It's October, which means it's once again time to hook up your Kinect, take off your pants and play some Dance Central. Not that it's always wise to play games half-naked, especially ones that depend on jumping around in front of a camera, but pants will only slow you down and make you sweat even more than you already will. Wear gym shorts, if you must.
Like leaf-peeping, apple-picking and umpire second-judging, Dance Central has become an autumn tradition. You can argue that it's grown a bit repetitive by this third installment, but repetition is the key to pop music. A steady beat, a memorable bass line and a chorus that'll itch in your brain until you hear it one more time are the rudiments of a hit. Can you attack a game for reflecting pop music when that's the very bedrock upon which it is built?
NBA Baller Beats, the Kinect-based basketball rhythm game, sold a mere 3,000 copies in the US in its debut month of September, sales tracking service NPD told Joystiq. An odd outcome for a game that had a controversially high number of Twitter followers and YouTube views.
We weren't given the opportunity to review the game by publisher Majesco (despite repeated requests), but we did find a unicorn that actually purchased NBA Baller Beats.
"The game itself is well done and one of the better Kinect titles on the market," Robert Goode of the CAGcast told us. "Unfortunately, the market of athletic basketball fans who also have a Kinect and an unfinished basement is not flourishing."
And this post likely concludes our The Good, The Bad and The Ugly day of basketball stories here on Joystiq.
Whether you're in it for some free Halo armor or to participate in our nation's democratic process, tonight is the second in a series of four debates leading up to the 2012 presidential election. Following the first debate between Republican nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, Romney's running mate Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden go head-to-head this evening.
Starting at 9pm ET tonight, you'll be able to tune into the Vice-Presidential debate through the Election 2012 hub on Xbox Live. The same interactive features from the last debate will also be available, including live voting through the app and suggesting questions through Twitter with the #XboxPoll hashtag.
Backbone Entertainment, the Foundation 9-owned developer of many HD re-releases and retro collections including Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection - as well as the Death Jr. series - has suffered layoffs, Foundation 9 CEO James North-Hearn has told Gamasutra.
"Due to a lower demand for conventional console development, the studio has made some difficult but necessary adjustments in both its capacity and services, with the goal of matching the changing needs of today's market," North-Hearn said. "The dedicated development staff at Backbone has put together some of the studio's best work for our partners in the upcoming fall releases, Dance Central 3 and Midway Arcade Origins."
#fable
One of Microsoft's big holiday-season Kinect games, Fable: The Journey, came out today. As our reviewer notes, it's not very good, because Microsoft's popular Kinect sensor often fails to properly detect the movement of the player trying to control the game. More »
If you're a fan of the long-running Fable series, you're probably wondering how designer Peter Molyneux's swan song for the franchise turned out. The good news is that Fable: The Journey finally fulfills some of Molyneux's infamous promises. The bad news is that few of them are the promises he made for Fable: The Journey.
The Journey puts the player in the fur-lined boots of Gabriel, a young and adventurous Dweller, Albion's version of a gypsy traveler, who sits behind the reins of his beloved and loyal horse, Seren. Gabriel is anxious for a life of more than driving a cart through a caravan, hoping to find a life of adventure and heroism, presumably the same way the player is supposed to feel. Using the Kinect, players control Gabriel as he drives Seren on the roads of Albion. Before long, Gabriel is separated from his clan and comes across Theresa, the blind seer who has been a Fable mainstay since the beginning. Theresa tells Gabriel of his destiny and the magic he will wield.
#microsoft
Perhaps because old-timey paintings can be naught but artistic lies, it's tough knowing exactly what a notable person from history looks like. More »
Cheetos mascot Chester Cheetah is finally returning to video games. The star of Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest and Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool is bringing his natural charisma, charm, and insatiable desire for cheese-flavored corn snacks to Just Dance 4.
By entering codes found on Cheetos bags into the Wii or Xbox versions of Just Dance 4, orange-fingered dancers will be able to unlock Cobra Starship's "You Make Me Feel" - featuring dance moves from the giant-headed cat monster himself - and Anja's "Brand New Start." The promotion is available from the October 9 release date through December 31.
Did you know there are "Salsa Con Queso" and "Smoked Cheddar" Cheetos? We didn't, until just now, when we learned that from our job writing about video games.
