Disneyland, but Cheaper

It is NOT this easy.

So the kids and I recently remembered that we have the very fun and engaging Kinect Disneyland.  So we've been trying to play it.

Trying is the keyword.

I basically don't know how families stay together after trying to play this with my 3 year old, my (now) 6 year old, the 1 year old wandering around, and my husband.

First, the baby.  When two other big kids/me are playing, and he wanders in front, it somehow totally removes us as player and accepts him.  This is beyond annoying.

Then the 3-year-old.  She desperately wants to play this.  She's probably the most age-appropriate for a Disneyland game... and she can barely do it alone.  It is impossible to help her with the proper motions, and have you ever tried telling a 3-year-old, "Lift your left hand.. no your left. Your other hand.  The one close to me. Now lift it.  Less.  Lift it just a little.  Now lower.  Higher.  Like this.  Do what mommy is doing.  Oh for the love of Pete, you're on your own."

The 6-year-old has a great grasp of it, and can properly control it.  Phew.  I suppose I also fit in this category.

And then there's my husband, who somehow always has to walk across the room, and since this is the most finicky Kinect game it either picks him up as a player, or the brief second he passes the Kinect totally blanks us all out.

I can't understand why some Kinect games are so good at tracking and keeping you logged in, despite madness in the room, and others are just absolutely awful.  Disneyland fits in the awful category.  And it's marketed for children.  Ironically, Once Upon a Monster is also awful, and also for children.  Does Xbox/Kinect want parents to kill themselves over their children crying that the characters won't dance with them??

I don't think it's reason enough not to buy the game.  It is super fun.  I am an unapologetic Disney lover.  Disneyland was truly the most magical place on Earth for me.  And it is faithfully recreated in this game.  It's so fun to walk around and see the same corners of the park that we walked in.  "Hey look! That's the bathroom where we cleaned up that giant poopy diaper!  Ahh..memories."

Just, when/if you buy it, prepare yourself. I suggest a glass of wine.  Or just playing it after the kids go to bed. You know you want to.

Kinecting

Well hello there, fellow Achievos!

Here's a quick catch up:

Debbie
Gamerscore - 43,280
Recent Games - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning; Catan; and a variety of arcade games on her new Windows phone.

Linz
Gamerscore - 22,165
Recent Games - Kinect game after Kinect game after Kinect game; arcades thrown in for fun (I got Debbie to buy Catan, and she totally dominates me at it. Grr!)


So that's what we've been up to.

I am shocked at how much my Xbox has become my Kinect machine.  I have been trying to do Dance Central 3 or Just Dance 3 as work outs every day.  I've got my kids playing Once Upon a Monster, Kinectimals, Kinect Party, and Kinect Disneyland to burn off some of that excess kid energy.  And we are having so much fun with it.  The variety of things to do, even within a single game, has us up and playing for hours a day.  The Kinect's "Tired or sore? Take a break!" banner is pretty much our bestie.  But I figure if we're going to be around the house the kids might as well be moving.  And heaven knows I won't exercise unless I'm having so much fun that I don't realize I'm exercising.

Kinect Party - super fun and silly

That being said, I still am boggled by how Kinect games are so different.  The dance games are exceptionally good at tracking and never losing the player.  The arcade games for Kinect are also great at this.  For some reason though the kid's games are awful!!  We played Kinect Disneyland for the first time last night, and ended up quitting after about half an hour because Kiera (5-years) was so mad when the game kept losing her and she couldn't complete objectives.  We'll try that one again, but have had similary problems.  Once Upon a Monster can also be frustrating.  They're great games, but why can't they track us as well as other games?  And with Kinect it's not as easy as grabbing a controller and helping the kids out..  As fun as it is, there is a lot of room for irritation.  That's why a game like Kinect Party which is totally forgiving and just about being up and having fun without objectives is really nice, especially for my little ones.  And me.  I mean...who doesn't like silly mini-games?

So what've you been up to?

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?

ah-ah-ah-I Work Ouuuutt

Moving and shaking!

Despite my lack of blogging, I have been playing a surprising amount of Xbox lately, and knocking some achievos out of the park.  I'm pretty happy with this, and my gamerscore is soaring.  What whaaat!

