Playtest: Xbox Kinect | The Empire Blog

Playtest: Xbox Kinect

Posted on Tuesday November 9, 2010, 17:14 by Jonny Pile in Infinite Lives

“You are the controller!” scream the ads. “It’ll change the way you interact with technology forever,” claim the techies. But is Microsoft’s Kinect really the future? Scratch that: four years after the Wii introduced motion-based gaming to the world (and not just the usual gaming world – this includes your nan), is it really going to make that much of a dent in an already saturated marketplace?

The cynics’ view is that anyone who’s remotely interested in playing games by waving their hands at their TV bought Nintendo’s console long ago. The ultra-cynical view is that they bought one, realised it wasn’t really for them and it’s been gathering dust as they spent their time working on a sofa groove and playing Call Of Duty. With a gamepad.

Microsoft disagrees, obviously, and already the stats tend to back up this confidence in Kinect. Last week the estimate they would sell 3 million units in the run up to Christmas – a figure scoffed at by so-called industry experts – was increased to 5 million. But regardless of the sales figures, which clearly look promising, the only question you should be asking yourself is, “Should I buy one?” You’re your own person, so it’s not a decision we can make for you, but there some important points to consider.

First up, it’s important to state that Kinect works and works very well at that. Complaints of lag are overstated and the accuracy with which it maps even the smallest body movements is very impressive – especially given the rudimentary motion sensing we’ve grown used to on Nintendo’s little white box. On top of that, its voice recognition is practically flawless and the face recognition seems to function almost error free. In terms of pure hardware achievement, Kinect is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

That’s the good news. The bad news is the selection of games available at launch. If you want to dance, keep fit or raise a tiger cub on a tropical island you’re in luck. But if you’re hoping for the adult gaming experiences that Sony are gearing up to offer for its PlayStation Move (Killzone 3, Dead Space: Extraction) it’s bad news, at least for now. While developers will doubtless get better at harnessing Microsoft’s tech, the lineup at present is lacking a killer app.

But that’s not to say there’s no value or, most importantly, fun to be had. Dance Central (the best of the bunch by some distance) is a sweaty, ache-inducing blast, although we’d recommend its multiplayer mode over spending hours on the single-player career, simply for dignity reasons. YourShape: Fitness Evolved is a less manic way to burn a few calories, and Kinect Sports is basically an HD take on Wii Sports, right down to the bowling. All of which are likely to become Christmas staples for family-oriented fun.

Of course, there are games to avoid. Fighters Uncaged should have been the adult-orientated game that proved Microsoft weren’t just after the kiddie cash, but it’s an unresponsive mess that rarely copies your movements with any degree of accuracy. Joy Ride – a simplistic racer that uses an imaginary ‘wheel’ to steer – is a ten minute diversion at best.

Buying Kinect now is reminiscent of introducing people to the concept of a Wii in 2006. The novelty value, along with the fun of some of the games, is more than enough to make it a worthy £130 spent and if you already have a 360 then you’d be foolish to pass up the purchase. Whether it’s worth shelling out for if you’re a PS3 convert probably depends on what emerges from the ranks of second generation titles. Still, the first time you simply tell your 360 to turn on, and watch your friends’ amazed faces as it obeys is almost worth the price alone.