Anybody that’s owned a cat will tell you that training it anything it doesn’t want to learn is virtually impossible. Sure, it’ll soon learn that food is in the cupboard and that breakfast time is always ten minutes before you wake up. They’re also quite adapt at learning that scratching will stop you from stroking their bellies and hissing will usually ward off all but the most adventurous of dogs. In some cases, they may even learn that standing too close to the bin at the front of the house may end in disaster.
However, training a cat to do tricks? Unlikely. All with a single hand gesture? Very unlikely.
And yet, you might have guessed from the name that Kinectimals for the XBox 360 has been developed to show off the tech behind Kinect and in all honesty it does look impressive. It’s definitely a game for kids, allowing them to train any of five exotic animals so that they will perform tricks and even complete the obstacle courses that have been laid out especially.
While the game is primarily aimed at kids (just look at the sickeningly cute cover), that’s not to say that the parents won’t appreciate the tech behind it and it will undoubtedly give an hour or so amusement getting to grips with the motion sensor but after that everything else would prove a little too simple for all but the most casual or juvenile of gamers.
The technology behind the Kinect does look and sound mighty impressive but with a launch list of 15 titles that is little more than a collection of bundled mini-games, exercise/fitness/dancing titles, and the occasional smattering of extremely young games like Kinectimals it’s not going to attract the hardcore gamer. With a fairly hefty price tag and direct competition from the well established Nintendo Wii it’s also not really going to be all that appealing to the casual gamer.
Will you be buying the Kinect for the XBox 360 just to get your hands on a furry kitty?
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