I have been working on my fitness with Dance Central 2, inspired hugely by the new Xbox app Kinect FitPlay.  It is a free app, and it has achievements.  Read: free achievements.  But you definitely have to work for them.  It has been inspiring for me though, because you get achievements for logging in and burning calories for having a streak of 2, 4, 7 and 10 days.  At the same time you get achievements for burning specific numbers of calories, and for you and your friends total calories burned.  It is super fun and inspiring to see the streak of days you've exercised go up.  For the first 10 days I was super dedicated until I got that achievement, then I lagged off, but now I'm trying to get back into it for the calorie achievements.  It's nice to get these bonus achievements for games I'm already playing and enjoying.

The hubby photo bombed this finishing move.

The downside is that there are only like, 8 supported games right now.  Dance Central 2 is on there though, but not DC1, go figure...  Supposedly there will be more games added on, and I certainly hope so.  Once Upon a Monster is on there, but from everything I've read online and from my own experience, it is not working.  No one seems to be getting any calorie tracking from it.  Hopefully the app has an update and rectifies this situation.

However you spin it though, I can't complain.  It is a fun app, it's got me (and my family) up and exercising, and it's free.  Go download it.  And then add me as a friend so that we can burn calories together!!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

We have been long time players of Carnival Games for the DS.  It is a favorite title.  The games are short, sweet, and simple.  The kiddos love it.  I've also heard good thing about the Wii title, but have never played it.  This week, we got Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do for the Xbox Kinect, and we are totally loving it!  There is just one drawback...

He will haunt your dreams.

This little creeper is the monkey helper for the carnival barker, and he is so ... scary looking.  The rest of the game graphics are to be expected.  The games look like real carnival games.  There is one where you ride a roller coaster and catch coins as you go and that one is a blast, and the roller coaster looks really real.  The carnival barker has smooth animation, and more of that Mii/Avatar look than the really "3D" graphic look.  And then there's Mr. Terrifying himself, the monkey with odd teeth and buggy, too human eyes.  I love monkeys.  They are adorable.  Why did they have to make this one look like it will take your soul through the cold, mechanical eye of the Kinect?  And he's everywhere!  He turns on the games.  He doles out tickets.  He is even the star of games, and you have to dance with him.

Ok, so I may be extra swayed because I get totally ooged out easily.  I'm terrified of ET and that creepy dancing baby from the Ally McBeal show.  Now Mr. Monkey is just part of that group.  It's not really "scary" necessarily - my children aren't the least bit afraid of him.  They just don't know.

Other than the monkey though, the game is so fun.  The carnival games are all done by simple motions that you would expect to do if you were playing the games in real life.  That said, there are games that are totally, insanely frustrating because you just can't get them.  Just like the frustrations of playing these games in real life!    If you like playing carnival games at real carnivals, you will enjoy this game, it's as simple as that.

And the best part of this game?  Just playing through each carnival game gives you like, 140 gamerscore!  Winning!  The rest of the achievements seem do-able too, they will just take some practice at perfecting the games.  I will dominate this one.

Fruit Ninja At Home and On The Go

While I'm not a huge fan of ninjas, I do enjoy a well sliced piece of fruit.  The mobile app game and Kinect downloadable Fruit Ninja gives you the maximum amount of the healthy snack with minimum interaction from the ninja.

I would typically begin this type of review with a background of the story, but this game doesn't really have one.  This arcade style game depends solely on your desire to reach that coveted spot of "Highest Score".  Fruit is tossed up onto the screen and its the player's job to cut it in half all while avoiding bombs that either reduce points or flat out make you lose.  Classic mode can go on forever, but you are given a three strike policy for missing fruit and the added danger of slashing a bomb which ends the game.  Arcade mode challenges you to get the highest score inside of 60 seconds, encouraging you to string together as many combos as possible while avoiding bombs that lower your score.  Hitting special, super charged bananas will help you by increasing the amount of fruit, allowing for temporary double points, or making things move ultra slow.  Zen mode increases the times to 90 seconds and gives you nothing but fruit.  Combos are the only way to boost your score so Zen relies pretty heavily on timing. 

Luckily there is not one but two different ways to get your hands on the game.  First, it is available for Android and iOS for a measly 99 cents.  Seriously, it is well worth that miniscule price.  An even better upgrade is available for download in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 points.  This game allows you to utilize the Kinect and actually hack your way through fruit like a real ninja obviously would.  The Kinect version takes it one step further and has DLC packs that include new backgrounds and fancy blades as well as a co-op mode so you can murder fruit with that special someone.

