Kinect’s available to buy today in the States, next week over here, which means that the embargo has gone live (this morning). If you’ve already pre-ordered or are thinking of picking up the Xbox 360’s motion control device you’ll want to know which games to pick up alongside it, right? Here’s a run-down of every title that matters so far, and what the critics think of them.
Dance Central
Dance Central is the biggie, and it’s proving very popular. With a Metacritic score of 83%, it’s apparently very good indeed. 1up praised its “bootie-bouncing material” and GameInformer says it’s good for you, too – “investing hours in a game that rewards you for some degree of athleticism and coordination is not only an incredible workout, but ultimately makes you feel like a better dancer in the end.” “It can’t actually teach you how to dance,” claim Joystiq, but “it will make you want to.” Our Kris liked it too.
Kinectimals
You’ll know Kinectimals as the game that features the fluffy tiger, kind of a gesture-controlled Tamagotchi for kids. It’s doing well on Metacritic, with 76%, and GameInformer seemed to love it. “With around 20 hours of gameplay, Kinectimals offers plenty to do,” said the site. “You can play with your cub, shop for new items, decorate your house with trinkets found on your adventure, complete challenges, have friends join in to beat your high scores, and more. If you’re looking for a rich gameplay experience jam packed with adorable creatures, look no further.”
Kinect Adventures!
Kinect Adventures is the Kinect game that, Dance Central aside, most of you will be familiar with. It’s the one with the inflatable boat add-on, you’ll remember. The Metacritic standing is currently at 65%, with Game Informer saying it’s the “perfect game for in and out party-type play” with GameTrailers saying it’s “good enough fun for a couple of nights.” The bundled game didn’t fare very well with Eurogamer, though, who said that “within a couple of weeks it will be gathering dust: another brave bundled game, first up out of the trenches, first to fall.”
Kinect Joy Ride
The game that was previously free now has Kinect support and a price tag, and the only review so far is Game Informers, locking the Metacritic percentage at 70%. The review doesn’t read like a 70% to me, mind, but it says that “in the right modes, Joy Ride pumps out excitement. In the less desirable avenues of play, it only brings frustration due to its inability to deliver a full video game racing experience.”
Kinect Sports
Rare’s Wii Sports ‘tribute’ is doing really well, with Joystiq saying the game “really demonstrates what the camera is capable when it’s used by a capable developer” and Gamespot suggesting it’s much better in multiplayer. “It doesn’t do much for solo players,” they say, “but it’s fun to play with friends both locally and online.” GameTrailers says the “package ends up feeling uninspired.” There’s no Metacritic score yet, but we’re guessing it’s going to be around 75%.
Others
Elsewhere we’ve got Ubisoft’s Your Shape (60%) and their Fighter’s Uncaged, which Eurogamer ripped to pieces with a 2/10 score. There’s also Sonic Free Riders, which has two reviews, IGN’s ‘exclusive’ 75% and Game Informer’s 58%.
There’s a few others, but it appears that the embargo was so short only the first party and key third party titles garnered much playtime, and it’s hard to attest how much time each game has got given that some outlets got their Kinect sensors this week. At the moment Kinect’s looking like having some strong titles in the mix, I’m keen to try out Dance Central at least and I’m a sucker for anything Rare do, but only time will tell whether the machine has any real potential down the line.
We’ll have our reviews and thoughts as soon as possible.
Grey_Ghost13
Doesn’t sound promising for it so far. Bet it still sells well over x-mass though. Wonder if they will accept trade ins on it in the new year?
djhsecondnature
The biggest admission from most reviews is the fact that the Kinect titles are a tenner dearer than their Wii and Move counterparts.
cc_star
Will be interesting to review, quite a few (if not all) of the games require either a family or a drunken party to be held to review properly. I can’t imagine too many games being reviewed well with the typical gamer stood alone in his darkened bedroom analysing the game or getting frustrated at occasional failure of gesture recognition,
So, the reviews seem good – which surprises many, the real test will of course be the 2nd wave of games which will no doubt further refine the tech and can iron out inconsistancies now they don’t have such a hard deadline to hit – Also hearing that pad AND Kinect games are on the horizon which just might start catering to the core gamer more than the launch titles have, as MS wanted the whole ‘new’ platform launch for Christmas and didn’t want to confuse the marketing message.
