As expected, Microsoft is positioning Kinect to go after the casual market that Nintendo has ravaged the last four years. What was hoped for, and ultimately left unfulfilled was any notion that Kinect could be used for regular gamers. All you have to do is look at the launch lineup: 4 sports games, 3 fitness games, 3 party games, and 3 dance games. Obviously Microsoft and eager 3rd parties want to be the next Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit and sell another 10 – 20 million units.
Maybe in the future some smart developer will come out with a ‘core’ game that takes advantage of the Kinect platform, but that’s a long shot. Nobody should be buying Kinect for the hope that one day it’ll get used to make some new kind of game. Instead you should consider Kinect if the games and services that are going to be available at launch actually interest you.
The other thing about Kinect is that because it's so new there are no standard interactions that developers can use, or that users can perform. What I mean by that is with a controller selecting a menu item is very straightforward - simply use the dpad or analog stick to move around the choices then press a button to select. Same with pointer controls such as the Wiimote or Move, simply move the cursor around to choose your selection, and then press a button to select. With Kinect however, there are almost as many different menu-systems as there are games. From navigating the menu choices, to actually selecting a menu item, almost every game had it's own unique method.
This reinventing the wheel is what I think adds to the "unpolished" feel of the experience. Developers don't really know how to do menu selection, and the users don't really know how to do menu selection. So you get a lot of "no no swipe this way, and then hold here..." over and over. I think Microsoft needs to pave the way here to provide User Interface best practices so that developers start using common techniques. This benefits the users as well since each new game doesn't present a new interface they need to learn.
The Games
Kinect Sports (Bowling) – this was pretty fun. While technically it’s more impressive, it gets you the same amount of fun as Wii Bowling. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as Wii Bowling is pretty darn fun, but it’s not a game changer or anything.
Kinect Sports (Hurdles) – essentially the track and field that was available nearly 25 years ago on the original NES. Pump your legs then jump in the air when the hurdles come. Whatever.
Kinect Adventures (Speedball) – formerly known as Ricochet, also can be referred to as horizontal Breakout with your body. It was fun, and is pretty much the only non-Wii knockoff that will get playtime on my console.
Dance Central – It’s a dancing game. Fundamentally they’re all pretty fun as dancing is silly and fun. This one is definitely more ‘serious’ than the other dancing titles out there. They’re trying to get you to do real moves and somehow are actually able to track them pretty well which is surprising. I think the big selling point for this game is going to be the big track selection (90+ as I heard), and you know they’re going to be pretty darn good songs.
Dance Masters – another dancing game, compared to Dance Central this one is more of a game. What I mean by that is the emphasis is more on scoring, doing specific moves, and not necessarily doing ‘real’ dance moves. To be perfectly honest I actually had more fun with Konami’s Dance game. The problem here is that the music selection – at least in the demo – was pretty crap. I mean, if you’re into J-Pop like stuff that’s in DDR then this will be right up your alley. But for most people that like mainstream pop music, the selection just doesn’t compare to Dance Central.
I feel like the Move is recreating all the plusses and minuses of the original PS3 launch. Technically, the system is extremely capable. It’s obviously the most accurate system and provides the best compromise between casual and core gaming capabilities. Alongside that Sony is actually positioning it as an input mechanism to be used for core games alongside their casual software coming out. The other benefit is that games can be designed to be used with Move support along with the traditional controllers that every PS3 owner already uses. Therefore, there’s very little risk for a company to develop a game with Move support, which will inflate the number of ‘Move titles’.
So a lot of positives. But let’s not forget the negatives. It’s expensive. Damn expensive. Each move wand + subcontroller costs $80 bucks a pop. Add the Playstation Eye, and no matter which configuration you go, the entry point for being loaded up with 2-player Move is around $200. That’s not including the price of the PS3 itself. Then you have the ridiculousness of the device itself. I know these motion games are all about making yourself look silly, so – you already look silly enough, do you really need the extra ridiculousness of a glowing orb?
The Games
Kung Fu Riders – as a game, it’s pretty lame. They BETTER not be releasing this as even a $40 title, this only has the meat of a mini-game in a larger collection. One thing though is that this game really highlighted the responsiveness and accuracy of the Move controller. From the menus down to actually playing the game I only once felt like the controller didn’t register things properly. Compare this to Kinect, or even the Wii where you’re looking at a decent number of moves that go unregistered, which gets frustrating.
Wii Motion+
This is already a known quantity by most people as Wii Motion+ came out last year. The big thing for this show of course is the announcement and demo of Legend of Zelda: The Skyward Sword.
Legend of Zelda: The Skyward Sword – I mean, it’s Zelda. It’s the same game you’ve been playing since Ocarina of Time nearly 15 years ago. The sword controls are cool from a technical perspective, but when you’re actually playing it all results in the same ol’ waggling we were doing with Twilight Princess. The look and feel is classic Zelda. So if you love and want more Zelda, this is for you. For someone like me that hasn’t been into the Zelda franchise since Ocarina, I couldn’t really care less.
Conclusion
I'm going to cut right to the meat of the issue and provide various recommendations based on different situations.
Buy Kinect if:
- you own a 360 and don't own a Wii and want party games for when your friends come over
- use your 360 as a media center a lot
- don't have any console and want a system that provides the entire range of games from casual to core and you don't care about 3D or Blu-Ray
Buy Move if:
- you already own a PS3 and want some party games for when friends come over
- don't have any console and want a system that provides the entire range of games from casual to core and you do care about 3D and Blu-Ray
Buy a Wii if:
- you don't own any consoles and just want something fun to play with friends
- you love Nintendo games
Don't buy any of them if you have no desire for casual party games.
