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I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let them have a Kinect Star Wars demo
We can understand why you may be a bit hesitant to take our verdict on Kinect Star Wars as gospel. It's got Vader fights, rampaging rancors and is the closest physical manifestation of that one kid's dream journal we may ever get.Now you can discover how not good the game is yourself with a free playable demo – if you're a Gold subscriber and own a Kinect sensor, that is. We may all have The Force inside us, but you still have to purchase your own Kinect sensor.
Kinect Star Wars review: Needs Force feedback
Let's just get this out of the way: in its current state, the Kinect can't deliver a true lightsaber experience. The device's input lag combined with the hardware's finicky nature simply won't allow it. That's not to say that Kinect Star Wars isn't without its merits. There are a few decent ideas hidden in its sub-games, even some fun to be had, but the overall package is lacking.I suspect some Star Wars fans (or parents of Star Wars fans) will find its Force pull irresistible, but even the most dedicated Jedi is likely to find it underwhelming.%Gallery-146706%
$50 credit with Star Wars Xbox on Amazon
While Amazon isn't actually discounting the Star Wars Xbox bundle, it is willing to offer a few extra space credits on the side. Specifically, the Star Wars bundle is now eligible for a $50 Amazon credit. Lest you've forgotten, the bundle comes with a sweet R2-D2 Xbox, a white Kinect unit, a gold C-3PO controller with transforming D-pad and, naturally, a copy of Kinect Star Wars.Lest you've also also forgotten, we'll be giving one of these away at our live podcast at PAX East later this week. Be sure to come see it this Saturday at 3pm in the Manticore Theatre!
Joystiq goes hands-on with the Star Wars Xbox (and you can win it!)
Microsoft sent us one those fancy Star Wars Xbox Kinect bundles, so we thought it would be nice to give our readers a closer look. If the video leaves you drooling for the sweet R2-D2 console, C-3P0 controller and white Kinect, you should really make plans to come see Joystiq's live podcast at PAX East ... where we'll be giving it away!Be sure to come see us on April 7 at 3PM in the Manticore Theatre for your shot at this and some other goodies.
Not a Jedi trick: Kinect Star Wars and console bundle coming in April
After missing the exhaust port its planned holiday launch, Kinect Star Wars and the Star Wars Xbox 360 console bundle have settled on a new release date. The game and console bundle will now launch on April 3. The bundle features a console and Kinect unit in the style of everyone's favorite droid, R2-D2, a C-3PO styled controller and a copy of Kinect Star Wars. It will retail for $450.Alongside the news, Microsoft has also released some new screens of Kinect Star Wars. Said shots include images of the dance mode revealed by the ESRB, entitled "Galactic Dance Off." We considered writing something funny about it, but then we saw the above screen shot and the words just left.Finally, a handful of AMC theaters in the US and Canada will host special screenings of the "new" 3D version of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, during which moviegoers can try out Kinect Star Wars. Visit the official site for more details.%Gallery-146706%
Microsoft Star Wars Xbox 360 bundle coming to a galaxy close to here, April 3rd
Come spring you'll finally be able to get your grubby paws on that droid-based console you've been looking for. Microsoft's Major Nelson let slip in a series of tweets that the Star Wars Xbox 360 Kinect bundle will land on April 3rd. The set, which was first unveiled, fittingly, at Comic Con, is dressed up like R2-D2 and ships with a C-3P0-themed controller, a white Kinect sensor and the games Star Wars Kinect and Kinect Adventures. The 320GB system will run you $449, so start saving up those Galactic Credits now.
Kinect: Star Wars trailer is cute in an awkward, bumbling kind of way
Imagine Obi Wan Kenobi not as Jedi master, but a guy working the cash register down at the Gas 'n Gulp. Rather than wielding an elegant weapon for a more civilized age and being a princess's only hope, he's closer to the idiot in the Kinect: Star Wars trailer above.
