This could be the year of the Kinect for the Xbox 360. 123KINECT has compiled a list of the games we hope to check out at this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
E3 2011 Kinect Games Announced:
Champion Jockey
Forza 4
Hulk Hogan’s Main Event (Over the Top Wrestling?)
Michael Phelps: Push the Limit
Mind ‘n Motion (Left Brain Right Brain?)
Rise of Nightmares
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
Star Wars Kinect
Take Shape (Harley Pasternaks Hollywood Trainer?)
The Gunstringer (XBLA)
The Sims 3 Pets
UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System
DaVinci Kinect (Microsoft Surface application ported to Kinect) NEW
While we know that Majesco will have new action games at this week’s E3 including BloodRayne Betrayal (PSN, XBLA) and The Hidden (3DS), the company will also have a few titles to get you off the couch and get your heart pumping. This week the company will be unveiled Zumba Fitness 2 for the Nintendo Wii.
We’re also hearing that Majesco’s E3 lineup will include:
Hulk Hogan’s Main Event (Kinect for Xbox 360): It’s all about the show in the first motion-based wrestling game on Kinect for Xbox 360 that lets players train with mentor Hulk Hogan as they build their own wrestling personalities and learn the art of showmanship to win over the crowd.
Take Shape (Kinect for Xbox 360): Turn game night into a hilarious interactive party with the fast-paced Take Shape for Kinect! Twist, stretch and shrink your body into hundreds of different shapes, animals and symbols. “Shape yourself” solo to beat the fastest time or team up in multiplayer mode to unite your on-screen silhouettes in fun new ways. Fit through forms, bend into shapes and animals, match a mirrored image… even clear stacked shapes lightning fast in this fun-for-all-ages experience. Be flexible; be quick; be the life of the house party in Take Shape!
Mind ‘n Motion (Kinect for Xbox 360): Think fast and stay coordinated in Mind ‘n Motion! This fun, family-friendly experience puts your motor skills to the test with activities that keep your entire body moving as fast as your mind can trigger your next move. From juggling to dodging shapes to jumping hopscotch, Mind ‘n Motion packs in ten levels per activity and mixes it up throughout with additional gameplay elements like inverse controls, faster pace and new tricks to make you think quick on your feet!
Check back all week for the latest in active video game titles from the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
This week KineticShift will be reporting from the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 (June 7-9) in sunny Los Angeles. We expect big news on the video game front from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony – and we hear this will include more fitness games and activities that will help encourage gamers to get off the couch.
Check back all week for the latest from E3. This is one show we’d hate to miss.
Move over Mario. Gamers looking to tone up can now put down the controller – well hang on to it as you’ll be needing it – and get off the couch and take part in more than 150 simple yet challenging exercises with Namco Bandai’s ExerBeat. The new interactive fitness game has arrived for the Nintendo Wii,
The games spans a variety of categories including dance, martial arts, body conditioning and even offers quirky mini-party type games. More importantly the games types allow for options for all ages and skill level, to help get those totally out of shape to tone up while still encouraging those who are their way. ExerBeat is compatible with the Wii Balance Board and Wii MotionPlus accessories.
The jury has been out for a while now on the exact “benefits” of video games as fitness. We agree that video games alone can’t really replace actual trips to the gym or other physical workouts, but a new study has found that the Nintendo Wii could play an important role in getting “inactive and overweight people into exercise regimes.”
This is among the findings from a new study from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), conducted by Creative Industries Research Associate Dr. Harvey May, a former personal trainer. He worked with a small group made up mostly of women, and found that they felt more motivated to exercise after a two-week fitness regime using the video game system.
In the study the participants showed significant reduction in body mass and fat deposition around the abdominal area and improved strength, balance and walking fitness. The study, which was conducted with QUT alumnus Dr. Kagawa from Kagawa Nutrition University in Japan, included one-hour sessions with the Wii that included yoga, strength exercise, aerobic activities and balance games.
There was some negative findings as well, notably that the video games could result in repetitive stress and “poor direction for some activities.” Still, anything that helps motivate people to do more is good in our book.
In a unique twist, THQ’s popular video game The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout video game will be actually make it’s the show that inspired it. The game will be featured on tonight’s episode of the hit NBC series, with an all-new, downloadable endurance challenge. Following the episode, owners of the game will be able to download the “TV Show Challenge” content for free for the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect.
During the episode, five contestants will participate in four challenging rounds of exercise moves, lasting five minutes each, taken directly from the TV Show Challenge. Contestants’ scores will be based on how well they perform the exercises in the time allotted.
As an added bonus, for 24 hours following the May 10 episode, the “Pilates” pack will be available free (a $4.99 value) on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout.
Strange as it may seem some video game technology is actually not available in China. This is because of a combination of technology that is banned for export to China, as well as a ban on the importation of the systems by the Chinese government. And let’s not forget that there are no doubt fears that it will result in mass pirating.
The latter is no doubt a concern, as has been seen in recent years just about any technology can be reversed in China, and we pretty much known that the Blackhawk helicopter that was destroyed in the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden will likely be studied very closely by the Chinese military. This could jump start China’s attempts to get stealth technology for rotor aircraft, and area where the country has so far lagged behind.
Another area where China is already looking to jump ahead is surprising enough in the aforementioned video game space, and now Lenovo, China’s largest PC maker, has introduced a console to rival the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360, complete with motion control.
