A Mel B fitness game has been announced for Kinect. That's right, Mel B is going to be in your living room...sensing you (scared!).

The game's on show at developer Black Bean's E3 booth. Here's the reasoning:

"We were looking to the future of interaction in Family & Lifestyle products, not just as a porting of a dated experience but as a fresh new vision", says Fabrizio Vagliasindi, strategic corporate coordinator at Black Bean Games.

"Get Fit With Mel B is going into that direction, trying to redesign the feeling of interaction with a trendy approach to a user interface."



We'd like to say that the announcement of a Mel B fitness game for Kinect represents her career waning slightly, but let's face facts, it's worse than that.

Back in the 90's and the early Noughties a fitness video was the sign of a career going down the pan. Welcome to the future, times have changed, now Z-list celebrity careers end on consoles.

Sure, she looks great, but what if she opens her mouth. What if?!

Enough of her. Expect more Kinect releases at the Microsoft conference.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

The world’s games press have for the first time had some hands-on fun with Microsoft’s initial range of Kinect (formerly Natal) titles and if one thing’s clear it’s that the platform holder has big mass-market casual gamer aspirations with its new technology.
Leading the line-up is Kinect Sports. Though MS will no doubt deny it, the inspiration for the title is clear – it doesn’t want anyone buying Kinect to feel as if they’re missing out on the Wii Sports experience.
Developed by Rare and making big use of Xbox 360’s avatars (a system that the UK studio itself devised). Mini-games on show included Hurdles, which requires users to run on the spot and jump over obstacles.
Interestingly, success is measured not be speed of movement but by how many calories the player burns. Kinect is able to detect your total body movement and calculate energy burn accordingly.
Also available was a bowling title that, despite concerns about Natal’s precision, seemed to allow for the nuances you’d expect such as spin.

Next up was Harmonix’s Kinect title Dance Central, which seemed to receive the best reception from attendees at Microsoft’s event. Users are required to mimic the on-screen moves of stars such as Lady Gaga. The mass-market appeal of the title is obvious, and technically it appeared to run well.
Joy Ride has been in the pipeline for a while now and works very much as you would expect/ Players must ‘hold’ an imaginary steering wheel to control the on-screen action.
The visually impressive Kinect Adventures is being developed by Natal creator Kudo Tsunoda and is home to the ‘Ricochet’ and ‘River Rush’ demos that MS had previously touted. Though its branding would suggest otherwise, Kinect Adventures is in reality another mini-game collection – and one that many seemed to be having more trouble getting to grips with than some of the other titles on show.
In what may well be the first of many Kinect-specific fitness games, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved rounded off the bunch – and was more than simply a little evocative of existing titles on rival systems. Copying the on-screen actions was very much the order of the day, though a number of muscle-testing mini-games were also demonstrated.
It’s easy to imagine Kinect being a big success with the same sort of audience who already enjoy the Wii, but expect the specialist press to dwell on the stern technical questions that are already being asked about the new Xbox 360 technology

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39479/E3-2...-Kinects-games ...

Vodafone's 360 app store will be embedded on the two devices, giving users a choice of destinations for their apps (the other being Android Market) and developers two outlets for both native products and cross platform JIL apps .
The operator is confident its store can give partners a better result because of what it claims is the richer retailing experience offered by 360.
The store has a personalisation engine (powered by Xiam), for example, which provides recommendations based on user behaviour.
Vodafone says its analytics show that four times more customers buy on the basis of recommendation than on promotion.
The operator also believes the simplified operator billed buying process and the bringing together of music, graphics, ringtones, ebooks, video and other 'entertainment' products on the store will make it a stickier site for end-users.

Lee Epting, director of content at Vodafone's Internet Services, told ME this move is all about giving developers more reach.
"Until now, Android developers have only had Android Market through which to reach end users. We're giving them another option, but with a much better retail experience," she said.
Initially, the launch will cover Sony Ericsson X10 Mini and HTC Buzz only, and will be live from later in the summer.
It should be stressed that Vodafone announced in February that its 'People' app would be downloadable to Android phones. Clearly, this is a much more serious tilt at the Google platform.
The move reflects a general desire by Vodafone to move 360 in the direction of 'horizontals' rather than 'verticals'.
In English, this means an effort to put components of the service (which include an enhanced address book, an app shop, a music service and the 'My Web' portal) across multiple devices and platforms – rather than piling them all into one '360' phone (such as the much maligned Samsung H1 and M1).
Of course, Vodafone 360 has received a colossal kicking since launch last September, not least for screwing up the email and syncing functionality at launch.
Epting was candid enough to admit to errors. "We thought we were ready. We'd tested and tested... but launching a 24/7 internet services on top of a network is extremely complex and it needs to work seamlessly. We found that our test cases didn't cover enough...But we fixed that, and the response from users has been excellent."
The criticism hasn't abated. But Epting maintains that 360 is winning consumers over, claiming that ARPU for the service's users is three times higher than for regular Vodafone Live users, and that 88 per cent of 360 customers are new to data services.
However, she still wouldn't give an overall number for total 360 users.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37464...mes-to-Android ...

Zoe Mode has been revealed a the developer of the next installment in the Disney karaoke series Sing It.
Heading to the Wii and PS3, Disney Sing It: Party Hits brings together the typical selection of sacharin pop hits, and is presumably bolstered by Zoe Mode's impressive audio facility in London's Sout Bank area.
"The Disney Sing It franchise built its immense following by consistently providing the songs teens and tweens want to sing, and Disney Sing It: Party Hits continues that trend," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing at Disney Interactive Studios.
"With the addition of Demi Lovato as an in-game vocal coach, fans will also get the real-world benefit of improving their skills by learning proper vocal training from a pro."

