Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

[quote name='eastx']Body and Brain Connection is out now and apparently pretty good:

http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/218135/body-and-brain-connection/

It comes with a $10 credit at Amazon. I'm tempted, but might wait for a price drop.[/QUOTE]

Its really, really bad. The only amusing thing is the mini game where you direct the cars, and that gets old quick. If this was a 10 dollar XBLA game, it'd be a ok purchase, as is tho i do not recommend it even in the slightest.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I was interested in that game, but since when does a 3.5/5 from Gamepro equal good? It is Gamepro, after all, and the average from the few reviews that have come in so far is around 56%. The reviews made me lose any hope that the game would be good. :(

I have an uncomfortable question to ask regarding Kinect Sports- uncomfortable for you guys to read, and uncomfortable for me as it pertains to the experience which led me to ask: Has anyone else had issues with the running in Kinect Sports and, um... testicular discomfort? Maybe it's the lack of support since I'm a boxers kind of guy and I was wearing loose fitting pants that I'd normally wear to the gym, but the 10 seconds or so of running for stuff like the hurdles in track & field was causing pain as stuff moved around down there and bounced. Sorry for the mental image.[/QUOTE]

you don't wear a jock strap while playing kinect sports? c'mon man
 
I seriously understand the need for them now. Running on the treadmill doesn't cause problems; it's the running in place and getting the knees up instead of taking forward strides that's bludgeoning my balls.
 
I gave my kids Sonic Free Riders in spite of the reviews because they wanted it after the demo (and because my oldest finished his science project)... and so far the menus are insanely bad, as has been reported, and the voice recognition didn't seem to work all, or perhaps we didn't know how to do that, but I actually found the game pretty fun. Mind you, I only did two races, but I certainly had fun.

The key is ... umm... butt placement. :) Yes, stick your butt out or shove your pelvis forward, the more you do so the sharper the turn. That's the key to turning. I'm rather glad it didn't take photos of us while we played. ;) Jumping to make jumps is great, though it only allowed that when going off a ramp, which seemed odd. I mean if you weren't on a ramp and you jump anyway, your character doesn't jump. Why not?

I'm a bit stunned that there's no update for this game to improve the menu system.
 
Looks like Child of Eden got pushed to June. That sucks. That was the next kinect game I wanted to get and it was supposed to come out in March.
 
Debating on whether to pick up Kinect or not. Got Ea active 2 for $22. I was able to find a Kinect used/opened for $110 is it worth it or should I wait for a sale? It's got the game & everything else.
 
Got my Kinect today and something is jiggling around inside (sounds like possibly a screw or something). Anybody else? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?
 
Has anyone had a problem with kinect adventures disc unreadable error? I get past the intro, setup screen, then once is asks to sign on i get the error message. So i called microsoft and they werent able to replace it. So i assumed it was a scratch, sent it into cdfixers repair service for $7, took 2+ weeks. Pop the disc in and still get the same error. A google search resulted in a good amount of people's kinect adventures suddenly not working with the same issue. All the other games on the 360 work, even in worse condition than the kinect adventures. I might try installing it directly on the hard drive as my last option. Could it be a possible corrupt save file causing this?
 
Tim Schaffer & Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend...etc) working on a family Kinect game...'Seasame Street: Once Upon A Monster'...due this fall. I'd link but I can't at the moment.

Source: Eurogamer.net check it out if you're interested, they already got some screenshots.
 
If Tim Schaffer could use the Sesame Street universe and give it the Epic Mickey treatment, leaning toward the darker tone alluded to in earlier concept art and such when Epic Mickey was first discussed, that could be awesome. Then again, it might require us to start taking drugs to be able to wrap our brains around it.

^^^ Just another random, pointless thought.
 
Oddly enough, I'm stoked for the Double Fine Sesame Street game. Mainly because I really want a new kinect title, i have a toddler who is getting into gaming (yay leapsters!) and a 5 year old who will still enjoy this title, and it's an XBLA kinect title. And, it's from Double Fine! This has win written all over it for my situation.

