Kinectimals

Quoted from Wikipedia:

"Kinectimals is a video game for the Xbox 360 that uses Kinect. In Kinectimals players can interact with virtual animals in a manner akin to pets, gameplay includes activities such as teaching tricks to the animal, guiding the animal around an obstacle course, and free-form play.
The video game is aimed at a young audience, particularly children, and includes eleven different virtual animals all based on wild cats. Kinectimals was developed by Frontier Developments and was a launch title for Kinect."

Ok, so I mentioned a few days ago that I bought Kinectimals over the weekend. And I have to say, I'm really impressed with it, and the Kinect itself. It really is an awesome piece of technology, and I have high hopes for future games too. But, let's get back on topic; Kinectimals.

I fell in love with this the first time I saw it. But, at the time, I wondered just how responsive the Kinect really was, and just how long you could play with these cute kitties before you run out of things to do. Luckily, the Kinect is amazing, and Kinectimals offers you alot more than you think. Infact, if anything, it offers you too much.

Well, not really "too much", but more like "too much to do all at once". That would probably be my only gripe with the game so far. Between your guide fairy, Bumble, and your adopted cub, you're forever being pulled in all directions. This is great when you first start and you wanna see what's offer besides just petting your little kitty, but sometimes that really is all you want to do. I just wanna spend some time with my cub, in whatever menu I choose, and not be pulled off to some new area by Bumble, or have my cub (who obviously suffers from ADD) walk off and bring me something else to do. If I'm on the Tricks menu, then I want to learn and practise some tricks, not play with the RC car! >_<

That aside, I'm also not so sure about Bumble... with the voice of Invader Zim, I just don't trust him. >_> No, seriously, he's pretty awesome. At least he is when he's not bugging you every 5 minutes.

But yeah, the constant pushing and pulling is about the only thing I dislike. The game has an impressive kitty count, with so many to unlock and purchase. And you're never short on things to do. There're lots of mini-games, with offer multi-player too. And you earn bronze, silver, and gold medals. So if you don't get that gold the first time, you know you won't be able to resist trying again for long. =p

The throwing games are alot of fun once you get the hang of whatever the toy is. And I think that's pretty good too; nothing's exactly the same as the other thing. Or at least, that's how it feels anyway. Different items feel like they have different weights and stuff. I dunno. Maybe it's just in my head, but that's how it feels. ^^;

Also, I'm not sure if you can, because I've not even looked into it, but given you don't seem to be able to when two of you are in the same room; I think a proper multi-player is what this game's missing. Our cubs can't really interact. We take turns in games (which, as I've mentioned; is alot of fun), but can't we just get our kitties together for some play time too?

The mini-games are alot of fun, and offer different levels of activeness. So, whilst I love both the more and less physical ones, you can always pick and choose what you play. So if you're having abit of a lazy day, or you're feeling ill but still wanna play with you kitty, you can skip over the more active games (you can always come back to them another time). Same thing applies with the tricks, actually. I prefer doing them myself, but I guess if you're feeling tired, you could just use the voice commands instead. =)

It really is a fun game, and the visuals are amazing - not to mention cute. ;p I definitely don't see myself getting bored of this anytime soon.