Originally known as the eBox, the console has reportedly been renamed the iSec, which stands for “Sports Entertainment Center.” It will include motion sensing technology that works much like that in the Microsoft Kinect, suggesting that this could be used for a range of gaming styles – allowing players to take part in Chinese style martial arts action adventures and of course fitness games.
There is some irony in all this. The Chinese government had banned the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 as there were concerns it could harm the country’s youth – and of course there had been bans to export some hardware to China. But now the Chinese are looking to get in on the game, and the computer gaming market is on the rise Chinese seems to think if you can’t keep it out, embrace it. The final question will be whether China attempts a US invasion with the iSec.
Sony and Microsoft have reaffirmed their commitment to their current generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectfully, and made it clear that it will be 2014 before either company brings out a next generation console. Both Sony and Microsoft gave their current hardware significant makeovers, notably the PlayStation Move and Xbox 360 Kinetic respectively; both of which came out last fall.
Nintendo’s Wii, which was released in 2007 – just days after the Sony PlayStation 3 arrived at retail – hasn’t seen the similar upgrade. While it dominated the gaming arena thanks to its innovative motion controller system, the hardware was far less cutting edge than either the Sony or Microsoft consoles. The Wii doesn’t support HD and doesn’t provide the same streaming opportunities as the PS3 or 360. Likewise, Nintendo has been hit on the handheld front too, as Apple’s iPhone and more recently the iPad have stolen some of the Nintendo GameBoy’s thunder. Continue reading Nintendo to Wii 2
Last week Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. (SCEA) today that more than 8 million units of the PlayStation Move motion controller for the PlayStation3 system have been sold worldwide as of this month, and retailers are seeing green.
“Due to the demand for the PlayStation Move motion controller, we’ve been struggling to keep units in stock in our U.S. GameStop stores,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising for GameStop. “With big franchise titles set for release throughout the year for the PlayStation Move, we expect the remainder of 2011 to be a period of continued sales growth for PlayStation Move.” Continue reading Sony MOVES A Lot of Move Controllers
This week video game publisher Ubisoft along with sports drink maker Gatorade announced a new new partnership to deliver a workout series designed specifically for fitness athletes for Ubisoft’s popular video game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, which is available exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360video game and entertainment system
Gatorade has enlisted the talents of celebrity-trainer Gunnar Peterson to develop a workout series created around the G Series FIT, their new line of innovative products for fitness athletes. The Gatorade-inspired workouts are now available as a free download from the Xbox LIVE marketplace. The ‘G Series FIT Workout with Gunnar Peterson’ offers personalized training sessions with one of the country’s top celebrity and athlete trainers and the workout plan is designed to inspire and fuel the inner athlete in everyone. The downloadable workout plan includes a 30-minute full-body toning program, and introduces new exercises including jumping jacks, squat raises, lunges, and other new moves that integrate free weights and dumbbells.
After the workout gamers can recharge with a Gatorade, because we think they’ll have earned it!
Want to train like a UFC fighter? It doesn’t need to be intimidating. THQ is releasing UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System, a fitness-oriented game due out this June. UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is an organization that pits different style fighters against one another. Fitness routines and full programs are designed to challenge and motivate users looking to get in shape. That includes over 70 mixed martial arts (MMA) and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)-approved exercises. Benefit from disciplines such as wrestling, kickboxing and Muay Thai. Each workout is designed to improve strength, endurance and conditioning through the routines. All 51 routines, along with nine exclusive bonus routines on the Kinect for Xbox 360 version, will be specialized to target specific muscle groups, and factor individual skill levels and fitness goals.
UFC Personal Trainer was designed by the NASM and support from MMA training experts Mark DellaGrotte, Greg Jackson and Javier Mendez, who have worked with UFC fighters.
Move over Sony PlayStation Move, the Xbox 360 Kinect motion control system is seriously moving. This week Microsoft announced that it has sold more than 10 million Kinect motion-sensing game system units worldwide in just the four months since it was released.
That makes it the fastest-selling consumer device on record. The infrared camera add-on for the Xbox 360 game console is priced at $150, and has steadily outpaced Sony’s competing Move device. But let’s not move too fast.
Sony had previously noted sales of 4.1 million units of the Move in its first two months, and still has not taken into account holiday sales. So what is clear is that consumers are looking to get moving with video games and for that we can’t complain.
Anyone who thought that video games are just distractions from academic efforts might want to think again. This week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco Sony Computer Entertainment America unveiled Move.Me, a software application that academics, researchers, students, and hobbyists can use to create new types of software applications using the PlayStation Move motion controller as an input device on their own PCs, all via the PlayStation3 system.
The Move.Me project has the potential to help medical researchers prototype, for example, rehabilitation applications for patients undergoing physical therapy. The Move.Me application could further help lead game design students to develop new creative concepts for gaming within the areas of 3D modeling, motion capture, and augmented reality. The application is compatible with any Windows or Linux-based PC; other devices, such as tablets and smartphones, can also receive PlayStation Move’s tracking data if they can connect to a PS3 system.
“PlayStation Move’s camera-plus-controller combination allows for the most precise and immersive gaming experiences,” said John McCutchan, senior engineer, SCEA Developer Support. “Now we’re formally taking that advanced technology, which was almost ten years in the making, and offering it to innovators outside of our traditional game development community so they can create their own applications to impact the world in exciting new ways.”
The Move.Me application will be available for download from PlayStation Network this spring.
This could be the year of the Kinect for the Xbox 360. 123KINECT has compiled a list of the games we hope to check out at this week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
