This year, E3 played host to a number of major announcements, many of which married mainstream games with social platforms, such as Facebook Connect coming to the Nintendo DSi.

Microsoft’s announcements were especially interesting. The company launched Project Natal, a camera-based motion system with both face and voice recognition. It also relaunched the New Xbox Experience, which could make the gaming system entirely more social.

Project Natal is perhaps the most impressive piece of console hardware we have seen in a long time. Unlike the Wii, its motion capabilities require no controller. However, Natal isn’t just about games. While it can bring Wii-like gaming to the Xbox, there is so much more to it.

Natal can work on Xbox Live, which Microsoft has tried hard to turn into a more authentic social community. While it hasn’t worked out as well as Microsoft had hoped, Project Natal brings PC-style interaction to the television.

Microsoft’s presentation displayed the use of facial and voice recognition. The people performing the demonstration simply said the name of the person they wished to speak with, and they were immediately connected to their video feed via Xbox Live. They could also share virtual clothing to try on. In the demo, the avatar (whose face looked similar to the user) could wear the goods — a dress in this case. Based on her movement, she could turn around and move.

Object scanning allows for even more sharing. Natal will (hopefully) enable users to scan real items and use them in the games. In the demo, they used a skateboard.

It all seems far-fetched, right? Microsoft says it isn’t.

In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Shane Kim, Microsoft’s corporate VP of strategy and business development for its interactive entertainment decision, said that while much of the above may be conceptual at the moment, a lot will be very real. “[It’s] a completely plausible scenario,” he says, referring to the trying on of clothing and similar activities.

Referencing the Milo demo, in which a person naturally interacts with and commands an avatar, Kim says the technology is very real and not just a concept, noting that “the power is actually in the software.” The Milo concept is very social. This character appeared frighteningly interactive as an avatar. It recognized users and their voices, and reacted accordingly. It was easily something out of science-fiction. Such a technology would take avatar systems used by social developers to an unfathomable level.

With all these new technologies, Microsoft is hoping to attract more than its usual core gamers. Kim hopes the New Xbox experience will give people the desire of having a Facebook experience on their television (a more likely scenario with the company’s announcement of a Facebook Connect integration). Beyond Natal, there are a few different ways this could go.

One element is the ability to watch movies and television. Currently working with SkyTV, Microsoft delivers live TV to the UK through Xbox Live. It’s a feature that may come to the US in the future.

Second, there is the adoption of free-to-play games. Testing the microtransaction waters, games like Joy Ride have appeared on the 360. In some cases, these games work on ad-supported models, but the use of virtual goods as a revenue source is becoming more common.

According to Kim, the possibility of similar, PC-oriented companies developing for the Xbox market is emerging. He believes that the access to the television could add significant social experience, but it will be up to the developers to determine if “that is worth the economic trade-off” since the Xbox isn’t a completely open system like the PC.

Regardless of whether Xbox Live breaks into these markets with free-to-play games, the New Xbox Experience will, this time, truly be new. Project Natal alone is going to change the face of gaming with some phenomenal technology, creating innumerable social possibilities.  While Kim says Natal won’t be around for 2009, it wouldn’t be surprising to see in within the next two years. The free-to-play games will likely start appearing much sooner.

[images via Gamasutra]