I am a huge fan of traditional gaming, I still go back to play PS1 games like Final Fantasy Tactics. I remember when the Wii came out, I was scoffing at the way it was designed, and how it was to be played. Well it became Extremely popular in a short amount of time, and to the "Casuals" was the only choice of system for the Family. Obviously word of mouth, and wow factor drew in the masses. Though it did have its limitations; certain style of play, graphics(Though many people do not care, I do though.), amount of peripherals etc.
While it was a very neat system, it was gimmicky, and was something that was really only playable for short periods. It was a cheap, and neat/new way to play games. It obviously has had a HUGE impact on the gaming industry. Though it still is gimmicky, and (once again) is really only playable for short periods of time.
Last night my wife and I purchased a Kinect/Xbox 360 bundle, and Dance Central(for her of course, unless I have an excessive amount of alcohol I will not be busting a move). It was a sort of compromise, she wanted another Wii(as we hadgave hers away over a year ago, and she missed it) and I wanted a new Xbox. So I convinced her on price/value and ONE game.Reluctantly she said ok, though she was not happy with me purchasing the bundle, especially cause I told her it would only cost around $300(I lied, so what?:P). Well after all was said and done, we had spent $470+ dollars. It was an uncomfortable drive home, though I was extremely excited to check this stuff out!
We get home around 7:30 pm or so, put the two kids to bed, and she prepares dinner. I start disconnecting the Xbox, and move the PS3 down a shelf. I finally get the new Xbox/Kinect hooked up( I would say maybe ten minutes), turn the thing on. The Xbox makes a neat little noise when I put my finger near the power button. It has me recover my Xbox profile, and starts the Kinect tutorial/Tuner. Well, after all is said and done, I had spent nearly 30-40 minutes getting everything set up and ready. She was sick of me playing on the Xbox. I convince her to just play the game once before bed, she concedes and starts playing(I have yet to have actually try Kinect other than the setup). She is HUGE into dance, nearly 15 years of experience professionally. So she chooses a song, and does the break down. She picks it up instantly, and performs a song. She is freaking out about how fun it is, and starts calling some of her friends from danceover. They come over and they are taking turns, and just being Retarded...I realize right away that I may have made a mistake in purchasing this game. Sadly, but LUCKILY my little two year old wakes up and comes out crying, I tell everyone they need to go and put my little girl back to bed. Whew...
Wait, my wife still wants to play, she tries to get me to dance, and I say no. She then says let's play the other game(Kinect Adventures). I say ok, we start playing its pretty fun, the kinect ppl literally do EVERYTHING you do. If I messed up and threw my arms up, my little dude did it too. I never realized that I tapped my foot so much until this game. It was literally the strangest/coolest feeling I had ever experienced in gaming. The game is physically draining, though well worth it. WE(Basically I was tired) decided to watch a movie on Netflix. I tried out the Kinect voice controls, it was pretty much amazing! I would scroll though movies by saying next, there would be an instant preview. We watch our movie and go to bed. She wakes me up at 6am to start playing the games again...I could not believe that my wife was sooo obsessed with this system. She wanted to play adventures with me. We did for an hour, then I got ready for work and left.
What this huge block of text is basically saying, is that Kinect will become the future of gaming. It is insanely surreal when playing these games. My wife is addicted, and it will be neat to see how my little girls do playing it also. It is an experience that cannot be described, no matter how well it is worded, or what not. It must be experienced.
I still want the controller, only because I am so comfortable with it, though once this technology is refined it will be unneeded. I can't wait to see what the next Nintendo is like, and how Sony will incorporate it into their next system. One thing I am more than confident in is that this will be a staying technology in the gaming industry, and is easily one of the biggest changes the gaming industry has had. If Kinect was a standalone system, I would still have gotten a Xbox & PS3. Though I would have skipped out on the Wii.
This is a game changer. and once you have played it you will understand what I mean. The future of gaming will controller less.
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