So we know that CES is going on and admits the new Phones, Computers, Televisions and e-Readers… being announced there are a few announcements you should care about.

Microsoft Game Room
In one of the coolest retro moves this generation Microsoft has announced their game Room for Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live. The Game Room should really be called the Xbox Live Arcade, considering that it is trying to imitate the feeling of being at an Arcade but that name was already taken.

The concept is simple, let you play old school arcade games on your Xbox or PC in an Arcade aesthetic with other Avatars running around. The service will launch in Spring (Us time) with 30 games with a expectation of 5-7 games a week coming to the service with around 1000 classic arcade games released in the first 3 years.

You will also get a customizable, and probably upgradeable for the right price, arcade area (thus the Home comparisons) for your Avatar. Oh and did I mention the titles will contain Achievements? Yes that is right, you can play old school arcade games and boost your Gamer Score at the same time.

The pricing is going to be crucial to the success of the service so obviously Microsoft is going to be smart with the pricing right? Well the answer to that is sort of. The first play of the game is free, after that it costs you either 50 Microsoft points to play the game once, that’s 80c every time you want to play it, I get the cuteness of a quarter per play but wouldn’t it be better at 10 Microsoft points, I know I would play a lot more games at that price point. Alternatively you can purchase the game for 240 Microsoft Points to use on your Xbox or PC but to use it on both you need to pay 400 Microsoft Points just to be confusing.

If you’re still not sure about the Game Room I haven’t told you the best reason to support the service? It’s made buy Australian developers Krome Studios.

Oh and don't let the screens fool you, there is a nice menu setup to find the game you want as well, this isn't Home.

The launch games are as follows:

1. Centipede (arcade)
2. Asteroids Deluxe (arcade)
3. Tempest (arcade)
4. Crystal Castles (arcade)
5. Lunar Lander (arcade)
6. Jungler (arcade)
7. Road Fighter (arcade)
8. Scramble (arcade)
9. Finalizer (arcade)
10. Tutankham (arcade)
11. Shao-Lin's Road (arcade)
12. Super Cobra (arcade)
13. Red Baron (arcade)
14. Gravitar (arcade)
15. Battlantlis
16. Astrosmash (Intellivision)
17. Mountain Madness Super Pro Skiing (Intellivision)
18. Armor Battle (Intellivision)
19. Space Hawk (Intellivision)
20. Sub Hunt (Intellivision)
21. Sea Battle (Intellivision)
22. Space Armada (Intellivision)
23. Astrosmash (Intellivision)
24. Star Raiders (Atari 2600)
25. Outlaw (Atari 2600)
26. Yar's Revenge (Atari 2600)
27. Millipede (Atari 2600)
28. Football (Atari 2600)
29. RealSports Tennis (Atari 2600)
30. Combat (Atari 2600)

3D TV is the new HD
Besides the exciting announcement from Panasonic that specific TV models will have Skype natively (I know right!) there is a growing trend among the major manufactures. This trend is 3D, yes just like the Avatar movie you should have all gone and seen at the Cinema. Well instead of going to the movies, for the price of a new TV you can have Avatar in your home. This is the next big push by companies like Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Sony to get consumers to buy a new HD TV.

“What has this got to do with gaming?” I hear you ask, well Sony announced not long ago that all Playstation 3’s would only need a Firmware update to play 3D content. Oh and that Dark Void, Grand Turismo 5, Super Star Dust HD, Batman and others were all playable in 3D on the show floor on different consoles and PC’s. Initial impressions are good for the emerging technology and really should add something to the experience when (and if) the technology finally comes to consoles. (Just to note that NVIDIA already has 3D capable games on the PC)

Lets just hope that they add in the 3D capability for no extra money otherwise most consumers will ignore the 3D technology and just get a larger TV. For 3D to be sucessful it needs to be in every device sold after 2010 so that we have no choice but to buy a 3D TV and convice general consumers to try the technlolgy.

Natal Scaled Back
Remember Microsoft’s Project Natal that was all the rage at E3, of course you do, well back then Microsoft announced that the device would carry most of the processing power needed for the motion control. This would allow developers to utilise Natal and also keep games looking as pretty as they have always been.

Well this might not be so true after reports stating that Microsoft, wanting to reduce the initial cost of the device, removed the on board processor instead diverting some CPU power to Project Natal. From a Tech Radar interview with Natal’s lead developer Alex Kipman:

“Some reports are stating that as little of 10-15 percent of the processors capacity is being used for Natal while others are stating a whole core is needed. The 360 has a 4 core processor, this would equate to around 25 percent. "Natal has to work on the existing hardware without taking too much hardware processing away from the games developers," Kipman noted, adding that Natal consumes between 10 to 15 per cent of the Xbox's computing power.”

Kipman also stated that 50MB Natal Software can pick up 31 specific body parts in any video frame, upto 30 frames per second. That is only how fast Natal can capture video not the frame rate of the games. But consider this, why would you want to play a game at 60 fps and creating the feeling of Lag with Natal? Also that 50MB is not going to be free to the system resources either.

It seems that Natal will be focused on specific titles not designed to impress graphically. Is Natal going to be more games like Breakout shown at E3? (Though it looked surprisingly fun) Does this mean Gears of War 3 or Halo: Reach without Natal support? Time will tell since Natal is launching this year in the Holiday season.