A demo of Harmonix's Dance Central 3 is available now for demonstrative busting of one's moves on the Xbox Marketplace. The sampler includes Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor," Maroon 5's ubiquitous "Moves Like Jagger" and Nicki Minaj's "Starships!" - the latter to get you higher than a mutha...
The demo also includes Party Time, activated with a a high five, which allows players with a partner, among other things, to make their own moves. Bring The Charleston back, you can do it!
After the impressive FIFA Soccer 12 last year, it's easy to have high expectations for this year's soccer game from EA Canada. Barring any major setbacks to the series, the question of how great FIFA 13 would be wasn't an unreasonable one to ponder heading into the game's release.
This is, without a doubt, the best soccer sim I've ever played. Kicking off with First Touch Control, FIFA 13 adds shades of unpredictability that I'm not used to in a sports game, even after setting the tone with last year's introduction of the Player Impact Engine. First Touch Control adds more weight to the initial touch players put on the ball, thanks to added elements of physics in players' actions. As a result, every play feels reasonably risky, and none of your passes are certain to hit their mark to a point of predictability. The ball might take a hard bounce if you attempt to volley it instead of safely settling it when receiving a pass.
#microsoft
The way Kinect works is that it sends out all these little beams of light. That's how it can read movements and know when you flail about your living room. Those tracking dots are also perfect for creepy horror movies—and Microsoft product placement. More »
Dance Central DLC prices have been cut like a rug for a limited time, with packs slashed by various percentages and singles half-steppin' away. Packs electric slide between 250 to 1500 Microsoft points, while singles are 160 MSP ($2) apiece.
All DLC will be compatible with Dance Central 3, which gains access to the retail club on October 16. Review the entire list of discounted tracks at the Dance Central site.
This video tells us just how hardcore these hardcore gamers were before Fable: The Journey magically turned them into hand-waving casuals. Or maybe we're missing the point. Should you need more convincing and have access to a Kinect, you can download the demo to try for yourself.
#animals
Witness Kinect: Nat Geo TV, or at least witness a Kinect mini-game in Kinect: Nat Geo TV. It's teaching our video editor Chris Person all about animals, as you can see in this clip. More »
#tgs
Well, this year's Tokyo Game Show has drawn to a close. It was a busy show, but it was great to cover it with most of Kotaku East (save for the lovely Eric Jou, who was in Macau, eating heart attacks). Bummer that more of Kotaku couldn't have been here, either, but whaddayagonnado. More »
During Namco Bandai's TGS 2012 showcase event, I got a chance to try out Dragon Ball Z: Kinect. This might be a good time to admit that, yes, I was young once. Check out the video above for my experience with the Kinect-powered kamehameha simulator. Just be warned it ... it gets a little geeky in there.
Kinect Nat Geo TV and Kinect Sesame Street TV launch today, for 2400 MS Points ($30) each. They both include eight 30-minute interactive episodes, which can be purchased for 400 MS Points ($5) apiece.
Kinect Sesame Street TV is rated EC for "Early Childhood," while Nat Geo goes all-out with a hedonistic rating of E10+, for "Everyone 10 and older." From the terrifying look on that cat's face - the one on the right with the blue eyes of death - we can see why.
You've been waiting for your excuse to dance to New Kids on the Block's hit "The Right Stuff," haven't you? Now the soothing voices of Jordan, Donny, Wally, Tim-Tim, and the other one will be in Dance Central 3, with better choreography than you ever came up with.
Other new bubblegum tracks in Dance Central 3 include Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow," Flo Rida's "Wild Ones," and Katy Perry's "Firework." Oh, don't worry, Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" is there too. The full list of new tracks is after the break.
In addition, Harmonix revealed three sets of retailer-exclusive bonus tracks. In the US, Best Buy pre-orders get Usher's "Euphoria" and "Twisted by Usher and Pharrell; Wal-Mart burdens you with LMFAO's "Sorry for Part Rocking" along with Nicki Minaj's "Whip It," and Amazon gives you a Lady Gaga two-pack with "Alejandro" and "Paparazzi."
A Microsoft patent application for an "immersive display experience" has been published by the USPTO. The application describes a system that would augment a "primary display" - say, a television - with a "peripheral image" projected onto the surrounding environment, essentially extending the image of the primary display all around the user. The user could then be tracked within the environment by a depth camera (a Kinect, perhaps?). In shorter terms, as noted by Ars Technica, it looks something like a poor man's holodeck.
