kinect

Microsoft plans to offer a Kinect bundle for $400 when its motion-gaming peripheral launches on November 4.

The bundle includes a 250GB Xbox 360 Slim, the Kinect peripheral, and video game Kinect Adventures. Microsoft plans to release the bundle on November 4, the same day it will launch the Kinect peripheral.

For the price, consumers are getting a decent deal. The 250GB console retails for $300 without the extras, and the Kinect on its own will sell for $149.

The latest bundle is the second Microsoft has announced for the Kinect. In July, the company announced a $300 Kinect bundle … Read more

I was already planning to spring for an Xbox 360 and Kinect add-on, when it comes out this holiday season. I've even been trying to figure out which messy room in my house is best suited to give me the space I need to move around.

I've been wanting something like Kinect since I played with an early precursor a few years ago and used GestureTek's setup early last year. I love sports and games, but am not much for having to map natural actions to a couple buttons on a controller. Traditional console gaming held little … Read more

I'll be the first to admit I've been less than excited about the 2010 crop of motion-controlled gaming hardware from Sony and Microsoft. Particularly in the case of the Kinect, the upcoming motion-control camera peripheral for the Xbox 360, interacting with a motorized camera presents ways of physically humiliating yourself that make the Nintendo Wii seem positively tame.

An invitation to try out Dance Central, the hopeful killer app from MTV Games and Harmonix for the Kinect's November launch, didn't encourage me. The previous session was finishing, and true to my expectation, members of the press were hopping up and down to club beats, looking ridiculous and somewhat uncoordinated. I am not a dancer, nor do I dream of being one, and I was expecting this to be a painful demo.

When we dance in front of a camera, it's like an invitation to be shy. Who's really up for this type of exhibition? I know the Kinect is watching me, and I certainly don't want to see myself onscreen. I also don't want to fail out at a dance game. Games like Dance Dance Revolution are unforgiving with misses, and you know it when you don't land on the right part of the mat.

I was surprised to discover two things: in a head-to-head dance-off, I came close to unseating the PR demonstrator who clearly had physical and experiential advantages over me. And, I actually had fun and felt encouraged. How did this happen?

I equate it to Auto-Tune for dance. … Read more

Nintendo has sold 30 million units of its Wii console in the United States, the game company announced Tuesday.

Nintendo reached 30 million units in 45 months since the release of the Wii in November 2006. It hit the milestone 15 months sooner than the world's best-selling console of all time, the Sony PlayStation 2.

Of course, just because Nintendo got to 30 millions units sooner than the PlayStation 2, doesn't mean that the hardware will become the best-selling console of all time. Sony has sold over 145 million PS2 units since the console's release in 2000. … Read more

Microsoft Kinect will first appeal to casual gamers, but eventually, all levels of players will want to get their hands on it, Microsoft said in a recent interview.

According to Chris Lewis, vice president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, Kinect will initially appeal to casual gamers who aren't necessarily looking for first-person shooters, but want a fun experience that they might typically find in Nintendo's Wii.

"Certainly over the launch phase and this Christmas in particular I think you'll see very much pure Kinect for 360 experiences that will appeal to broad young/older/female/… Read more

With the summer gaming drought in full effect, we figured it was a perfect time to dive into the world of digital-downloadable games. On today's episode, we'll demo three download-only titles: Deathspank, Limbo, and Blacklight: Tango Down.

With a game drought also comes a news drought, but we were happy to hear about this morning's announcement of an official release date and price for Microsoft Kinect. The body motion-sensing attachment will ship November 3 for $150.

While we had a fairly good idea of how much Kinect would cost, we were happy to see the unveiling of … Read more

The rumors of a $149 price tag for Microsoft's Kinect accessory for the Xbox 360 were true.

Microsoft on Tuesday finally announced the pricing for both a standalone Kinect bundle, which will ship with the Kinect hardware and the Kinect Adventures game for $149, as well as a bundle of the Xbox 360 hardware, a Kinect unit, and Kinect Adventures for $299.

Rumors of the $149 price tag began circulating months ago, and were all but confirmed just a week after E3 when Microsoft's own online store listed the peripheral for that price, despite the company not yet … Read more

If you just can't wait to see how Microsoft Kinect works, be sure to run down to select Macy's stores nationwide over the next few months to try it out.

According to the retail company, it will be giving customers the chance to "test drive" its motion-gaming platform at 13 retail outlets around the U.S. on Thursdays through Sundays from now through September 30. The hours of operation are noon to 8 p.m. local time Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Kinect won't be … Read more

If you're interested in adding Microsoft's Kinect to your Xbox 360, which comes out November 4, you might want to check out Walmart.com's $199 preorder option that it's serving up until July 23.

The bundle includes the Kinect ($150 value) along with your choice of one of six Kinect launch titles and a $30 Walmart.com e-gift card that you can apply to a second Kinect game (or not). The list price of most Kinect games is $60, so if you do the math, the whole thing works out to a $10 savings plus that … Read more