ESRB: Star Wars Kinect has 'dance tournaments' mini-games
A little known fact about the Padawan training program is that it includes an intense, three-month course on dance. Think about it: dueling with lightsabers is basically dance fighting. Right? That's why the ESRB rating for Kinect: Star Wars didn't really throw us. The promised "dance tournaments, podracing, and Jedi duels" sound like de rigueur, believe us. We've read extensively on the subject. Joking aside, there isn't really anything else we can say beyond this: the following is the final excerpt in the ESRB listing for Kinect: Star Wars. "In the dancing mini-game, some female characters perform suggestive moves (e.g., gyrating their hips/buttocks) and wear revealing outfits (partially exposed cleavage/buttocks). The words 'damn' and 'hell' can be heard in the dialogue." We imagine the "dialogue" in question goes something like this: "What in the damn hell has happened to Star Wars?"
Kinect Star Wars and inspired console bundle to miss holiday
Kinect Star Wars and the R2D2-styled Xbox 360 Kinect bundle will launch "beyond holiday 2011." Speaking to OXM, Microsoft and LucasArts moved the game's release date (along with that of the console bundle) to "ensure the full potential of this title is realized." Microsoft and LucasArts plan to communicate additional timing at a later date. We've contacted our network of Bothans to obtain new information as soon as possible.%Gallery-128885%
'Rancor Rampage' is latest Kinect Star Wars minigame reveal
"Rancor Rampage" is joining the bite-sized quests for Jedihood and Pod Racing glory in Kinect Star Wars. From what we saw at Gamescom, the mode plays exactly how it sounds: Players embody the Rancor, trashing houses on Tatooine and eating Jawas. How we long for actual Kinect Rampage now.
Star Wars R2-D2 Xbox 360 priced in UK
The Limited Edition Star Wars Xbox 360 console, priced at $449 in the States, has been given a suggested retail price of £349.99 in the UK (ouch, that's $570 US!). The standard 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle retails at £299.99. The rebellious console from a galaxy far, far away was revealed last week at San Diego Comic-Con. It includes a 320GB hard drive, a white Kinect, the R2-D2 inspired console, a C-3PO colored controller, Kinect Star Wars and Kinect Adventures. The console will also feature Star Wars sound effects for operations like powering up, ejecting discs, and setting coordinates for Dagobah. Xboxes can do that, right? %Gallery-128885%
Kinect Star Wars preview: Pod (racing) people
At the Comic-Con panel for Kinect Star Wars earlier this week (the same panel where that R2D2 Xbox was announced), Microsoft's head of Kinect Jorg Neumann told the story of how the game itself came about. Back in 2008, when Kinect was still called Project Natal, and basically consisted of just a camera in a back room at Microsoft, Neumann and his colleagues found an engineer playing with game prototypes on the system, and one of those was a lightsaber simulator. That alone convinced Neumann and his division that Star Wars needed to be on the interface in some format. And it turns out LucasArts didn't need much convincing either. Lead producer Craig Derrick described flying out to the Microsoft campus to see the proposal for the game, and saying among his own colleagues that all they planned to do was hold out their hand and see what happened. As soon as they pushed a hand out to the Kinect unit, said Derrick, "it knocked over a bunch of droids, and we were like, 'OK, we're in.'" We saw the game's Force-driven droid pushing and lightsaber waving at E3, but Microsoft and LucasArts introduced a new mode to the game this week: pod racing. Anakin Skywalker's motorsport of choice is in the game as well, and I got to take a pod out for a spin later on in the week at a Microsoft preview event. %Gallery-128889%
Microsoft reveals Droid-themed Xbox 360 bundle for Star Wars Kinect
Yes, that's an R2-D2-themed Xbox 360 and accompanying gold C-3PO controller, which are both part of a new Star Wars Kinect bundle that Microsoft officially announced at Comic-Con today. Also included in the bundle is a matching white Kinect sensor, as well as a 320GB hard drive, and both the Star Wars Kinect and Kinect Adventures games -- all for $449. Did we mention it also has some custom console sounds? Look for it to land in the fall, with pre-orders starting today. Check out the gallery below for a closer look.%Gallery-128887%
