Everything you need to know ? and the games to buy ? if you're thinking of taking the plunge into a controller-free life
Microsoft's much-hyped attempt to remove the joypad from the gaming equation launched this week. Kinect allows users to interact with compatible Xbox 360 games through movement and gesture alone, ostensibly taking physical gaming beyond the foundations set by the Nintendo Wii.
Here's everything you need to know - and the games to buy - if you're thinking of taking the plunge into a controller-free life?
The basics: technology
The Kinect device looks a little like a very wide web cam and sits beneath your TV. If you have the newest iteration of the Xbox 360 console, it connects to your machine via the special port at the back; if you have an older machine you'll need to use the Kinect adaptor, which comes with the standalone Kinect package. The three lenses on the front are an RGB colour camera for capturing photos and video as well as aiding in facial recognition; a CMOS sensor; and an infrared emitter. The latter two work in combination to act as a 3D sensor, tracking the movement of the player. This sensor is capable of distinguishing between up to six people, although its motion tracking capabilities are restricted to two players simultaneously.
The device can track up to 20 joints and 48 different body points on each participant. It can also use facial recognition to differentiate between users, allowing you to sign in to your Xbox Live account simply by looking into the camera. Microsoft recommends that you have an eight foot space free in front of your TV to play the games comfortably. You may want to consider getting rid of all your furniture. Or putting the TV in front of your window and playing from the back garden.
Kinect also includes a microphone, allowing players to communicate with the Xbox 360 via voice, and to engage in video chats without having to wear a headset. Several of the launch titles use this feature, and it can also be employed to control the video player (so if you want to pause a movie, you can shout 'pause'). Indeed, Kinect also allows users to interact with the Xbox 360 menu system via gestures and hand movements ? yes, like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, but without the funky data glove.
Much has been made of the latency that may exist when player movements are translated into on-screen action. However, developers reckon this lag is down to about a thirtieth of a second.
The Kinect can tilt and pan to adapt to different player heights and more extravagant movements. It also senses when a game isn't Kinect compatible, tilting downwards in response like a sulky robot.
The price
The Kinect system retails at around �130 bundled with the Kinect Adventures game. Many retailers are also offering Xbox 360 + Kinect packages. These vary between �250 for an Xbox 360 with a 4GB hard drive to �299 for the 250GB model. (Here it is on Amazon.)
The five best launch games
There are 19 Kinect titles available at launch in the UK, but many of them are rather poor ? as is often the case with new technology debuts. Considering that Kinect Adventures comes with the system, the five titles we'd recommend are:
Dance Central (MTV Games)
Developed by Harmonix, the company behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band, this is easily the strongest title in the launch line up. Players must learn the choreography to a range of pop hits then perform them all with style. There are over 650 steps to master and 90 routines based around tracks from the likes of Lady Gaga, Kool & The Gang and Kylie Minogue. It's an enormously entertaining addition to the rhythm action genre.
Buy it on Amazon >>
Kinectimals (Microsoft)
Created by Frontier Developments this is a more touchy-feely spin on the 'virtual pet' concept. Your 'aim' is to explore a rich island setting, making friends with lion and tiger cubs and opening up mini-games. You can stroke and tussle with your furry pals, and the tasks, ranging from car races to assault courses, are a lot of fun. I played this with my two- and four-year-old sons at a preview event and they were immediately spellbound. It was a genuinely moving experience.
Buy it on Amazon >>
Kinect Sports (Microsoft)
Yes, it's the mandatory multi-event sports game. Football, bowling, boxing, table tennis and several track and field events get the Kinect treatment with varying degrees of success. Despite some rough edges, all the activities are intuitive and accessible, and if you're playing with friends and family you will laugh constantly ? especially when viewing the automatic video replays, which show (in merciless detail) your idiotic movements.
Buy it on Amazon >>
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Ubisoft)
This is a rather serious-minded fitness title, but it's got a huge list of activities and provides a really well structured programme. Users can accurately track their progress and there's an online community element allowing you to compare results with friends.
Buy it on Amazon >>
Sonic Free Riders (Sega)
IF you're desperate for a more 'arcade-style' Kinect experience, this is pretty much your only option right now. It's essentially a hover board racing game featuring sonic and his friends. You lean left and right to steer and scuff your foot along the ground to speed up. The controls aren't responsive enough for the demanding courses, but this is quite good fun for a quick blast, especially with a friend.
Buy it on Amazon >>
The eight most promising Kinect titles
A quick run through some intriguing possibilities?
EA Sports Active 2
A more gamer-friendly fitness title from EA, featuring a heart rate monitor that attaches to your arm and conveniently lets you know when you're about to collapse. Features over 70 exercises, including specific regimes for football and mountain bike training. Gruelling but competitive and fun. It's out next week.
Pre-order on Amazon >>
Yoostar 2
A hilarious movie karaoke game that lets you re-enact key scenes from dozens of different movies. Could well prove the party game of the year when it's released in the first quarter of 2011.
Haunt
Due out next year, this is 'horror' game from Pa Rappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura. It's set in a haunted house and looks to be a light-hearted puzzler rather than straight-up spine chiller.
Rise of Nightmares
Another spooky title, this time from Sega. Announced at the Tokyo Game Show in September it promises, "a spine-tingling horror experience that uses the innovative new controls of Kinect to give players the ultimate fright." Oo-er.
Codename D
Little is known about Codename D (working title, apparently) other than it's being developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, the guys behind deranged cult masterpieces Killer 7 and No More Heroes. I think we can safely predict that it won't be like anything in the Kinect launch line up.
Project Draco
The last of the four big Kinect titles revealed at the Tokyo Game Show. This is some kind of dragon-riding game from Yukio Futatsugi, who previously worked on cult Saturn shooter, Panzer Dragoon. It's touching down next year.
Child of Eden
A typically trippy music shooter from Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the genius behind Lumines and Rez. His performance of the game at Ubisoft's E3 press event was a joy to behold.
Kinect Star Wars
Being developed as a joint project between LucasArts and Texan studio Terminal Reality, this looks to be a third-person Jedi fighting adventure, in which players are able to wield dual lightsabers. We'll feel its force sometime next year.
Pre-order on Amazon >>
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