The Xbox brand has always been a reliable, bankable one for gamers. Microsoft have gone out of their way to ensure that core gamers – those that want their games deep, online enabled and consistent – are satisfied and glued to the idiom that is Xbox. I’ve been a proud owner of the original console and the 360 because of these notions, social gaming and light bites can easily be found elsewhere, so when Natal was announced last year (and subsequently became Kinect this year) my derision was forthright and, in my head at least, absolutely justified.
This was, it appeared, a desperate move into the family market for a company so adept at the hardcore side of the scale. It had worked for Nintendo (although you could argue that the Big N was always heading in this direction) with the Wii and Sony were waggling around with Move, but I’d always assumed that Microsoft would stick to their guns and concentrate on pushing out the games we all know and love ad infinitum: Gears of War, Halo, Forza. I hadn’t imagined I’d be rolling around in a field with a fluffy tiger cub or dancing to Lady Gaga, that’s for sure.
The problem with preconceptions is that they’re normally founded on a lack of evidence, bias or just plain refusal to accept that something’s out there that doesn’t immediately agree with your usual sentiments. Kinect was one such thing – videos concentrating on the lag and the camera’s apparent inability to track the most basic of hand movements weren’t exactly in short supply, and the line-up of launch games didn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Things change, though, and on Saturday morning I picked up a Kinect box and a pile of games, and set about challenging my ideals.
Much has already been said on the subject of motion control here at TSA, but whilst the camp is divided, it didn’t take very long for Kinect to charm its way into my front room. Set up, as Peter has already remarked, is incredibly simple, and once I’d attached the smaller-than-expected sensor bar onto the top of my TV (with the aid of some velcro and superglue, seriously) it was quite happy scanning up and down, looking for me like some decapitated Johnny 5. The Dashboard walkthrough is a breeze, too, I was up and running with Kinect without any fuss in about 5 minutes flat.
The voice recognition worked fine, too. “Xbox Kinect” brings up the simplified UI and “Play Disc” gets you right into the action – wonderful stuff.
In terms of games, yes, they’re clearly aimed at a different audience than your usual Xbox player (if there is such a thing) but the quality of the first bunch is actually quite high. Kinect Sports is the clear highlight, offering up some fantastic body tracking and high gloss, colour rich presentation only the likes of Rare can achieve. Football is a blast, but boxing is a surprising amount of fun and the track and field events are a riot with a few competitive players. More importantly, the interface is well designed and the menus, which are entirely controlled by your hands Minority report style, are slick and intuitive.
I’ve barely scraped the surface of the current batch of games, but here’s a quick synopsis: Kinect Adventures doesn’t fare so well, the lag’s terrible in places (you need to jump a good second before it’s required) and the games included aren’t particularly fun; Dance Central is slick and potentially hugely addictive; Joyride is much more of a giggle than it should be and The Biggest Loser, whilst flawed (it couldn’t see me laying down for one) shows off a realtime 3D model of the player that illustrates just how smart Kinect really is.
From what I’ve seen, smart is probably the best way to describe Microsoft’s attack on the family market then. It’s simple to set up, the games are instantly playable and, with the right crowd, great fun. The experience isn’t flawless but it’s more intuitive than PlayStation Move (try Bowling) and if Microsoft can get some good third party titles on to the shelves and dial back on the fitness fluff, I’ve no doubt that Kinect is here to stay. Convinced? Let’s put it this way: yesterday I bought a brand new 250GB Xbox S to go with my new shiny sensor bar – the dull white plastic of my 60GB Xbox just didn’t look right.
tyrant161
“The Xbox brand has always been a reliable, bankable one for gamers”. What planet have you been on for the last 5 years? Since the xbox360 launch, i have had 7 xbox360 consoles…all having died from the dreaded red ring of death.
3 x 20gig launch consoles. (all died within a year)
3 x 60gig consoles (these were all brand new from Game and got the red light fail within 3 hours of play)
1 x 120gig elite console. (lasted about 18months)
I now have a 250gig 360 slim…..so far no problems with it.
I do have to say that microsoft did repair every console that died on me, but i sold them on as soon as they came back then bought a new one…i just didn’t trust the repaired machine. I have several friends on xboxlive that have had bad problems with the red ring as well…so in my opinion, the xbox360 brand has not been reliable (far from it) Hopefully this new slim console will be a good bit better.
As for the kinect—give me the ps move any day. The games for kinect look iffy and the thought of jumping around looking like a rat’s crawling up your leg doesn’t apeal to me at all….although it does look ok for young kids under 10yrs.
bunimomike
Laughed out loud at that comment too. Reliable? No. Definitely not. However, good to see a positive Kinect article from a sceptic. Top stuff, Al.
jonny_bolton
The brand is reliable not the consoles. Different things, which is why he said “The XBox brand…”
tyrant161
how many people have had their wireless headset just pack in for no apparent reason…..iv’e had one and at £35 a pop its a bit of a rip off as well especially since ps3 can use any blutooth headset as cheap as £4 from asda or tesco. Original xbox brand? oh yes, it was quality and reliable…xbox360? not at all mate (but the joypads are fantastic though)….just put a search into google for 360
wireless headset not working, there’s thousands of em! and as for the original 20gig 360, i believe that the failure rate was around 40% which is simply unacceptable this day and age…fingers crossed for this 360s to be better….which mine seems to be, although the fan blows very hot air out of it after about half hour….it does feel like a waiting game sometimes.
MaD dOctoR 79
errmmmm the XBOX brand is the consoles, If he had said Microsoft brand that would be different…but the XBOX brand is most certainly the consoles…and no, THEY are not reliable.
had my first 360 pack up and RROD within the first four months (brand new) got Microsoft to let me change it in store (at Woolworths R.I.P.) for a brand new one, which is was still chugging away last time I played on it (ME2) but it sounded like a jet engine with gravel in it, so I’m not sure how good it is these days…afraid to turn it on.
DrNate86
I’m still not convinced really, mainly because of the lack of hardcore games atm. I will very happily get one though once the more serious games are released if they integrate the Kinect well. It is just very expensive at the moment for something that I doubt will get played much after Xmas.
TSBonyman
So you convinced the missus you needed a new xbox because they didn’t match? – Genius! ;)
Quinlank
Another Kinect article which sounds like it’s making excuses? Seeing them on quite a few sites lately.
JesseDeya
Suckers gonna suck.
It’s pretty easy to read between the lines on this one, but I’ll refrain from being the dick who points out the bleeding obvious. Heaven forbid someone calls me a ‘fanboi’ or some other equally lame retort for daring to mention the massive disconnect between Kinect excitement and Kinect execution.
There’s nothing wrong with flowery hyperbole per se, but it’s usually best left to the PR department imho. Kinect is an interesting first step but little more. Bring on Kinect 2 Plus HD I say, and lets strive for MORE fidelity in our gaming not LESS.
MaD dOctoR 79
yeah an interesting first step that will get you dull games and lighten your wallet pretty damn quickly.
I think you should wait until Kinect 4 when Microsoft finally buy out sony and add these amazing new sticks with spheres on the end which is a brand new never before seen piece of technology and a revolution in gaming…oh wait…surely people wouldn’t fall for such bs marketing…oh wait…they already have.
(and yes I’ve just noticed Kinect 4…Connect Four…but I’m pretty sure MS can say they came up with that name first…it is a revolution at least.
aphex187
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbLOFGSEDo
^^ if that’s what Kinect is doing then i can’t wait to buy one, lmao!!!