In video games, an introduction can make or break your experience. This brief exposure to the characters and setting can mean the difference between giving the game a fair chance or turning the console off and walking away.
Sports compilations are without a doubt the most generic idea for a motion-based game. It’s been done multiple times on separate consoles. This is one of the reasons Kinect Sports has been looked down upon since its announcement. There did seem to still be some hope, Rare (the geniuses behind Kameo: Elements of Power, Banjo-Kazooie, Goldeneye, and many more) was developing the game and Kinect is something completely different than other motion controls seen before. Did the hope we have for Kinect Sports get squandered by sheer mediocre gameplay? Or is Kinect Sports really worth a purchase?
Kinect Sports is separated into 6 different sports to play, almost all of which are strong, responsive, and just plain fun to take part in. Soccer seemed to be the biggest wild card for me coming into the game. In soccer, you have a defender in front of you, and have to kick the ball by him to try and advance the ball down field, then eventually getting to the goal and making a goal kick. You also play defense which is the same thing but with slight tweaks, you’re bobbing back and forth to block oncoming passes, and then having to block goal shots.
Ever since Bruce Campbell hoisted aloft his mighty boomstick, shotguns have been the premiere weapon for laying waste to our imaginary adversaries. As fiction has proved countless times, no enemy is a match for the raw strength of a bunch of tiny pellets fired at close range. Like most modern gaming consoles, the Xbox 360 has paid its dues to the most redundantaly-named of guns. Whether you’re fighting zombies, space aliens or even zombie space aliens, the following games know how to celebrate this mainstay of the gamer arsenal.
The Saw franchise is known for inventive traps, twists and turns, and a warped sense of right and wrong. The Saw games have attempted to bring the suspense and horror to a console near you. The first Saw game was panned for terrible combat, poor graphics, and for being completely boring. The second game aims to remedy the situation by updating the cast of characters and continuing the story. Coming a year after the first game, Saw II: Flesh and Blood misses the mark by simply ignoring the problems of the first game.
With the release of Rock Band 3, Dance Central, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, DJ Hero 2, and Power Gig in the last month, you would be forgiven for thinking the music genre is pretty healthy. However, according to a report on Gamasutra, the total earnings of the genre has dropped by more than 50% since last year.
The Gamastura article records the music genre as raking in $1.6 billion in 2008, helped by sales of instrument bundle sets of games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Since then, the genre earned $870 million in 2009, but as of this writing music games have yet to break the $400 million mark. With these numbers, it’s not a huge surprise that parent company Viacom is looking to sell off Guitar Hero and Rock Band creator Harmonix, despite the critical acclaim of their latest games, Rock Band 3 and Dance Central (well, everybody but Jay seemed to like Dance Central at least).
Capcom and Marvel have definitely had some fans guessing at what characters will make it into Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. The roster is already packed with heavy hitters from both camps, but recently four new characters have been announced. The first two are Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath, are DLC exlusive characters and have been known about for a few days due to a Gamestop mistake. The second two are thankfully unspoiled and we can be in awe of their combined might.
One of the biggest titles revealed with Kinect at E3 this last year was Lucasart’s Kinect Star Wars game. The demo showed a Jedi Knight blasting through waves of Stormtroopers while using the Kinect peripheral to control saber strikes and force powers. Fanboy dreams suddenly soared, I mean who didn’t want to be Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader as a kid?
Recently at the official Kinect launch for the UK, resident Xbox sunglasses aficionado Kudo Tsunoda let slip that Star Wars Kinect is currently set for a Holiday 2011 release. While this may not be as soon as some fans were hoping, Kudo affirms that from what he has seen of the game— It’s worth it.
