Star Wars Kinect alive and well

Star Wars Kinect, unveiled during Microsoft's E3 2010 Project Natal extravaganza with an on-stage demonstration accompanied by a video, is indeed a game and not a tech demo, LucasArts has confirmed to Eurogamer.

We'd heard from a well-informed source at the US studio that LucasArts only heard about the game "just before E3", and apparently the video shown at the lavish Los Angeles event was just that, with no game actually behind it.

LucasArts denied the claim, however, and reconfirmed to Eurogamer that Star Wars Kinect, which is quietly in development at Ghostbusters: The Videogame creator Terminal Reality, will be released next year.

"The game remains in development with Microsoft Games Studios and Terminal Reality but we have no additional information to share at this time," a LucasArts spokesperson said.

"The game doesn't come out until 2011, so we've got some time.

"Stay tuned!"

Little is known about the controller-free Star Wars game.

Terminal Reality is building it with the Infernal Engine, the same used to create Ghostbusters, according to Gamasutra.

Terminal Reality briefly mentions it on on its official site.

"Whew – That was a big secret to keep!" says the developer. "We can't say much about it right now, but we're chomping at the bit to show you more."

The video shown during E3 2010, which you can see below, suggests Star Wars Kinect is an on-rails third-person action game in which the player wields an imaginary lightsaber and duels Darth Vader.

Microsoft's promised exciting Kinect-related news at its Tokyo Game Show press conference, scheduled for this Thursday. Could Star Wars Kinect play a part?