The Twin Cities and their surrounding suburbs have been afforded quite the treat, a glimpse into the not so distant future of gaming for those brave enough to peer into the crystal ball. Microsoft constructed a pavilion at the Mall of America, giving hands on (pun intended) demonstrations. Honestly, I must applaud the marketing strategy. Kinect is an experience like no other I’ve experienced in all my years of gaming; giving that experience – selling the dream of gaming free from the tether of a controller to be more precise – to families, children, and consumers at large will, without a doubt, positively influence sales.
And from where I’m standing, the Kinect will be selling like wildfire this holiday season. The Kinect is fun. This is an undeniable fact. We would have been hard pressed to find an individual who wasn’t having a good time while playing. Parents encouraged their children, friends struggled against one another for high scores, and onlookers and passersby could not help but crack a smile at the flailing children or the glee plastered on the participant’s faces. As far as The Media Cows is concerned, we were all quite thrilled by its performance but found a few noticeable problems with the demos, particularly that our motions were not always represented in real time.
And now, for the nuts and bolts:
Kinect Sports:
This title will be familiar to most people, since it is quite similar to Wii Sports. This is not exactly a new title, but this is not detrimental to it in the least. Bowling and Hurdles were on display. Bowling was surprisingly difficult in this reviews opinion. It was not at intuitive as Wii Bowling, but you seem to have much more control over the balls movement. I had quite a load of difficulty in directing the ball, but my editor-in-chief showed much more skill. The general consensus about bowling is that it will reward those who put time into mastering the mechanics.
Track and Field showed us hurdles (Javelin and Long Jump will be included). The demo is solid and allowed for up to two players to race one another. Running in place designates the speed at which your avatar moves, and hurdling is all about timing. The game is not revolutionary in and of itself, but it hints at something quite wonderful. Motion controls are a total body experience, meaning one can have a quality exercise experience. My Executive Editor was sweating after the demos, and I am still sore. Since the body is completely monitored, yoga and dance based games will require you to do all of the physical activity, meaning a full body workout. It’s a sign of good things to come.
Kinect Adventure:
Three games from Kinect Adventures were available to demo as well, River Rush, Rally Ball, and an obstacle course. These games could best be described as addicting. They are all quite simple and intuitive at their core, but were very enjoyable to play. River Rush puts one (or two) player(s) in a raft rushing down a raging river. The goal is to make it through gates and collect tokens to score points. Playing with a second player requires that both people’s actions are sync, making it quite a bit more difficult. There are also alternative paths through the course, allowing for one to figure out the best possible course to take. The game play was solid, the controls crisp, and replay value will be high.
Rally Ball seems to be an updated version of Breakout, a 1976 game from Atari with countless remakes. The player is put at one end of a hall and is required to destroy blocks at the other end. The ball bounces back towards the player who then attempts to smash the ball back towards the blocks. I was surprised at the level intricate movement. The difference between a hand being at the on o’clock and the two o’clock position is distinct. Points are scored by the speed in which one completes the level and the amount of balls one keeps in play. Over all, it is a very fun title, even though there seems to be a slight (but noticeable) lag between one’s movements and the movement’s of one’s avatar. If this lag can be at all remedied, the game will be spot on brilliant.
Over all, the obstacle course was our favorite demo. Up to two people face off by attempt to dodge obstacles by jumping, sidestepping, and ducking while reaching the end in the fastest time possible time possible. Timing is key, and prudence in pace is greatly rewarded. Go too fast and you cannot avoid any of the obstacles. Every action followed your own movements in real time. Over all, it has the most various actions of any of the demos.
In conclusion, we at Media Cows found the Kinect greatly satisfactory. Even though these were geared towards family play, the games were utterly enjoyable to all audiences. The controls were crisp and fun to use. Minute details in movements were tracked. However, these games require the player to get into the actions, not just sit back. Sure, you may look a little silly swatting at invisible balls or jumping up and down, but the experience is worth it. The only concern I have is that there was some lag issues, but I have no doubt that this can be remedied before the complete game is released. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into Fable 3 or other more mature titles. We look forward to giving you a complete review of the Kinect when it is released in November.
- Ben
P.S. Take a look at our Youtube Channel for game play footage.
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