Kinect launches in less than two weeks and reviews have yet to surface. I wonder why? Well someone seems to have finally got their paws on the device as London evening newspaper, The Evening Standard has just given the system a glowing 5 star review.
Interestingly the online version of the text is marked as a preview and not a review and has no rating.
The reviewer seems to be very impressed by the tech when used to navigate menus. ‘It is the film Minority Report come to life’ enthuses Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor for The Evening Standard.
The ‘review’ continues explaining that the games felt ‘totally natural’ when jumping about like a loon but then goes on to say the first titles are ‘disappointing’ and ‘ aimed at the family, rather than the hardcore games fan.’
The confusing article concludes that Kinect is ‘an essential purchase’ and ‘if the games are good enough could help Microsoft steal the lucrative family games market from Nintendo.’
What’s apparent is that Mr. Prigg has not been given Kinect to play with by himself, he seems to have been demoed the system by Microsoft, ‘I was shown several technical demos which reveal the incredibly complex mathematics behind the technology’, he says.
Yesterday the free morning newspaper, Metro, stated they were being shown Kinect that evening and presumably this event was also attended by The Evening Standard.
In other Kinect news, pre-sales of the system have rocketed 42% on Amazon.com since the system was shown on the Oprah Winfrey show.
Also singing the praises of Kinect is Micrsoft-owned studio, Rare. They have recently parachuted in a new boss, Scott Henson, who is an ‘Â experienced company man’Â from Microsoft.
Just look at all the sports Rare has crammed into Kinect Sports. It’s incredible. Look at what Harmonix is doing with Dance Central, look at what Ubisoft is doing with Your-Shape Fitness. They are things we kinda thought might be possible but then you look at what the teams have done with it and they’ve just taken it to a whole new level.
Extrapolate the next couple of years and look out, it’s going to be amazing.
The Evening Standard “review” has since been corrected after a Microsoft spokesperson said that it was mistakenly marked as review instead of preview.
TheSixthAxis doesn’t have access to Kinect just yet but we’ll do a full review of the device and as much of the launch hardware as possible when we have had a chance to look at it.
Source: The Evening Standard / MCV / CVG
scavenga
I wonder why people regard Oprah Winfrey as a beacon of wisdom.
Grey_Ghost13
She could run for President and get it! She is idolised in America. She is a very charitable women.
Tuffcub
I’d be charitable if I had a couple of billion in the bank.
ico
Whether good or bad I really hope Kinect gets the reviews and sales it truly deserves (rather than those effectively ghost-written by MS PR staff). The wii, whatever you may think of it, was revolutionary and to a degree deserved it’s spectacular success. Ninentendo did exactly what it planned to do – make non gamers sit up and take notice, ensure the core gamers were still catered for (to a lesser degree) and make a shed load of money.
MS however, and I’m a huge Xbox fan, seem to be on a cynical money making excercise – quality gaming be damned. I hope I’m wrong but I fear not. I will not be buying Kinect any time soon but will be keeping an eye on the initial reviews. Here’s hoping that whether good or bad the buying public vote with their wallets.
monkeyspoon
I expect most of the $ that MS put aside to promote Kinect will go on paying off sites and the press to give it good reviews.
ico
I really hope the industry isn’t quite that bad yet. My advice is to keep your eyes open to the sites / magazines that are reputable and you trust. Don’t go taking an Evening Standard review as gospel. They’re hardly GamesTM or TSA.
DJ Judas
I doubt this is the case. The money is going on promoting to non gamers, so your average person.
They won’t watch a demo and see the tech breaking, they’ll see something they deem to be new, exciting and associated with fun. What better way to dupe people during economic uncertainty?
Grey_Ghost13
I don’t think I have read or seen a preview about it where someone is trying to make an excuse as to why it’s not working as it should be.
Soild_Nat
If the un-boxing hype on Twitter is anything to go by then this is getting much more hype then the Move did.
Although if you think about what retail outlet or big high street name is going to tell us its crap and don’t spend your money here..no one is! Its the game sites and respected gaming magazines that i cant stand, some of the gush written so far is just insulting to intelligence. Thank goodness for TSA a shining beacon in amongst the mire, that article from Peter was so appropriate given the current situation.
Charmed_Fanatic
*rolls eyes* cant believe its a 5-stat bit of tech