliance

Gamers who purchase all five of the above games will get a free copy of a sixth, Crimson Alliance, a cooperative action RPG from developer Certain Affinity. This dungeon-crawler is said to have distinctive feel and personality all its own, and early buzz on the game is extremely positive.

Which games from Summer of Arcade 2011 are on your must-have list?

Now that Nintendo has announced its intentions to jump the generational gap with the forthcoming Wii U, chatter around the industry inevitably must turn to its two chief rivals, and when they might answer Nintendo’s challenge with brand new hardware of their own.

Five years is generally considered the standard life cycle for a video game console. Nintendo’s Wii turns 5 this November, and its successor has already been announced for launch sometime next year. But what of Microsoft and Sony?

The Xbox 360 is the oldest of the bunch, coming up on its 6th birthday this holiday season, while the PlayStation 3 (like the Wii) will turn 5 around the same time. This means that when Nintendo’s Wii launches, it’s very likely that the Xbox 360 will be nearly 7 years old.

The Xbox 360 S

Microsoft certainly gained a tremendous amount of momentum by coming out of the gate with the Xbox 360 a full year before its rivals. Nintendo had the “new, wow!” factor on its side with the Wii’s motion controls, so being a year late didn’t hurt them. But Sony has continually felt like it’s playing catch up with the Xbox during this generation. (They were the last console to add Netflix, for example, and only created their own top-tier online service, PlayStation Plus, after witnessing Microsoft’s staggering success with Xbox Live.)

Microsoft has made nearly an annual tradition out of overhauling the Xbox’s “dashboard” user interface (with yet another on its way), while Sony still uses the same setup that they’ve had since the PS3 launched. Xbox has also done a solid job of consistently adding new features to their Xbox Live service, such as Netflix, ESPN, Last.fm, and they were the first console to integrate Facebook and Twitter. And they’re still adding new stuff all the time; at E3, they just announced plans to integrate live TV into Xbox Live’s many media offerings. Sony is doing better about adding new features, and is making a very strong case for 3D gaming of late, but still has a ways to go to catch up with Microsoft.

Microsoft and Sony have both refreshed their legacy hardware by upgrading their current hardware. The Xbox 360 S and PS3 Slim consoles trimmed down the machines’ casings while refining their innards — without really changing anything about the core experience — and lowering the price tags. And both companies have manufactured and marketed motion controllers with Kinect and Move, respectively. They represent two drastically different approaches to motion control, but both were birthed in response to Nintendo’s incredible success with the Wii.

The PS3 Slim

So what happens now? Does the next-generation console race begin again, thanks to Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii U? Will Microsoft and Sony jump on the bandwagon and trot out their next big home consoles?

One recent report suggested that Microsoft is eying 2015 as a target launch window for its next major console release, though this report seemed to be comprised mostly of speculation. Yet it seems probable, does it not, that Microsoft is in no hurry. Thanks to Kinect and its constantly-improving slate of features, MS believes the Xbox 360 still has plenty of life left in it. And most gamers agree that graphically speaking, Xbox 360 games still look great. But how long will it be before its processing power simply can’t keep up with the times? The “you are the controller” functionality of Kinect is getting such a huge focus from MS nowadays that that technology will undoubtedly be a core part of the next Xbox, whenever that comes. So hey, “2015″ is as good a guess as any.

Sony chief Jack Tretton says that the PlayStation 3 is “just hitting its stride,” and I think he’s right. Despite the PlayStation Network debacle, it finally feels like the PS3 is reaching its full potential. Tretton also says that he doesn’t expect there to be a PlayStation 4 “for quite some time.” So I’d say we’re probably 4 to 5 years off, at least, for the next PlayStation as well.

Tretton makes a particularly shrewd observation in that same interview, when he notes that the horsepower capabilities of Nintendo’s new console were used as Sony’s benchmark back in 2006, when the PlayStation 3 was released. He posits that the Wii U is Nintendo finally arriving to the party, not jumping ahead to the next step. Tretton suggests that Sony (and by proxy, Microsoft), has nothing to prove against Nintendo (except, you know, the Wii’s staggering sales numbers).

