Better dust off that Kinect you’ve had unused under the telly, there’s a killer app launching for it!
The Kinect has sold improbably well, much to the chagrin of Sony's Move, though the number of uses a gaming enthusiast such as ourselves would have for one is limited – today's announcement of 'Avatar Kinect' merely puts emphasis on that point.
But it's the dual announcement of 'Kinect Sparkler' that tickles our fancy, a small game from the 'Kinect Fun Labs' that tracks your fingers and turns them into fizzling sparklers on-screen. Who needs a firework night when we can all gather around the telly, right?
Though it's not particularly exciting from a fun perspective, Avatar Kinect does have some decent technology behind it that makes the title able to capture "facial expressions and voice so when you smile, nod or speak, your avatar does the same."
While this is good for those wanting to remain anonymous (with a voice synthesiser, of course) the potential uses highlighted in the press release cover exciting ideas such as "discussing the latest celebrity gossip or news on the Talk Show Stage, trying out your hysterical comedy routine on the Performance Stage, or discussing who will win the big game in the Sports Party Stage."
Not exactly thrilling stuff.
Since you're probably itching to try both of these you're in luck; Avatar Kinect is included free with an Xbox Live Gold membership, and also is available to those on the free Silver membership until September 8. Kinect Sparkler costs 240 Microsoft Points (roughly $4.50).
Issue: 137 | June, 2012