OXCGN’s Kinect Review

Does Microsoft successfully Kinect the dots?

by : GrathiusXR

©2010 Arthur Kotsopoulos

[Ed: OXCGN was able to spend almost a whole month with Kinect prior to its release earlier last week, but due to very strict embargo restrictions and iron-clad NDA's, we just could not answer many of the questions gamers had with regards to the unit until now.

Beta testing the unit at home for that time gave the Arthur, a solid hardcore gamer and mild skeptic of the device at its launch at E3 this year, a greater long term understanding of what it's like to have the unit at home sharing it with the family, experiencing the fun that Kinect can bring everyone, not just hardcore gamers.

It certainly took some resolve to hold back on sharing our comments and thoughts with you all we must admit; many fingernail biting moments when we would have loved to post a note or comment about it, but at least now we can share what the reviewer experienced during his time with his Kinect unit.

This is his report, and we'll have a tech article on what makes the Kinect work and its 'innards' laid out for you soon, so please enjoy.]

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the spectacle that was E3 2009 and try to remember one Steven Spielberg who so elegantly walked onto the stage and summed up Microsoft’s Kinect (Project Natal as it was known then) in one simple sentence,

“It’s not about reinventing the wheel; it’s about no wheel at all.”

Coming from the man who brought us such great movies as the Indiana Jones trilogy, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, and Jurassic Park, just to name a few, was all I needed to be convinced that Kinect was not only going to be Microsoft’s entrance into the casual gaming market but also a chance to bring something new to the table, driving innovation as well as competition.

At the time it scared and still scares to a large degree, the hardcore gamers due to the fact that this represents a shift in Microsoft’s gaming priorities and the fact that there isn’t much there in terms of games that would interest them, well, at least not yet.  But for the whole family it certainly is appealing.

Feel The Kinect-ion

Let’s start off with the actual Kinect device itself.   Upon initial start-up it calibrates itself in awesome self-aware Skynet fashion which gives you some chills if you’re not quite ready for it. It feels sturdy and sits perfectly on a flat surface.

Like all things of a technological nature, if dropped it can be damaged, so extreme caution should be taken when handling the device as one drop may render it useless. To some it may seem a little bigger than what it should be, but it’s a perfect size and shape which compliments that LCD or plasma TV in your room/lounge room.

After its initial calibration you forget the device is even on top of or in front of your TV and you start swiping from left to right just like Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

Yes folks, the future is now; well not quite but it’s close enough.

Kinect doesn’t exactly use the normal dashboard we’ve all come to love since the last update but instead uses what Microsoft lovingly calls the “Kinect Hub”, a separate hub which bundles together the Kinect games, video marketplace, music, friends list etc…

“Kinect Hub” has now been brought to you by the new Dashboard update that everyone logging one recently has received and brings to it more than just a newly redesigned dashboard with brighter whites and taller Avatars.

It brings a fresh breath of air to the Xbox, putting it in line with the branding of Kinect and how Microsoft’s aim is now towards the casual market, broadening their scope to bigger and more diverse audiences.

The newly refreshed Xbox Avatars are now a little taller and a lot more awkward looking especially in most of your already purchased clothing items.

This new refresh of Avatars is to allow them to look and act more fluidly in Kinect titles so it’s good to see them FINALLY being put to good use rather than just standing around playing with that Halo Warthog remote toy car.

Kinect Hub is triggered by waving your hand at Kinect which then takes you to the hub from where you are free to do whatever you please.

The whole experience is far from the possibilities hinted at in the first trailer that we were shown back at E3 2009, but the basics are just as good as we’ll ever get for now and the fact I can play movies by not having to move too much is every lazy gamer’s dream!

Its responsiveness is to the nearest millisecond.  If you’re positioned directly in front of your TV you’ll barely see any delay from your hand to the white hand display on the screen- everything is almost instant. Selecting games, swiping through the menus- everything is a fast and smooth transition and you don’t notice any delay until you start playing the games.

Here is where you’ll see slight input lag from hand to display.  Sometimes this can get quite frustrating for the impatient gamers who won’t want to constantly have their arm hanging in mid air just to go through the game options to start a match.

