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Kinect Experience tour is coming to your town
Okay, so the "Kinect Experience" tour is coming to your town -- or at least within a reasonable driving distance. That said, from July on through the end of October, the Kinect Experience mobile demo tour will stop off in major metropolitan areas across the country, giving gamers an early taste of Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Adventures and Dance Central -- ahead of the device's November 4 launch. There are a total of 32 stops on the tour. For the full list of cities and dates, hit the break.
Walmart offering $200 Kinect bundles, includes game and gift card
The saga of the ambiguous price point for Microsoft's Kinect continues today with a new hardware bundle from Walmart. For $199.99, shoppers can pre-order the peripheral itself along with one of the device's launch titles, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, Dance Central, Joy Ride, Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures. Shoppers can also grab another game from this list for an additional $60 (or $50 for Harry Potter). The bundle also includes a $30 Walmart eGift Card. It's worth noting that Walmart's $60 price point for Kinect software and $150 price for the device itself corroborates listings we've seen from other retailers. Of course, Microsoft has yet to confirm any official pricing details for the motion-sensing peripheral -- still, with that free gift card, Walmart's offer seems like the most cost-effective one to date. Unless, of course, Kinect ends up being cheaper than $150, in which case, just tell us the freaking price already.
3DS and Rage are big winners of E3 2010 Game Critics Awards
Just one week after revealing the nominees of the E3 2010 Game Critics Awards, the numbers are in and the big winner is ... Nintendo's look-ma-no-glasses 3D handheld, the 3DS. But wait, the 3DS is just the Best of Show and Best Hardware winner! If you're looking for software, look no further than id Software's look-ma-crab-hands mutant-infested shooter, Rage, which took home the most awards in the show: Best Console Game, Best Action Game and Special Commendation for Graphics. If you think it must've been frustrating to be either Sony or Microsoft, both of which were busy showing off their newest motion-sensitive gadgetry, you'd be mostly right. Microsoft did have one small consolation prize: Dance Central, Harmonix's look-ma-no-coordination dancing game for Kinect, took the well-deserved Best Original Game and Best Motion Simulation prizes. None of Microsoft's first-party Kinect efforts and no PlayStation Move games, first-party or otherwise, made the list. Find the entire list of award winners, with links into our game pages for all of our coverage, after the break.
Interview: Dance Central producers on balancing gender and keeping it 'fresh'
During our extended preview of Dance Central at Harmonix's studio (post-E3), we talked with project lead Kasson Crooker and lead producer Naoko Takamoto about the challenges of making a new dance "franchise" (a term Crooker doesn't like) and finding gender balance in a game that's all about shaking what your momma gave you. Joystiq: Is Dance Central considered "a platform" in the same way that Rock Band is? Kasson Crooker: Yeah, it is a platform. We're at the beginning and DLC will be the extension. And I hope that if people take to it -- the non-dancers take to it, the dancers take to it, people take to it from a fitness workout physical experience -- that this is the beginning of a huge world of dance for Harmonix. The same way Rock Band has been.
Extended Preview: Dance Central
After our first body-on experience with Dance Central at E3, we wanted a more accurate feeling of what the game would be like away from the bright lights and cacophony of the annual mega show. Developed by Harmonix, best known for creating Rock Band and the original Guitar Hero (along with cult favorites Frequency and Amplitude) Dance Central is a seemingly innocent mainstream dance title which maintains the street cred and serious gaming elements we've come to expect from the Boston-based developer. I spent a couple hours at Harmonix's studio last week getting a better idea of what the game will be like in our homes this holiday. Now, granted, none of us will likely have two of the games' producers and a publicist on hand when we're playing with our families, but it's as close as I could get to an intimate test. %Gallery-95780%
Dance Central DLC to cost more than Rock Band's, Harmonix explains why
Dance Central Project Lead Kasson Crooker tells Joystiq that the game's downloadable content will cost more than the $2 Rock Band standard. The Harmonix developer explained that the "complexity" involved makes DLC for Dance Central "significantly different" from that offered in Rock Band and noted that we can expect to hear more on pricing closer to the game's ship date later this year. Harmonix's approach to Rock Band pricing has always seemed fair, but we wanted to know the specific differences in creating DLC for DC. Crooker elaborated, "Because [Dance Central DLC] comes with a brand new unique routine with the three difficulties, we have to: engage the choreographer, find the song, license the song, come up with a routine, get them into a [motion capture] suit, shoot all the choreography, integrate the animation, build the filter system, the flash cards, the [voiceover] for 'Break it Down' -- it's a pretty elaborate process that is not only a lot more expensive, but a lot more time consuming." Standardized weekly DLC a la Rock Band is unlikely at the game's launch. Each DLC routine is designed for use in "Break it Down" and "Perform It!" modes, as well as the the multiplayer "Dance Battle" mode.
Justin Bieber advertising Kinect on tour
The war for dominance over the motion-controlled gaming market escalated significantly earlier this week, when Microsoft's Kinect gained an endorsement from one of the world's foremost cultural leaders: Teen sensation Justin Bieber. Click past the jump to see the intro video to one of Bieber's recent performances: A clip which shows Bieber and company trying out Dance Central and Kinect Adventures, unlocking a few lucrative (albeit fake) Achivements along the way. Of course, that's just the first half of the video posted after the break. We won't judge you for watching the second half of said video, which features Bieber's opening number. We're not too proud to admit that we viewed the entire thing -- but only because we're fascinated by the technology which must have gone into creating this bionic boy.
