Posting from Los Angeles: With names such as "Kinect Sports" and "Kinectimals," some of the first games on Microsoft's new motion-based Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 will seem very familiar to fans of the Nintendo Wii. But after spending some time playing upcoming Kinect games at a Microsoft event here Sunday night, I can say that it is a different experience.

In many ways, in fact, Kinect feels like a better experience.

In other ways ... well, these were still early demos, and it will be interesting to see whether a couple rough patches I encountered get smoothed out before Kinect hits the market later this year.

The most important point: Kinect is a ton of fun, as evidenced by the big grins on the faces of most people at the event, including me.

Developed under the code name Project Natal, the Kinect system uses a camera and sensors to let people control the action on screen by moving their bodies. There's something liberating and empowering about using yourself, and nothing else, to interact with a game.

But it's not just about not needing to hold a controller. For example, in the game "Kinect Adventures" (a Microsoft Game Studios title) gamers can switch between one-player mode and two-player co-op just by having someone else walk into the field of view of the Kinect camera. "Dance Central" (from Rock Band developer Harmonix) uses the Kinect sensor system to track and evaluate dance moves, transporting users from the streets to a high-end dance club if they're doing well.

Apart from the requisite sporting events, Kinect Sports (from Microsoft's U.K.-based Rare development unit) uses the camera to let gamers lead the virtual crowd in the stadium in cheers by raising, lowering or moving their arms and hands. (Having grown up attending Oakland A's games, I think they should call this the "Krazy George.")

Across the various games, Kinect lets users navigate on-screen menus and select different options by moving or waving their hands through the air. And several of the games use the Kinect camera to snap photos of users in the middle of games, showing them on screen afterward -- a neat feature, particularly for parties.

By the way, in case it isn't obvious, this is not your 1980s-era, sit-on-the-couch type of game console. Using your entire body as a controller means that you're getting some serious exercise in many of the games. Couch potatoes who want to be ready for Kinect when it launches should probably start hitting the gym now.

Of the demos I played, probably the most fun was the Kinect Adventures collection, which includes a game called "River Rush" in which people can work cooperatively to navigate a raft -- leaning and jumping to send it in different directions. The high-definition capabilities of the Xbox 360 really come through on this one, showing lots of detail in the water and the surrounding environment.

Kinect Adventures also includes a souped-up version of the Breakout style demo that Microsoft has been using to showcase the Natal technology for the past year.

The problems I encountered in the demos mostly had to do with user experience and latency. For example, as I lined myself up to bowl in Kinect Sports, the game had a tendency to inexplicably translate very slight movements of my hands in a way that caused the virtual ball to drop out of them and roll slowly down the lane.

I also noticed a small lag in the "Your Shape" exercise program that made it tough to get my on-screen likeness to accurately track the instructor's movements.

And as cool as controller-free driving looks in Microsoft's promotional videos -- with people holding their hands in front of them as if gripping an invisible steering wheel -- I couldn't figure out how to stay on the road using that technique in the Kinect "Joy Ride" racing game from Microsoft's Big Park development company in Canada.

Afterward, I realized I was bringing my hands too close together and crossing them over as I turned, confusing the system. As with my bowling clumsiness, I'm sure that more practice would make me better at Kinect-style driving, but it seemed like a case where holding onto something like a physical steering wheel might actually be a good thing.

These are small quibbles, and Kinect is still months from hitting the market. It's safe to assume that accuracy and latency are near the top of the list of things to be fine-tuned in the coming months. But to me, the overall experience made it clear that even the most intuitive of game controls will require a bit of a learning curve for first-timers.

[Previously on TechFlash Microsoft debuts Xbox 'Kinect' with giant, crazy spectacle at E3.]

A number of additional Kinect titles are expected to be announced during Microsoft's media briefing here Monday morning. USA Today listed games games including "Kinectimals," reporting that gamers will "train and play with 20 different virtual cats, including a lion, cheetah and tiger." Games related to Star Wars and Disney are also expected to be available for the Kinect system.

But what about the price? This is one of the biggest questions surrounding the Kinect device, and it sounds like it will remain that way for now. I'm hearing that Microsoft won't be announcing the price this week. One theory is that the company also wants to see exactly how Sony will be pricing and packaging its competing PlayStation Move motion-control system.