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Kinect for Xbox 360: on display in Toronto and soon Montreal

If you’ve been hearing about Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360, but haven’t yet had a chance to see it in person, you can get an early hands on right now, as long as you’re in Toronto.  To help promote the launch of the full body interface, Microsoft has leased a storefront and filled 2 storeys with Kinectified Xbox 360s, to give the public a chance to go hands on, as it were.

Covering 2 floors, there’s a variety of playable demos, including Kinect Sports from Rare, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved from Ubisoft, Kinect Adventures from Good Science, Joy Ride from BigPark, Kinectimals from Frontier Developments, and Harmonix’s Dance Central.  In my time there, the store front actually seemed pretty busy and all the games seemed to play well.  Some of the titles, especially Kinect Sports, have a lot in common with motion controller games available on the Wii and with Sony’s recently released Move for PS3, with the big difference being the lack of controller.  Others, such as Kinectimals (targeted towards younger kids), are more unique experiences.  You’re able to play frisbee (and other activities) with an onscreen pet, and even teach it to do tricks such as roll over and play dead, by actually performing the moves yourself.

Ubisoft’s Your Shape is particularly interesting.  Though no fitness junkie (as anyone who knows me can attest to), the cardio game in-store probably best demonstrated the ‘real world’ motion capabilities of the Kinect.  The players goal is to punch as many blocks as possible in a given time frame, but instead of using Avatars, you see an onscreen representation of yourself from the camera’s view to coordinate your movements.  When trying to hit a block with the ‘wrong’ hand, it didn’t register, requiring me to cross punch.  Your Shape will come with a number of fitness exercises, and has previously shown a yoga trainer that is capable of suggesting slight arm and leg position adjustments to strike the right pose.

It’s going to be interesting to see how both Microsoft and Sony motion products compete in the marketplace this holiday season.  With the PS3 Move being a more direct comparison to the Wii Motion Plus (Johnny called it “the Wii in HD”), the Kinect is the most differentiated control scheme, and the one least likely to be adapted for many existing titles.

Here in Canada, the Toronto Kinect store front is open daily until December 1st, about a month after the North American launch of the device on November 4th.  You can find it at 207 Yonge St. just north of Queen St.  Though the date isn’t announced yet, the Montreal store should open soon

.  For coverage in other countries, see the Kinect.me website.

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