Dance Central could bust a move on PS3, but Wii put in a corner
Nobody puts the Wii in a corner, except Harmonix that is! Speaking to Kotaku, Harmonix's Alex Rigopulos intimated that the company's upcoming Kinect title, Dance Central, might raise the roof on PS3. Should the game shake its groove thing on PS3, it will be doing so with the help of PlayStation Move. The Wii, unfortunately, will have to sit this dance out, as Rigopulos noted that its motion tracking capabilities aren't up to snuff. Of course, it's not like the Wii is a total wallflower. After all, people have been Just Dance-ing on Nintendo's diminutive console since 2009, with an encore performance expected this October.
Preview: Dance Central (Kinect)
As a diminutive person who jabs at buttons and keyboards for a living, I can say with the utmost accuracy that dancing isn't my forte. You'll probably come to the same conclusion after watching the video of me gyrating to the beat of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," which I've foolishly embedded after the break. I've placed it there because I want you to see -- somewhere in that garbled body dialect -- how rapidly the "Oh my god, I can't be seen doing this" phase is supplanted by an inescapable feeling of fun. The endorphins don't lie, guys. Dance Central isn't a quick-and-dirty ditty from Harmonix, the developers behind Amplitude and Rock Band. It's an immediately accessible rhythm title that trades multi-colored buttons for body language, presented in the form of easily processed silhouette cards. A practice mode enables you to gain familiarity with the dance move associated with each silhouette card, but I found them clear enough to follow correctly on my first attempt. Glance at the upcoming move card (think of it as the "next piece" window in Tetris) and prepare to mimic it and the group of on-screen dancers in rhythm to the music. It's like dancing in front of a mirror -- if you were a vibrant cartoon person with a boombox. The reflection of your own body, as captured precisely by the Xbox 360's Kinect camera, is almost hidden compared to the in-game characters, and it makes the game feel more collaborative than judgmental. In comparison to rote stomp-'em-down Dance Dance Revolution, it's a dance dance revelation. I understand there's a mental embarrassment hurdle to be cleared here so, if it helps, better to think of Dance Central as a hip, hip-thrusting exercise game. Either way, you should also think of it as one of Kinect's least abstract games -- you're not awkwardly driving an invisible car, for example -- and certainly one of its most promising. %Gallery-95780%
Kinect Dance Central preview, or how we learned to stop caring and love the groove (video)
We're gonna level with you, internet at large, we jumped at the chance to be on camera for our hands-on with Dance Central for Xbox 360's Kinect. It's not because we think we're good dancers -- we don't -- but it was subsequently decided that a lack of shame was more fun. So let's get on with the details. Menu navigation was a little janky at times, but selection was a simple swipe from the extreme right to left of an arm's length. As we saw earlier, the game is a progression of dance riffs you have to emulate with the on-screen dancers. It took until the first chorus of MIA's "Galang" to really get a feel and comfort for the pace; by that point it was easy enough to keep an eye on future moves and correct past mistakes of similar grooves. Frankly, inherent embarrassment notwithstanding, it was very entertaining. Pictures below and video after the break -- and don't you worry, we'll be going back for seconds.%Gallery-95200%
Harmonix debuts Dance Central, its Kinect dance game
Though we caught a glimpse of it at last night's Kinect unveiling, Harmonix has put Dance Central on the stage of Microsoft's E3 2010 press conference. Published by MTV Games, the fully-featured rhythm game will offer 600 moves and 90 routines (that's dance parlance) when it launches alongside Kinect in November. It'll also support up to three players and, as with Harmonix's other titles, post-launch DLC. If Harmonix can put out Portal songs as Rock Band DLC, a "Natal Rave" download can't be outside the realms of possibility.
Kinect library for Xbox 360 revealed by USA Today
Update: Oops! It looks like USA Today jumped the gun on the announcement and has since pulled the piece from its site. Stay tuned for Microsoft's official unveiling later. USA Today has spilled the proverbial beans on Microsoft's Natal project -- not only has the paper confirmed the Kinect product name, but they've posted a few of the games in the pipeline for the system. Here we go: Kinectimals features over 20 different virtual pets, including lions, tigers, and cheetahs, to play with or raise. Joyride has returned to life as a controller-free racing game, apparently. Kinect Sports will offer sport games to play: "boxing, bowling, beach volleyball, track and field, soccer and table tennis." For each one, you will make motions to play the games. Kinect Adventures has a river raft and obstacle course to navigate -- this is likely the demo we saw last week. MTV Games will release Dance Central, where you can cut a virtual rug. And there will be more games announced later featuring both Disney characters and Star Wars characters, in conjunction with Disney and LucasArts, respectively. Marc Whitten even namedrops Nintendo in USA Today's piece, but he says that without a controller, Kinect will be "fundamentally different." We'll keep our eyes open for these games all this week, so stay tuned. Thanks, Jake!