R2D2-style Xbox 360 Kinect bundle rolling out for Kinect Star Wars [update]
"Beep! Beep beeeeep boop whiiiirrr boop boop (fall over)!" Or, in English, Microsoft just revealed a new R2D2-styled Xbox 360 Kinect bundle at Comic-Con, in honor of Kinect Star Wars. The Xbox has a special R2D2 look and custom console sounds, and is bundled with a gold, C3P0-style controller (Oh, my!) and an all-white Kinect. It also includes Kinect Star Wars, Kinect Adventures, and a 320GB hard drive! The bundle will be out this fall. Pre-orders for the $449 bundle are expected to begin today. Update: Added official pics to the gallery, and moved our Comic-Con snapshot past the break! Update 2: According to Gavin Spicer of Xbox UK PR, the bundle is coming to the UK as well, though no details have been announced yet.%Gallery-128885%
Star Wars Kinect preview: Force flail
Automatic doors are a wonderful opportunity to pretend, aren't they? As children, I imagine my parents approached them while saying something like "Open Sesame." Personally, I like to use the opportunity to practice my Jedi training. A simple wave of the hand and the doors bend to my will, granting me a private thrill and entrance into the local drug store. Star Wars Kinect is filled with automatic doors. %Gallery-125589%
Galactic exclusive: Live-action Star Wars Kinect footage
Microsoft didn't allow direct filming of the games featured at its after-hours E3 preview event, though it did offer a fun keepsake to attendees who tried out Star Wars Kinect. We nabbed some exclusive footage that you won't find anywhere else. See it after the break. %Gallery-125589%
Kinect Star Wars trailer is exactly what you'd think
Remember when you used to play Star Wars with your friends in the schoolyard, pretending to choke people with your mind? Well Star Wars Kinect doesn't quite allow for that (at least that we've seen), but it does allow for some bit of arm waving verisimilitude. See how silly you'll look, just after the break.
Kinect Star Wars not due until holiday 2011
No matter how many times you call up LucasArts and suggest in your best Jedi voice, "You will release Kinect Star Wars soon," the game apparently won't be out until holiday 2011. Kinect evangelist and creative lead Kudo Tsunoda told the BBC as much in a recent interview, calling it and an upcoming Forza project the two Kinect-enabled games he's most excited for next year. "We have a Kinect Star Wars game coming out for next holiday," Tsunoda said. "I've seen a bunch of the game and it's super compelling." Presumably he's seen more than what we saw at E3 this year, clumsily demonstrated in this video. "Another one next year is Forza," he added, alluding to vague plans to integrate Kinect into the racing franchise, before boasting that it was "the best racing game of this generation of consoles." "Those are the two games I'm most excited about," Tsunoda concluded. As far as 2011's current Kinect prospects go, those would seem like safe picks, but we're wondering if developers aren't thinking outside the box enough -- just imagine if you were to somehow combine the two concepts ... perhaps mounting light sabers on high-end race cars? Now that would be something exciting enough to get us off the couch.
Is Kinect Star Wars too accurate for Sand People?
If you want a slight idea of what the Kinect Star Wars game looked like at last night's "Project Natal Experience," take a look at the video after the break. What you're missing is the opening that showed some Force powers (with the player pulling a door open) and some lightsaber slashing. The television premiere of the Project Natal Experience will be on Tuesday, June 15, at 3:30PM on MTV and at 9PM on Nick at Nite, MTVu, MTV Hits, and Logo.
Kinect Star Wars game features controller-free lightsaber fighting
It seems that tonight's Kinect event is about more than just crazy ponchos. Attendees were just shown a preview of the Star Wars game (revealed earlier by USA Today) for the movement-sensing peripheral. Judging from the clip, the on-rails game features controllerless lightsaber dueling and motion-activated Force powers. Most exciting? The trailer closed with the game's lead facing off against Lord Vader.