So what do you think the future holds? Is Nintendo playing catch up, or will it set a new benchmark for Sony and Microsoft to meet? My gut says that Nintendo is scrambling now that the Wii’s last-gen hardware is finally cracking at the seams. But the Wii also taught us that no one should ever underestimate Nintendo.

Xbox always has a lively show, keeping things moving fast from one game to the next, never spending too much time on any one thing. For my money, they typically put on the funnest, showiest, and overall best media event at E3. Sure, it’s Microsoft and they’re nerdy, but at least they have lots of money to throw around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t6XegJtlns

Halo 4 was announced as the start of a new trilogy starring the Master Chief. A trailer depicted Cortana waking the Chief up from his deep-space slumber to help her escape a dangerous situation that threatens the entire universe. Halo 4 is set for a November 2012 release. In the meantime, that rumored remaster of the original Halo game turned out to be true. It’s called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and it’ll be out this November.

A brand new entry in the Fable franchise was announced, but it’s not Fable 4. It’s called Fable: The Journey, the first Fable game constructed from the ground up for Kinect. It’s set 5 years after the events of Fable 3 and uses Kinect’s gestures to cast spells as you fight for the future of Albion. No word yet on a release date.

Mass Effect 3 will use Kinect for voice recognition. That was the big headline from BioWare. ME‘s dialogue trees can now be controlled by speaking directly to the game. It creates a faster, more fluid experience, further immersing you into the game. You can also direct your allies in the actions you want them to take, just by saying it.

The long-awaited Kinect Star Wars game was at last shown off, and it looks like everything in the game is controlled via gestures. Mime swinging a lightsaber, and your on-screen character does the same. Lean forward and your avatar uses a burst of Force speed to run fast to the next enemy character. The trailer shows off what it can do best, so take a look.

One game that’s going to come out of E3 with some new buzz is Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, because it’s going fully Kinect-operable. Future Soldier might just be the full-body FPS Kinect shooter we’ve been waiting for. GRFS provided a genuine “wow” moment when a demo player expanded his arms to explode outward all of the components of a weapon, so he could fully customize all of its inner workings. Movement and firing were also controlled via Kinect, using unique gestures. It looks like it might just be something special.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures is destined to sell millions of copies. It’s exactly what it sounds like: the entire Disneyland theme park in California reproduced — down to precise details — as a Kinect-friendly video game. Your Xbox avatar can enjoy everything Disneyland has to offer, ride all the rides, interact with Disney characters, and even do things you can’t do in real life, like fly with Peter Pan. There will be plenty of challenges and family-friendly activities built in. I know my kids will go nuts over this one.

Kinect Fun Labs, a new Xbox Live service that goes live today, expands the functionality of your Kinect sensor to be able to try out new technologies, such as performing full-body scans and translating the data into a customized avatar for you — complete with your real-world clothes.

Live TV is coming to Xbox Live, though Microsoft was mum on the details. From what we saw, it looked as though MS is partnering with networks to bring live television to Xbox 360 users. It’s an alternative to cable. But we have no idea on pricing or when it will be available.

Minecraft is coming to Xbox Live! It will also be Kinect enabled, to allow for a new kind of interaction with the popular indie game. You’ll also be able to interact between Xbox and PC versions of Minecraft. Xbox 360 has an exclusive deal to have Minecraft on their console, so don’t look for Wii or PS3 versions anytime soon.

Crytek announced a new game called Ryse, an action game set during the Roman Empire, and made for Kinect.

A major new twist was added to the Xbox UI: Bing search. It’s a new, easier-than-ever way to access all of your content, or content you can purchase. Search for “Harry Potter,” for example, and a series of results will come up showing all available Harry Potter movies, video games, and anything else available. Access it all simply by talking to it, using Kinect.

In addition to all this, new videos and previews were shown from Dance Central 2, Forza Motorsport 4, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Kinect Sports: Season Two, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, the new Tomb Raider, and more. Enjoy all the screens we could get our hands on, below.