When comparing the two games side by side, its hard to say which is more fun.  Even though they are nearly identical, the Xbox version allows for some pretty hilarious arm flailing, which may be more fun for those around you.  But after about an hour of this, I started to feel the burn.  Unfortunately, I am awful at listening to my body and played for another hour.  Not until the next morning did I realize what a bad idea that was.  The lesson here is that this game is so fun that it is easy to miss out on how tired your body is.  One thing that is lacking on the Xbox version, and understandably so, is the precision.  Fruit Ninja's mobile app is really precise and responsive to finger controls, while the Xbox would periodically slice a bomb on accident while I was shifting my weight.  In all fairness, I am a very hippy girl so I forgive my Xbox for thinking I had another limb.  The mobile app clearly doesn't have the whole "tired arms" problem; it can easily be enjoyed for hours on end.

Imagine doing this while standing.  In your living room.  While looking at fruit.

So with all that said, I recommend that you buy both versions of Fruit Ninja.  It is really fun and entertaining for a group or to play by yourself while waiting in the car.  Lets face it, those flying fruits deserve what's coming to them.

Gunstringer Brings out the Kinect's Useful Side

How dedicated am I to this blog ?  After going to bed at 2am from a night of drinking, I am back up at 7am just to bring you more PAX deliciousness.  I wanted to tell you about a game I played last night called the Gunstringer.

With the aide of some alcohol, I played this game for about 15 minutes in the middle of a charity party.  Talking with some of the developers and the promo guys for the game gave me some real insight into the game.  Their goal was to make a game that finally utilized the Kinect in a natural, intuitive way.

The player acts as the marionette for a gun-slinging puppet and guide him through his world.  Player's use the left hand to move the character left and right as well as jumping.  The right hand acts as the reticle of the six-shooter and the actually shooting action.

This game does play really smoothly.  Walking up to it and starting right away is very easy.  The way that the Kinect and the player work together is very intuitive and feels like a natural fit.  Moving the character, gun reticle, shooting, jumping, and more are all fun and seamless.  However, you are required to hold your arms up and out to play the game (think arms like a zombie but not stretched out so far).  Ten minutes into the game, my left arm began to get tired. I imagine that not too much later would have made my right arm tired too.  So while this game really uses the Kinect well, it has the classic problem of expecting players to want to stand in awkward positions for long amounts of time. 

In the end, this game will be worth the money if its released as an arcade game.  But as a full length, $60 game, not so much.  Its definitely fun, but I hope that they come up with some levels in the game to help relieve your arms throughout.

Yoostar 2; More Like YooSUCKS ..... 2

Yoostar 2 is a video game that utilizes the Xbox Kinect or the PS3 camera to put your face in a movie scene.  You align your body with the image on the screen to replace the actor with your own image.  While standing in place, the player must read lines to match the dialogue.  There is also the option to run off script.  You are graded with 1-5 stars and points for how close your performance is to the real deal.  Now that you know how to play the game, let me tell you why you never should.  

The clips are from popular movies and they try to pick the most recognizable lines.  So when selecting Terminator 2, the scene to re-enact is the one involving "I'll be back".  I was pleasantly surprised with the movie selection.  I was expecting more classic, obvious movies like Gone With the Wind or Wizard of Oz.  Instead there was Zoolander and Shawn of the Dead.

The graphics that place your image into the scene are awful.  Probably some of the worst graphics I've seen in a really long time.  The game also had a lot of problems recognizing the player from time to time.  It would periodically stop sensing the people and drop their ability to run the controls of the game.

I put this game in the same category as Naughty Bear.  Its fun and funny for about thirty minutes, then the hilarity totally wears off.  The only demographic that would find this game entertaining beyond that time limit are kids between the ages of 10 and 13.  But this game isn't even successful as a game for children.  Most of the movies on the list are ones that a 10 year old hasn't seen.  If your child can recite the words from Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke, your child is awesome.  Also, you are a bad parent.

So with the high level of corniness, lack of consistent playability, and the fact that it isn't even playable for children, I do not recommend this game for anyone.  Ever.  Even if it drops to five dollars, take your money and hit up the dollar menu.  You will have a far more entertaining experience with a cheeseburger and sweet tea.