Whether it’s selecting your preferred hand in Table Tennis or surfing through the menus in Joy Ride you’ll notice it and I wonder if it’s going to be as easy to fix these things with a simple patch much like how the dashboard input has been fixed up.

This problem does not transfer over into actual gameplay though, which for the most part is extremely enjoyable.

However, the lack of vibration from a physical controller is somewhat daunting.  Playing games like Joy Ride where you’ll smash into other racers, barriers, use boost and get hit by projectiles means the lack of force feedback just feels awkward to the player.

Sure you’re standing or sitting, turning the imaginary wheel you’re apparently grasping to turn the car and leaning in all sorts of directions to do tricks, but the lack of force feedback is possibly the one thing gamers will need to get used to when playing Kinect.

Kinect Gaming

So with all this talk about force feedback and input lag, what ARE the first batch of Kinect titles really like?

Let’s explore further with titles such as Kinect Sports, Joy Ride and - all Microsoft exclusive 1st generation Kinect games.

• Do they do enough to be able to sell Kinect?
• Do they show Kinect’s true potential?
• Or are they just an example and a testing ground for the possibilities of the technology?

Kinect Sports:

Off the bat it’s your typical sports games package which features a variety of different sports you can play from Football (Soccer),Volleyball, Table Tennis, Long Jump, Javelin, 100M Sprint, hurdles, Bowling and Boxing with some only featuring a single player component and others such as Volleyball and Table Tennis featuring competitive 2 player modes.

Each game garners the exact same feel and responsiveness and no one sport title is disadvantaged or below par in terms of gameplay. Table tennis responds exactly like the real thing: you serve, you slice, top spin, smash and move from left and right.

100M Sprint has you running on the spot with the faster you move those legs obviously the faster you progress on the track.  I’ve found myself breaking the World Record countless times whenever I played the game.

Football is pretty straight forward: use your left or right leg to kick the ball and pass it around. You don’t have to move all around the floor to do much, so out of the bunch it’s probably the least energetic and sweat-tastic game you’ll encounter.

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Volleyball, Long jump, Javelin etc… they’re also all straight forward in that they play exactly like in the real physical world except minus the expertise, hardship and countless hours of training to achieve.

Kinect Sports is a 1st generation Kinect title used to show off the capabilities of the technology whilst guiding Kinect into the right direction. It’s nothing spectacular in terms of gameplay or graphics but for the family and kids it is a fun time to be had that’s for sure, but after awhile may get old.

There’s no difficulty option for any of the sports, so no matter how many times you beat the CPU in Table Tennis the difficulty stays the same. Same with Volleyball, Soccer etc..

If an option was present to change the difficulty say for those gamers who are a bit more accustomed to this style of play then I feel it would be greatly improved. I do understand that it’s directed more towards the ‘causal gamer’ and ‘family audience’ rarther than the ‘core gamers out there, but it wouldn’t hurt to add this small option to keep someone like me happy and continually making Table Tennis a challenge?

JoyRide

But now let’s move onto a game that was shown quite some time ago; a game that showed potential.  It finally put our avatars to good use rather than standing around just taking up space. I’m talking about JoyRide, the answer to SONY’s ModNation Racers or Nintendos Mario Kart, the one game that would finally be able to compete with these upper tier arcade racers.

Fast forward a year later and what do we have a now? A game that isn’t free and NOT as fun nor anywhere near as pleasing as either ModNation Racers or Mario Kart but just another game that’s enjoyable for the first 5 minutes and then after that isn’t anything special.

Sure it has multiplayer, loads of content for Single Player and the ability to scan objects using Kinect where you can paint your selected car a chosen colour but other than that it’s a novelty.

For a game advertised as a free Xbox Live Arcade title which was going to be along the lines of TrackMania and where you were shown that you could build your own tracks, the final product isn’t anywhere near as fun as promised.

I’ll admit that for the initial hour of game-time it’s a blast to play, standing around turning left or right, leaning to do tricks and moving back and forth for turbo. But that’s about it. There’s plenty of stuff to do within JoyRide’s Single Player, including races, stunt races, trophy collecting, unlocking new cars, tracks and gaining followers but it doesn’t hold interest.

