I haven’t written here for the whole month and with the last few hours of November now ticking away I thought I’d share this bit of gaming news with you.

As you know I write for three gaming websites, and recently the official Microsoft France blog asked me to write something to be posted on their blog. Yesterday it went up, and here it is!

http://xbox.frogz.fr/post/2010/11/29/Le-lancement-britannique-de-Kinect-vu-par-KINECTakucom.aspx

If your French is as good as mine, there’s an English version at the bottom, or reprinted below. The website itself also has a photo from my wife so double bonus!

Gamers up and down the UK braved the cold to get their hands on Kinect first, but customers in London were treated to a touch of glamour at Kinect’s official launch party.

Above a glowing ice rink at the Natural History Museum, popstar Leona Lewis took to the stage to perform several of her biggest hits whilst staff from Kinect developers Frontier, Rare and Lionhead were on hand to discuss the new technology.

Following the party, the countdown to Kinect was on at Game’s flagship Oxford Street store, where boyband The Wanted were on hand to try out the games and serve the first customers at the tills, even taking part in a Video Kinect call with gamers attending the midnight launch at Game’s Leeds store.

They weren’t the only special guests, however: Kinect’s creative director Kudo Tsunoda was on hand to check out proceedings, snapping photos and chatting to customers about the sensor, its games and the future of Kinect.

Of the launch titles, by far the most asked-for was Rare’s Kinect Sports, without a doubt one of the most impressive applications of the technology out there, and MTV’s Dance Central flew off the shelves too. Both titles seem to have captured the imagination of gamers and non-gamers alike, although many customers spoke of their excitement at playing pack-in game Kinect Adventures.

The readers and staff at KINECTaku joined in with the excitement on their forums and via Twitter gamers counting down to the launch of the sensor and sharing their hopes for the future.

Whilst the UK launch didn’t quite match the sensor’s global debut at Times Square for spectacle and impact, it still carried the same kind of atmosphere normally reserved for new console launches. The excitement surrounding the product was unbelievable, with all ages and levels of gaming experience eager to become the controller.

Kinect got off to a flying start in the UK, and once word of mouth begins to kick in Kinect looks like being a huge success for Microsoft.

James Newton, KINECTaku

Let accusations of bias commence now!