Wow, talk about epic. In case you haven’t seen the new trailer for Gears of War 3 that includes tons of footage of its cutscenes and most cinematic boss battles, I’ve uploaded and embedded it for you here, in high-res. And it’s worth the look, even if you’re not a GoW fan.

The sheer scale and scope of Gears 3‘s action is genuinely impressive. Epic Games has clearly pulled out all the stops for this final chapter in the trilogy, and every last penny of money spent on development is right there on your screen.

I’ve never been the biggest Gearhead — it’s way too extreme for my family-friendly house — but my head is always turned by Gears‘ unparalleled use of the Unreal engine. And this finale looks pretty spectacular.

Gears of War 3 hits stores worldwide simultaneously for Xbox 360 on September 20th, 2011.

E3 is just two weeks away! Can you believe it?

What delicious (and what vaporware) delights will E3 2011 bring to gamers? What surprises do Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have in store for their pre-E3 media extravaganzas? What games will walk away from the week with the heaviest buzz? It’s impossible to predict what secrets all the major companies have up their sleeves, but here’s n early look at what we have to look forward to.

Microsoft

Spike is broadcasting the big Xbox event live (and commercial free!) on Monday, June 6th, at 9:30 AM Pacific. It’s expected to last 90 minutes. “Xbox 360: The Future Revealed” is the title of their event, which is a bold claim for a company that’s not expected to reveal any new gaming hardware. If you don’t get Spike, you can also watch it online at GameTrailers.com. Xbox Live will even have it available to stream in HD sometime after the event is held.

According to Microsoft, their event will give special emphasis to Gears of War 3 and Forza Motorsport 4, and a Halo announcement of some kind seems like a sure bet. Microsoft also claims that they’re going to “reveal the latest in innovation for Kinect,” which probably means a round of new game titles — which should be more impressive than last year’s, since developers have had more time to work with the hardware. Plus, there’s likely to be some firmware updates to Kinect in the works, so maybe we’ll learn about new capabilities the device will have in the near future.

As for what else they’ll have for gamers… who knows? Microsoft loves to surprise people, so anything could happen.

Nintendo

Gamers can watch live streaming video of Nintendo’s media briefing at e3.nintendo.com, on Tuesday, June 7th at 9:00 AM Pacific. Nintendo is keeping its secrets close, but we know they’re unveiling their next-generation console at E3, so expect this to be the focus of their event. It’s even going to be playable after the event, on the show floor. No games have been announced for the new console, so some biggies — including titles that can match current-gen software on the 360 and PS3 — will go a long way towards winning back the hearts of hardcore gamers. And there will no doubt be lots of new 3DS games to show off.

Speculation is all over the map on what the new console will involve, but the most prevalent rumors refer to a wild new controller that includes a large touchscreen, motion control, and lots of other bells and whistles. Plus, it’s E3 and it’s Nintendo, so expect to hear something about Zelda. And it’ll probably be another case of postponing a game to make it a console release title — just like what happened with the last Zelda launching with the Wii.

Sony

Oh, Sony, Sony, Sony… Sure, you have your new NGP portable device to tout, but how will you ever be able to get the focus off of the PR disaster that was the PSN implosion? Some big game announcements would certainly help, and there are probably some nice ones in the cooker for NGP. But we already know quite a bit about most of the PS3′s forthcoming triple-A titles, such as Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3. So it’s going to take a lot to knock our socks off.

Sony‘s media briefing is scheduled for Monday the 6th at 5:00 PM Pacific. No plans have been announced yet for live broadcasting of the event.

Games, Games, Games

So what are the big titles of E3 2011? It’s a safe bet that Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be big news all over the map, probably showcased at both the Sony and Xbox press events. There are an endless number of big titles in the works that will be competing for headlines at E3. These include Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, Dead Island, Duke Nukem Forever, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Mass Effect 3, Prey 2, Prototype 2, Rage, Resident Evil: Raccoon City, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the Tomb Raider reboot, among countless others.

