Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

[quote name='dtcarson']Question on Gunstringer: I know it's rated T, and I was a little bothered by the part of the demo with the lumberjack and the gator; but how "T" is the remainder of the game? My boy played the demo and loved it, and for some reason loves Fruit Ninja as well. I'm fine with cartoonish shootouts and a skeleton marionette, but didn't like that one part of the demo.[/QUOTE]

That part is a bit risque, but I think most kids wouldn't pick up on it too much. It's really an isolated joke, and I doubt there will be much raunchiness in the rest of the game (none I've seen so far).
 
I was put off by that scene in the Gunstringer demo as well. It's completely pointless and stupid and I didn't find it funny either. My 8 year old was watching me play when that came up as well. Irritating. That plus the, what seemed to me to be, semi-crappy controls pretty much make it a pass. At least going on the demo, the controls aren't anywhere near as tight as Child of Eden. I found it hard to aim accurately. I don't feel that way at all while playing Child of Eden. I haven't really liked any of Twisted Pixels games so far, and it looks like The Gunstringer is another one. I might still give it a try when it hits the bargain bins, though. I won't let me kids play it, though. Why did they include that stupid scene in a cartoony game?
 
[quote name='crunchewy']That plus the, what seemed to me to be, semi-crappy controls pretty much make it a pass. At least going on the demo, the controls aren't anywhere near as tight as Child of Eden. I found it hard to aim accurately. I don't feel that way at all while playing Child of Eden. I haven't really liked any of Twisted Pixels games so far, and it looks like The Gunstringer is another one. I might still give it a try when it hits the bargain bins, though. I won't let me kids play it, though. Why did they include that stupid scene in a cartoony game?[/QUOTE]

You should give the controls another shot. I move the cursor with my hand, it goes where I'm pointing. Flick my arm up and it fires at whatever I locked onto. Not at all inaccurate IMO. Managing the character's movement with the left hand can be tough since he's constantly running forward, but it makes sense and I never even have trouble with the platforming, which is surprising.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']A little gator on lumberjack action bothers parents but not pretending your hand is a weapon capable of killing people?

I see...[/QUOTE]

Before I had kids I had all the answers too.

I'll give the demo another shot. Sometimes I do have issues with Kinect when the light is just wrong. Maybe I was being bit by that.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']A little gator on lumberjack action bothers parents but not pretending your hand is a weapon capable of killing people?

I see...[/QUOTE]

Yep, in my book.

Cartoon killing is fine.
Cartoon bestiality is not fine.
 
I put in a pre-order for Kinect Sports Season 2 at newegg with the $12 off coupon. $37.98 shipped. Not a bad deal at all. Also there's coupons for Dance Central 2 and that Disneyworld game. See the thread in the deals section (it's titled for a deal on Battlefield 3, but includes the above noted coupons and some others).
 
[quote name='prayformojo']Yep, in my book.

Cartoon killing is fine.
Cartoon bestiality is not fine.[/QUOTE]

Are you afraid that your kid (or any kid) would be inspired to mate with an alligator as the result of that sequence? Or you just don't want them to become desensitized to human/alligator crossbreeding??
 
No, it's just not something I need my kids to see in a video game (to me it's not terribly appropriate humor for an 8 or 10 year old). No, I don't have a problem with cartoon violence, as long as it's cartoony and not over the top, which it isn't here. Which just makes the alligator scene seem all the more out of place. Like somebody decided at the last minute that they needed to give it an "edge". EDIT: and yes, I realize the game is rated T and I don't have a problem with it being in the game (though it does nothing for me, so it certainly wasn't a plus). The issue here is whether or not I let my kids play it.
 
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I fully agree that the scene is dumb - it just goes on for too long. If it was like 1/4 as long it'd probably be funny without crossing into annoying territory.

But remember, it's a T game, and that means a little innuendo is okay. Instead of approaching things as 'why don't they just cut this and that out and get it down to an E rating,' it's better to appreciate that the game is made for older people, so it's going to have some edgy stuff in it. In this case the joke doesn't really work, but that's the nature of comedy. I would be surprised if more than one or two professional reviews bothered mentioning it (though I might in my review since we've been discussing it).
 
[quote name='eastx']I fully agree that the scene is dumb - it just goes on for too long. If it was like 1/4 as long it'd probably be funny without crossing into annoying territory.

But remember, it's a T game, and that means a little innuendo is okay. Instead of approaching things as 'why don't they just cut this and that out and get it down to an E rating,' it's better to appreciate that the game is made for older people, so it's going to have some edgy stuff in it. In this case the joke doesn't really work, but that's the nature of comedy.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I agree, although I guess I didn't think it was going to be targeted at an older audience (Super Smash Bros Brawl is also T rated - the ratings board is generally pretty wildly inconsistent with their ratings), so it took my by surprise... and wasn't funny either. I don't see what it brings to the game, myself. Is there anything else like that in the game, or is that it?
 
