If you were to ask me what trend currently defines the gaming industry, I would give two answers: sequels and motion control. Nintendo kicks off the motion control trend with the Wii and with it, the Wii-mote. They marketed the console as a new way to experience gaming in the home environment. As the Wii proceeded to basically print money, Sony and Microsoft wanted a slice of this cash cow. Sony introduced the Playstation Move, which uses two controllers with big colorful orbs at the end of them that follows the player’s movement. Microsoft introduced the Kinect, a motion-sensing camera that completely eliminates any controller held by the player. This review is about the latter.
The Kinect itself has an interesting design to it; it’s much bigger than I thought it would be, but its motorized base provides sturdy support for it on most surfaces and is not prone to slipping. It has a tough black plastic shell, strong enough to protect it if it falls. The Kinect needs its own power supply, so finding an extra outlet may be challenging for some, but I don’t see why a power strip cannot easily solve this problem. Setting up the play area, however, is a different story.
According to the manual, the ideal play size is an open, uncluttered 8-by-8 foot space. This is a little ridiculous; honestly, what college kid has that much open space anywhere? Luckily, 6-by-6 is also an option and much more plausible. Back home in Phoenix, I only had to move one small piece of furniture to achieve this space. It’s a lot easier than one might initially think. (How does it fare in my Gifford single? More on that later.)
After setting that up, I ran the initial set up which just includes calibration of the Kinect itself and the ID setup. (The ID allows the Kinect to associate a face with a particular gamertag — a little unsettling, but it works surprisingly well). This process was simple and only took seven minutes or so. I was finally ready to start playing.
The first thing I noticed as I explored the main menus of my Xbox is that the Kinect actually works the way it was promised it would — something the Wii failed to deliver at launch with titles such as the original Red Steel.
There is only a very slight delay between movement and response; it is basically unnoticeable. The first game I tried was Kinect Adventures, a collection of mini-games that comes packaged with the Kinect unit. The game is completely inconsequential in terms of fun or design, but it does do a good job of showing off what the Kinect can do.
I was quickly bored with it and switched to Dance Central, a dancing game developed by Harmonix, creators of the original Guitar Hero (before Activision got their hands on it) and Rock Band.
This game has players stand in front of the Kinect and mirror an on-screen dancer’s movements. Ratings and scores are based on how well one follows the movements. The game has a fantastic soundtrack, a great sense of style and amazing routines motion-captured by actual choreographers. Above all, it’s a ton of fun. I found myself playing for hours (which led to me being really tired and sweaty since Kinect games have a tendency to be really active).
I then transitioned to Kinect Sports, which is basically Wii Sports but on the Kinect. It captures the feelings of the sports well and provides a good workout (except for the awkwardly designed soccer simulation). My personal favorite is the table tennis, as the ball’s speed and spin are determined by the direction and speed of your swing. It’s all very intuitive and easy to control.
While everything worked perfectly at home, how does the Kinect fare in my dorm room? I certainly do not have 36 empty square feet just lying around. To my surprise, the Kinect is still playable inside my room (after using some clever positioning). It certainly isn’t as fun (as some games require actual movement around the space) but games that usually keep me centered work just fine. This is fantastic, considering I did not want to squander my Christmas gift as a summer-only affair.
Now, is the Kinect a must-buy? Not quite yet. While I certainly hope it’s not “the future of gaming,” it’s definitely a very interesting dimension that should not be ignored. This, and the fact it’s going for $150, makes it difficult to convince others to buy it. But in 2011, over 15 titles will be released for the Kinect, including some survival-horror games, which will surely find imaginative ways to use the technology. I, for one, am incredibly excited about the Kinect’s future.
More on XBox Kinect:
Kinect Homepage
More Kinect Reviews
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