A buddy of mine recently got some hands on experience with Microsoft's new motion sensing technology, Kinect, at the Macy's store in downtown Chicago and wanted to share his thoughts. After reading his review, this is pretty much what I was expecting from this device/technology. So check it out below and if you've had a chance to try it out let us know what you thought in the comments.
Personal background:
I’ve been playing video games since the late 80’s. I’d like to think of myself as a gaming everyman. I’ve owned the NES, Gameboy Color, Sega Genesis, 32X (not proud of that), Game Gear, SNES, Playstation 1 & 2, Dreamcast, PSP, iPod Touch, various PC setups, and the Xbox360. No Playstation 3 or Wii. I didn’t realize how much of a gaming dork I was until I just re-read how many systems I’ve owned. Anyways, I’ve just about tried them all out so I’m fairly well versed in video game controls (from controllers to super scopes to DDR dance pads). The video games currently making their rotation in the Xbox are Read Dead Redemption, MW2, Forza 3, Mega Man 10, and Trials HD. I’ve got plenty of other games of various genres, but these are the ones I’m playing at this time. Most of my multiplayer gaming is done via Xbox Live or Steam. I haven’t done much local multiplayer since Halo (1-3). I’m a 26 years old mechanical engineer who makes my money by designing and construction rail road signal, traction power, and communication systems for a large Midwest specialty electrical contractor. Now you have a baseline to compare yourself to.
Judging a book by its cover:
I will admit that prior to trying the Kinect that I thought it was pretty stupid looking from the games that were demoed to the wacky wavy-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-man like motions that players had to do. The games didn’t really cater to my personal gaming style. I will never buy a game where I stroke the air to pet a virtual animal. Everything else just seemed to be mini-games rather than complete story driven games. When I saw the alleged $150 price tag for the unit and $60 for the games I pretty much decided then and there that this was not for me unless this was something really special.
Macy’s Chicago 7/17/10
I was back in Chicago for a company charity event (recently moved to NJ for a multi-year project). This trip also coincided with a 21st birthday party my sister was having down town. After the charity event, I made my way home, cleaned up, met with my brother (Kevin [not much of a gamer, keep in mind for later]) and headed to the party. Bought my sister a drink that she couldn’t finish (Irish Car Bomb), had a couple of my own then took off so the kids could play. Kevin and I wandered the streets a bit to check out some of the Transformers 3 cars and props that were littering the Chicago streets. Knowing that MS had their demo unit up at Macy’s, I convinced Kevin that we should make the pilgrimage to the store since we were in the vicinity. When we made it there I went up to a cashier to see if they could point me in the direction of the Kinect since there were no signs or indications that it was anywhere in the building. They had no idea what I was talking about so they sent me down to customer service. Luckily customer service was aware of it and sent me in the right direction which just so happened to be in the vicinity of the first guy whom I asked where it was. On display was the Kinect and the new Xbox, a 52” (estimated) Samsung LCD TV, a couch for spectators and a big purple MS Kinect rug. The Kinect looked larger in person that I thought it would be. Like the pics show, it is the same glossy black plastic that the new Xbox sports. It has the two cameras to the center and to the left is another sensor the same size as the cameras. It puts off a faint series of red lights that reminded me of the scanners at retail checkouts. It wasn’t distracting while playing, but when looking directly at the unit, you can’t help but notice it. When I walked up some guy was playing the track and field game. He was having a difficult time jumping over the hurdles in the race and came in last place three tries in a row. After a few minutes he walked away with a fairly indifferent look on his face. Since there was no one else waiting to try, I jumped right in.
Impressions of each of the games after the jump.