I'm pretty sure that's it, unless you count the Madame boss being really busty. She is visually quite similar to the two chesty actress characters in the Coraline movie.

As far as jokes not working, the only other example that stands out is the audience reactions that happen during/between scenes. Sometimes they show somebody laughing madly when there hasn't really even been a joke, or they laugh too long at a simple joke, etc. I could live without those scenes, though again I doubt they will get much criticism in the media.
 
Ah, I was wondering about that in the demo. I thought maybe those audience scenes where just in the demo. They are part of the game? They were fine I guess. Too early to tell if it works, going on the demo alone.
 
Yeah, 'cause remember the whole thing is supposed to be a real stage puppet show. Sometimes the camera angle even changes and the live-action audience becomes the background to the action, which is actually pretty cool.

BTW the game's boss fights show a lot of variety. The first one against the Wavy Tube man just uses the regular gameplay engine, with the player ducking behind cover and firing when it's safe. But there's a Space Harrier-ish 3D aerial fight against a giant dragon, several 2D shoot-em-up fights, and some others too. Even during the levels themselves, there are so many little excursions from the regular gameplay, like horse riding bits, boating and rafting down a river, etc.
 
[quote name='eastx']Yeah, 'cause remember the whole thing is supposed to be a real stage puppet show. Sometimes the camera angle even changes and the live-action audience becomes the background to the action, which is actually pretty cool.

BTW the game's boss fights show a lot of variety. The first one against the Wavy Tube man just uses the regular gameplay engine, with the player ducking behind cover and firing when it's safe. But there's a Space Harrier-ish 3D aerial fight against a giant dragon, several 2D shoot-em-up fights, and some others too. Even during the levels themselves, there are so many little excursions from the regular gameplay, like horse riding bits, boating and rafting down a river, etc.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for all the impressions, sounds like you really like the game and sounds pretty safe aside from the one scene. Demo was fun and it seems like a good package with the DLC and Fruit Ninja. I was just taken off guard by that one scene and like you said probably should have paid more attention to the T rating.
 
[quote name='js1']I picked up the Nyko Zoom today. I'll try to give my impressions later.[/QUOTE]

I'm interested in your impressions when you have the chance to post them.
 
I got the Zoom. It doesn't work for my setup. My kinect is on a narrow shelf and my tv stand is deep. So with the Zoom it can see too much of my TV and TV stand and it can't find the floor. So it essentially works too well, and I would need a deeper shelf (so Kinect was closer) and narrower TV stand. It really does move the playspace up 2-3 feet. Was kinda shocked how dramatic of a difference it makes.
 
The reviews for the Zoom on amazon aren't encouraging. Currently at 3 stars with a slew of "It doesn't work" reviews right at the start of the list.
 
Yeah, I got it from Amazon, and had issues setting it up due to the "can't see floor" error. I think the problem is the Kinect has a pretty wide viewing angle already since it's geared for multiple players to be on screen at once. But it also needs your full body to be in frame...which is why so much play space is needed. Adding the Zoom basically doubles the viewing area (up/down + side to side) of the Kinect. This thing can see like my entire living room now, wall to wall.

Another thing I think causing a problem is the terminology used. The Zoom tells you to "calibrate" your Kinect after installing. It doesn't say to do the "player tracker" or any of the basic setup things while in the Kinect Tuner. When I first tried to set it up, I just did all of it because I wanted to be thorough, but that's when I ran into the "can't see floor" issue (during the player tracker).

I've been tinkering with it, and I feel like generally, you can get around that issue by doing a basic Kinect setup WITHOUT the Zoom, then installing it and just doing the "calibrate" option (where you use the card to line up the eyes in the glasses). I don't know if there will be issues while playing certain games, but after setting it up this way, it appears to work fine. I screwed around in Kinect Labs with it, and had no problems.

I'm not saying it will work perfectly that way, but I do feel several of the reviews are rushing to their judgment and probably don't understand the technology to begin with.
 
Any more Kinect Zoom impressions? I'm curious of the setup people have when they use it. I had the Kinect and I had to sell it since my room did just not work right. I probably have 6-8 feet maybe from my TV to my couch (or where I would stand). To compound it, I was playing with my 4 year old daughter, so the height difference was not working.

I was thinking of getting the XBOX 360 to upgrade to a SLIM, but not sure if I wanted to keep thje Kinec.
 
6-8 feet should be plenty of room. I have a 5 year old, but she's on the smaller side and it does have trouble picking us up together sometimes. Some nights it works flawlessly, other nights it seems like all I'm doing is calibrating the damn thing.
 
