“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Can you hear it? The three heavy weight contenders in the rock ’em sock ’em world of video gaming are duking it out in the center ring. And the crowds are going wild!
That’s right folks, with the launch of Kinect today, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are now gripped in a three-way prize fight for your motion-controlled gaming hearts and dollars.
Each of these companies has gaming gadgetry to offer you — gadgetry that will read your body movements and translate those movements onto the TV screen and into the game world before you. Nintendo has its Wii and its MotionPlus-enhanced controller. Sony has its Move motion control system for the PlayStation 3. And Microsoft is now offering its brand-spankin-new controller-free gaming device known as Kinect for the Xbox 360.
Kinect for Xbox 360
Price: $150
Pros: If you really want to wow your friends, your family or that person you’re buying a gift for this holiday, Kinect is the device for you. It’s the newest of the three motion-gaming products and one that lets you control your games, movies and music with hand gestures, body movements and voice commands. You hold no controller in your hand whatsoever.
Controlling your games with your entire body opens up some truly unique, fun and funny gaming experiences. Meanwhile, Kinect will make your Xbox 360 much easier for the younger, more casual or non-gamers in your house to use. They don’t have to fumble with an unfamiliar controller, for example, when they want to play a movie with your Xbox. Instead, using voice commands, they can simply say “play,” “pause,” or “fast-foward.”
Cons: Kinect games available so far are largely casual games, fitness games and party games. And, so far, we haven’t seen how Kinect’s controller-free system might work in a game like, say, “Halo.” Only time will tell whether developers and publishers come up with a wider array of Kinect-enabled games. Also, there is something of a lag at times between your movements in the real world and when they’re displayed on the screen or in the game. It seems the camera sometimes struggles to keep up with complex or especially zippy gestures.
-Winda Benedetti
