14 DAY TRIAL // It has been rumored that Sega will be announcing at E3 a Project Natal compatible game, entitled Sonic Free Riders. It will be a motion controlled Sonic racer available on Xbox Live Arcade. Nothing has been confirmed either by Sega or Microsoft yet, so there are no details about the launch date and pricing.
The rumor reported by Joystiq also revealed the way in which the title would be controlled. Apparently, players will use their body to steer the on-screen vehicle, will get new weapons to shoot at their competition by simply reaching out to the screen and will attack other players by performing a gesture towards them. With E3 steadily approaching, we will soon find out whether this is true or false.
There might be some verisimilitude to this report, as Sega has proven it is a competent supporter of motion control-based platforms. Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Nintendo Wii is one of the few third-party games that really look good on the platform. Moreover, Sega has stated that Project Natal and the PlayStation Move will attract a breed of consumers more keen on its creations. There is no doubt that the Japanese publisher has motion controlled titles in development, as it has promised it will reveal its Natal and Move projects at E3 2010.
At this year's E3, Project Natal is getting its own showcasing event from Microsoft, separately from the company's other devices and projects. This World Premiere conference should finally unveil Natal's pricing, launch date and maybe a new official name, setting aside all the speculations that have been made. Furthermore, games compatible with the software giant's buttonless controller should also be shown off, as not many such titles are known at this time.