SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2010
KLMNO
This holiday season, familiar games make happy returns
games from G1
virtual shotguns and sniper rifles. (Rated M; Xbox 360, PS3, Wii.)
2 ‘Halo: Reach’ The latest installment of this famous sci-fi
franchise pits a group of space marines against an alien force known as the Covenant. Chronologically speaking, the story told in this entry takes place before the events of the original hit Xbox game, released in 2001. To the casual fan, the opponents and the weapons featured here might seem familiar, but there’s no doubt that this title’s visual elements got an extra coat of polish this year. (Rated M; Xbox 360.)
3 ‘Fallout: NewVegas’ Last year, “Fallout” players explored a radio-
active and bombed-out version ofWashington; this year’s release tells a tale set in the Las Vegas area. There are nearly endless ways to unravel the stories offered in this gloomy world, which is filled with violent gangs and irradiated ghouls. Fun fact: A Rockville-based game company publishes this title. (Rated M; Xbox 360, PS3)
ture story, it’s the player’s job to unite rival factions to take down a king who has turned tyrannical. Once that mission is accomplished, a powerful enemy draws near and it’s the player’s turn to decide how to run the realm of Albion. Do you keep your campaign promises, or do you break them to build the kingdom’s army? (Rated M; Xbox 360)
4 ‘Fable III’ 5 ‘Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’ The thrills offered in this his-
torical adventure come, largely, from scaling walls and hiding out on the rooftops of 16th-century Romebetween assassination mis- sions. The main protagonist, a fellow named Ezio, is on a mission to take down a pesky group of Templars in the Eternal City. Fortunately, Ezio has Leon- ardo da Vinci on his side, and the inventor provides niftygadgetsandtoys. (RatedM;Xbox 360, PS3)
6 ‘Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit’ Even the police officers drive Lamborghinis
in virtual Seacrest County, where illegal street racing appears to be the main pastime. This is a game spent behind the wheel: Players get to take on roles as cops or, alternately, as the racers trying to evade the law. (Rated E10+; Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)
7 ‘Rock Band 3’
The most notable addition to this year’s installment of the popular rhythm game:
a keyboard! Designed to be played on a lap or slung over a fake rocker’s shoulder, the new controller features two octaves’ worth of keys, good for playing along on songs like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” (Rated T; Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)
8 ‘Super Mario Galaxy 2’ Mario explores the cosmos again, jumping
from one colorful planetoid to the next and landing on the noggins of a familiar group of foes. This title was released earlier this year, but if the kids were in summercamp,nowmightbethe time to circleback and grab a copy. (Rated E; Wii)
9 ‘Kirby’s Epic Yarn’ An evil wizard has transformed a classic
Nintendo character into yarn, in a game title that looks like it was designed in an arts and crafts store. Things could be worse for Kirby, however; his new status in thematerial world grants him the ability to turn into racecars or a parachute, also made of yarn. This cute and family-friendly title has won thumbs- ups from critics young and not-so-young. (Rated E; Wii)
10 ‘Epic Mickey’ MickeyMouse is pulled into a dark world
knownas theWasteland in thisupcomingadventure title, which reportedly showcases a slightly edgier version of the iconic character. Armed with a magical paintbrush that can bring color into this dark world,Mickey’s job is to defeat a vintage Disney bad guy known as the Blot. This game is scheduled for release Tuesday and has already won buzz as a hot title for the Wii this holiday season. (Rated E; Wii)
In this generally lighthearted adven-
EZ EE
G5
Microsoft makes right moves with Kinect
Xbox 360 add-on device lets you jump right into the game
BY MIKEMUSGROVE Special to The Washington Post “Games are going to be one-hundred per-
cent more awesome from now on,” said the 9-year-old game industry analyst who lives at my house as we checked out Kinect, a new Microsoft device that allows you to interact with a game’s virtual world by waving your arms and moving your body. Some Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners
will burn a few more calories than usual this season as they try out some of the latest video games. Microsoft and Sony are trying to expand the appeal of their game systems with the introduction of add-on devices designed to change how gamers play. Nintendo paved the way in this area years
ago by showing that consumers would re- spond to a game device that gave them a more intuitive and physical way to connect with a game’s world. The Wii famously made games more immersive by letting players wave their arms to control, say, a tennis racket held by a character on a virtual court. Now,Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Play-
Station 3 are getting in on the act with their own new technologies, designed to appeal to those who aren’t interested in learn- ing how to mash lots of buttons on a game controller. Sony’s Move technology uses a camera to detect the motion of a new type of con- troller in a player’s hands. Shaped like a baton and featur- ing a small glowing ball at the top, hold a pair of these in your hands and the system can repli- cate your move- ments inside a game environment as you swing a sword or a paddle. Microsoft’s Kinect technology takes the
MIKE STEWART/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Microsoft’s Kinect controller, foreground, allows a gamer’s movement to control the Xbox 360 during play.
concept a step or two further: There are no controls to hold. The system’s camera watches your movements as the game is running and responds accordingly. Kinect is so advanced that it can recognize your faceandlogyouonto your account when you fire up the system. With a fewtricks like that—did I mention that Kinect responds to voicecommands?—Micro- soft easily wins in the gee-whiz department. But, you ask, what about the games? For the initial batch of titles, at least, the
clear winner is, again,Microsoft. Kinect tech- nology is capable of trackingmovementfrom a player’s head to his toes and the resulting games are so far that much more immersive. “I actually feel like I’m in the game,” ex-
claimed my stepson as he jumped around in circles playing Kinectimals. In this title, you pick a virtual jungle pet, such as a tiger cub, then feed it and teach it tricks. I popped in a Kinect-using music game,
COPYRIGHT BUNGIE STUDIOS
“Dance Central,” with a certain amount of self-conscious dread. Here’s the concept: You perform dance moves to famous tunes and earn points. If you’re willing to make a fool of yourself in front of your friends, this thing is a blast.
Kinect’s camera is precise enough that you
can’t get away with faking movements, and that sort of precision is critical tomakingthese
gamesfun.That is to say, if you’re going to earn points by making a disco move to the song “Funkytown,” you have to, ahem, fully commit to making that disco move. I’dbet that this one is going to be a hit among Kinect owners this year and beyond. Overall, the Xbox titles we tried felt a little
more polished and had more personality packed in. Some of Sony’s Move titles, by contrast, felt more like they were more “proof of concept” than finished product. I was disappointed in a boxing game for the
Sony system called “The Fight: Lights Out,” for example. As a workout, the title is a success; my arm and shoulder muscles were definitely sore the next day. But as a game, I was disappointed that my character’s arms rarely seemedtoconnect well withmy
opponent.The shots landed lightly or flewwide, regardless of how I moved or how many times I tried to calibrate theMove system for better results. The most fun I had with the Sony Move controllers was a slightly silly shoot-’em-up game, “The Shoot.” In this game, you point the Move controller at your TV set and blast away at a bunch of silly monsters on a Hollywood film set. Great game. Great fun. But innova- tive?Hardly. Sony is offering Move in a starter bundle
priced at $100. That includes the camera, the controller and a title called SportsChampions. Microsoft is offering Kinect, which comes with a game called Kinect Adventures, for $150. Just to be clear, holiday shoppers, both of
these nifty add-on packages require that you (or your giftee) already own an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3. Also keep inmindthat not every game on the shelf at the game store will take advantage of Kinect orMove; unless a game’s packaging says that it was designed to work withMove for the PS3, or Kinect for Xbox 360, it won’t.
DISNEY “Halo: Reach,” above, revives the eternal battle between space marines and an alien force, while “EpicMickey” finds the famous mouse in a dark world.
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