Last night saw the official cross-Canada Xbox Canada launch of the Kinect, a new way for gamers and non-gamers alike to play on the Xbox game console. It uses special camera sensors, doing away with regular game controllers, to follow your body movements for simple but fun game-playing, recognizing hand, torso, legs and feet movement in three dimensions as well as voice recognition.
The public launch started in Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas Square with game demos, entertainment and a special shopping opp for die-hards who waited in line on a cool wet night for hours and a chance pick up the Kinect, $149, at the nearby FutureShop store. The Xbox folks had a raised glass-sided living room high abouve the square complete with plush sofas and off course, a Kinect setup. The last Kinect fans in the country to take in the midnight madness were in Vancouver.
At the same time, the VIP party, some 300 strong, was happening at the nearby Kinect Hub where Toronto music and TV personalities mixed it up with Kinect gaming and party music . But I wondered, all this line-waiting could have been avoided if Kinect fans had skipped the party and stayed in their warm homes and simply pick up their Kinect the next morning.
Here are some snaps.
The Kinect playroom, an all glass living room with plush sofas and off course a Kinect system, stood high above the square. Steve Makris Photo
Travis Jensen, left, and his dad Carl, duke it out in Kinect Sports Boxing. Carl who liked the idea of not having to hold anything to play a game thought he got a real workout in just a few rounds. Combined photo showing the screen action. Steve Makris Photo
A long wait line under heat lamps for the early Kinect adopters waiting for the midnight sale. Steve Makris
Blake McGrath and Mia Michaels, far right, of So You Think You Can Dance Fame, walked the walk on Kinect Dance Central. Steve Makris Photo
The first Kinect buyer in Canada, Jacob Dupley from Brampton, said he was going straight home to Kinect. Steve Makris Photo
DJ sensation Christian Rich made their own grooves at the Kinect Hub nearby. Steve Makris Photo