One thing’s for sure: it’s gonna be a good E3.

Very interesting projects using Microsoft’s Kinect present themselves seemingly on a daily basis.  MIT graduate student Edwina Portocarrero, adorned in a Princess Leia costume, recreated the holographic projection plea for assistance made famous by Carrie Fisher.  More recently we profiled Be Your Own Souvenir, a system which scans people in real-time and generates a miniature figurine.

A new project has surfaced using Kinect in an effort to allow individuals to recreate one of the iconic scenes in 1980’s Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo being frozen in carbonite.

According to creators Michael Zoellner and Jens Keil,

“This is an experiment with Kinect and Processing. People in front of it are posing like Han Solo and get frozen in 3D. We are already exporting the 3D models for 3D printing.”

The video is extremely neat to say the least and if given the chance, I suspect many, like yours truly, would want their likeness captured using the system.

The chance to do just that may not be far off.  From Zoellner and Keil,

“Stay tuned. The software will be open source soon if anyone is interested.”

Would you take the opportunity to have an image of yourself in carbonite?  Would you frame the image and hang it in your home?

Make

Angry Birds

There are plenty of Angry Birds eggs being made this year; this one gets my vote for the best due to its perfect detailing. [Source]

Auto (WALL-E)

Very well-made version of the villain Auto (aka Auto-Pilot) from WALL-E. [Source]

Bender (Futurama)

The egg-maker really nailed Bender’s look, but I can’t help wondering why Futurama‘s robot is so angry. [Source]

Binary Code

Binary code is always big among geeks, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s clever or just plain nerdy. [Source]

Bumblebee (Transformers)

It can’t be easy translating the proportions of a Transformer like Bumblebee into an egg, but this one manages to pull it off. [Source]

Chewbacca (Star Wars)

As you’d imagine, there are a ton of homemade Star Wars eggs, but this one grabbed my attention with that realistic fur. Wow. [Source]

Dalek (Doctor Who)

No matter how you slice it, that is just darn impressive. How in the world did they get the eye stalk and arm things to stay on? [Source]

Death Star (Star Wars)

Never have I seen an Easter Egg perfectly convey so much with so little. [Source]

EVE (WALL-E)

Turning an egg into EVE is a total no-brainer; the character is shaped like an egg, after all. This one perfectly captures the lighter side of her personality. [Source]

The Federation (Star Trek)

The United Federation of Planets design is raised and even has a metallic sheen to it. I have no idea how they did it, but it’s awesome. [Source]

iPhone

The Apple “iEgg” is shown here front and back. And yes, if it were real I’d totally use it. [Source]

Iron Man

Absolutely perfect lighting shows off the steel/glowy goodness of this impressive Iron Man mask. [Source]

Joker

Awful photo. (So blurry!) But staggeringly good work on the egg. It captures Joker’s unpredictable malice so well, it scares the crap out of me. [Source]

Naruto

Another one that manages to translate the proportions of a human figure into an egg remarkably well. [Source]

The One Ring

If Easter was celebrated in Middle Earth… well, they wouldn’t use the inscription from Sauron’s evil ring, would they. But I still love the idea. [Source]

Pac-Man

So many Pac-Man eggs, so little time. I picked this one for its instantly-recognizable depiction of Pac-Man. The ghost doesn’t come across quite as well. [Source]

Rorschach

Watchmen‘s signature crime-fighter. [Source]

Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

The anti-hero from Tim Burton’s stop-motion classic is depicted in one of his most memorable moments. [Source]

Spider-Man

Great version of Marvel’s wall-crawler. [Source]

Superman

Looks like clay was added to give this one a raised “S” emblem. Very cool. [Source]

Terminator

It’ll be back. Next Easter. [Source]

Xbox 360

Another one that left me wondering how they pulled it off. I’m sure the silver is some kind of enamel paint, but the green part all but glows. Very impressive. [Source]

Zombie

The visible brains part is brilliantly executed. Love the creativity! [Source]

Kicking off a months-long celebration of Xbox’s flagship game, Microsoft today announced a slew of goodies for Halo fans that will begin this Friday.