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...Sing-It-sequel ...

Most UK retailers think the iPad could experience the same popularity as the iPhone, a PCR survey has found.
The study, conducted by Infinite Field Marketing on behalf of PCR, asked 250 stores: “Will the iPad be as successful as the iPhone?” 72 per cent said yes, 28 per cent didn’t know, but no-one said no.
The research comes just weeks before the iPhone 4 is due to hit UK stores.
Earlier this month, Steve Jobs claimed Apple sells one iPad every three seconds. “So far, I’d have to say that people seem to be liking iPads,” the CEO said.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/33724...sful-as-iPhone ...

Rooms: The Main Building has topped the ELSPA GfK Chart-Track DS Top 40 for the second consecutive week, ahead of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. The DS puzzler has proved to be a surprise hit for Nintendo, also reaching No.4 in the All Formats charts – up from 12th place last week.
This gives the publisher eight games in the Top Ten along with GSP/Avanquest’s Jewel Quest Mysteries (5th) and Ubisoft’s Peppa Pig (8th).
Rooms is also one of the most successful new portable IP from Nintendo since Professor Layton.

The game – released on June 4th – challenges players to move objects around in each room before they can progress. The casual puzzler, developed by Hudson Entertainment, was also released on Wii in the US. A European release has not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption retained its Number One position in the All Formats Top 40, despite the release of long-awaited Wii sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2 last Friday.
Here’s the ELSPA GfK Chart-Track DS Top Ten (for the week ending June 11th):
1. Rooms: The Main Building (Nintendo)
2. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo)
3. Pokémon SoulSilver (Nintendo)
4. Pokémon HeartGold (Nintendo)
5. Jewel Quest Mysteries: The Emerald Tear (GSP/Avanquest)
6. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
7. Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box (Nintendo)
8. Peppa Pig: Fun and Games (Ubisoft)
9. Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo)
10. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (Nintendo)

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/302...-the-DS-charts ...

For years it was a single-game annual licence, but THQ this year is heading to E3 with news of a three-pronged WWE attack on the video games genre.
Chief amongst its offering will be the lucrative WWE Smackdown vs Raw franchise, which has now shipped over 50m units and will return later this year in its 2011 iteration.
Promising “best-in-class creation tools”, the game also packs more WWE Community Creations features than ever before. To date that service has seen 7.5m wrestling stars created by users as well as 500k story designs and 500k finishing moves.
A roster of over 70 pro wrestlers is also included, each boosted with new skin textures and animations. It’s due out on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Wii on October 26th.
A new entry in THQ’s wrestling slate is WWE All Stars. Carrying on from where last year’s WWE Legends of Wrestlemania left off, the title will feature an unprecedented roster of stars both old and new presented in an exaggerated over-the-top play style. WWE All Stars will hit Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Wii in early 2011.


Joining those two is new free-to-play PC title WWE Smackdown vs Raw Online which is currently in development for release in the Korean market and is due out early next year.
“Through our new direct eight-year agreement and invaluable partnership with WWE, the opportunities to bring the brand's ever-changing content and vibrant WWE Superstar personalities to life in the video game world are more promising than ever,” THQ’s executive VP of core game brands Danny Bilson stated.
“Our E3 lineup of WWE products has exceptional potential, reaching core and casual audiences with a definitive simulation-based experience, fun, fast-paced and larger than life action through our newest brand extension, as well as an innovative new way to embrace WWE through our free-to-play online initiatives for the Korean market.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39477/E3-2...goes-WWE-crazy ...

Microsoft's second round of E3 press conferences kicks off from 6PM BST this afternoon, where the platform holder will (hopefully) show off the 'core' side of its 2010 line-up.


As you can see from our What's in Microsoft's conference? feature, we're expecting the house of Xbox to unveil anything from a slim 360 console, to 3D plans and more concrete details on Kinect. But that's not necessarily what we'd like to see.

What we'd love Microsoft to unveil is a core game from Rare (Perfect Dark will do), a surprise or too and something that'll sell Kinect to those interested in things other than Yoga or party games.

But that's us - what would you like see dancing on the big Xbox television screens in Los Angeles tonight? Share you're opinions below and we'll take the mickey out of the worst ones in our Xbox live blog later this afternoon.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

The US International Trade has opened an investigation into whether Apple has infringed on HTC’s technology, as the smartphone rivals continue their legal wrangling over hardware and software patents.
HTC is looking to secure a ban on the US importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod, just days after Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone 4.
According to the ITC’s statement, the case concerns devices that “utilize certain power management methods and may incorporate hardware and software for telephone directories within mobile telephone systems.”
“We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones,” Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s vice president of North America, said when the firm filed its lawsuit in May.
HTC submitted a complaint to the ITC last month after Apple launched a lawsuit against the Taiwanese firm in March for allegedly infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone's “user interface, underlying architecture and hardware”.

Apple is also being sued in a separate case by Elan Microelectronics, which is demanding that the ITC bans Apple from importing or selling the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook or Magic Mouse in the US. According to the firm, these devices’ multi-touch enabled touchpads or touchscreens infringe its patent.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/33712...t-infringement ...