Kinect Sports offers an exciting way to get the whole family up and moving

Move over Wii Sports! There’s a new, all-around, full-body moving, heart-pumping set of games for audiences to enjoy. Try track and field, beach volleyball, soccer, table tennis, bowling, boxing and many more mini games to get you off the couch and having some fun. Kinect Sports is fun for the whole family. With the Kinect, you are the player and the controller so the games are controlled by moving your body in much of the same way that you would if you were participating in the actual sport. You have to physically punch, kick, throw, hit, run, etc. in order to play the games. All six of the events in Kinect Sports support multiplayer and most support both competitive and cooperative play. . Kinect Sports requires real, complex physical movements; it tracks your position and monitors exactly what your arms and legs are doing. The onscreen avatar mimics your motions.

Activities

Track & Field: This includes a variety of different activities include long jump, javelin, discus, sprint, and hurdles. Events can be played individually or together in a pentathlon. With the exception of discus, all of these events involve building up speed by running in place; the higher you lift your knees, the faster your on screen avatar runs. You jump in place when you need to jump, you make realistic throwing motions with your javelin and discus.

Bowling: Feels like real bowling; players reach to their left or right to take up a ball before swinging their arm forwards to bowl, exaggerating the arm motion to add spin if required. Bowling mini games include One Bowl Roll, in which the player must clear as many pin setups as possible before running out of chances, and Pin Rush, where the player is challenged to knock over as many pins as possible within a time limit.

Boxing: Players use their left and right arms to punch and block.

Beach Volleyball: This one can get a bit confusing because there are different techniques involved such as jumping, hitting, and blocking, but it is a great workout once you get the hang of it.

Table Tennis: players reach to the left or right to pick up a paddle before serving, and can then incorporate topspin, backspin and smash shots. Table Tennis mini games include Paddle Panic, in which the player must take up a paddle in each hand and return as many balls as possible within a fixed time limit, and Rally Tally, where the player is challenged to maintain a single rally for as long as possible.

Soccer: Simple body movements control your kicks and blocks. Players kick the ball to pass or shoot and move from side to side to block passes and use their full body to block shots. Soccer mini games include Super Saver, which puts the player in goal trying to block the striker’s shots, and Target Kick, in which the player must beat the goalkeeper and launch the ball at goal-based targets

For an added bonus, the stands in the stadiums are filled with pre-generated avatars that cheer you on while you are participating in the events.

There are a few tracking issues with some of the different activities, and it does take a few minutes to switch between games which can be a little frustrating, however this game is excellent overall! It gets your heart pumping and is challenging enough to keep you coming back for more.

An important thing to note is that Microsoft developed Kinect so that only people who are standing are recognized by the full-body motion-control system, therefore it may be difficult or simply not possible to play in a seated position; limiting its use for people in wheelchairs