The once named Project Natal was shown to the world under a new light, or rather a glossy black shadow, at this years E3 donning the new name Kinect. This, as i’m sure you all know, is Microsoft’s answer to the Nintendo Wii, and more recently, the PlayStation Move. The Wii has already proven that this ‘approach’ to gaming sells units to what many call the casual or family market. Don’t scoff. The trouble is, with Microsoft in particular, that their console doesn’t fit that market as much as they’d like – hence Kinect. Features like Xbox Live Arcade, Zune Marketplace (and in America, Netflix), and even avatars, are large and small steps toward this audience, but the only true way to gain access to it is something like the Wii – hence Kinect.
Now, this all makes great business sense…but what about the rest of the 360? Microsoft’s console is the primary home of the modern day online gamer. Thanks to game franchises like Halo, Call of Duty, and Gears of War (two of which are independent to Microsoft’s console), the Xbox 360 is the home of the self-titled ‘hardcore gamer’. Now, correct me if i’m wrong, but Kinect doesn’t do anything to enrich any of that. It’s providing us with games like Kinectimals, which Microsoft has shown, was the most terrifying thing one could see at this years E3. Thanks to a young girl demonstrating what Kinectimals had to offer during their press conference, we all were able to witness the most sickening display of…affection, and playful…gameplay. Come on, the girl even confessed her love for the damn cutesy tiger on screen.
The sheer horror of Kinectimals
Other Kinect products like Kinect Adventures showed more of a ‘gamey’ side to what Kinect can offer, and Dance Central proved that the technology certainly does have a pretty cool market to lend itself to, even if you don’t like/aren’t good at dancing. Features like navigating the dashboard with Kinect, as well as some of the user interface integration that was shown using the sleek black device was impressive too, but like I said, where does this leave the ‘hardcore gamer’? If what has been said is true, and by that I mean the fact that Kinect is only really functional when standing up, then I really don’t see what Kinect can offer the majority of 360 owners. Being able to emote a chainsawing motion while playing Gears 3 might be a cool concept, but standing up to it? We play video games – we’re not athletes, dammit.
Check back soon so you can see my thoughts on what the PlayStation Move has to offer, and then i’ll be looking at the two together in more depth. This is a but a mere taster of my E3 retrospective – so stand up and get ready to wave your hands about like a maniac.
WOOOOOOOOOOOO ! Be gear