Xbox 360′s version of Halo Waypoint is getting a significant update with several new features, including a streamlined experience, making Waypoint faster and smoother. Waypoint fans will gain access to their Halo: Reach service record, complete with detailed stats, which you can compare against your friends, along with two new Waypoint career levels. You’ll be able to launch the Games on Demand version of Halo: Reach from inside Waypoint, too.

Premiering on Waypoint April 23rd is “The Mona Lisa,” a new motion comic that retells a story set after the first Halo game from the Halo Evolutions anthology. The UNSC Red Horse discovers a prison ship called the Mona Lisa adrift in the debris from the first Halo, holding a terrifying secret within its walls. You’ll be able to watch “The Mona Lisa” from Waypoint, Windows Phone 7, and on the Net.

A wealth of new avatar items will be available starting tomorrow (April 14th), including Spartan helmets, Red v. Blue shirts, and even a Flood creature you can own as your pet. Square Enix is also releasing a selection of new Halo action figures. You can see images of all this stuff in the gallery below.

Microsoft fell short of announcing that HD remake of Halo 1 that we’ve been waiting to hear about, but scuttlebutt still suggests that it’s on target for a release this Christmas.

Asteroids

An homage to the classic arcade game. [Source]

Boba Fett

Stride Rite makes a whole series of Star Wars-themed tennis shoes for kids, but there can be none cooler than the Boba Fett models. [Source]

The Dark Knight

Diversitile is a company that specializes in hand-customized apparel and shoes. These custom Dark Knight Nikes made somebody one of the coolest geeks of all time. [Source]

Iron Man

Another from Diversitile, these were put into production in support of Iron Man 2, along with a similar-but-grey pair for War Machine. Gotta love the authentic look and feel. [Source]

Keyboard

Not sure how comfy these would be, since those are real keyboard keys affixed to the outsides. But they will certainly grab attention. [Source]

Toy Story

My favorite part is the “Andy” on the sole. That’s some thoughtful detailing. [Source]

Transformers

You can’t wear these shoes, but who cares! They actually transform from shoe to robot! [Source]

Tron

They really light up, using ELastolite — the same material woven into the costumes made for Tron: Legacy.

Twitter

If you really need to celebrate your favorite microblogging service, there’s an Adidas for that. [Source] They also come in a Facebook flavor.

Xbox 360

Not terribly practical, but come on. Who doesn’t want a pair of shoes that look like game controllers? (The buttons are merely aesthetic.) [Source]

Didn’t you know? Zombies are the new vampires.

Gamers have fought zombies ad nauseum for the last few years in games like Left 4 Dead and its sequel, and zombie-themed expansion packs for games like Call of Duty: World at War and Red Dead Redemption. Even the hero in the Dead Space games battles a futuristic version of the reanimated dead. And let’s not forget the casual title mega-hit Plants vs. Zombies.

So why is Microsoft Game Studios publishing yet another zombie-themed game, exclusively for Xbox 360? Because this one is unlike anything you’ve played before.

Developer Undead Labs was formed with the intention of creating the world’s first zombie apocalypse MMO. While the MMO part has been put on the back burner (I’ll get back to that), the zombie apocalypse part remains a major part of the studio’s debut title, currently code-named Class3. Unlike other zombie-themed games that find you fending off hordes of the undead, Class3 takes a radically different approach. In a scenario that sounds a lot like The Walking Dead, it’s not about destroying the zombies, it’s merely about surviving the apocalypse.

Class3 is described as an “open world zombie-survival game,” and it’s being planned for release via Xbox Live Arcade sometime in 2012 at the earliest. Still in the earliest stages of production, Undead Labs isn’t even showing off any preliminary screenshots at this point, instead opting to reveal a truckload of conceptual art (a full gallery is at the bottom of this article).

