Calling this article a “hands on” feels somewhat disingenuous given the nature of the device. The reality is that throughout my experience with Microsoft’s new motion capture plaything, my hands didn’t get anywhere near it. And that’s exactly what Microsoft wants; no buttons, no feedback, and no tactile stimulation whatsoever, apart from the potential associated chaffing which may come from incessant jumping around like a madman.
Myself and three other journalists were guided through a series of rooms, each of which had a different game setup, along with two producers on hand to guide us through the gameplay and spam us with PR speak. I was sceptical going in, as the idea of motion controlled gaming has never been one that really appealed to me. Having said that, I approached the experience with an open mind, hoping to walk away with a newfound understanding of the device’s appeal.
Kinect can take embarasing photos of you jumping around like a plonker
Sadly, this was not the case, and I am now more certain than ever that Kinect will be designated the role of a novel toy designed to appeal solely to the same massive casual audience that Nintendo so comprehensive captured with the Wii. Sadly, my experience gave me no indication that Microsoft is concerned with developing anything for more demanding gamers.
The first room we entered had a white water rafting game set up. The camera did an adequate job of mapping my body, as well as the second journalist who shared the virtual tube my avatar occupied. Rudimentary controls were limited to jumping and ducking under obstacles. There may also have been some mild leaning. It was scarily reminiscent of some of the shovelware that Nintendo has put out for its own motion centric device. To make matters worse, the motion detection was not particularly accurate or responsive, making even the most rudimentary mini-game frustratingly difficult.
The second room was slightly better, and using my outstretched hands in a steering wheel formation, I was tasked with racing a car around a track. Again, the motion detection was not as sharp as I had hoped, making navigating the track a clumsy and awkward affair.
At this point, not only was I not impressed by the technical ability of the device, but the lack of any real creativity or smart game design was worrying. I’m all for motion control, but A: it has to be super polished, and B: games can’t rely on motion control as the sole gameplay motivator. So a game has to be fun in its own right, with motion control perhaps accentuating its features as opposed to being the only thing interesting about it.
The last game we were shown perhaps showed a little more potential. It was Ubisoft’s Your Shape; a fitness application similar to the Wii fit. The motion tracking was fairly tight in this title, and although it is not really a game, I can see it appealing to hundreds and thousands of would-be home fitness enthusiasts. The advantage it has over currently available products, is that it allows the user to watch an image of them self jumping around on screen alongside their virtual trainer.
The Kinect demo at E3 brought back too many memories of Sony’s rubbish Eye Toy games and Wii shoverlware for my liking. If Microsoft wants to impress the majority of gamers, they will have to not only polish up the technology, but inject a healthy dose of fresh ingenuity and innovative game design.
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