rebootied

Work got a Kinect for the shared area xbox. I played some Kinect Adventures! during lunch. It's definitely something that would make a party more fun; it's weirdly magical, the way that the Avatar mirrors my own actions. I worked up a sweat jumping around in the break area. When I wiped the sweat off my forehead, my Avatar did too. That surprised me. In cutscenes where my Avatar is waiting for a prize to be delivered, however I move, it does, too. I got impatient waiting for a score at one point; when it showed it again, it was in a weird pose -- I had unconsciously crossed my arms, and the Avatar was giving a near approximation like I was hugging myself.

...I wasn't hugging myself, honest. It was a natural, defensive, pouty, arms-crossed pose. Technology! Pfeh!

The device requires space. This is a problem in Japan. Hell, just being an xbox accessory in Japan is a problem in Japan. But lack of space is really going to hurt their uptake. It wants 1.8~3.0 meters for a single player. Closer to the 3.0 m for two players. We were barely able to scrape up 1.8 m. of free space by pushing tables further away from the TV in the break area. Several times, the Kinect warned me that I was too close. Because of the conic nature of its pickup area, I was also able to go out of bounds without getting too close.

Even so, the general "interface" of using the Kinect worked quite well in medium lighting conditions and limited space. I didn't feel stress at the full body movement, and there are a number of interesting user experience cues which seem fairly consistent: When you can interact, it ghosts the Avatar on the screen, prompting movement. During gameplay, if the player moves closer to the Kinect/screen, the game's camera also pulls in somewhat tighter, giving a quick and intuitive reinforcement of movement (which supersedes noticing the Avatar's legs aren't really synchronizing super-impressively).

I'll probably pick up a Kinect and Dance Central next time I'm in the USA. If there's a sequel to You're In The Movies with Kinect, I'll buy it. But much like the original, I'll probably be the only one. :^(

I've been playing GTA IV like it's my job, ( cut for at-length analysis and fanboyism )

And for the uninterested in my GTA ramblings:

"A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."
Aesop

friday night without the 360 is very strange.

i finally watched 40 year old virgin the other day. it was funny, but why do people keep putting mimi rogers in roles where she's supposed to be this alluring, irresistible woman? It's a lot like in the '90s when Michael Douglas kept getting those roles where women were all after him. "What? Huh? Fat grandpa?" Mimi Rogers is like "skinny grandma" instead.