Kinect Adventures!
First up, Microsoft is releasing a series of games this week which all showcase the Kinect controller. Kinect is the system with which players control their games through interaction, primarily, with a camera. Kinect Joyride allows players to drive a car, or act as passenger in that car by simply sitting on the couch and pretending to do so. The idea is that the game will be Massively Multiplayer, and the player will be driving around the vast world with other players over the internet—with lots of people racing and completing stunts as objectives as new areas are frequently added. Kinect Sports will be similar, but allow the playing of several different sports. It features multiple simultaneous player detection, so that you and your friends can team up against other teams over the internet, but you might need a bigger living-room for this feature. Kinectimals is the Tamagotchi-esque title, in which players raise virtual pets in the virtual space created by the Kinect. Players can choose from a variety of animal species, and must maintain their diet, exercise, and training. Kinect Adventures! consists of a collection of mini-games, and seems the most tech-demo-ey of the four titles. The title includes a white water rafting game for two players, “20,000 leaks”, in which players are standing in a virtual underwater room, and have to use their body to plug leaks in the walls, and 18 other similar games. It’s also worth noting that, starting this week, Microsoft is offering an Xbox 360 bundled with Kinect.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
Along these same lines, we’re getting Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. If you recall, Nintendo released a game called Your Shape for the Wii to go along with their camera peripheral. Jenny McCarthy even put her name on it. Unfortunately, it was a flop. The camera was simply not accurate enough to make the game work properly, and there were so few user options that it felt stifling and closed-off. This new Your Shape has signed on a couple of fitness magazines instead of McCarthy, but otherwise seems very similar. The game uses the new Kinect peripheral to track the player’s movements, and helps guide their workout. Will the Kinect be able to do this better than the Wii camera? Probably
Robox
In Robox, players take on the role of a small probe sent to a mysterious planet. The interesting thing here is the dual-spaced mechanic (similar to Bowser’s Inside Story). The primary goal from the beginning is to repair the protagonist’s robot body from the inside, which works like a platformer puzzle game. This must be alternated with controlling the robot on the outside world, as he searches for the components needed to finish the repairs, along the way exploring and discovering the strange nature of this planet and what has happened to his brother probes who had come to the planet before.
GoldenEye 007
James Bond 007: Blood Stone is the newest James Bond game. This new title features dynamic blah blah blah and plenty of yadda yadda in a car. Whatever. The real news here is that GoldenEye 007 has been remade, and is being released alongside Blood Stone this week. The Icrontic Spotlight game seems mostly unchanged with the exception of improved graphics (not too much though… this is the Wii we’re talking about), a few added levels and game-play, and the change from Pierce Brosnan’s likeness as bond to Daniel Craigs’ (which doesn’t really make sense, since Brosnan is still the guy whom you see when you watch the movie), but I guess it doesn’t hurt anything. Multi-player will be up to 8-players over the internet, but since it’s on the Wii, don’t expect that to be any fun. Luckily, split screen 4-player is still available, so invite three of your friends over and switch on Golden Gun mode.
Following is a full list of this week’s announced North American releases:
Windows
- Bronze
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Wii
- Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Back to School
- Babysitting Mama
- Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike
- chick chick BOOM
- Family Party: 90 Great Games Party Pack
- Gene Labs
- GoldenEye 007
- Honda Fever
- Jeopardy!
- Megamind: Mega Team Unite
- Minute to Win It
- PokePark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure
- Robox
- The Amazing Race
- The Biggest Loser Challenge
- Wheel of Fortune
- Street Slam (VC – NEOGEO)
DS
- Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Back to School
- Busy Scissors
- Chuck E. Cheese’s Game Room
- Chuck E. Cheese’s Playhouse
- Crime Lab: Body of Evidence
- Digging for Dinosaurs
- Gene Labs
- GoldenEye 007
- Imagine Fashion Stylist
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
- Jeopardy!
- Megamind: The Blue Defender
- Noah’s Ark
- Paul’s Shooting Adventure
- Peg Solitaire
- Penguins of Madagascar
- Petz Nursery 2
- Wheel of Fortune
- Witches & Vampires
Xbox 360
- Adrenalin Misfits
- Auditorium
- Blood Drive
- Dance Central
- DanceMasters
- Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
- Fighters Uncaged
- Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
- Kinect Adventures!
- Kinect Joyride
- Kinect Sports
- Kinectimals
- Megamind: Ultimate Showdown
- MotionSports
- Sonic Free Riders
- The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout
- The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
- Winter Sports 3
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved
PS3
- Auditorium
- Blood Drive
- Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2
- Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
- Megamind: Ultimate Showdown
- SingStar Dance Party Pack
- Winter Sports 3
PSP
- Football Manager Handheld 2011
- God of War: Ghost of Sparta
- Megamind: The Blue Defender
- Mercury Limited Edition Bundle
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
- Ys: The Oath in Felghana
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