Toronto Thumbs

Thoughts
Leveraging Kinect to Capture New Gamers

Today’s post is a guest piece by a new video gaming friend that I met at a “gamer’s night out”. He’s a cool dude with interesting ideas! Check it out!

Halo is a prime example of a multi-million-selling games property with vast casual appeal and a backbone of vocal hardcore players who petition for the stewardship of future installments. They love Halo the most, and their only wish is to see that it doesn’t lose what makes it great. Sometimes this means that they are hostile to new developments, such as the Kinect integration in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. When it was announced that players with the right hardware would have the choice of yelling ‘grenade’ or ‘reload’ to perform these actions, comment-sections and forums overflowed with chagrin from gamers eagerly awaiting ‘real’ news on the updated edition.

The knee-jerk reaction to casual gimmickry encroaching on hardcore turf is understandable, but gamers need to take a step back and consider their personal journeys that lead to their first Killtacular before such vocal dismissal.

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Posted in Commentary, Kinect | 2 Comments »

Review
Grease Dance

Following hot on the heels of the recent dance craze, 505 Games has released Grease Dance for all major platforms (in various forms). As the name implies, it’s a spin-off on the popular 1978 movie by the same name. I was sent over the Kinect version to review which is arguably the best platform for this type of interactive gaming. That being said, this might not be the best example of Kinect game development.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, Kinect, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Reviews
The Black Eyed Peas Experience

Let’s get it started.

Earlier in the year, the gaming community was treated to The Michael Jackson Experience, a great dancing game chock full of fantastic music and a style of presentation that fit MJ. Both the Kinect and Wii versions were a lot of fun to play. Now, Ubisoft has released the next title in the “Experience” series: The Black Eyed Peas Experience. We take a look at the Kinect and Wii versions to see if they have the Boom Boom Pow that one would expect from a series where the bar has been set high from the get-go*.

• Introduction
• Wii Version
• Kinect version

Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Review
Jillian Michaels Fitness Adventure

Hey look! It’s Lara Croft! Oh no, wait. It’s Jillian Michaels.

As the Kinect gets “older”, more exercise games are created. Some of them, like the Your Shape franchise, improve with each iteration. Others, whose names not need be mentioned, are obvious attempts to cash in on the concept, and usually end up being nothing more than exercise videos that happen to implement weak motion capture. Then there is the line of games from Our Lady of the Strained Smile, Jillian Michaels.

Jillian has her name in a few Wii titles already, so her presence in the realm of video games is nothing new. However, this is the first title “from her” that really intrigued me. While not necessarily the pinnacle of exercise experiences, N-Space’s Jillian Michaels Fitness Adventure for the Kinect is certainly not a bad one.

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Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Review
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

There are words -words of power- that can bring the strongest and most capable reviewer to their knees. Uttering certain phrases can experienced, battle-hardened warriors into quivering piles of flesh. One such phrase would be: “Oh hey, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked has arrived for you to talk about!” Once I regained consciousness, I found out that Behaviour Interactive’s Chipwrecked for Kinect was not really a horrible experience – buggy perhaps; but not horrible.

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Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

News
New Xbox Dashboard

Xbox owners today are screaming at their machines and waving their hands furiously in front of their TV’s the world over. Microsoft has unleashed the newest iteration of their Xbox dashboard this morning and it promises to bring grand things and potentially change home entertainment for the better.

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Posted in Kinect, News, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Review
Kinect Disneyland Adventures

If you were to ask any parent in North America to list their top five vacation destinations, it is a sure bet that Disneyland (or Disneyworld) would be mentioned – if not at the top of the heap. Known as “the happiest place on Earth”, Disneyland has been making kids smile for as long as it has been open for business; and considering that adults will tell you that they feel like children again when they walk through the gates, that is an awfully large number of smiling kids.

Frontier Developments manages to capture some of the theme park’s magic in their latest game: Kinect Disneyland Adventures; which is saying a lot. Even just a fraction of Disney’s magic would be sufficient to kick Dumbledore’s butt and still have enough left over to make the Balrog double over in defeat. Smallest Thumb and I decided to take a stroll through the main gates and we managed to get lost in the game for a very long time – but not in a bad way.

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Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Review
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012

When motion-based gaming really started roping people in with the Wii, it was only a matter of time before a gold mine of opportunity was unearthed: exercise games. One would argue that a number of Wii and Kinect titles can be classified as such, given that they have you off the couch and moving; but I am referring to the structured exercise application.

While the Wii -with it’s Wii-Mote and Balance Board- promised to help you slim down and strengthen your core, it lacked the useful feedback that the Kinect could provide*. One year ago, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved entered our living rooms and gave us a useful utility with which to live healthier lives. Innovative, but not without its flaws, it is still one of the best workout programs available for the Kinect (and any platform, really). Now, a year later, the 2012 edition promises a lot more – and it certainly delivers.

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Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Review
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster

I’m not sure about other parents out there, but I love playing video games with my kid. A good portion of the time, she likes to sit on the sofa next to me and tell me what to do; games like Toy Story 3 or Playstation Heroes are more fun for her to watch than to play. Other games like Flower, Eye Pet or -believe it or not- Gran Turismo 5* inspire her to take the controller and participate more actively.

Games that require no controller at all (read: Kinect), like Just Dance 3 or Fruit Ninja, are even more fun for her due to the fact that she doesn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of a bulky controller built for grown-up hands. So when a game like Double Fine Productions’ Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster comes along, she is all over it like Cookie Monster on a plate of cookies.

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Review
Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking

The popular multi-player Rayman spin-off, Raving Rabbids, has gained quite a bit of notoriety for its addictive game-play and bizarre concept. That sort of content is nothing new to the mini-game genre; just look at the equally-bizarre WarioWare series and the sense of popularity it achieved in such a short period of time. Raving Rabbids continues to capture hardcore and casual gamers alike with its increasingly ridiculous plot and plethora of mini-games. Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking is the latest in the series and, surprisingly enough, the first Kinect installment. In terms of using Microsoft’s body-detecting peripheral: there’s no better time than now.

Clearly, plot is the least important part in this series and while ridiculously funny to watch for the first time, it’s overdone and pretty mediocre under most standards. Of course, this should be the least of anyone’s worries seeing as how entertaining the game-play can be. This series has always excelled at being the life of the party, even if certain aspects were lacking; But can the same be said about this latest installment?

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Posted in Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360 | No Comments »