It’s been over a year now since Project Natal (now Kinect) was announced. One of the most mindblowing demos of the day was created by Lionhead, where participants could interact fluidly with an in-game kid named Milo (E3 2009 video here). Things sort of died down after a while until earlier this year when Microsoft formally introduced the system as Kinect. Curious name, that; it’s sort of a blend between kinect (i.e. movement) and connect (as in with other people) which is understandable given all the hype about social media these days.
Anyway, my friend and I got to play around with the system earlier today (quite randomly, actually, since we were just strolling downtown getting food and stuff). We got to play Kinect Adventures which included activities such as navigating a raft with our bodies, dodging items on an obstacle track, and plugging up leaks caused by some very vicious fish. I believe the second game we tried was Kinect Joy Ride which was basically a racing game with a variety of game modes. I was actually quite surprised at how well the sensor picked up body movements, though I did have some problems controlling my car in Joy Ride (though that was likely due to my inexperience with the controls). Both games had relatively slick UIs too given the new method of control; I can’t think of many ways to improve upon them off the top of my head.
Perhaps the technology is still too immature or the style of games will only fit in with a niche group of people; nevertheless, it’ll be interesting to see how Microsoft, Sony (with its PlayStation Move), and Nintendo (with its Wii – or presumably, the Wii’s successor) battle it out for a piece of console gaming’s future.