Well after messing with the zoom, I don't know if I can use it. My Kinect is mounted to my wall about 6 1/2 off of the floor(high enough to see past my entertainment center.) the Kinect is about 6 1/2-7 feet away.

With the zoom attachment the Kinect says it can't see the floor. I tried calibrating and all that. I tried moving it to the end of the entertainment center(still can't see the floor). It worked good when I had it directly under my TV but, did not give me the room for two players(depth wise). The zoom does cut the depth need by about 12-14 inches or so.

So, I bought this from Gamestop and they don't take back new accessories *edit (After 7 days, I'm on day 8 I did not read the receipt through enough) *. So, I guess I'm stuck with it. Maybe if I get a different setup I can use it. One day...
 
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[quote name='Corvin']6-8 feet should be plenty of room. I have a 5 year old, but she's on the smaller side and it does have trouble picking us up together sometimes. Some nights it works flawlessly, other nights it seems like all I'm doing is calibrating the damn thing.[/QUOTE]

That's the problem I have with my 4 yr old. Me and my other kids who are taller have no problem, then my 4 yr old comes to play on her turn and the game gets all wonky.
 
[quote name='js1']
So, I bought this from Gamestop and they don't take back new accessories. So, I guess I'm stuck with it. Maybe if I get a different setup I can use it. One day...[/QUOTE]

That is such BS. I know Best Buy or Target would take back accessories. Maybe you can sell it to someone here?
 
[quote name='seanr1221']That is such BS. I know Best Buy or Target would take back accessories. Maybe you can sell it to someone here?[/QUOTE]

I might try to see what they say, I was just going off of what the receipt says. But, yeah here or ebay might have to be the route I take if I can't take it back.
 
[quote name='js1']That's the problem I have with my 4 yr old. Me and my other kids who are taller have no problem, then my 4 yr old comes to play on her turn and the game gets all wonky.[/QUOTE]

Yep - big differences in height cause a problem. We have that in Fruit Ninja. The kids will just be a head at the bottom of the screen. The only half decent solution I came up with is for me to crouch down when and if it calibrates... and then unfortunately, playing that way when playing 2 players with the shorter set. I guess we need dual-kinects to really solve this problem. :)
 
It doesn't seem like anyone else here bought The Gunstringer for some reason, but it's definitely the best Kinect game so far (and only $40). Fruit Ninja Kinect is my second favorite Kinect title, and you get a free download code for it with Gunstringer.
 
[quote name='jza1218']So I just picked up a Kinect, set it up, and was wondering what everyone's favorite games were.[/QUOTE]

Kinect Adventures comes with the Kinect, of course. That's really good, as is Kinect Sports. Did yours come with a download code for Child of Eden? That's a great pickup.
 
Buy Fruit Ninja Kinect. That is easily the best Kinect game I've played. I have not played The Gunstringer except for the demo. I'll pick it up at some point, though. I suppose you might as well get The Gunstringer at this point, with freebie Fruit Ninja Kinect. Kinect Sports is good too, as is Child of Eden.
 
[quote name='jza1218']So I just picked up a Kinect, set it up, and was wondering what everyone's favorite games were.[/QUOTE]

dance central, kinect sports, fruit ninja, child of eden is good only had a chance to play it a little bit though
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Kinect Adventures comes with the Kinect, of course. That's really good, as is Kinect Sports. Did yours come with a download code for Child of Eden? That's a great pickup.[/QUOTE]

Nah I bought mine used, so no KA. But I only paid 85, so I'm ok with that.
 
[youtube]l2qLdaTr3n0[/youtube]

Why can't they ever use real people instead of models in these videos? Ah well. I like the music.
 
Jeez that was fast, Matt!

If the game character needs to get high, maybe they could just have the visuals go all psychedelic like Yellow Submarine or something.
 
You don't have to be high to enjoy a shitload of pancakes, Paul. Same deal as you and your ice cream. :p

Been catching up on some threads in this forum and I saw your post right away.
 
[quote name='eastx']Why can't they ever use real people instead of models in these videos? Ah well. I like the music.[/QUOTE]

Aw, when I saw "The Stroke" in the video still, I was hoping for Billy Squier.

I guess the game is all right if you like swimming and don't want to...ya know, actually go swimming, lol. The music and announcer make it sound like some kind of futuristic arcade racer though. I feel like it should be called "F-Zero: Michael Phelps", haha.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']That certainly looks craptastic.[/QUOTE]

What's this you speak of? Hope some of the previous Kinect games go on sale or cheaper. Missed the gamefly night sale the other night.
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']Well, I finally played the demo and Gunstringer is damn fun. Not sure if I'll get it now or pick it up later on, maybe after a price drop.[/QUOTE]

I did post my review only one page back. You should read that too. Little known-fact: people who read my reviews are happier, smell better, and live longer. :D
 
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