I've Been Playing Kinect for Two Months: Don't Ask Me Anything!
by marino
So I was in the Kinect Beta. Due to the NDA, we're not allowed to talk specifically about what we were able to play and test, but after two months of secretly playing this... thing in my apartment, I just had to say at least something now that Kinect is officially out in the wild. The info below (minus the part about the sensor arriving) is stuff that anyone can know and find out today if they buy a Kinect.
OMG WHAT IS THAT MIDDLE ICON?! One day at the end of August, right before PAX 2010, I was prompted to download a dashboard update. That turned out to be the NEW New Xbox Experience that everyone now has. A few days later, I got a package from Microsoft containing a shiny, new Kinect sensor. The set up was easy on the slim Xbox 360 and after a couple hours downloading all the content for it, I was ready to try this thing out. For the first couple weeks that I had it, I played it for at least an hour every day. But, as time went on, I generally lost interest much in the same way I did with the Wii four years ago. I can't say I didn't have fun though, because I certainly did. The technology is pretty amazing and will likely surprise people the first time they use it. 
Yes, you will look like an idiot playing this. The extent at which it can track your body's location and position is rather astounding, and will quickly change the way you think about playing motion games. No longer do you just stand there, shoulders parallel to the TV, and slightly move your arms. You can do that if you want, but you will soon realize that you can get way into whatever you're playing by moving around your available play area. Another standout feature is the presentation. It's almost shocking the first time you hear licensed music during the replays when you're so used to the sterile world of Wii Sports. The Wii launched just four years ago and suddenly seems ancient. You mean there was a time when we played bowling video games without laser shows and LL Cool J? That's absurd! 
At least you won't be inadvertantly throwing things at your TV. Navigating the menu with Kinect works fine but you don't actually get to use the real dashboard. There's a subsection called the Kinect Hub that you switch to when you wave your hand back and forth to activate the Kinect. The voice commands are fun to use as well, but if you have a controller turned on already, it'd be tough to argue that the controller isn't a faster way to get to what you want most of the time. Certain voice command options are only available on certain menus. You can't just turn your Xbox on and immediately say "Xbox Suggest a Movie" and expect to be taken to the Zune Marketplace. But if you are in the Zune Marketplace, that command will immediately pick a movie, pull up info about it and start playing the trailer in the background. It's pretty slick. 
Something Like a Phenomenon Anyway, those of you picking up a Kinect today will certainly have fun. Would I recommend dropping $150-200 on Kinect and a game? Probably not right now. But if you can afford it and it looks even remotely enticing to you, you're certainly going to be the life of the party or family get together during the rapidly approaching holiday season.