With the exception of my son and I, our family is casual gaming. The only hardcore or serious gaming that has taken place is our MMO experiences. My nephew, who is a frequent visitor, has done the console thing with my son, playing Halo and EA sports titles. Aside from all the females playing The Sims – every iteration and incarnation off and on, nothing reigned like MMOs. The recent addition of a new console, XBox 360, has gotten my girls, brother, sister and other non-gamers into the mix. As I posted recently, we're playing Red Dead Redemption, which is the first time I've ever seen my sister pick-up a game controller. My daughter is obsessing over Fable II and Halo: ODST has finally been opened.
They're playing enough now that commercials about E3 caught their attention. After I finished working for the day we sat down together looking for coverage and highlights. We ran across the Kinect demonstrations and my house was electrified. Their voices became loud and boisterous, their movements eager and animated. They can't wait to get their hands on Kinect and the games that captured their imagination. Like the Wii changed the gaming demographic and WOW the MMO audience, I think motion is going to redefine what we call games. Those who consider themselves hardcore gamers might not be happy but I sure as hell am.
They're playing enough now that commercials about E3 caught their attention. After I finished working for the day we sat down together looking for coverage and highlights. We ran across the Kinect demonstrations and my house was electrified. Their voices became loud and boisterous, their movements eager and animated. They can't wait to get their hands on Kinect and the games that captured their imagination. Like the Wii changed the gaming demographic and WOW the MMO audience, I think motion is going to redefine what we call games. Those who consider themselves hardcore gamers might not be happy but I sure as hell am.
Gaming is entertainment. The boundaries of what constitutes entertainment to different people, is as diverse as the universe itself. Many of you will have your personal definitions of "game" challenged in the coming months and years. Even the Facebook games offending some have proven that repetitive clicking and moving things around can capture the attention of many. Think back to the times you convinced a child to do something by turning it into something fun – a game. With imagination, just about anything can become a game. Sure, there will be trash cash-in-quick titles but jewels will also emerge. This is only the beginning, so early that’s it’s not even the tip of the iceberg.
If you consider yourself a hardcore, died in the wool gamer - grrr, you might find yourself as the minority audience very soon. My house was rocked by the demonstrations we saw. Even after I got up, they were scouring the internet for more. I don't have any little ones left. My kids are all early 20s, my nephew 14, sister early 30s and my brother mid 30s. We sent links of footage out to others who were equally as eager to give Kinect a try. So the answer is yes, many people will be willing to wave their hands and wiggle their bodies, and call it gaming.
Of what I saw, the games that interested me most were Star Wars and Child of Eden. Let a game come along where I can cast magic like the Star Wars demo and I just might lose my mind. I would also get the Kinectimals for little people accompanying big people that drop by. All of that aside, what excites me most about Kinect is gaming together again as a family. They've outgrown the board games, collectively playing The Sims and MMOs didn't attract everyone. I think Kinect-type games will.