The patent application notes that the system could be used to make video games more realistic. As an example, a player might notice an enemy sneaking up "behind" him in his peripheral vision, as the enemy would be physically projected behind the player onto a wall.
If all of this sounds a tad familiar, it might be because we saw Microsoft demonstrate something very similar in May 2011, only two months after this patent was initially filed. As part of a Microsoft campus tour video, the company showcased its "Home of the Future," which used just such a technology, turning nearly every surface of a mocked up home into a display. Check out videos of the tech after the break.
If you watched MTV in the late '90s, chances are you know of Sifl & Olly, the crescent fresh sock-puppet variety show starring, well, Sifl and Olly. It's been a while since we've seen the two in anything new - and today they've re-emerged in a new web series.
The premise behind their new show is pretty much the same as the premise behind their old show, except the two have ditched the half-hour format this time around. In this episode, Sifl and Olly check out some Kinetic games for the Zeus 720 - obviously this is a spoof on the Kinect for Xbox 360 - and engage in some, well, mature activity. This one may not be strictly work-safe. You've been warned!Sifl & Olly come back from the laundry pile to review fake games
#watchthis
Here's a heartwarming story: a man named Chad Ruble hacked a Kinect to allow his mom, a stroke victim, to send e-mail for the first time in 12 years. Watch and enjoy. More »
It's time to remember the spell that magically rearranges your living room furniture: a demo of Harry Potter for Kinect is now available to Xbox Live Gold members. If you've forgotten the game's existence, it sweeps players away to a dream world of magic, allowing them to wave their arms and, presumably, lean to the left or right occasionally.
Harry Potter for Kinect also has the unique feature of scanning your face right into the game. Alas, as far as we know, there is no "Voldemort yourself" mini-game.
Microsoft is preparing its transition from Zune to Xbox Music, announcing today that select Zune functionality would go the way of the Dodo starting tomorrow, August 31. Xbox 360 users will find their experience pretty much the same for now - you can still stream unlimited music videos with your Zune Pass subscription.
With the Windows 8 launch right around the corner on October 26, Microsoft is doing away with Zune HD apps and many aspects of using Zune on the PC, Engadget reports. Social Zune features such as sending messages, sharing playlists and viewing past play history have been axed, and users may no longer purchase or stream music videos on the PC, nor can Zune users re-download, re-activate or re-license music videos on new machines or if they upgrade to Windows 8.
In a world, where insane stories are added to dance video games, one stands above the rest. This October, it'll take more than smooth moves and phat beats to save dance. It'll take...[Inception horn]... you.
#fable
I'm not really anti-Kinect. It's just that a lot of Kinect games really suck. But I absolutely love Dance Central and Fruit Ninja Kinect is always a hit with my non-gaming friends when they come over for after-partying. More »
#preview
The next Forza game is set in an open world. Wait, what? Yes, it's an open world modeled after Colorado. And smack in the middle of the game's setting is a racing festival that you will partake in when Forza Horizon releases October 23 for Xbox 360. More »
Xbox Live now has a Chinese-language site, prompting users to learn about Xbox Live and Windows 8 integration. Xbox Live is not available in China, most likely because of the country's ban on external social networking sites, WMPoweruser notes.
The sign up and sign in links on Xbox Live's Simplified Chinese page take users to English pages, transferring them to American servers. It's unclear if this means Microsoft has found a loophole that will allow Xbox Live to function officially in China, but this is a site in the right direction.
While many people think Fruit Ninja is a recent phenomenon, it actually debuted in arcades way back in the late 1980s. Developer Halfbrick has announced a new batch of DLC for Fruit Ninja Kinect to give users a chance to look back on Fruit Ninja's heyday. The "8-bit Cartridge" DLC effectively restores the original Fruit Ninja visuals and chiptune music that anyone over 25 will remember from the smoke-filled game halls of their youth.
It's worth noting that the DLC appears to be based on the home console version of the original Fruit Ninja. It's unfortunate, though understandable, as any game historian knows that all original Fruit Ninja arcade cabinets have either been destroyed or reside in the hands of private collectors. Presumably, Halfbrick was unable to obtain the original code.
The DLC will be released this Friday on Xbox Live for $2.*
As if driving through pictures of your friends on billboards weren't enough to get you exploring the open world of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, perhaps finding lavish sports cars will? Criterion's betting on exactly that, as seen in the latest trailer.
