So nearly 5 years
ago I wrote the entry: "The Smiling Machine".
The
Wii had just been released and that first
morning Paddy and I had a freaking
blast. As you can see from the video it
was what everyone has come to know the Wii
for. An arm flailing good
time...
...however, those
that actually own a Wii and didn't just play it
at their friend's house know a dirty little secret:
that "fun" and "smiling" turns into a dust
collector in a few short weeks when you realize a
quick flip of the wrist is all that's needed for every
game. Newbies don't realize this, thus the fun of
jumping all over the place.
Of course Nintendo
still sold a bajillion of those bitches, and
rightfully so. It is revolutionary and
inventive and a perfect party system, etc. The other 2
console makers were quick to follow suit. Sony
released the Playstation Move which was a wand just
like Nintendo's and Microsoft's Xbox Kinect went the
camera route making YOU the controller with
nothing to hold whatsoever.
It called
to mind the PS2's "Eye Toy" which was
remarkably lame. A camera that put the game
OVER TOP of your web cam image and did a
poor job at tracking you to boot. I was
certain this was gonna be a flop and
I giggled at how the two once mighty
game systems were bumbling to compete with
Nintendo...
...and then the
Kinect sold 10 million units faster than any consumer
electronics product in history. Huh? A quick youtube
search revealed why: You actually control the player
onscreen completely. It tracks you from head to toe
and you're in completely 3D virtual worlds running
around, dancing, etc. It's nuts. Talya and
I stumbled into a Best Buy after dinner one night
last week and saw the new Michael Jackson dancing game
(comes out tomorrow) and were hooked. Found the Kinect
used online for $99 and well, that's how you get a
video like this...
Duh. What a
brilliant evolution of Nintendo's Wii. As you can see,
there's no way to cheat this. It tracks your entire
body and simply put - it will kick your ass.
Especially for someone like me who tends to be a
"completist" when it comes to games. Wanting to
get every single achievement and high score, etc. I've
had no choice but to stop playing 'cause after an hour
or so, I can barely stand. Absolutely brutal
workout and a great kickoff to my weight loss that I'm
going to go through for the next 2 months (yes, love
has put on the pounds as it always does).
I cannot say
enough about this technology. It's a 3D camera that
somehow is able to track you even when it's pitch
black. It also has a microphone so you can voice
activate everything. Honest to goodness no need for a
controller of any sort. And the best part is? You're
not STUCK with only gaming like that. You still have
your Xbox 360 for other games. 'Cause clearly this
kind of controlling isn't for every genre. My friend
Rhett was saying it'd be cool for shooting games and
war games like Call of Duty and I replied: "Dude, war
sucks. And holding a gun towards the screen and
standing for more than about 10 minutes would suck a
BUNCH." Some games are perfect to sit back on a couch
and use a controller. And vice-versa, using a
controller for the game that Talya and I were playing
in the video would be a friggin' snoozefest. This is a
genre of game, not something to build your entire
console around.
Anyway, been a
long time since I pimped a game system. Honestly
after that Nintendo Wii entry 5 years ago? I all but
quit gaming all together. I got so busy with CBS
and ever since have had a million other things I'd
rather be doing. For the most part I still feel
that way, but right now the biggest thing I can
do for my career is lose weight, so this is coming in
handy. I can't do my iPad Comic routine for
another 15-20 pounds, so I guess I'm just
forced to go play that game some more.
