Author Profile
James started his career in video games as News Editor on Nintendo Life. Since leaving in 2012 to join Nintendo of Europe, James has risen through the ranks to become NoE's Senior Product PR & Corporate Communications Manager.
News This is How You Scan a QR Code in Dragon Ball Z Kinect
Quite simple really
Dragon Ball Z for Kinect lands in October with an interesting QR feature to add new characters and content to the game. Hold up a special card to the sensor and you'll unlock in-game content. Presumably you'll get some of these cards for free with the game but the rest, we expect, will set you back a few dollars. Will you take a...
Guide The List of Skyrim Kinect Voice Commands is Here
English and Dragon supported
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gets Kinect voice command support today, and we have a list of supported commands. Use a dragon shout in English without holding RB, or push down the bumper and say one, two or three words of the dragon language equivalent and magic happens. You can also use Kinect to navigate menus and...
News Ice Age Tie-In Coming to Kinect This Year
Arctic edge
Activision's just announced it's bringing Ice Age: Continental Draft — Arctic Games to Kinect in 2012. Guess what? It's a minigame compilation. Nobody could have guessed that. If you're saying you guessed that, you're lying. The story says something about the team splitting a secret treasure through a series of "off-the-wall...
News Disney Wants You to Be Brave on Kinect
Red hair optional
Not content with inspiring Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure with its past works, Disney•Pixar's next movie Brave will get its own Kinect-powered game too. Coming this summer, the third-person adventure game isn't Kinect exclusive: sounds to us like the sensor will only be used in an archery spin-off mode, but we've been...
News Fit Music is Kinect's Most Self-Explanatory Game
Can you tell what it is yet?
Fitness, dancing, Kinect: the holy trinity for game publishers. The next company to try its luck is Oxygene Media with the ingeniously titled Fit Music. Fronted by European fitness champion Patrizia Salviato — described as "one of the best body building superstars ever" by Oxygene — the game is coming to...
News BBFC Pegs Dragon Ball Z Kinect for June Launch
Just Saiyan
After Korea rated Dragon Ball Z for Kinect last week, now the British Board of Film Classification is on on the act, slapping a 12 rating — and release date — on the game. According to the BBFC, the game's release UK date is 15th June 2012, not too shabby considering Namco Bandai is yet to announce the game officially. We imagine...
News Country Dance All Stars Song List Confirmed
Yeehaw
Want to know which of your favourite country music stars will feature in the upcoming Country Dance All Stars, due out later next month? Well boy howdy, have we got a treat for you. Featuring no fewer than three artists called Josh — Kelley, Thompson and Turner, of course — as well as classic acts Johnny Cash, Carrie Underwood and, er,...
Blog Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Kinect
Straight from the horse's mouth
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13's Kinect features were detailed in a video yesterday, and now we have a developer blog from EA Sports explaining more about Kinect integration in Tiger Woods this year. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 Kinect Features: Hi, my name is Eric Busch, and I’m one of the designers on Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13...
Review Deepak Chopra's Leela (Xbox 360)
Take a deep breath
Kinect's incessant insistence that you get up and thrash about isn't to everyone's liking, but is a fact of motion control all the same: many developers prefer to paint with broad brush strokes, getting the general idea right rather than attempt finer detail and end up going outside the lines. Deepak Chopra's Leela uses more...
News Zumba Fitness Rush North American Release Date Announced
Out in February
Zumba Fitness Rush is coming to Kinect in North America just in time for Valentine's Day. Majesco's second Zumba game lands on 13th February. The game will receive extra content after launch in the shape of add-on songs and workouts. MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT BRINGS THE DANCE-FITNESS PARTY HOME ON FEBRUARY 13TH WITH ZUMBA® FITNESS...
News SEGA's 2012 Olympics Game Gains Kinect Support
Back on track
SEGA' has today announced London 2012: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games will include Kinect features. By the sounds of it you won't be able to take on all 30 events with Kinect: the press release only mentions 110m hurdles and beach volleyball, already seen in the likes of Kinect Sports of course. Here's the first trailer,...
Review Rapala for Kinect (Xbox 360)
Lacks a-lure
This'll surprise you: Rapala for Kinect isn't a fishing simulation in any way. Sure, you can select your lure in the hope of attracting a particular fish, but that's about as deep as it gets. This is fishing arcade-style: score as many points as you can in the time limit. Your fish is scored on size and rarity, with bonuses for grabbing...
News Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure Scans You In
Get into the game
Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure uses one of Kinect's most-vaunted original features: the ability to scan yourself in to create a virtual avatar. Of course we've seen this feature used in Kinect Fun Labs so it's not a first, but if it works as well as this trailer below promises — a wish that rarely comes true, admittedly...
News Kinect Fitness Games Go Cheap for New Year
Save some pounds (or dollars)
If part of your New Year's Resolution is to get fit and you want to use Kinect to do it, we've rustled up some superb deals to help you do so cheaply. Don't forget we also have a Guide to Kinect fitness games and Kinect fitness game reviews too. UK Kinect Deals: January sales are a big deal in the UK — imagine...
Guide Starting Out with Kinect
Get the most from your sensor right away
So you've unwrapped all your presents and found a shiny new Kinect and games. Congratulations, and welcome aboard! Unlike every other motion controller on the market, you don't need anything in your hands to play Kinect — with no controllers and no buttons you're free to use your body and voice to play the...
News Even Kinect Star Wars Succumbs to Kinect Dance Mania
Is nothing sacred?
Kinect does some things very well — dancing, for instance. That's why there are 13 Kinect dancing games out now, but the genre's seeping into other games: games we thought were safe from move-busting. Games like Kinect Star Wars. The ESRB has rated the game and revealed it now includes dancing tournaments alongside the...
Competition Put Your Darts Skills On the Line with Kinect Contest
Can you hit the bullseye?
Microsoft is giving UK gamers the chance to put their darts skills on the line with a new Kinect Sports: Season Two competition. To enter, download the free Kinect Sports darts Gamerpic before Sunday 18th December and play a single-player darts match on Live between 1pm and 5pm on 7th or 8th January. Three players will be...
News Kinect Sports: Season Two Golf DLC Out Next Week
Fore-hundred MSP
You can treat your caddy to some new sights next week, as Kinect Sports: Season Two is due to get nine new holes from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Maple Lakes golf pack launches on 20th December for 400 Microsoft Points, adding nine new holes alongside new Challenges and Achievements. On the same day the game will also get a free...
News Kinect-Powered Dance Evolution Arcade Game On the Way
Kinect leaves the living room
Next year Kinect will throw off its living room shackles and join the arcade scene, as Konami has announced it's working on an arcade version of Dance Evolution (or DanceMasters) for release in 2012. The game is currently on test at certain locations in Japan, with the sensor tucked away inside the arcade cabinet...
Review Winter Stars (Xbox 360)
Stay frosty
Any prospective Kinect sports compilation has a rough road ahead of it: Kinect Sports set the bar pretty high, and so far no competitor has been able to get close. That's why it's so surprising that Winter Stars is actually quite good. For starters, it's not just a mini game compilation like Big League Sports or its associates: events...
Review Big League Sports (Xbox 360)
Little league
Sports compilations are what motion controllers were made for, if you believe the Wii and Kinect catalogues, both of which heave with representations of all manner of bats, balls and beyond. After two leading efforts from Rare and middling efforts from other developers, Activision's Big League Sports takes to the field in the hopes of...
Rumour Kinect 2 Capable of Reading Lips and Emotions
Project Skynet commences
After last week's next Xbox rumours comes another set from Eurogamer, this time focusing on the upgraded Kinect said to come with every machine. Anonymous sources have apparently told Eurogamer Kinect 2 is capable of lip reading, and can detect emotion in the user's voice. Eurogamer also claims the next Kinect can...
Review Just Dance Kids 2 (Xbox 360)
You know, for kids
With enough dancing games on Kinect to last a lifetime, Ubisoft has spotted a gap in the market, aiming Just Dance Kids at the young ones. With the juggernaut Just Dance name attached, it's sure to get parents interested. There's a lot here to recommend, with a 40-strong tracklist that provides something for the very young up to...
Review Jillian Michaels' Fitness Adventure (Xbox 360)
Jungle gym
Until Wii Fit burst onto the scene in 2007, combining the words "fitness" and "game" would have got you laughed at. In this day and age we're considerably more enlightened, but most fitness titles are more like interactive videos than actual games, but not so Jillian Michaels' Fitness Adventure, Kinect's only...
