Microsoft Kinect: The launch lineup

There are about a half-dozen games available for the launch of the Xbox 360's Kinect camera peripheral. We tested them all to tell you which ones are worth it, and you can read our impressions in the gallery below, along with our full review of the Kinect hardware.

The Kinect camera peripheral for Microsoft's Xbox 360 is, in our hands-on experience, an impressive piece of hardware. But hardware alone doesn't make for a great product unless there's quality software to go along with it. The real challenge for the Kinect is to create a compelling user experience, not just a flashy technology demo.

At launch, there are about half a dozen games available for the Kinect, including Kinect Adventures, which comes boxed in with the hardware. If you're thinking of laying down $150 for a Kinect (or more, for the Kinect-plus-Xbox bundle), we've gone hands-on with the entire launch line-up, to give you our thoughts on which games are worth investing in.

Related:
>> Read the full review of the Xbox 360 Kinect
>> Does Kinect hate your small apartment?
>> The Kinect lunch game lineup tested

One big-picture observation is that this first round of Kinect software all works well, but lacks a unified sense of information design. Games from different developers use different visual language to show Kinect commands, and they all differ from the Xbox Kinect menus. Until there's a more universally used standard, users will find navigating game menus to be a hassle.

Check out our impressions of each game in the slideshow above, which is complimented by a video of our marathon Kinect gaming session, and then let us know which games you plan on picking up with the Kinect starting on November 4 in the comments section below.

Bonus video:
>> Dan demos Kinect with Reuters TV
>> Scott plays Kinect on NYC's WPIX-TV Morning News
>> Dan talks Kinect for ABC News Tech Bytes