Saturday, January 26, 2013

I Like to Move It, Move It

According to Wikipedia, Kinect was launched on November 4, 2010.  It took me quite some time to get my hands on one, and when I did I was initially thrilled, and skeptical.  In all honesty, two years later not much has changed.

I love the Kinect.  There is nothing greater than being in the kitchen and controlling my Xbox by calling out, "Next episode!"  (Any parent of young'ens with Netflix can attest to this.)  It is no less loved by me when I am snuggled up under a blanket and want to see that next episode of Tudors without having to move.  Ugh, movement, am I right? ... wait ...  The voice controls are less of my friend when I'm just having a chat and suddenly the Xbox is rewinding my show, or bouncing around menus.  Once my husband said "that's the way it is" and it Bing searched "gay suede shoes," obviously.

I have not really used its functionality on games like Mass Effect 3.  I rarely even remember to hit the buttons to direct my squad; therefore I'm definitely not going to remember to sit on my couch, alone, at night, talking to my television.  Besides I'm not a very direct leader.  I'd be like, "Kaiden, take cover. No, seriously...Kaiden.  Cover.  Ok wait, shoot that guy.  No, that one.  Jeeze.. ok just do whatever you feel is right."

But of course the main point of Kinect would be Kinect games.  And they are fun, like...75% of the time.  The remaining 25% of the time I'm getting frustrated trying to make my Kinect recognize me. Track me. See me.  See my daughter.  Not see my other daughter on the couch just trying to watch.  The Kinect is notoriously fickle, and the fickleness fluctuates depending on what game you're trying to play.  I find no issue doing 2 player on Dance Central, but Kinect Adventures is like, "Nope, no friends for you."  Fruit Ninja is fun for all, as are the Kinect Fun Lab games, but Carnival Games is rarely accommodating.  How does this make any sense?  I actually got rid of The Michael Jackson Experience after one day of play because it was so awful at seeing me that I literally could not even play the game.

Oh yeah. Nothing embarrassing about that.
And I still love it!  I still return to it!  I feel so frustrated when my body is physically too tired to play the games I want to play.  That is a bummer.  And a reminder that perhaps I should be playing a little more often...because I doubt getting winded by Carnival Games is a good sign.  Uhh..*shameface*  But I can hardly play with an audience, because...really.  See image at left.

On the flipside, my husband hates the Kinect.  I can not coerce him into playing any Kinect titles with me.  He has little to no desire to stand up and move to enjoy a gaming experience.  How do you guys feel about it?  Love it?  Hate it?  Forget you have it since you never use it?

1 comment:

Annie Jay said...

I hate it when it registers the people sitting in the background, VERY frustrating.

And yes, I totally get winded by it when I play Dance Central or Kinect Adventures, but that just gives me more incentive to do it more!

I love my Kinect for the voice command aspects. One time a friend was over and she was telling me a story. Right in the midst of it I said "Xbox, Apps!" Then I apologized. She said "That's ok." And I realized I was actually just apologizing to the Xbox because I hadn't wanted the apps screen at all.

Maybe I love my Kinect TOO much....