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We cut the carpet in front of the camera, and find out why sometimes you just have to let myself go.
Dancing games that ask you to mimic the moves of the on-screen guide or follow the arrows are anything but new, practically spilling out of arcades both in Japan and the rest of the world. Up to this point though, if you wanted to get a workout by busting a move in your own lounge room, you were forced to pony up for hardware to track your performance. Dance mats have long been the most accepted devices to measure skills, but they represent expensive investment and offer little in the way of interoperability with other games.
Enter the Evolution of Dance, a game designed from the ground to work with Microsofts Kinect Sensory system cells, and free you from the hassle of cables and, when all you want to do is get down. This is a rhythm game, and while the interface motion has changed little, its still all about earning points, after bouncing with the rhythm.
Our time with the demo gave us the choice of a handful of songs, mostly J-Pop, and included a handy beats per minute (BPM) indicator for each track to help determine how sweaty we wanted to get. Menu navigation was done by sweeping our hand either to the left or the right in front of us, though we noticed that regardless of how gently we waved, the game would either lurch violently forward through the track listing or crawl to the next option. Since we were at TGS we opted for the appropriate sounding "A Geisha's Dream" (which you can listen to in the trailer below) and picked the easiest difficulty setting after watching more adventurous players ramp it straight to normal on their first try with mixed success.
Since your next move doesn't appear on screen in advance and there's a brief delay between viewing, processing, and then commanding your limbs to respond, the game seemed quite accommodating as we bumbled our way through the opening of the song. Initially aiming to simply perform the body shapes as they scrolled onto the screen to earn points rather than dance, we quickly abandoned the idea and simply followed our virtual choreographer and found it to be a much more natural experience. Since moves are often repeated, it became more like a free-form memory game, aping the manoeuvres rather than waiting on the scoring objective. Changes in pace like slow arm raises after fast hand motions can throw you quickly, but we'd hazard that like any rhythm game, while the initial learning curve can be a little steep, subsequent plays will only become smoother as you learn the mechanics and timing required.
Unfortunately for us we were only allowed a single song, but we left the booth eager to give it another shot and dance the night away. With Rock Band developer Harmonix also supporting Microsoft's Kinect camera at launch, you may want to consider investing in a glowstick, a whistle, and some light-up flooring in advance. Dance Evolution will be boogieing on the Xbox 360 this November.
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| 05/23/2010 | ||||||||
| Second Alan Wake DLC episode 'The Writer' priced at $10 | ||||||||
 My name is Ludwig Kietzmann. I'm a blogger ... type thing. The second downloadable episode of Alan Wake will be called "The Writer." The description of the content, which recently popped up in the game's "Downloadable Content" menu, reveals that the tortured author will find himself in "strange circumstances" (surely he must be used to those by now) and must face "one increasingly nightmarish situation after another." According to the listing, the episode will cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10). The first episode, "The Signal," will cost the same when it launches on July 27th, though it's a free download for those who purchased a new copy of Remedy's thriller. You'll find an image and full description of the DLC after the break -- don't venture further if you're sensitive to spoilers. Continue reading Second Alan Wake DLC episode 'The Writer' priced at $10
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| 06/01/2010 | ||||||||
| Borderlands on Amazon for $37 with free Double Add-on Pack | ||||||||
 That's an amazing deal -- like coming across a legendary SG30/V3 Blast Hammer while clearing out the Crimson Fastness again (if you'd bought the game already, you'd know what that felt like). Go get you one, and once you're in the game, make sure you stop by and say hi to Scooter. He's right where the cars live. [Thanks, Goldenchild]
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| 05/01/2010 | ||||||||
| SOE to show a PS3 version of Free Realms at E3 2010 | ||||||||
 The game just hit its first birthday, and has boasted over 10 million players already doing everything from the standard fantasy combat to an in-game trading card game to ... kart racing. As its title suggest, it's free-to-play on PC, with extra features available for a subscription price. SOE says the title is "very much in development," and we'll have to see at E3 if it can hunt down one of the gaming industry's rarest catches. [Via Massively]
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| 04/26/2010 | ||||||||
| The Best of Big Download: April 19 - 25 | ||||||||
 Exclusive features
Continue reading The Best of Big Download: April 19 - 25
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| 04/30/2010 | ||||||||
| S Dave Perry details Gaikai "server plan teases E3 announcements | ||||||||
 Perry says Gaikai help with security, as well - it is speculated that the company may even be able to release their E3 demo to the world just during the week of the event, allowing press or the public to play them online for a limited time, with the code securely held on Gaikai's servers. It's all speculation at this point, though -- a service like that won't be ready to go by this year's E3 in June. But stay tuned anyway: Perry also promised us an announcement about Gaikai at E3. "We got some cool stuff to show off," he confirmed with a knowing nod.
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| 06/19/2010 | ||||||||
| Preview: Lego Universe | ||||||||
 But here's the thing: good game design is ageless. And Lego Universe seems like a tidy summation of everything both developer NetDevil has learned about making MMOs, and Lego has learned over 75 years of making classic toys. Gallery: LEGO Universe (E3 2010)      Continue reading Preview: Lego Universe
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| 09/08/2010 | ||||||||
| Arcade: Plants vs. Zombies and Dance! | ||||||||
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The second Alan Wake DLC episode of 'Writer' at $ 10 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 May 2010 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Content: Plants vs. Zombies
Content: NHL 11 Demo 
