So we've been dazzled by the Cirque Du Soleil performance, seen some of the early Kinect launch titles, watched Microsoft's keynote and about to set onto the show floor of E3 2010.

Already, before anyone has even been given the chance to play the Kinect game, opinions are flowing thick and fast through the internet's veins.

What isn't so great are the judgements that seem to have already been cast both for and against Kinect's success in providing new play experiences. Having gone hands-on with what was then known as Natal at E3 2009, and attended both the Kinect event and the keynote earlier today, the three of us are quite optimistic.

But you know what? That doesn't matter in the slightest. What we and most of you reading this think is the absolute least of Microsoft's worries. And here's why.
Fame = publicity

To begin with, let's have a look at the actual method Microsoft chose for unveiling it. Tens of millions of people across the world have seen a Cirque Du Soleil performance at some point, either in-person or broadcasted on TV as almost a dozen different versions tour the world for years.

Their blending of narrative and art into acrobatic circus performances has given rise to incredible success, mesmerising and intriguing audiences in equal measure. Basically, if you haven't heard of the Cirque yet, you're missing out.

Microsoft knows this, and has smartly used the instant publicity generated by the mere mention of the Cirque to push awareness of the event beyond the gaming community. Where E3 has been a gamer-only haven, suddenly a wide door has been thrown open to the rest of the world the potential gamers out there put off by the constant talk of specs, numbers, sequels and concepts that just serve to confuse all but the most experienced gamers.
Visual format to attract casuals

This was very evident from the format of the event. Very few words were spoken, ensuring language was not a barrier in any way. Microsoft chose not to explain the ideas, but simply to show and try to communicate the experience they are seeking the create with Kinect.

Linking in with the new name, the pre-show performance involved actors interacting with the audience and encouraging forms of communication using movement and body language without a word spoken.

While this may seem potentially childish or even pretentious to us, who have already been aware of the device for a year and more interested in games and tech, this is perhaps the best way yet for reaching the non-gamers out there. Hence, the broadcast of the show due to air tomorrow across the US.

There's no jargon to understand by removing the ‘tell' from ‘show and tell'.

Although there were a few hairy bits, such as the over-long pre-show and use of prerecorded video and canned animations. Understandable however they get one shot at something this big and expensive.

But what better way to utilise a room full of a thousand media, distributors and journalists from across the world than giving them an experience rather than a press release or spec sheet? Simply put, you and I are not the people Microsoft have done this for. We just happen to be the first to know, because we actively search it out.
Games: Target your real audience

Onto point number two: the games. While Sony has chosen the route of building for their existing customers with Move, something gamers obviously appreciate, Microsoft appears to be going the other direction and creating games around the device for those who do not own a console yet.

In essence, the launch titles are all concepts that require no explanation on what to do. There's a car on screen: mime a steering wheel. A dancer: mimic their moves. It's exactly what can convert watchers to players, by removing any form of what we have been trained to believe games require, such as instructions or the ‘middleman' in the form of a controller converting micro-actions like button presses into larger in-game actions.

While we definitely have reservations about the large number of duplicates in the launch line-up such as 4 fitness games, 3 sports and 2 dance, unfortunately this is difficult to control from third-party publishers all seeking to capture the same market. Our picks were definitely Dance Central and Your Shape, alongside the expected Kinect Animals and Kinect Adventure.
Complaints: over the top?

Finally, to address some quite unusual complaints that have appeared today:

Lag: I'm honestly quite surprised this was even mentioned. There's no denying Microsoft had prerecorded all the footage shown on the screen at the event. What I can't understand is how the obvious slight differences between the screen animations that were NOT being rendered live and the movements of the actors can be considered lag.

Kinect was not used at all in the performance. Would you judge the sound quality of a microphone from a singer lip-synching?

Name: This caused some buzz when the word appeared on the screen. Changing from an unusual word to another doesn't make immediate sense, especially since we've gotten so used to saying it for the last year, but I can understand their reasoning.

Going back to the target audience, they are the ones who are not yet aware of it (until tomorrow), so it doesn't make a different for them. The shift from Revolution to Wii had a similar response. On a secondary angle, our Australian readers may not know but recently Microsoft launched two phones in the US known as ‘Kin', promoting social networking which appears to link in with ‘Kin'ecting people.

Hardware: It has now well and truly been demonstrated exactly how Kinect is in no way an Eyetoy or PSEye. From showing 3 people in Dance Central still being tracked while standing BEHIND each other, to Your Shape mapping joints and body shape to modify workouts and even the avatar shedding clothes when you do, to voice-control on the interface, this is a whole new device.

It's like comparing the iPhone or Android Phone to an original Nokia brick they're both just phones, so they're exactly the same, right?

The additional touches like directional microphones, 3D infra-red tracking regardless of ambient light and objects in the room and even a motorised base to allow the camera to swivel and follow you use you move so there's no ‘boundaries' all show a lot of care has gone into making it right.

We're very excited for the future of Kinect, and what it will do for the 360.

While we're also fans of the Move which aims to expand our gaming experience, Kinect is taking the route of transforming it entirely for a new audience an audience that is critical for gaming to survive in a time of costs rising far faster than sales numbers.
– External power brick has been shrunk once more, featuring a plug connection that makes the PSUs completely incompatible between the old and new machines

- Toslink optical audio output, meaning that you can connect your 360 to the HDTV via HDMI and run out an additional surround sound feed direct to your amp.