Probably the most important game on the Wii was Wii Sports – a motion-controlled game packed in with the console to show off what the system could do, and managed to capture a much wider audience than the average game. What does that have to do with Kinect Sports Rivals?
Microsoft’s recently released Xbox One has motion sensing out the wazoo (I’m not sure exactly where that lies anatomically, but we’ll let it slide). Besides Just Dance 2014, there really hasn’t been a full motion-control game released for the Xbox One Kinect that didn’t stink. Even motion controls for games like Dead Rising 3 or the Xbox interface have felt like a gimmick. In our experience the Kinect has only offered a fair-to-good use of the microphone, which leaves the contentious peripheral otherwise collecting dust.
Kinect Sports Rivals is meant to change all that. Developed by the much-loved Rare, they aim to thrust gamers into the role of an athlete competing in a bunch of events. Injecting your face and body into the game via the Kinect camera, you can compete in six events either locally, with your Xbox Live friends or even in tournaments. No matter how you choose to play, you’re meant to get up off the couch and move around.
We’re looking forward to getting our hands on it, and perhaps this is a product that MS should pack in with the Xbox One to fill the Wii-Sports role in the new generation of gaming – getting people interested in motion controlled games and perhaps breaking a sweat. Will lightning strike twice?
There’s a chance, Rare as it is.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, at a young age I was forced to decide whether the harsh northern winters were going to claim my fingers, or to turn to the safer pursuits of indoor activities. Little did I know that a little game called Ninja Gaiden would bring my digits more pain than frostbite ever could. Starting with Vectrex and C64 games and moving forward through the era of electronic entertainment, I sampled as much as I could in the different platforms, and began my interest in PC gaming from wrestling with DOS memory management.
While console games were a part of my earliest gaming memories and I certainly had played on most platforms including 3D0, all things Nintendo, PS1 and the like, truly the PC was my domain until the Xbox. As an old PC gamer, I ever chased the cutting edge technology. Eye of the beholder with CGA 4 colors was my first step down the the path of blowing thousands of dollars on PC upgrades over two decades. Ultima 7, with the Guardian talking to me through my monitor, still haunts my dreams and keeps me ever hoping for a decent Ultima 8 and 9. From the 3DFX SLI VooDoo2s and Aureal to today's GPU driven DirectX games, the new and shiny pictures seem to keep me going. My PC gaming has slowed down with the market shift though, and although I have choice games that will ever be on PC, I have found myself in console gaming with a bit of portable gaming in my life.
Back around the turn of the millenium (and long before fatherhood), I had fired off an email offering to help Ron with a little-known site called ConsoleGold. Little did I know it would be be a part of my life to this day. While I've seen my fair share of shovelware (thanks Ron!), I manage to try and find the fun in most games. Leaning towards sandbox and action titles, I've grown to love games for their potential to reach art. Console agnostic and excited for the progress of tomorrow, I fancy the latest and greatest, but still enjoy the good old classics ... as long as they've been revamped from their 8bit graphic roots.
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