TGS: How Dragon Ball Z for Kinect Misses the Point

The entire appeal of motion gaming is immersion -- ideally, Kinect would amplify player agency by more actively involving you in a given experience. Dance Central excels here, in particular. Using your body rather than thumb flicks and trigger pulls to control a character should make you feel as though you've become someone else.

The potential to empower players in Dragon Ball Z for Kinect is enormous, but actually playing it is a constant reminder of how much fun you should be having.

The first-person combat works like you'd expect: Punching the air fires projectiles or smacks your up-close enemy, crouching dodges incoming attacks and powers up your hero, and familiar poses unleash special attacks when you've filled your power meter. That's pretty much the extent of how Dragon Ball Z for Kinect functions, and that simplicity in itself would be a considerable issue, never mind that it doesn't work well.

Gestures are so similar, and player input is so frantic, that Kinect can't actually register the moves properly. I tried to boost my power, but it misread the crouched position as a dodge. In putting my fingers on my forehead to let loose Picollo's Beam Cannon, the game thought I was trying to punch. Arm movements are sensitive and the speed of the fight is chaotic, which is a disastrous recipe. I watched multiple players fail a fight because their Kamehamehas weren't getting picked up, or their dodges registered as power charging, before becoming a victim of the incompetence myself.

The other problem is that it's just not terribly entertaining to play. Your actions don't really interact with the world or characters, so you spend a lot of time watching. Did you punch the air fast enough to trigger the win or lose animation? Great job, take a break and watch Goku throw Vegeta through a mountain for the next 20 seconds. Repeat. What could possibly be interesting about this as someone putting their entire body into the equation?

It's difficult to get excited, or remain optimistic, about a game in such poor shape as Dragon Ball Z for Kinect. It's a conceptual misfire with the kind of poor execution that's become unfortunately commonplace in Kinect games. And if it's no fun to play in the first 10 minutes, why should you pay $60 to experience it for hours longer?

Use caution with this one.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia Cancelled

Microsoft has ceased development of its free-to-play flight simulator Microsoft Flight. It has also scrapped Project Columbia, an unannounced Kinect game.

Both games were being developed at Microsoft's Vancouver studio. Last night, as noticed by Kotaku, employees took to social media to report on the cancellation of both games and highlight the redundancies facing its staff.

Despite initial reports that Microsoft had closed the entire studio, Microsoft has confirmed that the studio will remain open but will operate at a reduced capacity.

Speaking to Gamespot, a Microsoft spokesperson said, Microsoft Studios has decided to end development on Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia. As a result of this action, some positions within the development teams have been eliminated. Microsoft human resources is working with the affected individuals to find new roles within the company."

"Microsoft Studios is invested in British Columbia and still has several teams, both in Vancouver and Victoria, which will continue to produce the best entertainment and gaming experiences possible."

This is the latest setback for the games industry in Vancouver, with Capcom making redundancies at its studio in recent weeks and Rockstar relocating to Toronto.

Daniel is IGN's UK Games Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Microsoft Job Listings Hint at Next-Gen Kinect

New job listings on Microsoft’s site indicate that the publisher may be gearing up development on the next generation of Kinect. According to a listing for a software development engineer, “the team that shipped Kinect for Xbox 360” is seeking a candidate to work on “the future of Natural User Input.” More specifically, the listing later refers to the fact that “The Xbox Platform Team is gearing up towards the next generation of Natural User Interface (NUI) technologies.” The listing also refers to “rapid prototyping” and that a “successful candidate must be able to come up to speed with new technologies.”

A separate listing for a senior electronic engineer specifies that it’s looking for a candidate who would be responsible “for designing, building and delivering the devices and the innovative solution for Xbox and various future NUI applications.” It also includes its mission statement to “re-invent entertainment, led from the living room, powered by the cloud, across multiple screens and best experienced on our devices.”

The listings were posted in late June and early July, and fit in with rumors we previously heard about Microsoft working on an improved Kinect sensor. A Microsoft patent that emerged last month also hinted at a new Kinect sensor that could capture depth by using infrared light “to determine a physical distance from the capture device to a particular location on the targets or objects in the scene.” Previous rumors also suggested that the next Kinect will be accurate enough to read lips.

We know that Microsoft is likely working on the next-generation Xbox, as developers told us in an anonymous survey that the next generation of consoles will begin in 2013. We’ve also seen other Microsoft job listings refer to a new system, including a listing from Rare about next-gen games and a listing that implied a next-gen Halo is already in the works.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft about the job listings and will update this story with any comment we receive.

Thanks to OXM for the heads up.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Nike+, Kinect Sesame Street, Nat Geo TV Release Dates Set

Microsoft has announced release dates for Kinect Sesame Street TV, Kinect Nat Geo TV and Nike+ Kinect Training. Kinect Sesame Street TV and Nat Geo TV will be available for $29.99 each and will be in stores on September 18th. Nike+, meanwhile, will arrive on October 30th for $49.99.

According to Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, Nat Geo TV and Kinect Sesame Street TV allow players to “engage, interact and learn like never before.” Each game contains eight 30-minute interactive episodes, and individual episodes will be available for purchase for 400 Microsoft Points ($4.99) via Xbox Live.

Nike+ Kinect Training offers instant feedback for players as they train. Players can be reminded by phone when they’re due for a workout, and every four weeks players can receive a workout update.

Interactive TV for Kinect was originally announced at CES, while Nike+ Kinect was revealed at E3 2012.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com