News - August, 2011
Sunday28th Aug 2011
Review Kinect Fun Labs: Air Band (Xbox 360)
A musical joke?
After Kinect Sparkler turned out to be rather dim, the second paid addition to Kinect Fun Labs is here in the much more pleasing form of Air Band, which lets you become a musical ensemble with just your bare hands. You and a friend can jump in to one of five musical styles — disco, rock, pop, latin and country — and mime playing...
Friday26th Aug 2011
Review Hole in the Wall (Xbox 360)
Bring on the wall!
Hole in the Wall is as simple as a game title can get; a wall with a hole in it comes hurtling towards your Avatar. As the player, you must use your body to fit through these holes and avoid being knocked into a pool of water behind you. There are two main modes of play on show; Quick Survival and Show. Quick Survival mode fires...
News GamingZap Shows Off New Powerless Kinect Adaptor
It'll make sense
When Microsoft launched Kinect in November 2010, it faced a problem: how to get the sensor to draw power from older Xbox 360 consoles, as well as the newer S models. The simple solution was to bundle a USB to mains adaptor, but that still requires a separate plug socket. UK retailer GamingZap has just launched a way around it: the...
Tuesday16th Aug 2011
News You Can Breed Horses in Champion Jockey
Just think that over for a second
The road to becoming the ultimate jockey isn't all about being short and light: it's also about riding a top notch horse, bred for speed. That's one part of the process Champion Jockey is eager to represent, with an in-depth breeding mode shown off in these new screenshots. Each horse has an individual personality...
News Microsoft UK's Release Dates for Kinect's Biggest Titles
Get informed
You want to know when you can expect some of this year's biggest Kinect games, right? Well then, you've come to the right place, as Microsoft UK has just sent us a press release full of calendar-marking goodness. Here's a round-up of when you'll be able to pick up the brightest lights for your sensor this year. Bear in mind these...
Thursday11th Aug 2011
Reader Blog Losing 80 Pounds with Kinect and Dance Central
It can be done
In the first of a new series of reader blogs, we're sharing stories from Kinect fans just like you. We want to hear bout any success stories you might have had — a great video you made in Yoostar 2, a world record score in Kinect Sports or something awesome made possible by Kinect. You can contact KINECTaku to share your story, and...
Tuesday9th Aug 2011
Review Fruit Ninja Kinect (Xbox 360)
Juiced up
In an age where smartphone advocates are gloomily predicting the End of Days for dedicated home consoles, it’s incredibly ironic that one of the best-selling iPhone and Android titles of all time (over 20 million downloads, and rising) is made even more compelling by its fusion with Microsoft’s home console-based Kinect peripheral...
Monday8th Aug 2011
News You Can Look This Stupid Playing Champion Jockey
Live the dream
There's no easy way to say this: if you play Champion Jockey, you're probably going to look a bit foolish, especially if this new tutorial video is anything to go by. The demonstrator in the video below is clearly aware of how silly he looks but carries it like a champ, even roping in a second player for some truly momentous...
Friday5th Aug 2011
Review Avatar Superstar (Xbox 360)
Lacks the X factor
It feels unfair being overly critical of an Xbox Live Indie game. For a measly 80 Microsoft Points you know you're not going to get an experience on-par with the best games out there, but we must still be truthful in our critique of Avatar Superstar. The screenshots and branding suggest that this is a karaoke experience, whereas...
Review Kinect Fun Labs: Kinect Sparkler (Xbox 360)
Fizzles out
Kinect Fun Labs is a set of interesting toys, tools and gadgets designed to show off what Kinect can do, and while the service started off free, it's now embracing paid add-on content with Kinect Sparkler. While the price is a measly 240 Microsoft Points, however, it's still expensive for the content. Kinect Sparkler is a doodle pad,...
Wednesday3rd Aug 2011
News Grab a Matte Xbox 360 250GB with Kinect
Gloss over
At the moment the Xbox 360 S comes in two flavours: 250GB and 4GB, in glossy and matte finishes respectively. A new challenger is about to enter the ring though, with a matte 250GB console on the way. There's no word on when the new bundle will be available or if Microsoft has made any changes other than taking the dust-sucking gloss...
