Kinect Road Trip

In an odd attempt to make people care about their motion controller, Microsoft has decided to take the Kinect across the country. Here's a list of the venues, if you're at all interested.

East Coast

* July 17–18 Manhattan, NY Macy's
* July 20–22 East Falmouth, MA Barnstable County Fair
* July 24–25 Manhattan, NY Seaport-Lower Manhattan Entertainment Area
* July 28–Aug. 1 Washington, DC Six Flags America
* Aug. 4–6 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame – Rib Burnoff
* Aug. 7–8 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame Festival Weekend
* Aug. 11–15 Chicago, IL Air Show/Navy Pier
* Aug. 19–21 Detroit, MI Woodward Dream Cruise – Auto Festival
* Aug. 26–30 St. Paul, MN Minnesota State Fair
* Aug. 30–Oct. 24 Tampa, FL Westfield Citrus Park Shopping Mall
* Sept. 3–6 Indianapolis, IN Rib America Festival
* Sept. 10–13 Nashville, TN Tennessee State Fair
* Sept. 15–16 Atlanta, GA Atlantic Station – Entertainment Plaza
* Sept. 18–19 Atlanta, GA Atlanta Arts Festival
* Sept. 23–26 Charlotte, NC Festival in the Park
* Oct. 1–2 Orlando, FL Disney Wine and Dine Marathon
* Oct. 8–10 Valdosta, GA Wild Adventures Theme Park
* Oct. 14–17 Dallas, TX Texas State Fair
* Oct. 21–24 Shreveport, LA Louisiana State Fair

West Coast

* July 15–Aug. 22 Minneapolis, MN Mall of America
* July 25–26 San Diego, CA Youth Surf Cup – Soccer
* July 28–Aug. 1 Sacramento, CA California State Fair
* Aug. 6–8 Portland, OR Bite of Oregon Food Festival
* Aug.10–11 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo
* Aug. 13–15 Seattle, WA Taste of Edmonds – Food Festival
* Aug. 19–22 Vancouver, BC Summerfest
* Aug. 27–Sept. 1 Pueblo, CO Colorado State Fair
* Sept. 3–6 Denver, CO Elitch Gardens
* Sept. 9–12 Albuquerque, NM New Mexico State Fair
* Sept. 16–19 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fair
* Sept. 24–26 Los Angeles, CA Universal City Walk
* Oct. 1–3 San Diego, CA Miramar Air Fest
* Oct. 7–11 San Francisco, CA Fleet Week – Military Ship and Air Festival
* Oct. 15–17 Phoenix, AZ Arizona State Fair
* Oct. 20–24 Las Vegas, NV PBR World Finals

Games on hand for the events will be Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Adventures, Dance Central, and perhaps a few more.

We've spewed record amounts of hate at Microsoft so far, so let me preface the rest of this post by saying that none of us are fans of the Kinect, period. The concept is what bothers me the most about it. Its not by any definition "innovative". I remember being excited about getting an Eyetoy back in 2005, and when I saw the limitations on that sort of peripheral, I stopped caring about gaming with it. Ensnaring casual gamers with motion control is a popular business strategy, but I don't think it will work as well with the Kinect due to a few issues.

The Wii sold like hotcakes because of its low price. The Kinect is $150, not even counting the 360, games, or Xbox Live subscription fee (not necessary for casual use, I suppose, but if you want to get the most out of it, you'll want the sub). The new black Wii comes with a Wii Motion Plus, controller, nunchuck, Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort for $200. I'll let you put these two statements together.

I've got to end this here before full-on Kinect rant mode kicks in. All I can hope is that the peripheral ends up being a lot better than we all think it will. I certainly hope so, since I know plenty of other people are excited about it.