Sports Day Has Arrived

Here we are, then: a new era for Rare. Kinect Sports is our primary focus at E3 and for the rest of 2010 at least, so we hope we can safely say it's got your attention.

So what is it, exactly? Kinect Sports offers the opportunity to challenge your own track record, the best performances of a built-in stable of athletes or the boisterous tactics of your own friends and family. You can play co-operatively or competitively, either in front of the same screen or with competitors across the world via Xbox LIVE. There's a Fact Sheet from E3 elsewhere in the News section if you want the official Microsoft word on the game.

Six full motion-controlled sports are included: Football, Table Tennis, Track and Field, Bowling, Boxing and Beach Volleyball. We've also crammed in a suite of standalone sports challenges and all the quickfire minigame action of Sports Party, catering to an entire room full of people.

When we were brewing up the relaunch of the Rare website in our harmless Icelandic volcano laboratory, building in extra capabilities to make it a top destination for Kinect Sports was always a major part of the plan. With that in mind, plenty more content will be thrown at our Sports pages as we sprint towards launch and the game's workings are revealed in more detail.

Right now we've got the first official shots and trailer, an overview of the events and some of the game modes, and we'll be adding to that with extra video coverage, descriptions of more features and ways to play, and whatever else we can come up with.

For the long-term fans, rest assured we're not turning our back on the entire glorious sprawl of Rare history - especially with 2010 being the year of our 25th anniversary. For now, though, we're taking the opportunity to capitalise on our work with Avatars and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities offered by Microsoft's latest system, and we have our hands pretty full with making Kinect Sports as good as we can possibly get it. We'll keep you apprised of its progress in the months ahead.