Who is The Kinect For?

Right off the bat, I gotta tell you that the XBox Kinect is very cool tech. A system that reads your body motion and translates it into the motion of your game avatar sends every geek bone in my body to quivering with visions of holodecks dancing in my head.

By all appearance, it works fairly well. I put it through its paces using the system's target users, kids. My test group included young children (age four) with the oldest at eleven. It also included one special needs child, an eight year old with autism. I made the choice to use a young group for two reasons, one of which I already mentioned. The other is that kids have more erratic and difficult motions to follow and I wanted to see how the sensors responded to them.

Overall, it went very well. The games are designed for larger motions which I am certain is a limitation of the technology but not a terrible one. It is reasonably sensitive to the entire body and detects a fair range of motion. The avatars do an excellent job of mimicking the motions of the player even when the player falls down. The lag time is noticeable but not terrible.

After watching all four kids play, I was impressed by the system. The games were simple to follow but not easy to play. It did take all of them some time to catch on to the game play and they did have some difficulty with the motions. These difficulties did pass over time until fatigue started to set in. At the end there was a tired but happy pile of kids.

The Kinect is definitely a family system and not designed for the gaming community. I really can't see a serious gamer jumping up and down for the hours at a time normally spent with their controllers in their hands. Even the most athletic amongst us would be hard pressed to keep up the rigors of a game for extended periods of time. the other reason is the complexity and nature of popular games. The interface is just not sophisticated enough for play on popular titles like Call of Duty or Halo. In time, that is likely to change but overcoming the activity level required to play them compared to sitting comfortably with a controller in hand is going to be exceptionally difficult.

For family style play, it is exceptional. With this interface, Xbox has a real chance of knocking Nintendo's Wii system of the top of the hill with this key demographic. The Kinect actually does what many thought the Wii would do: get kids off the couch. It is impossible to play the game in a sitting position. With the Wii, which I own, I can play all of the games seated in my recliner. I've even learned how to box sitting down. The jumping around lasted about two weeks except for my youngest who jumps with all games. As an added bonus, there's no controller to throw through the TV. I'm just sayin'.

It is, without a doubt, a game interface that cannot be bypassed by the sedentary minded. Unless someone far more creative than I can see it, there is no way possible to play with the expenditure of lots of energy. Just as with the Wii before it, the first major market is aimed at mothers who are concerned about the lack of activity displayed by their kids. I admit, my kids are not as physically active as I was and wasn't exactly athletic as a kid. Combine that with the growing fears of childhood obesity, I am not surprised at the strong sales figures despite the sour economy. It really is a fun, family friendly system.

The marketing campaign captures this spirit. It is energetic and conveys a sense of fun. Moms, who make the majority of the decisions for this type of system, respond well to this type of positive advertising. With the exception of the commercial for the exercise program featuring a young couple, most of the ads are very good.

All in all, if you want a system for kids that they will enjoy and wear them out, this is your system. If you're a serious gamer, give it a few years. Upgrades to the tech will make the platform much more versatile. Who knows, there might just be an Xbox Holodeck in the works...