Graphically it isn’t as impressive as you’d hope and in terms of response it’s one of the Kinect games that takes some time getting used to. Regardless of how many hours you spend practicing your drifting or driving skills you’ll never really perfect them due to the weird gap in response.

It doesn’t hinder the game too much though, but for what it’s worth, it could have the ability to frustrate you to no end at times.

Kinect Adventures

Much like JoyRide, Kinect Adventures after awhile becomes a novelty.

Its 5 game modes don’t do much to offer variety or much fun and upon completing a run through all modes the game will almost instantaneously become shelved.

You’ll be repeating the same monotonous activity time and time again so whilst the gameplay doesn’t exactly change at all, your mood certainly will and you’ll be left thinking that Kinect Adventures could have at least offered a little more variety.

It’s a common theme amongst newly released hardware that its launch titles will almost ALWAYS just be average. no real stand outs at times and none that push the bar in terms of innovation, gameplay, graphics etc…

If there’s one feature I’ll praise here though is that with each title at certain points of the game Kinect will takes photos of you playing as well as video clips that are shown as replays and the post-screen results.

It’s always fun to see short clips of you and a friend running on the spot after the 100M Sprint or see the determination in your eyes and body when concentrating at bowling.

This feature never gets old. Unlike the gameplay in most of the titles I guarantee that you’ll constantly keep laughing at how goofy you’ll always look whilst playing Kinect.

After all Kinect does indeed have great potential.

So what’s ahead for Kinect

While these first batch of titles do not really do enough to push it out there to more ‘core’ gamers, it does for the casual gamers who don’t own the Wii, and families who were looking for something just a little bit different and less destructive (Wii-Motes in the hands of little children) as well as something that the WHOLE family can enjoy, Kinect could definitely be up their (bowling) alley.

It comes at a high price of course if you also need a 360 console but after the initial purchase the countless hours of enjoyment with this party magnet (especially as you won’t need more controllers for your friends or family playing with you) will be priceless.

But when you compair prices across the board, the off the shelf Kinect 4 gig bundle, or the 250 gig Kinect bundle offer a ‘complete package that many families will find ‘affordable’.

For those gamers who own a 360 and want to explore the Kinect world, then it’s a once off investment for the Kinect unit and game bundle. No extra controllers or peripherals needed for additional players or styles of game genres, the once off price has you and your mates playing alongside each other straight out of the box.

It’s Minority Report-esque Hub, hands-free gaming, fun (for awhile) party titles as well as the ability to build up a sweat whilst playing most these games means that there will be plenty who will buy and enjoy.

If it has a constant flow of great titles that will attract both the casual and hardcore gamers, then Microsoft have done their job.  It can only get better.

• Kinect Hardware: “9/10

• Kinect Sports: “8/10

• JoyRide: “6.5/10

• Kinect Adventures: “6/10

The initial line-up of games for Kinect

Kinect Adventures

Price: Packed in with the Kinect sensor

Date: November 4
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Kinectimals

Price: $US49.99 or $US59.99 for the Limited Edition which comes with a plush toy and unlock code

Date: November 4
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Game Party: In Motion

Price: $US39.99

Date: November 18

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 The Videogame

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 16

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Your Shape: Fitness Evolved

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4

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Dance Central

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4

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The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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DanceMasters

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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EA Sports Active 2

Price: $US99.95 and comes with a heart rate monitor

Date: November 16

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Zumba Fitness

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 18
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Kinect Sports

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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MotionSports

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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DECA Sports Freedom

Price: No price listed

Date: “Holiday”
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Kinect Joy Ride

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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Adrenalin Misfits

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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Fighters Uncaged

Price: $US49.99

Date: November 4
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Sonic Free Riders

Price: $US49.95

Date: November 4

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©2010 Arthur Kotsopoulos

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Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, Microsoft Games, New Xbox 360 Games, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Game Reviews Tagged: | E3, Hardcore gamer, JoyRide, Jurassic Park, Kinect, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Hub, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Sports, Mario Kart, Microsoft, Minority Report (film), Minorty Report, ModNation Racers, motion control, nintendo, River Rush, Saving Private Ryan, Sony, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, xbox live