Five Xbox 360 Kinect games announced for 2011

Microsoft has announced five new, exclusive games for Xbox 360 that will work with the console’s upcoming Kinect motion gaming system. The titles - “Steel Battalion Heavy Armor” (Capcom), “Rise of Nightmares” (SEGA), “codename D” (Grasshopper Manufacture), “Haunt” (NanaOn-Sha) and “Project Draco” (Grounding) – all debuted at the Tokyo Game Show 2010; they’re expected to arrive sometime in 2011.

The titles themselves range from 3D flying to first-person shooters, though full details on how players will control them using Kinect is yet to be seen. Similarly, it’s unclear whether the games are single-player or take advantage of Kinect’s support for more than two simultaneous gamers.

• “codename D” (Grasshopper Manufacture, Microsoft Game Studios). From the famed makers of “killer7” and the “NO MORE HEROES” series comes “codename D” from SUDA 51 for Microsoft Game Studios. You must fight for your life to survive an evil amusement park filled with twisted and eerie creatures. With “codename D” for Kinect for Xbox 360, you are the controller as you unleash devastating effects to destroy enemies and objects.

• “Project Draco” (Grounding, Microsoft Game Studios). The director of the cult hits “Phantom Dust” and “Panzer Dragoon,” game director Yukio Futatsugi, brings you an epic 3-D flying shooter. With the magic of Kinect for Xbox 360, you will be able to nurture and learn to communicate with your dragon as you develop its skills and train it as a partner in combat. Then join friends* on Xbox LIVE to feel the rush of flight as you take to the skies together and experience breathtaking vistas and engage in thrilling battles.