Gaming

Our family is not much into gaming. Oh, we play board games and card games and such, but we don't really do the gaming that requires a tv. Hubby has never lived anywhere that had a gaming system. I enjoy some gaming, but it's never really been my favorite thing to do.

For Christmas, my brothers pooled together and got us an Xbox Kinect. Have you seen them? It's like a Wii, but there is no controller. You are the controller. It has cameras and can detect exactly where you are and what your movements are. It's pretty crazy. The technology is fascinating. Hubby immediately tried to figure out exactly what the hardware was, why it worked, and why they needed 3 cameras. I forbade him from taking it apart. It's fun, though, figuring out how it works and how to move your body so that you give it the right commands. It's also fun to watch somebody who's playing waving randomly at the tv screen.

We also have 3 games. The first is the adventure game that came with the system. There are several different sport-like games that require you to jump, lean, hit, kick, and step. It's pretty fun. The games are easy to figure out, but still challenging to master.

The second is called Kinectimals. It's adorable. You adopt a big cat cub (mine's a leopard) and go around exploring their island. Your cat runs all over the place while you play various games that unlock different places. It's also easy to figure out, but most of the games are "throw the pig to knock down the statues." You end up feeling like you're six years old. At the same time, it is super easy to figure out, which is a big point it its favor. It's possible that the games get more difficult when you progress. If not, well, it's still adorable and it will be great when Schprid gets a little older.

The last is a dance game. I don't remember what it's called, but it's what DDR wanted to be. Because there is no controller, no step pad, your movements are much closer to actual dancing. There are arm sweeps, and steps, and hip movements, and punches. You have to get both the movements and the timing correct. It's really pretty cool. Unfortunately, I was never very good at DDR, or even Guitar Hero, which is the same basic concept but doesn't make you all sweaty. This is far more sophisticated than that. I think I will enjoy it, at some point. Right now, I can't move very well or for very long. The big belly impedes the whole dancing thing. Also, instead of giving you an avatar that mimics your movements on the screen, the game actually photoshops you out of your background and places your picture in the screen's background. So, as I played this game for the first few steps of an embarrassing dance, I was watching myself, big bellied, flabby-armed, and newbie awkward, right next to the gorgeous, skinny, and very talented cartoon head dancer. Like I said, I think I'll enjoy it eventually- after Wooble comes and my body starts to return to its normal dimensions.

Overall, it's really fun. At the same time, it's a completely different experience than other gaming systems I've played. For one thing, because it is more active, it's harder to play for extended periods of time. You can't just sit and veg and try to defeat the bad guys... the bad guys are lethargy and laziness. At this point, we can only play for an hour or so before the bad guys defeat us. :) I think, too, that it will be a lot of fun once they get some adventure-type games like Zelda where you have to pull out your sword and swipe at zombies, or figure out various puzzles. In the meantime, I'll wait until I can move again, and then enjoy the dancing one quite a bit and maybe invest in the Zumba game... fun times. :)