Project Natal's New Name Is Kinect

Microsoft's hands-free motion controller, which was once called Project Natal, now has an official name: Kinect.

Earlier this evening, USA Today confirmed rumors of the official branding in advance of Microsoft's Cirque Du Soleil event, which is due to air on MTV this Tuesday. As expected, the hardware publisher has since announced Kinect at the event and even demoed several of the games that will use the device.  
    

The games announced and shown thus far won't be unfamiliar to those with a Wii sitting in their entertainment center. Microsoft is set to publish a collection of sports-themed mini-games called Kinect Sports, a river-rafting title named Kinect Adventures, and a pet-training game called Kinectimals. 

Joy Ride, as rumored, is set to be a Kinect title and will eventually be joined by an MTV Games-developed dance game called Dance Central (which might be the rumored Harmonix-tied Kinect title). A Disney-developed and a LucasArts Star Wars game are also in the works.     
 
But most importantly, we'll be able to finally control the NXE Minority Report-style. According to USA Today, users with Kinect will be able to grab and intialize apps like Netflix with gestures. Freedom!