The Kinect has received much notoriety and fanfare since it was first unveiled as the Natal at E3 2009. I wasn’t that excited about it back then, but I still wanted to give Microsoft’s motion controls a chance since I was skeptical about Nintendo’s movement toward motion controls as well. However, from what I’ve seen of the Kinect so far, in demos and from personally playing with it at E3 2010, I have zero interest in it.
I don’t want to hear about how cute Skittles the tiger is, how awesome The Child of Eden demo looked, or how much fun Dance Central is. They all have one thing in common, and that one thing is what keeps my interest at bay: the fact you have to get off the couch.
I don’t game to exercise. I’m an active cyclist, I love to go dancing with friends, and I have a two-year-old who never lets me sit for longer than five minutes. So when I game, I want to sit peacefully and relax. All of the games they offered at E3 were either exercise games or Dance Central. They also had a few casual games at other booths, and here’s a nice little video of me trying a surfing game out at the Konami booth.
I think my facial expression says it all. Not only did I have difficulty in getting the camera to respond to me, but I felt like a complete idiot. And yes, I know I look like one as well.
So far, I haven’t seen or heard of anything on the Kinect launch list that entices me to shell out another $150. If any games that are more suited to my game preferences pop up – such as an RPG or an action game that’s not an FPS – and still require me to stand, count me out. As cool as The Child of Eden looks, I think you still have to stand to operate it. I feel like a big enough idiot when I sit on the couch with my headphones and mic on; don’t make me stand and move my arms and legs too. My husband makes fun of me enough for playing Guitar Hero.
I honestly don’t know if the Kinect will ever offer anything of interest to me. I don’t want to swing an imaginary sword or scan in an object to hold and swing around like a sword. A game that is as interactive as Heavy Rain has potential, but as I said before, I want to stay sitting down. I’m still going to look ridiculous waving my arms in front of a camera, but it’s no more ridiculous than waggling the Wii-mote or using the PS3’s SIXAXIS controls. That’s a ridiculocity I can deal with.