Tag Archives: kinect

We are all Children of Eden

Posted on September 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Ever wanted to know what Rez would be like if you could play the game with your hands and nothing else? Yeah, Child of Eden is kinda like that. It is possible to play the game with a standard controller, but you supposedly get a “more complete experience” if you play it with the Kinect motion sensor plugged in. I rented my copy from GameFly, so I didn’t have any instructions on how to control the game using Kinect, and the short in-game instruction manual only shows standard controller controls. It seems that you use your right hand to control the lock-on beam (push forward to fire, and your left hand to use the tracer beam (the one that intercepts bullets). I still haven’t figured out how to use the Euphoria smart bomb yet, though.

I was able to finish the last level on Normal difficulty without missing a beat. It was the only one where I’ve been able to finish with both 100% purification (shooting down all of the enemies) and 100% item collection. I still only have 3 stars for that level, just like all of the others, so I guess I need to find ways to improve my score…I’ll probably need more than three to make progress in Hard Mode.

Eh…With Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dead Island out now, I think I’ll send it back and put it on my “to buy” list for later.

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Posted in Video Games, Xbox 360

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Summer of Voltron

Posted on August 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Between sessions of the various video games I’ve bought and rented this summer and trying desperately to avoid any discussion of Ninja Theory’s upcoming entry in the Devil May Cry series for fear of being sucked into the shitstorm of fanboy rage over it (however justified it may or may not be), I’ve been loading up on Xbox Live Arcade titles this summer. Now that I’ve managed to “catch ‘em all”, my TV-addled mind has somehow found a way to compare them to Voltron…metaphorically speaking, of course.

Bastion and From Dust would form the feet and legs, obviously, since those two were the first ones out of the gate. You do a lot of running around in Bastion; not so much in From Dust, though, since you’re functionally a god.

Arms and torso would be Fruit Ninja Kinect and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, respectively. Fruit Ninja is, well…it’s pretty damn obvious (you’re flailing your arms about a whole lot in order to maintain a high score). ITSP gets the “torso” treatment because you’re literally exploring the body of the eponymous planet.

Toy Soldiers: Cold War gets the honor of calling out “…and I’ll form the head!” if only because, in contrast to Bastion being the first Summer of Arcade game out, it was the last one to be released. Crimson Alliance doesn’t count, because that hits in two weeks, and is free to everyone who bought all of the above. Hmm…I guess that would make it the Blazing Sword that defeats the Robeast at the end of every episode. Let’s hope that that game is as good as the others…

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Posted in Television, Video Games, Xbox Live Arcade

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Fruit-based ninjutsu, or something like it

Posted on August 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

Fruit Ninja Kinect, Xbox Live Arcade Summer of Arcade 2011 Game #4, was released yesterday. “Did you buy it?” Of course I did.

I’ll admit that I’ve played the original Fruit Ninja on my friend’s iPhone one time, since I lack an iPhone to call my own. It was my desire to get that free copy of Crimson Alliance a few weeks down the line, and for a Kinect game that I could actually play in my room without having to move around a whole lot (if only this stupid bed weren’t in the way) that ultimately led to my purchase of this game. Already, I think it’ll be the oddball in this year’s collection since:

  1. All of the other Summer of Arcade games cost 1200 MS Points (or about US$14.99), while this only only costs 800 (US$9.99), and
  2. It’s the first and only Kinect game on XBLA.

That’s not to say it’s a bad game. I’m kinda enjoying it. However, since you actually have to use your hands (yes, you’ll need to use both of them if you want to get all of the fruit, unless you’ve got arms longer than Shaquille O’Neal) instead of just your index finger, it can get a bit tiring, so it’s probably best not to play for more than 30-45 minutes at a time if you don’t want to get injured. I think I threw out my right arm going for a score of 400 in Arcade Mode, so I won’t try to improve on that until tomorrow.

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Posted in Video Games, Xbox Live Arcade

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