KINECT

It was about 22 years ago when I was first introduced to the world of video games. Pacman and Super Mario were the most popular games back then. I remember not wanting to go home because I wanted to finish off King Koopa and save Princess Toadstool.

Video games have gone a long way from back then.

Last Saturday, I came home giddy like a child. I’ve brought home my shiny new Xbox 360 complete with their newest peripheral the Kinect.

Kinect is the newest gaming technology that uses motion capture to play their games. There’s no need to have a motion sensored remote or Move controller, you just move your body and your avatars will move like you too.

The first time I got in front of the Kinect, I immediately felt like I was in the movie Minority Report. You know the part where they were using the computers moving pages by waving their hands. It felt exactly like it.

Immediately l fell in love.

The system was responsive, that’s all I’ve got to say. Whatever I was doing in front of the camera, my character was doing it too. This is a great thing to have if you have parties because it’s a lot of fun to play with. When my mom and dad saw that I bought my third xbox, they were disappointed at me. I’m not saving money, they told me. But when they saw me play Dance Central, two minutes in, they were behind me following the dance steps on tv.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose weight now. Before when you play video games, you only sit on your couch or bed and just let your fingers do the playing, but now, it’s interactive. You have to kick if you need to kick a ball, punch if you’re playing boxing, jump if you want to jump and dance if you’re playing Dance Central. There’s even a game that helps you work out and break a sweat. I’m going to buy that one on February.

I currently have three games for my Kinect. Kinect Adventures, a party game that came with the unit I bought. This is a series of mini games that have you dodging balls, river rafting, racing and over 15 other short games. I haven’t had a lot of time playing this game yet.

Kinect Sports is obviously a sports title. Here you can play Soccer, Boxing, Table Tennis, Volleyball and Track and Field. This is a fun party game. You can team up or go against your friends playing short games. I personally liked track and field. I got tired easily playing this game.

But the best title I have in my library is Dance Central. Obviously, this is a dancing game. You don’t need to step on a floor mat with arrows anymore. You do exactly what your dance trainer is doing. There are 31 songs you can dance to, and they vary from classic disco tunes to the some of the current pop tunes.

This game is what we’ve been playing since I got the xbox. My niece was the one who got me all of the available songs because she dances very well. I have memorized I think a couple of songs and do good on some of the titles. This is my workout title. A couple of songs in, and I’m already sweating like a pig. I don’t really care if I look like an idiot flailing my arms around and doing the chooga chooga to the tune of C’mon Ride the Train. This is a lot of fun!

My early favourites are Lady Gaga’s Poker Face (because this is the easiest), Jay Sean’s Down, C’mon Ride the Train (I love doing the propeller), and Pitbull’s I Know You Want Me (this is my dad’s favourite too, I think).

Now, I’m not worried bringing people home because we finally have something awesome to do.

KINECT PARTY NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

FUN FACTOR: 10 out of 10 stars.