Microsoft's Xbox Blows Minds at E3

I am lucky enough to have access to live coverage of E3 during the day. So when day one of the three day conference kicked off with a massive presentation from Xbox, please believe I was all up in that. I was excited. I was disappointed. I was confused. I let out a couple fan girl screams. Here are a few items that caught my attention.

The big word for this year was Kinect. Almost every game or application of the Xbox from here on out will utilize or at least have the capability to utilize the Kinect. They tried to make it more appealing by adding more hardcore games. The latest edition of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon will now be integrated to the point that you can stand in front of the TV and use your body as the gun. Different gestures will cause you to look around, shoot, reload, and everything else. Be aware, the guy demonstrating the game looked like a dorkus extreme. Hunched in front of the Kinect with your arms out does not look attractive or comfortable.

A lot of people don't have a Kinect. I think a fair number of those people don't even want one. In an attempt to appeal to that group's wallets, Microsoft has made the Kinect usable is some new ways. Speaking commands to the Xbox will now help you control more, if not all, of the dashboard. As demonstrated on stage, speaking a name like "X-Men" will generate a list of all X-Men related content. The latest movies, games, and the old animated series available through Netflix will fill your screen to make sure you get your Marvel fix.

The coolest use of Kinect that I found was when they demonstrated playing Mass Effect 3. I am unapologetic when it comes to my excitement about Bioware's massive trilogy. People will be able to use the mic on the Kinect to make the speech selections for Commander Shepard. I think this is going to hugely enhance the RPG experience. While your voice isn't carried into the game itself, I'm sure that it will help the overall feeling of really having conversations with characters. It looks like it will engage the player more than ever.

One feature that stood out was the addition of a Live TV capability. There were very little details given about this interesting add-on. The presenter expressed that they were in talks with cable companies, striking up deals that would include local channels. The large screen onstage displayed numerous shows and what looked to be DVR capability. If this were to really happen, I would be thrilled. But there was a gaping lack of details. At no point was there an explanation of adapters, new consoles, or some other form of hardware. It is hard to imagine how the newer consoles, (slims or elites), would be able to achieve the simultaneous in and output, especially give the console's tendency to overheat.

Games exclusive to the Microsoft brand were also showcased. Halo 4 was announced to the chagrin of many gamers. Most of my Halo playing friends are purists and see this as an attempt to wring every last penny out of the franchise. Its tough to argue that theory. But look forward to Halo 4, 5, and 6 where we can only assume that Master Chief will begin eating dinner at 4pm and using his AARP card for senior discounts at the movie theater.

E3 is still going on today and tomorrow. There will be big presentations coming from Nintendo, Sony Playstation, and various publishers. Hold tight, we will bring you a summary of all the madness, good and bad.

Michael Jackson: The Experience is $60 Fail

I love dancing. I love video games. So when they started making video games based on dancing, it was a pretty big day for me. I have spent many an afternoon inside the Southern Hills Mall arcade playing Dance Dance Revolution like a YouTube cliche. And when Dance Central came out, I went a little crazy. But Michael Jackson: The Experience was, for me, the day the music died.

It should be noted first that this game is a different experience on the Kinect than it is on the Wii or the PS3. So this review/public shaming is directed solely at the edition made for the Xbox360. I am targeting this console because of the application of the Kinect specifically for this game. The developers had some good ideas, but horrible execution.

This is the first game I have played that requires you to dance and sing at the same time. There are several problems with this. First, if I had the physical stamina and lung capacity to dance full out to a heavily choreographed Michael Jackson video while singing the damn thing, I'd be too busy training for the Olympics because I would obviously be a an athlete far superior to most gamers. This skill set is well beyond that of the average consumer.

While I am borderline desperate for games to play with my Kinect, the Jackson game took advantage of almost every capability the equipment has to offer without testing it in multiple environments first. I live in a typical Chicago apartment complete with ancient, squeaky hardwood floors. Between the floors and my breathy jumping, the singing rarely registered correctly on the Kinect's built in mic. And God forbid there should be a siren outside or my phone should start ringing.

So maybe this game is amazing with the Wii or the Playstation move. Perhaps playing with a large group or party would be way more fun and tolerable. But even the classic songs of Michael Jackson couldn't save this game's solo campaign.