Also, my 5 year old absolutely loves Costume Quest.
 
I am curiously interested in the sesame street game. Looks fun in a silly way. Ive also read its a XBLA title, which would be nice for a change. although they'll need to update the kinect dash somehow to launch xbla titles from there like they do now with disc games.
 
I'd imagine the primary push for Kinect will be XBLA games. It's safer for developers, and we can get some really cool stuff for 10-15.00.
 
[quote name='theredworm']I'm waiting for the first $1 indie kinect game.[/QUOTE]

I'm waiting for the first $1 Indie "Kinect Theremin". No, really. I'd definitely buy that for a dollar if it worked well. That would be awesome and I really can't believe no one has put one out yet. Hopefully it will let use record and share. :) Actually I'm surprised there aren't 10 of them to choose from.
 
An update on Sonic Free Riders... my kids really like it a lot. But we still have problems with Kinect getting confused about who is who and whether or not they are even there. It's gets pretty frustrating. This isn't specific to Sonic Free Riders, but certainly they've hit into that. We end up having to quit back to the hub and relaunch the game in order to get it straightened out and then it does work fine... until you attempt to switch who's playing. Then it's often a mess again, even if you sign in manually. Does anybody else have problems like that with Kinect?
 
I've changed my mind on the bowling in Kinect Sports. It's *not* as good as Wii Sports Resort in terms of realism/realistic motion and such, not nearly, and the ball tends to do the same thing too much (probably compensating for lack of accuracy by directing the ball for you, but don't quote me on it)... but... it has online, and the online play is fun, perhaps because it's one type of online game I can do decently at. :) I also like the bowling mini-games. Those are fun.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I've changed my mind on the bowling in Kinect Sports. It's *not* as good as Wii Sports Resort in terms of realism/realistic motion and such, not nearly, and the ball tends to do the same thing too much (probably compensating for lack of accuracy by directing the ball for you, but don't quote me on it)... but... it has online, and the online play is fun, perhaps because it's one type of online game I can do decently at. :) I also like the bowling mini-games. Those are fun.[/QUOTE]

Kinect Sports bowling is pretty horrible, the minigames arent bad, but the main game is not even 1% of wii sports in terms of feel and accuracy.

I tried out Brunswick Bowling kinect, and its not bad, i actually liked it more then kinect sports bowling, although its still pretty terrible. If it was a 5 buck XBLA title, it'd be worth picking up, otherwise stay far away from it.
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']Kinect Sports bowling is pretty horrible, the minigames arent bad, but the main game is not even 1% of wii sports in terms of feel and accuracy.

I tried out Brunswick Bowling kinect, and its not bad, i actually liked it more then kinect sports bowling, although its still pretty terrible. If it was a 5 buck XBLA title, it'd be worth picking up, otherwise stay far away from it.[/QUOTE]

I don't disagree, as I noted. The saving grace is online. What would be the bomb is Wii Sports Resort bowling with online, but that doesn't exist. :(
 
[quote name='crunchewy']An update on Sonic Free Riders... my kids really like it a lot. But we still have problems with Kinect getting confused about who is who and whether or not they are even there. It's gets pretty frustrating. This isn't specific to Sonic Free Riders, but certainly they've hit into that. We end up having to quit back to the hub and relaunch the game in order to get it straightened out and then it does work fine... until you attempt to switch who's playing. Then it's often a mess again, even if you sign in manually. Does anybody else have problems like that with Kinect?[/QUOTE]

You can be signed into one profile on your 360, then be signed into either the same or different kinect profile(s). It's very confusing. There are oddities like, you can both get achievements. Did you use Kinetic ID to set up each of your kids??? That might help. I don't change players a lot, but I have seen some of what you are talking about.
 
