Gettin Jiggy With Dance Central

I'm almost a little embarrassed to write this, almost. I received Dance Central from my mother-in-law for Christmas and was pretty excited to give it a try. Now let me make myself clear; I do not dance. Sure, I may have won a dance competition but that was nearly a decade ago, in Mexico, and I was competing mostly against adults over the age of fifty. The thought of dancing in my house where no one is watching is much more attractive than being "that guy" at a club.

The very first song I "danced" to was Poker Face by Lady Gaga. The dance moves were pretty basic while also being fun. Over the next few days my wife and I enjoyed the game quite a bit but only recently have I discovered the best part of the game; unintentional comedy. "What's that" you ask? Let me explain.

Two out-of-town friends are visiting for new years and tried Dance Central for the first time. What happened next was comedy gold. Ben, who is one of the funniest guys that I know, was performing a song and decided to freestyle. What you are about to see may just be the next big dance craze...



Big thanks to Ben for letting me post this video. Check back soon for more Dance Central and Kinect Adventures videos and hopefully more unintentional comedy!

-BC-

PSP 2 Mock Up...Could This be the Real Deal?

Recently published were these supposed mock-up PSP 2 photos based on a development kit received by VG247 some weeks back.







Not sure what to think about this - it follows suit with the design direction of the PSP Go, however, there seems to be quite a few technical changes.

Dual analog sticks: It would be a huge miss for any next generation hand held to not include dual analog sticks so I'm glad to see that the PSP 2 seems to have them. I'm a bit disappointed to see that they are the same slide pads that we've seen for years and that people have been complaining about since the system launched. The slide pads simply aren't as accurate as the traditional analog stick.

Recessed buttons: This is my first concern. There has never been a hand held , or controller for that matter, with recessed buttons. This was probably done in order to maintain the slim form factor of the device, but this leaves me skeptical. My main concern is that a recessed d-pad and limited space could make fighting games more difficult to play.

Large screen: Not much to say here without seeing the screen specifications but I'm hoping they move toward the brighter LED technology in order to compete with the Apple devices.

Forward facing camera: It looks like there is a small forward facing camera on the right of the unit. This may not be necessary for the majority of games but does bring multi-media capabilities.

Rear facing (multi?) touch panel: Not sure how this would be used - there doesn't seem to be a rear screen to compliment the touch pad. It's possible, although a long shot, that this could be used when connecting the device to a PS3. Think about using a touch pad for browser navigation, in-game inventory management, or menu navigation. There are some big possibilities here.

Rear facing camera: Another nice touch providing for plenty of future capabilities. This seems to once again point towards social and multiple-media applications.

Overall impressions: Based on the limited information I have, the much rumored PSP 2 is really starting to shape up nicely. Overall, I like the design quite a bit and see lots of potential. I'm certainly looking forward to learning more about the touch pad and most importantly, technical and processor specs.

-BC-

Coming Soon...

Santa was good to me this year - he brought me a 250 gig Xbox 360 Kinect bundle, Dance Central, and Fable 3. I've had a chance to spend some time with all of the games and should have some "first impressions" up soon. Stay tuned.

-BC-

Boost Your Brainpower

In a study conducted by Daphne Bavelier, a Professor of Brain and Cognitive Science at the University of Rochester, it was found that children that play "action" games show an increase in vision, attention, speed, accuracy, vision, and multitasking.

"And this is a skill that comes in very handy if you're driving in a fog...Seeing the car ahead of you is determined by your contract sensitivity" said Bavelier.

The findings of this study are certainly not suprising - games are no longer for the intraverted geek that lives in his (yes, not "her") parents basement. 

For more information, you can read the entire article on NPR.

As a "hardcore gamer", I appreciate these articles because it lends even more credit to fact that gaming, although a great hobby, does develop the mind in ways useful in the real world. I've got a big work presentation tomorrow, I'm going to sharpen my mind by playing some Blops. Later.
-BC-

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I hope you will enjoy spending time with your family, friends, and remember the meaning of what this day brings. Hope to see everyone online with their new toys!

-BC-

First Black Ops DLC Slated for February

On Sunday, Major Nelson broke news on the first BLOPS map pack, "First Strike", which is scheduled to drop on February 1st as a timed exclusive.  The maps are said to include "Discovery", which takes place in Antarctica; "Kowloon", set in the rooftops of Kowloon; "Berlin Wall"; and "Stadium", set in an American hockey rink.  The map pack will also include a new Zombie map, "Ascension".

The pack will sell for $15 (1200 Microsoft Points).

I don't know about you, but these maps can't come soon enough. 

-BC-

Gears of War 3 Early BETA Access

According to Joystiq.com, the "Epic Edition" of Bulletstorm on the 360 will include an early access code for the Gears of War 3 BETA.  In addition, it will also include  25,000 bonus experience points, visual upgrades for your leash, new boots and armor, and the Peace Maker Carbine all for the low, low price of $60!  That's right, a special addition for the same price as the standard retail game.  Gotta love Epic!

Now, bring on those Locust bastards...

-BC-

Land of 10.000 Lakes...and Kinect

As some of you may know, I was recently in Minnesota celbrating an early Christmas with my wife's family. Considering both my wife and I spend nearly 20 years of our life there, we were anxious to see some of the familiar locations. One of the first places we visited was the Mall of America (MoA) and to my delight (or horror, if you saw the look on my wife's face), there was not only a new Microsoft Store, but an Xbox 360 Kinect kiosk.

I didn't spend enough time with the Kinect to form an overly positive or negative opinion, but I did snap a few pics and videos of what I saw (sorry for the resolution - the Droid X doesn't have the best camera). ENJOY!

Yep, that's me playing table tennis on Kinect Sports. There was a slight delay (milliseconds) between my actions and the actions on screen, however, the experience was pretty awesome.

Some of the Xbox Kinect girls having fun - the booth wasn't very busy.

Microsoft spent a pretty penny to put up all of these signs - at least you can't question their dedication to the device.


One of the Xbox Kinect girls gettin' down - a small crowd was starting together to watch the performance.


This was pretty cool to watch - two employees and two shoppers playing Dance Central. It was amazing how quickly the two shoppers, who were obviously not gamers, were able to pick up and start playing the Kinect. Target marketing at it's finest.

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The Microsoft store was pretty damn impressive. It was bright, had tons of hardware and software, and the staff were very friendly. Notice in the pictures that the Microsoft store is located directly, I mean DIRECTLY, across from the Apple store. Even the employees managed to point out that this was done on purpose. I know that Microsoft is the multi-billion dollar corporation, but it does take some brass balls to compete with Apple's storefront.

-BC-