As the titles aren’t total flops (seemingly, Fighter Uncaged aside) and some of them look like they are bordering on good or better, there seems a lot to work with and the future could be very bright.
I certainly want one, but I need a 360 first so it’s going to be a while unless I sell my PS3 but then I’d need a Blu-ray player and some way of playing Warhawk, so that ain’t going to happen.
eirekun
Ouch, Ars Technica tried their best to like it but …
socya
Gotta say my biggest issue is with the marketing budget.
Surely if it’s THAT good you wouldn’t need to persuade people as hard with a $500,000,000 budget!
cc_star
That is a very good point, on the surface of it you would think that it would largely sell itself like the Wii did, where people see it in action around someone elses house and then want it for themselves.
(Speaking stereotypically, but there’s an element of truth in it) The problem for MS is that despite amazing sales in the US, the 360 is largely in teenagers bedrooms, the only people who therefore could try it out around someone else’s house is other teenagers. MS want Kinect to be played by families in the main room of the house – The only way they can do this is to treat it as a whole new platform launch and the only way to launch a new platform is to financially back it, particularly as the US is hit pretty hard by the recession so selling an entertainment device is as hard a sale as you can make.
socya
¨Yeah, and the fact that its gotta be put in the living room, cos teenage bedrooms just ain’t big enough.
Beelzie14
And this is why TSA is the best website for gaming on planet Earth … logical discussion which doesn’t flamebait or use preconceived ideas to substantiate reason. I love my PS3 – possibly more than my imaginary Bugatti Veyron – but my love for gaming in general makes me want Kinect to succeed. The whole pseudo-Minority Report functionality had me excited when it was first introduced, and the Milo video had me agog.
However – typical of MS – in the interim they have shouted their mouth off, put down their rivals and delivered on very little of their initial statements. And this is why I remain sceptical of Kinect until I read from trusted sources that it is a notable step into the future. PS Move was marketed by Sony as something which is a step ahead of Wii (at the same time “shook the hand” of Nintendo with subtle compliments on their development and ownership of motion-controlled gaming to this point) and the next motion controller to have. And guess what – it is a step ahead and it does work! And developers love it – 3rd party and Sony-affiliated. Job done for now .. so I wait to see how Kinect develops with great anticipation.
TSBonyman
Seems favourable enough atm but i’ll wait for the dust to settle a bit.
Charmed_Fanatic
Seems everyone who has tried it, says its crap … what an expensive paper weight for people who buy it eh?
Quinlank
I just had a quick glance on metacritic, and it looks like the Kinect launch line up is faring about as well as the Move launch line up did. Buckets of crap shovelware and a sole stand out title.
I’d like to say it’s time to put a lid on the motion control crap already, but this train of tedium is probably going to run and run and run for a while yet.
deezoned
I’ve tried the Kinect a couple of weeks ago at a demonstration. I found the following issues to be present:
1) The space needed for playing is actually pretty big (which all reviews also conclude)
2) The calibration/setup proces can be a pain. And, the Microsoft guy was also getting pretty frustrated when it wouldn’t work properly. His comment was “it’s normally much easier/working better”…
3) Having people jump in and out of a game is not consistently recognized and errors occur.
4) Playing Kinect Adventures proved a pretty big lag between movement (jumping, side-stepping) and the on-screen action… No, the boat accessory wasn’t present and obstructing the view :)
5) Playing Kinect Sports proved some interesting ‘interpolations’ on the Kinect interpretation of movements. When deliberately trying to make some totally weird moves, they were often interpreted as really cool and correct moves.. Reminded me of my initial Wii experience some years ago. Actually not very comforting or giving trust in the precision of the motion capture capabilities.
6) Subtle moves or gestures are not recognized. You can’t twist your hands to have it captured and resulting in a corresponding correct move in the game.
7) Navigating the menus is often frustrating because the on-screen cursor is a bit jumpy and the activation time to enter menus/selecting reminds me of the first PS EyeToy experience. It simply takes to much time to make a selection.
Technically I think the Kinect is the most innovative of the current console generation (including the Wii) but I’m very concerned that the performance of the XBOX-Kinect-Game combination will be lacking cosiderable time from now. No doubt a lot will be (and needs to be) ironed-out software wise, but in my opinion there’s no real 1:1 competition between the Playstation Move and the Kinect. They are targeted at different audiences, types of games and possibilities, so actually trying them before buying them is mandatory.