I'm having fun with Kinect but feel like it's wearing down, as in most of the titles don't have online multiplayer/co-op so replay value isn't alot. The games are hardly ever on sale and only place that has any kinect games used is gamestop and even they barely even have 1 game here and there. What are some recommended games I can play? I've got kinect adventures, ea active 2.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']I'm having fun with Kinect but feel like it's wearing down, as in most of the titles don't have online multiplayer/co-op so replay value isn't alot. The games are hardly ever on sale and only place that has any kinect games used is gamestop and even they barely even have 1 game here and there. What are some recommended games I can play? I've got kinect adventures, ea active 2.[/QUOTE]

Kinect Sports and Dance Central are 2 must haves in my opinion. DC is awesomely fun.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662'] The games are hardly ever on sale[/QUOTE]

Huh? There has been some kind of deal somewhere on the games nearly every other week since it was released.
 
Yeah, they go on sale constantly. Heck, even expensive EA Sports Active 2 was only $20 at Toys R Us for 2 weeks recently.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I've changed my mind on the bowling in Kinect Sports. It's *not* as good as Wii Sports Resort in terms of realism/realistic motion and such, not nearly, and the ball tends to do the same thing too much (probably compensating for lack of accuracy by directing the ball for you, but don't quote me on it)... but... it has online, and the online play is fun, perhaps because it's one type of online game I can do decently at. :) I also like the bowling mini-games. Those are fun.[/QUOTE]

I'm not going to say I disagree, but the first time you get a near perfect game in Kinect Sports bowling = magical. I still feel like an olympian because of my 260 score. That never happened with Wii Sports.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']I'm having fun with Kinect but feel like it's wearing down, as in most of the titles don't have online multiplayer/co-op so replay value isn't alot. The games are hardly ever on sale and only place that has any kinect games used is gamestop and even they barely even have 1 game here and there. What are some recommended games I can play? I've got kinect adventures, ea active 2.[/QUOTE]

Agreed with others, Dance Central is great.

I'm an early adopter, I buy these kinds of things right away. But for anyone who hasn't bought a kinect, it's not something you'll play everyday at this point unless you are super motivated.

If a gamer with a limited budget said "Should I get it now?", I'd tell them to wait for more cheap used games and used cameras and lower prices in general. But to anyone with kids and expendable income, it's good for a weekend activity, between Sports and Adventures. No need to get much more for kids.

I'm also looking forward to seeing some arcade and indie games for it. The potential is huge. Like a kinect web surfing app. Or a media guide/media center app. If someone can pick a good interface, like Dance Central did.
 
Gunslinger looks good after seeing that 15 min video of it, but i wonder how tiring it is going to be having both my hands in the air during gameplay. Otherwise i agree that my kinect collects dust as it does for most kinect owners. Hopefully something of substance will show up soon.
 
kinect adventures, kinect sports both have online play so that helps. ea active 2 and your shape fitness evolved are "workout" games so you have to be motivated while playing them. Dance Central is fun for the entire family or even alone. Great game, only complaint is no online mode.

Also for all those games waiting for sales i was able to get them for around $30 each the past couple months, so its possible to get them for decent prices

Ive seen the price of the kinect drop to around $100+ tax/shipping lately which is a good deal, yet i still dont regret getting it for around $150 at new years from amazon. I had a bunch of credit to use so my out of pocket money spent was minimal. Plus during that time myself and family have used it consistently.

BTW, i'm still annoyed by xbox support, it seems they sent out a faulty batch of kinect adeventures games. I've read online it suddenly stops getting unreadable disc error. I've tried everything by getting it fixed (spendiing extra $7 for cdfixers service), installed on hard drive nothing. Its not a great game by any means, but still fun for kids and at get togethers. Xbox cant send a replacement and its too late to exchange from amazon just the game itself
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Tim Schaffer & Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend...etc) working on a family Kinect game...'Seasame Street: Once Upon A Monster'...due this fall. I'd link but I can't at the moment.

Source: Eurogamer.net check it out if you're interested, they already got some screenshots.[/QUOTE]


I am really interested in getting the sesame street game for my 5 year old daughter. She LOVES the kinect, but the only game that she cares for is Kinectimals. Does anyone know when it's coming out?

