My family and I love this game even though it is chronically flawed. Now let me just clear a couple of things up; the controls are very difficult and sometimes inaccessible (the racing is definitely the worst culprit); it is simple to the point of distraction and the price hike from £0 to £40 in an instant was very offputting. But here's the thing, I picked it up for £18 from a famous online retailers so the largest barrier for me was already knocked down. Despite my trepidation, this game has provided hours of entertainment for my kids (6 and 3), my wife (age deleted) and myself. Just the social aspect is enough to introduce children to a friendly world of gaming where competition is ok and co-operation is even better. The dash tracks are simple to play and both the kids beat my time regularly resulting in a great deal of screaming and cheering, the stunt tracks are fun, silly and my kids love twisting all over the place to flip their cars (newly painted using the sensor to match the colour of their own clothes), and the trick games cause a lot of laughter as Mummy and Daddy make fools of themselves posing like deranged cheerleaders. This is a game for the family and when they say that, this time around it is really relevant, it is not perfect and the controls are flawed but if you want children and adults to game together (kinectimals, whilst better, seems to be marketed at children almost exclusively) this is a great introduction. I wouldn't pay more than £20 for it, but I've purchased games for more money that have offered the kids less (Kinectimals just got a bit boring for them and too difficult for my youngest). My son loves his green Hummer and my daughter, her pink sand buggy and with a really nicely paced system for unlocking content, this game has and will continue to keep them driving, posing and twisting for months to come. I would give it 4 out of 10 as a single player teen/ adult experience but 8 out of 10 for family entertainment. Hope this is useful for anyone tempted but put off by the large number of negative reviews.
I think it is neither a brilliant game nor a decent educational tool. The worst thing about it is the poor calibration with the hardware. It misinterprets your actions, can be oversensitive and sometimes goes off and does its own thing altogether. It's almost a perfect description of my wife....ahem. I'm hoping there will be an update, because the exercises themselves are pretty good fun. The biggest downside really is that it is quite inaccessible to younger players so family gaming is almost impossible (unlike with Dance Central, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures). This is only my opinion and it is based on only a short amount of play but I think it deserves a disappointing 5 out of 10. It would be a 7 if the hardware worked better with it. Hope this is useful.
Comments 2
Re: Review: Kinect Joy Ride (Xbox 360)
My family and I love this game even though it is chronically flawed. Now let me just clear a couple of things up; the controls are very difficult and sometimes inaccessible (the racing is definitely the worst culprit); it is simple to the point of distraction and the price hike from £0 to £40 in an instant was very offputting.
But here's the thing, I picked it up for £18 from a famous online retailers so the largest barrier for me was already knocked down. Despite my trepidation, this game has provided hours of entertainment for my kids (6 and 3), my wife (age deleted) and myself. Just the social aspect is enough to introduce children to a friendly world of gaming where competition is ok and co-operation is even better.
The dash tracks are simple to play and both the kids beat my time regularly resulting in a great deal of screaming and cheering, the stunt tracks are fun, silly and my kids love twisting all over the place to flip their cars (newly painted using the sensor to match the colour of their own clothes), and the trick games cause a lot of laughter as Mummy and Daddy make fools of themselves posing like deranged cheerleaders.
This is a game for the family and when they say that, this time around it is really relevant, it is not perfect and the controls are flawed but if you want children and adults to game together (kinectimals, whilst better, seems to be marketed at children almost exclusively) this is a great introduction.
I wouldn't pay more than £20 for it, but I've purchased games for more money that have offered the kids less (Kinectimals just got a bit boring for them and too difficult for my youngest).
My son loves his green Hummer and my daughter, her pink sand buggy and with a really nicely paced system for unlocking content, this game has and will continue to keep them driving, posing and twisting for months to come.
I would give it 4 out of 10 as a single player teen/ adult experience but 8 out of 10 for family entertainment. Hope this is useful for anyone tempted but put off by the large number of negative reviews.
Re: Dr Kawashima’s Body and Brain Exercises
I think it is neither a brilliant game nor a decent educational tool. The worst thing about it is the poor calibration with the hardware. It misinterprets your actions, can be oversensitive and sometimes goes off and does its own thing altogether. It's almost a perfect description of my wife....ahem. I'm hoping there will be an update, because the exercises themselves are pretty good fun. The biggest downside really is that it is quite inaccessible to younger players so family gaming is almost impossible (unlike with Dance Central, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures). This is only my opinion and it is based on only a short amount of play but I think it deserves a disappointing 5 out of 10. It would be a 7 if the hardware worked better with it. Hope this is useful.