Kinect for the Holidays
Thaisa Gee, contributing editor
Every year, in conjunction with the holiday shopping season, one of the major video game companies introduces something new exciting that all of the kids (young and old) put at the top of their Wish List. Those old enough to withstand the cold have spent the night outdoors on the sidewalks in front of major department stores and national big box chains in order to fulfill the wishes of a loved one (or themselves). This year, people will be lining up and sprinting through stores to be the first to get their hands on Kinect for Xbox 360.
In 2006 consumers were positive that the geniuses at Nintendo had outdone themselves with the Wii, the interactive gaming system that could tell how you were standing and how much you weighed. The Wii not only introduced new games, but it also brought back old games from the 1990s and introduced an exercise component we had never seen before. However, just as we thought it could not get any better, Xbox has introduced technology that eliminates a gaming controller all together. The Kinect serves more as a mirror and reflects what the subjects are doing on the screen. Should the individual need to jump over an object, all they have to do is jump high enough to clear it and Kinect will detect their motions and project the movements onto the avatar on the screen. Kinect allows users to control movies, music and games not only with their movements, but it is also has a list of voice activated commands.
The controller-free device means it is absolutely a must to move your entire body to play a game. Many people soon discovered on the Nintendo Wii that aiming the controller at the sensor was often times all that was needed to do the task. More than a few people bowled from their couch, boxed while eating potato chips, or cheated when their yoga instructor tried to lead them into half-moon pose. Kinect reads your motions, so it has to be close to impossible to pretend to jump while you have your feet up on the coffee table (though I am sure someone will try to figure it out).
The Kinect for Xbox 360 sits at the top of not only serious gamer’s holiday wish lists, but also the casual consumers who are just interested in trying something new. The early reviews of the fitness games on Kinect sound similar to Wii, allowing the user to select a trainer and set a regime or go day-by-day, but Kinect also has the capabilities to read your movements, offer feedback and upload your results daily, just like a real personal trainer in a gym.
As we have settled into this new technology age, and become dependent on mobile phones, paper-thin laptops, electronic book readers, and digital tablets, it’s only natural that we embrace this new controller-free gaming technology that reads us before we have an opportunity to cheat. Let’s move, or like Kinect says “You don’t need to know anything you don’t already know. Or do anything you don’t already do. All you have to do is be you. You are the controller.”
Game on!
