Before long, your computer is going to be watching your every move—Microsoft is reportedly working on integrating the Kinect motion sensor into laptops. The Kinect, which is a special Xbox peripheral that uses a camera and microphone to watch and listen to a user for commands, has been successfully hacked to work on a computer by hobbyists, but the device would need to be modified significantly to work in a portable product such as a laptop.

The Kinect was released in early November 2010, but hasn’t been overly successful as a gaming controller due to fairly poor participation by game studios. Its uses as a user interface controller have been decidedly more interesting; only a few weeks after the Kinect hit shelves, videos were posted online of people using the device to play a piano as they tapped imaginary keys on a desk, control robotic arms, and navigate through web pages.

Microsoft has been surprisingly supportive of open-source Kinect products, and has released an SDK to allow programmers to more easily access its functions. This news about integrating a Kinect sensor into laptops could lead to Minority Report-esque interfaces in the future, with users speaking commands to their computers and businessmen in airports waving their arms around to view documents on their laptops.

Microsoft provided no estimates as to when we might actually see laptops with motion tracking features, but we do know that they will be licensing the technology to manufacturers rather than building a solution in-house.

The long-awaited third iteration of the popular Diablo action-RPG video game by Blizzard Entertainment is just around the corner. The image shown below is a Best Buy standee advertising a midnight release on February 1st for the long overdue game.

The game, originally announced back in 2008, has been delayed several times in traditional Blizzard style. Going on two years late, players have been itching to get their hands on the much-hyped addition to the story.

Blizzard Entertainment is, of course, extremely well-known for its legendary World of Warcraft MMORPG. WoW players looking to get their hands on Diablo 3 should consider upgrading their WoW subscription to an annual one, as Blizzard says players can get Diablo 3 for free when they do so. Read More

Diablo 3 will be the second sequel to the 1996 instant hit. Diablo 2 still sells thousands of copies a year even today.

Rovio Mobile, the company that brought the increasingly popular mobile gaming phenomenon that is Angry Birds to cell phones all around the world, has announced their acquisition of Kombo, an animation studio based in Finland.

“We have had a long and fruitful relationship with Kombo in the past. This acquisition is an important step in the execution of our media strategy. We look forward to delighting our fans with more Kombo animations,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Robio Mobile.

The terms have not yet been announced, but Kombo will be receiving some mixture of cash and stock in the deal. The announcement was made on Wednesday, only days after Rovio announced a deal with Roku that would allow users to play Angry Birds on their Roku devices.

This deal is yet another step for Rovio and Angry Birds in the direction of becoming a digital media giant, akin to a digital-based version of Disney. The fast-moving company is clearly ambitious, but it is making plenty of headway in becoming a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry.

Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, and the rest of the franchise have combined to amass 200 million downloads since the game’s inception.

Microsoft Xbox 360 has announced that this week there will be a slimmer, souped up version of the console available in stores sometime in June.

The new Xbox is not only sexy and sleek; the developers at Microsoft have managed to cram in an extra 250 GB hard drive and built in Wi-Fi. This new development follows on to Sony’s release of the slimmed down PS3 last year.

The console was revealed in LA last week at a E3 games convention.  Microsoft also revealed a new range of games including the new Call of Duty. One of Microsoft’s most popular games, Call of Duty lets players explore the scenes of Laos and South Vietnam to relive the Vietnam War. This new addition will hit stores on November 9th, just in time for the Christmas seasonal shopping.

Also announced at the LA convention was that Microsoft has signed an exclusive contract with Activision, the developers behind Call of Duty. All of the new features of the game for the next 3 years will be distributed to Xbox before being released to rivals Sony and Nintendo. This means all add-ons and map packs will be exclusive to Xbox before any other console.

A new hands free motion control was also revealed, called ‘Kinect.’ Most people have suspected this would be the next step for Xbox following the popularity of the Wii Console by Nintendo. Nintendo Wii has become one of the leading popular game consoles and has proven to be stiff competition to the Xbox for years.

The announcement of Kinect and Kinect Sports is expected to be greatly appreciated by Xbox fans. The Kinect sports game features six different sporting events. Also released will be Kinetimals which is a virtual animal game where players can play with their pets, feed them, train them, and take care of them.

The Kinect control will launch November 4th in America, with the Europe launch coming a few weeks later.

Crafting Mama

The extent of Mama’s talents are limitless. She can hold her own in the kitchen and garden next to the world’s best, but now Mama is poised to dominate arts & crafts too as Majesco Entertainment Company (Nasdaq: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, announces Crafting Mama exclusively for Nintendo DS.

Developed by Cooking Mama Limited, this all-new crafting game lets players create their own unique crafts across a wide range of different projects.  

“Crafting is a natural extension of our most successful franchise,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Much like last spring’s Gardening Mama, Crafting Mama combines the award-winning Mama formula of addictive stylus-based activities with a popular pastime that has been underserved in videogames. We’re looking forward to sharing Mama’s newest hobby with her vast and diverse group of fans this holiday season.”

In Crafting Mama, players will create 40 different projects across a wide range of different crafts: make patchwork quilts, earrings, candles, xylophones, kaleidoscopes, birdhouses, flower decorations and even mini-Mama dolls! Using the stylus as a universal crafting tool, crafters will sew, mold, glue, cut and paint under Mama’s masterful direction. Best of all, players can use each of their creations within the game itself: dress Mama up in a new apron you’ve sewn or even fly a freshly folded paper airplane.  In addition, new materials, colors and patterns are available to customize each project, and multiplayer support lets players create with a friend. Crafting Mama is guaranteed to turn Mama fans into crafty creators in no time!

Crafting Mama for Nintendo DS is expected to release this fall.