ETS: Sesame Street will be coming out Fall of this year... so sometime after September....
 
rly723, I saw Kinect Adventures for about $8 on gamestop.com if that helps any. I tried to tweet @xboxsupport the other day but can't, they gotta follow me in order for me to ask them for help that sucks. Anyways, dance central I played it and liked it but seems i'll get tired of it quick and no one here plays 360 but me. I'm going to get Kinect Sports though soon. Ea Active 2 I got @ tru for $22 awhile back and it's worth it, good workout! Sesame street I do want and gunslinger as an xbla title is cool, i'll have my ms points ready for it.
 
As long as you like dancing, it would take a good while to actually finish Dance Central. You really have to learn the dances, so it's not like Rock Band where you can just ace a song on your first try. DLC songs can extend the experience too.
 
blitz, correct. I ended up picking up Dance Central, Kinect Sports, EA Active 2, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved and Kinect Adventures was included of course with the Kinect sensor. Overall, I think i've got the best games out for awhile and they'll keep me busy. I'm happy with everything and that your shape game is a good work out, ea a2 drills you even more :)
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']The DLC for the most part is pretty awful, thankfully the next set of 4 is not bad at all. They're unannounced, but trust me, pretty good.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. Extremely disappointed by the DLC they have, I've got 3 songs via DLC and 1 of which was free.
 
I have a pretty important question to me to ask you guys, and I would really appreciate reliable feedback on this.

I recently became significantly hearing impaired through an illness, and now my understanding of speech and music is drastically reduced. I am unable to understand dialogue without reading lips or reading captions on a tv.

I've been wanting a Kinect for the fitness games, as I've had great success using Wii Fit in the past to lose weight. However, because of my new hearing impairment, I'm hesitant to make the purchase.

During games such as EA Sports Active 2 or Your Shape or Dance Central, are there game instructions with text? Are the fitness instructors in the games captioned or have the option for captions to be turned on?

My concern is that due to the nature of these games and how, like Wii Fit, it likes to give you instructions when it's not always easily possible for you to see the screen, I may be unable to understand the responses required of me.

I look forward to your responses. I'm also interested in Kinectimals, but when playing with it at my nephew's house, it appeared there was no menu option for captions. Can anyone confirm this?
 
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Dance Central tells you the next move, and the name usually is a good indicator of what the action will be. There's a really great practice mode called break it down that let's you practice each step.

Your shape as you following the lead of a trainer, so you could get by watching what they are doing, and then imitating it.

Hope this helps.
 
Anyone play Dance Paradise? For some sick reason, I'm interested in that one.

Also, anyone have hands-on experience with Harry Potter? I like HP but I hear the game is beyond horrid.
 
Utopian, I'm sorry to hear about your health troubles.

Kinectimals has full subtitles, and I do recommend *all* people turn off the narrator's voice, for it is atrocious and designed to annoy.
 
[quote name='utopianmachine']I have a pretty important question to me to ask you guys, and I would really appreciate reliable feedback on this.

I recently became significantly hearing impaired through an illness, and now my understanding of speech and music is drastically reduced. I am unable to understand dialogue without reading lips or reading captions on a tv.

I've been wanting a Kinect for the fitness games, as I've had great success using Wii Fit in the past to lose weight. However, because of my new hearing impairment, I'm hesitant to make the purchase.

During games such as EA Sports Active 2 or Your Shape or Dance Central, are there game instructions with text? Are the fitness instructors in the games captioned or have the option for captions to be turned on?

My concern is that due to the nature of these games and how, like Wii Fit, it likes to give you instructions when it's not always easily possible for you to see the screen, I may be unable to understand the responses required of me.

I look forward to your responses. I'm also interested in Kinectimals, but when playing with it at my nephew's house, it appeared there was no menu option for captions. Can anyone confirm this?[/QUOTE]

Dance central has no verbal ques at all during the normal mode. Everything is on screen. The body parts that aren't matching the move flash red. During break it if you miss a move repeatedly, the announcer sometimes will count it out for you like "Cross, snap, cross, snap".

