Microsoft has been teasing a pretty big E3 for a while now (at least ever since Phil Spencer took over), but this does beg the question (naturally)- how and why? Are Microsoft counting on third party multiplat games making an impression? Because those are also available on the PS4 (and almost always better). Are they counting on third party exclusives? In spite of Microsoft’s historic competence in this area, that seems increasingly unlikely as well.

It seems Microsoft is actually relying on its own internal studios for a change to shore up exclusive content for its system. For instance, their Big Park Studios have confirmed that they they will be showing something off at E3 this year.

For those of you who are asking who Big Park Studios are, well, they’re a rather small team who have so far only worked on Joy Ride, and on Kinect Sports Season 2… so only Kinect games so far. However, there may yet be hope that they have graduated from Kinect (maybe to the Xbox Live Arcade), especially since Microsoft has decoupled Kinect from the Xbox One.

We don’t know yet- it remains to be seen.

Kinect Sports: Season Two is rated PEGI 3 and is available exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360. It includes six exciting new sports, including Darts, Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Baseball and American Football. Competitive fun for the whole family, fans around the world have made Kinect Sports the best-selling franchise on Kinect for Xbox 360, with more than three million games sold to date – the most of any Kinect title. New game add-ons – including the recent Midnight Mountain Ski Pack and Maple Lakes Golf Pack – will be made available each and every month through Spring 2012.

Check out this new Kinect Sports Season 2 Trailer.

With more than three million copies of the original “Kinect Sports” sold to date, “Kinect Sports: Season Two” carries on the torch of the best-selling Kinect franchise with the arrival of Darts, Skiing, Tennis, Golf, Baseball and American Football, delivering hours of friendly competition and cooperative gameplay for veteran athletes to rookies and Kinect newcomers alike.

I love the Tennis game mode in Kinect Sports 2; it brings out the pro tennis player in me. Ah… who am I kidding? I’m trying to reduce weight in the most fun way imaginable. Tennis without a racket in my hands! Rare’s Kinect Sports 2 lets me do just that. As we have seen from most of the new upcoming games for Kinect, developers really have mastered how to develop for the Kinect. The lag is basically non-existent. I may be slightly exaggerating, but there is a definite improvement in most of the recent games out there and that cannot be a co-incidence.

Kinect Sports 2 works really well. The tracking is top notch and we have voice controls this time around. Again, plenty of recent Xbox 360 games have utilized Kinect’s voice control feature. While it’s not that complex, it does its job well. It’s a lot more integrated here with in-game options, which I’ll let you guys figure it out since it’s really good and worth discovering on your own. The game uses all of Kinect’s features and is one of the polished games Rare has made. It’s basically the same as the first game though. That feeling of familiarity won’t go away, but it doesn’t have to as well.

There are a lot of new game types here: American football, Baseball, Tennis, Throwing darts and so on. Each of these game modes are unique and have a lot of depth to them. Aside from burning calories they actually work as intended. Baseball has been nicely done, you feel really good when you hit a home run and that’s the way it should be. Golf is a little complex, but you can adjust to it pretty easily. Tennis my favorite game mode is, well, amazing. It’s quite simple though and can be mastered quite fast. Throwing darts are addictive as well and after Tennis, it is the one that shows the most potential. These gameplay modes won’t seem like a lot, and this is where the game falters.

Kinect Sports 2 feels like a incremental upgrade over its predecessor. You can play online with other players on Live, which does increase the replay value, but it would have been nice if Rare put a lot of game modes in it. Some people might question the price to content ratio here, and sadly, I have to say that the content is lacking. It’s a great game mind you, I can keep playing Tennis a lot, but that’s just a subjective thing, right? I can’t speak for everyone. The good thing is that the game modes are well designed and are a lot of fun to play. Motion controlled gaming has come a long way, and it remains to be seen if the future tech can increase the gameplay potential a lot.

This game has the potential of holding your attention for a long time, as there are quite a lot of difficulty settings and challenge modes. Along with competitive multiplayer on Xbox Live, and some extremely easy achievements, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be buying this game, especially if you liked the first one. Sure, it feels like an expansion pack, and if you like to get a lot of content for the money invested, then by all means feel free to ignore this game. If you are a Kinect owner, and are on the lookout for some good party game, this game should be in your collection.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Just like in the UK all-formats charts, Battlefield 3 has topped the UK Xbox 360 charts for the week ending October 29, toppling Batman: Arkham City, which has dropped down to No.2.

Forza Motorsport 4 performed strong again, appearing at the third spot, and FIFA 12 and Gears of War 3 followed at #4 and #5 respectively, still going strong after weeks of release.

Kinect Sports: Season 2 debuted at the 6th position, with Rage appearing at 7 and Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure at 8.

Dead Island and Deus Ex: Human Revolution at 9 and 10 respectively round off the top 10.

Here’s the full top 10 for the week ending October 29:

01. Battlefield 3 (EA)
02. Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive)
03. Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft)
04. FIFA 12 (EA)
05. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)
06. Kinect Sports: Season Two (Microsoft)
07. Rage (Bethesda)
08. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Activision Blizzard)
09. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
10. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)

When you take the field it’s time for your arm to do the talking. Take the sign from your catcher, wind up, and fire it in there! Depending on your arm speed, you’ll be able to throw a variety of six pitches from a mean slider to a tricky curve to a good old fashioned heater. Like hitting, you’ll have the option to use your voice to call in your Star Pitcher once per game. His fastballs make hitter’s heads spin, so be sure to use him when you need that crucial third out. If your opponents do manage to put the ball in play, you’ll have to flash your leather and showcase your lightning reflexes by tracking the hit and making the catch to keep runners off base.

Big surprise.

Microsoft announced the sequel to Rare’s Wii Sports rip off, Kinect Sports, at their E3 presser today. The game looks like a poor (or rich, depending upon how much money you spent on the Kinect) man’s Wii Sports Resort, although it clearly won’t be half as fun.

God damn it Microsoft, won’t you just stop it with the Kinect stuff already? We get it, you’ve justified the Kinect enough already!

Check out the trailer below.