Given the breakout success of Microsoft’s 
Kinect voice and motion controller, it was only a matter of time before the ad weasels took an interest in the platform.
On Tuesday, Microsoft introduced NUads, which allows viewers to interact with ads in games, videos and the Xbox Dashboard via their Kinect controller.
Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris 
considers how important E3 now is to the gaming industry, noting that “the industry has changed – and so have the marketing strategies of its players.”
As the circus comes to Los Angeles and the gaming industry prepares for the weeklong bacchanalia that is E3, there’s already plenty of hype about what to expect, what will be said and what will be the biggest thing at the show.
These are all fun questions – but as E3 enters its 17th year, it’s worth a look to see if the show is as important and as relevant to the industry as it was in years past. While E3 used to be a Mecca for game developers and publishers to show off their wares, the industry has changed – and so have the marketing strategies of its players.
Granted, E3 is a video game trade show, but in between all
the talk about Kinect and “Gears of War 3” at its pre-show press conference this year, expect Microsoft to have plenty to say about the non-gaming world.
The Xbox 360 has been a leader in general entertainment among the major consoles – but other devices, particularly Sony’s PlayStation 3, have been playing a good game of catch up. A recent statement by the company’s VP of corporate communications, however, indicates the company is hoping to ready to jump back out in front.
[Gamasutra’s Chris Morris looks at how Microsoft’s 
Kinect has found success despite some shortcomings, and how a well-executed plan for the device is needed, as “the novelty will only take it so far.”]
You’d have to be a fool to argue that Microsoft’s launch of Kinect was anything but a success. With sales of the peripheral already topping 10 million (setting a Guinness record for the “fastest selling consumer device” in the process), it’s one of those rare items that have actually surpassed people’s expectations.
But the more time I spend with Kinect, the more it occurs to me how Microsoft inadvertently followed in Apple’s footsteps with the device – finding tremendous success in a new gaming area despite not knowing exactly what it was doing.
Your high school drama teacher might 
have suggested that the best place for you when it comes to acting is in the audience, but does a PhD give him the ability to spot raw talent? No way!
Fortunately, with the help of an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, you can finally show the world your star potential by acting it out in some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.
The video game industry got some 
long-awaited good news in February.
Software sales came in slightly better than analysts were expecting, while hardware sales shattered forecasts. For the month, game sales fell 5 percent versus a year ago, according to the NPD. (Analysts had expected a drop of between 6 and 10 percent.) Sales of gaming hardware were up a surprising 10 percent, though.
The video game industry pulled a rabbit out of its 
hat in February – and that rabbit looked a lot like an Xbox 360.
A surprise 10 percent jump in hardware sales and a 22 percent increase in peripheral sales not only led the industry to an increase over the February 2010 numbers, but put it in positive year-over-year country as well, according to data from the NPD Group.
That long string of numbers and letters you 
have to type in when redeeming a Microsoft Points card might seem random, but a group of hackers recently discovered it wasn’t.
Today, Microsoft is licking its wounds after taking a $1.2 million loss once that information was made public.
Dance games are quickly becoming the best titles 
of the Kinect crop, but Dance Paradise seems to forget that a lot of the players might have two left feet. It’s a fun game that gets a lot right, but many of the dance moves are complicated and confusing, especially for newcomers. The tutorial sets up the initial premise of the game, but doesn’t help you learn any of the advanced moves. If you’ve got rhythm, though, this might be a good game for you. It comes with a variety of game play modes and local multiplayer lets you play with a friend in the same room. (Multiplayer matches through Xbox Live are not supported.) The visuals, meanwhile, are good and the song collection is robust, ranging from Lady Gaga and Rihanna to Gloria Gaynor and Kool & the Gang. Onlookers will appreciate the music videos that play in the background, but players probably will be too focused on their next dance move to pay much attention.
Heavy metal, mind control…Big Bird? One 
of these things is not like the others — and to Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions, that’s just the way they like it.
Due this fall for the Xbox 360, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will let young gamers join Cookie Monster, Elmo and other familiar Muppets in a living storybook via the console’s controller-free Kinect system. Players young and old will interact with characters and solve problems through dancing, jumping and other physical interactions.
Chris Morris: Journalist 