Yourshape, I can double check tomorrow morning, but nearly everything is on screen. Under each move it will list 1 to 2 things like Wide stance/arms up and down, and then fill in the bubble if you are doing it correctly. The woman's voice will say stuff like "try for deeper squats during the sumo squat". The games have a verbal explanation along with video. I will try it muted next time and see if I miss anything.
 
there are verbal ques in dance central when you slow down the break it down but if you are going that far you can really understand the movement without hearing those ques anyways by just seeing it slowed down
 
Another thing to consider is how big any such text is. Kinect requires to stay fairly far away from your TV, so if you don't have a humungous TV, a lot of 360 games require you to be close to the TV set. I'd hope that they'd be smart enough to recognize this issue with Kinect and make all the text large, but I'm not entirely hopeful that they've done that. The game devs seem to think that HD means they can make the text ridiculously tiny.
 
[quote name='eastx']Utopian, I'm sorry to hear about your health troubles.

Kinectimals has full subtitles, and I do recommend *all* people turn off the narrator's voice, for it is atrocious and designed to annoy.[/QUOTE]

Ah, great! I'm too much a girl to *not* get Kinectimals if/when I get a Kinect. It just oozes adorable. :D

[quote name='wakawakawa']Dance central has no verbal ques at all during the normal mode. Everything is on screen. The body parts that aren't matching the move flash red. During break it if you miss a move repeatedly, the announcer sometimes will count it out for you like "Cross, snap, cross, snap".

Yourshape, I can double check tomorrow morning, but nearly everything is on screen. Under each move it will list 1 to 2 things like Wide stance/arms up and down, and then fill in the bubble if you are doing it correctly. The woman's voice will say stuff like "try for deeper squats during the sumo squat". The games have a verbal explanation along with video. I will try it muted next time and see if I miss anything.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for the details! It sounds like perhaps I can get away with not hearing that game. I do "hear," but I will likely be getting the cochlear implant in the next month or so. Not sure what my hearing will be like then. From what I understand, it'll never be like it is now or before I lost so much.

[quote name='theredworm']there are verbal ques in dance central when you slow down the break it down but if you are going that far you can really understand the movement without hearing those ques anyways by just seeing it slowed down[/QUOTE]

That sounds encouraging.

[quote name='crunchewy']Another thing to consider is how big any such text is. Kinect requires to stay fairly far away from your TV, so if you don't have a humungous TV, a lot of 360 games require you to be close to the TV set. I'd hope that they'd be smart enough to recognize this issue with Kinect and make all the text large, but I'm not entirely hopeful that they've done that. The game devs seem to think that HD means they can make the text ridiculously tiny.[/QUOTE]

I believe my TV is 38" or something. My living room setup is small, so I would basically have Kinect set up to the minimum I can get away with. So I believe, at least for me, that seeing the text shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you so much, everyone! I believe I'll look into getting a Kinect very soon. Unfortunately (but really fortunately!), my money is tied up in the 3DS right now.

But maaaaaybe I can squeak the Kinect into my budget. ;)
 
jess (and everyone else) here is a tip: put the Kinect Sensor on top of your tv if possible, that'll give you 1-2" extra leverage. My friend only had about 8 feet available and upon doing this method he ended up with a few extra inches so it worked out well. As for your shape, just follow the onscreen instructor there isn't much to listen to other than "good job" and other motivational words like that. If you have an iPhone, you can keep track of your progress for Your Shape Fitness Evolved through a Free official app they have and also, here is the website to keep track of your stats and others as well:

http://yourshapegame.us.ubi.com/

Think you can share your information on facebook/twitter as well and the DLC for this game is going on sale tomorrow so if you plan on getting the game some time in the future, i'd recommend getting the dlc while it's on sale (50-60% off).
 
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