In Class3, the end of the world has come. Humanity is all but wiped out, zombies dominate the land, and what few survivors there are must band together to attempt to rebuild some semblance of civilization in the fictional town of Dunniway, a completely open sandbox for you to explore. Played from a third-person perspective, the game features no shortage of guns, cars, hand-to-hand combat, and zombie gore. But don’t let all that violence fool you: the core focus of the game is survival. You’re not trying to take out the zombies, you’re trying to stay as far away from them as possible. You’ll spend most of your time designing and fortifying settlements at locations of your own choosing, undertaking pulse-pounding raids to gather food and ammo, and rescuing other survivors. Undead Labs says that the game’s open world unfolds in real time, being shaped entirely by player actions, with content largely determined by player choices, though there will be some directed objectives, including determining the cause of the zombie outbreak.

The game is expected to offer drop-in/drop-out co-op play, allowing a friend to easily pick up a controller and jump into the fray in the midst of your current game. But what about that MMO aspect?

According to Joystiq, Class3 is just the first part of this zombie-survival franchise that Undead Labs is producing. There are already plans in place for Class4, a sequel that will improve on the original by using the same gameplay (which will be fine-tuned during Class3‘s public release) and add the massively-multiplayer online world aspect to the game.

Twisted Pixel, the game developer behind ‘Splosion Man and Comic Jumper, has announced a new title for Kinect that’s unlike any game for Kinect thus far. Since Kinect was first announced, the elephant in the room has been how the platform would handle traditional games like shooters. Twisted Pixel has come up with a unique solution to this problem, creating a gun-toting, undead cowboy hero who’s really a marionette.

The Gunstringer might just be the first Kinect game you can play while sitting down. Controlled entirely via hand gestures, you manipulate the title character like a puppet through both 2D and 3D environments. Walking and running — another problem for Kinect — are solved by those same hand gestures, which control the marionette’s strings.

Twisted Pixel promises no minigames in The Gunstringer, pointing out that it’s a single-player platformer that’s depicted as if you’re actually watching a real play, complete with an audience that will react appropriately to your actions. The Gunstringer himself is on a quest for revenge against those who killed him, having been raised from the dead (and clearly he owes a bit of his look to classic adventure game Grim Fandango).

The developer also says that the game features movement and aiming with a precision never before achieved in a Kinect title, “with a speed and feel that’s just not possible with a traditional controller.” Watch the trailer below to get an idea of what kind of experience The Gunstringer will offer Xbox 360 Kinect players. It’s not currently known if the game is planned as an Xbox Live Arcade title, or a retail game.

Holographic images are fast becoming a reality thanks to a group at MIT’s Media Lab, and a hacked camera sensor from a Kinect gesture-recognition system for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

According to a story in New Scientist, Michael Bove and his team at the  MIT Media Lab have, in a few short months, increased the frame rate of their project by a factor of 30, from one frame every two seconds to 15 frames per second.

How does Star Wars tie-in to the project?  Graduate student Edwina Portocarrero donned a Princess Leia costume, recreating the holographic projection plea for assistance made famous by Carrie Fisher.

According to Bove,

“The real holographic image couldn’t match the resolution achieved by special effects in the movie.  Princess Leia wasn’t being transmitted in real time. She was stored” in R2-D2′s memory.”

The MIT Media Lab demonstrated their work using computers which created a 3-D profile of the scene and data, resulting in the hologram.

According to New Scientist,

“Bove’s group started with an array of 16 low-resolution infrared cameras, spaced evenly along a metre-long line. Computer processing combined the images to generate the data needed for the 3D holographic projector at the rate of 15 frames per second.’

While anyone has access to a Xbox 360 and Kinect to hack, the holographic projector is an item custom-built by MIT over a decade ago by Stephen Benton and his students.

Bove believes the project will only get better,

“If the software gets faster we can show up to 30 holograms per second.”

Bove and his team are currently engaged in the process of creating a more compact and higher resolution group is working holographic projector.  An item Bove feels will be cheaper to manufacture and result in better holographic images than what the group can produce at present.

Are you a Star Wars fan?  How grand do you think the work of the MIT Media Lab is after reading the above and watching the video below?