Friday 26th November 2010

XBox 360 Kinect

I should be cranky and fed up writing this review of the Kinect gaming systems for the XBox 360, as I have sore muscles, but I'm not. It is the step forward you want, and a new way to play games.

One of the hottest gaming toys this Christmas, the Kinect system for the XBox 360 basically takes away the traditional controller and makes you play the game by waving your arms, legs and even your head to control your on screen avatar.

The system can be bought seperately if you already own an Xbox 360 - you just get the sensor head, which looks a little Wall-E - a flat headed sensor unit housing on a sturdy base - it even tilts up and down when it calibrates your height, giving it that sentient feel.

It uses an RGB camera and infrared sensors to tell where you are, and for voice controls, it uses four microphones to determine who is giving it a command.

Setting it up is fairly easy, but it pays to already know how to use an XBox to begin with. Then navigating through the menu us done with a swipe of the hand - a la "Minority Report" (you can even browse through your music or video collection on the XBox using this method, and it does look pretty cool).

But is it any fun?

The game that comes with the Kinect package is "Kinect Adventures" and it can be played as a continuous linear game or through loads of mini games. It showcases the capabilities of the sensor, by getting you to control a raft that your avatar stands on. You step to the right, it moves to the right. You jump, the raft jumps. The Rally Ball game is a good demonstrator of the game - you stand up and serve a ball down an alley at floating boxes, it bounces back and you smash it with your hand, foot or head.

But Kinect Sports is the game to have, with bowling, table tennis, sprints, hurdles (particular tricky), discus, javelin, boxing (you can get very aggressive with this one), and many more.

The funniest part of the game is when you have finished and look back at the photos it has taken of you mid-game, looking like you are doing some very bad dancing even your uncle would be embarrassed by! And you can even upload these to your Facebook etc, if you really want shame yourself or your family!

Other games available now are Kinectimals (you control cuddly animals to run, jump, roll over, generally lovely things), and Dance Central, (which I will never play again, as I looked stupid enough, but it's cleverly made - great soundtracks, virtual backing dancers - 90 tracks and 650 moves - I covered about 12 moves and still have flash backs!) It's made by the creators of "Rock Band", so you know what to expect. Add to that a Harry Potter title, Kinect Joy ride, and a whole bunch of fitness titles, and there is a bit of choice right out of the blocks.

Downsides of the system are that you do need some room, especially if you are playing a two player game. You can expect to move a chair, a table, or maybe even Granny in order not to hit anything or anyone.

While your Avatar can mirror your movements, it won't do everything you try to do, just the movements that fit with the game. There can also be a lag at certain points, but that will be something you will build into your game play.

The pricing level is too high in my opinion, but I say that about everything - they would argue that you are getting a hands-free system plus a game (Kinect Adventures) for €149.99 is a good deal, but many game watchers thought it would be lower.

There are bundle prices - An XBox 360 4GB console with Kinect Sensor costs €299.99, but most gamers would tell you that the 4GB memory is far too small, and if you can afford it, then go for the bundle offering the 250GB XBox Console with the Kinect for €349.99. The games generally cost between €40 and €55.

Hard core gamers are never really like to move to platforms such as the Wii, Move or Kinect in massive numbers, but there is a huge market out there for family / fun games that don't require highly dextrous thumbs on a hand controller, and Kinect represents a big leap to the next level of gaming.