xbox kinect

Game developer Majesco's newly released NBA Baller Beats attempts to revive the nearly extinct rhythm video game genre -- and it doesn't involve playing a mock musical instrument, but rather bouncing a ball in front of your television.

To play Baller Beats, you merely need to bounce a basketball (or any similar-shaped ball) to the rhythm of a chosen song. A crescendo of icons float down a virtual track, instructing you to perform up to 20 different moves, such as dribbling the ball with a certain hand, or between legs, or performing a pass fake.

The game also features an eight-player multiplayer mode, as well as various difficulty settings and unlocks. The $59 Baller Beats also includes a real full-size Spalding replica NBA basketball, perfect for losing control of and destroying something breakable in the living room. … Read more

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of flailing your body in front of your TV set, here's your chance to do it on the cheap.

I'm talking about the Xbox Kinect, of course, the motion-sensing camera system that "turns your body into the controller" for various games. I don't mind telling you, it's a blast.

And it's on sale! For a limited time, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the refurbished Xbox Kinect for $59.99 shipped (plus sales tax where applicable).

A quick caveat before I go on: unlike … Read more

Will the next Xbox restrict you from playing your favorite used games?

Gaming news site Kotaku reported yesterday that the so-called Xbox 720 will incorporate some type of anti-used game technology. Citing a "reliable industry source," Kotaku admitted that it's not clear how such a technology would be set up and if it means the Xbox wouldn't play used games at all.

One theory is that a game would be tied to an Xbox Live account so that only the original buyer could play it. But as the gaming site points out, that type of restriction … Read more

The new design of the Xbox 360's dashboard and press releases touting "the future of TV" make it clear that Microsoft is transitioning the Xbox from a gaming console that also does home entertainment to a home entertainment box that also does gaming.

That's an exciting move, especially for not-quite-hard-core gamers who spend more and more time streaming video on their game consoles.

The Xbox is far from the only contender in the streaming-video space, which has several good options (Roku LT, Apple TV), but nothing that truly nails the category. Below I take an in-depth look at the Xbox in light of new video-centric features, like Kinect-enabled voice search and Bing-powered cross-platform video search, to see how it stacks up strictly as a streaming-video box.… Read more

Microsoft, which has gradually embraced hackers tinkering with its Kinect motion-sensing video game controller, is now working on a Kinect for PCs.

Ever since Kinect debuted last year, hackers have fiddled with the device to come up with scores of new uses for it, everything from using gestures to navigate a computer's file system to providing visual sensors for robots.

But those hacks relied on a Kinect that is optimized to detect gamers standing several feet away. In a blog post, Craig Eisler, general manager of Kinect for Windows, said the company is shortening the USB cable and adding … Read more

Streaming video has exploded in the home theater.

Only a few years ago there was only Netflix, but now Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Vudu all offer top-notch streaming video services. The variety is great, but it forces streaming video fans to keep a mental catalog of where their favorite shows and movies are available. When I rereviewed the Apple TV, I almost rented "The Trip" for $5 before I realized it was available for free on Netflix.… Read more

For many gamers, going to E3 is an unfulfilled dream. Attendance is tightly controlled (depending on your definition of tight), so unlike a boat show or comic book convention, you can't just buy a ticket and show up.

But if you do someday make it to E3, the show secrets presented here may help you get the most out of the experience. Regular attendees eventually work out most of these tips, but we're always open to new suggestions--feel free to list your own E3 secrets in the comments section below.

(Note: Also below is a handy list of … Read more

The big booths, high-profile games, and general spectacle of E3 all ranked very highly with attendees, according to the informal polling conducted during and after the show. Everyone has his collection of the best and worst games, and it's a dangerous minefield to step into that subjective field, so I'd rather avoid that (still, some of my favorites are easy to pick out).

There were, however, a handful of annoyances and missed opportunities. Some are long-term issues, others may have a quick fix. If you're interested in what E3 missed the boat on this year, check out our list below, and offer your own suggestions in the comments section at the end.

The console company press conferences failed to highlight some of the best games. Sony, Microsoft, and, to a lesser extent, Nintendo all use their respective preshow press conferences to highlight notable upcoming games, both first-party (those actually published by Sony, Microsoft, etc.) and from other publishers such as EA.

We saw the latest Call of Duty, Uncharted, and Zelda games, but several of the most notable contenders were missing. Perhaps it was because they weren't calculated to be key sales drivers, in the way that Call of Duty is, or because key partnerships required press conference stage time at the expense of other games.

I'm inclined to agree with a games industry executive who told me immediately after the show that the hottest E3 buzz-builders were BioShock Infinite, Skyrim, and Batman: Arkham City. Of those, BioShock got a brief plug at the Sony press conference while the other two went unmentioned.… Read more

LOS ANGELES--Look around the halls of E3 2011, and you might notice something strangely similar about many of the most-hyped games on display. There's Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3, and Mass Effect 3. BioShock Infinite is the third game in that series, and Skyrim is the third modern/console version of an Elder Scrolls game (technically, it's the fifth game in the series, as there were a couple of prior PC games back in the '90s). We've also spotted Saints Row: the Third, Serious Sam 3, and Ninja Gaiden 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (the third game in that series), and there are probably a few others I've missed.

This collection of third-timers is partially a coincidence, and partly indicative of the industry's addiction to sequels. With production and advertising budgets at or near what Hollywood movie studios have been spending for years, there's a natural, and very understandable, attraction to finding a successful formula and sticking with it.

A trilogy is also a familiar construct from the larger media world that consumers are comfortable with, and the format is useful for putting together a compelling story arc over the course of three films or novels. But while most movies quit after three outings, there's no doubt you'll be seeing a fourth chapter in many of the game franchises above within a year or two. … Read more