BeefJack says that during a recent discussing at Develop 2011 with a couple of guys from Rare, they stated that all the new upgrades for Kinect will be software, as the hard work has already been done. The sensor bar is being upgraded all the time; we just do not know it. This is much the same how smartphones work, as there can be a number of improvements made just by releasing new firmware.

When Kinect first came onto the scene there were a number of errors, but now Rare was able to apple more layers to solve these issues. There were some games that were a bit difficult to get right, but these recent updates means that they can now be applied to games such as Kinect Sports: Season 2, as the first one had issues with games like golf. This was a little annoying, as is one of our favorites.

Those who play golf for real know that it is all in the swing, so this latest update has now improved how it measures your body while taking a swing. This was never a factor when playing golf on Wii Sports, but we are glad that it is on this new game for the Xbox 360. Other games that will benefit from this update, which improves how it measures depth is darts, as the sensor needs to know how close your hand is to your face before you take that shot.

Kinect is still in its early stages, but other improvement such as voice control will now make games more interesting. Now you will be able to speak your command to a character on certain games, and they should obey that command. I do hope that it is better than the system used on my iPhone 4, because that is shocking?

On Kinect Sports: Season 2, there are now 300 voice commands; just imagine if they did a Kinect version of Modern Warfare 3 – not sure your neighbors will like it when you are shouting out commands. There is still so much more to come, and these latest updates are just the start.

More About: Kinect Sports, microsoft, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

The technology itself was unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmar at CES this past January, where he demoed Avatar Kinect showing that the Avatar mimicked your exact movements including that of mouth, eyebrow and head placement.

For all those interested, Avatar Kinect is going to be bundled in with the actual Kinect software and can be downloaded via Xbox Live, or by clicking this link. It is a rather large download (658MB), so be prepared to wait a while.

Looking around for first impressions of the software has pulled some rather interesting results. Not all it would seem are in favor of the technology, with Seattlepi feeling rather non excitable about it.

But, away from the negativity for the moment, lets focus on what kind of magic we can do with Avatar Kinect.

Avatar Kinect boasts to be something of the future. We’ve all seen it imagined before. People being able to transform into something or someone else and become part of a community who can chat about anything, at any time, about what they want, when they want. Microsoft even say that this kind of technology is what Kinect was all about from the get-go, and that video conferencing, while staying anonymous could be used for youth group-therapy sessions, allowing youths to talk with real life people to solve personal problems and issues.

But other than social video chats, what could this technology be useful for? I would like to bet that businesses will not be replacing their usual monthly video-link schedule with Avatar Kinect, unless of course you work in a toy store, but Microsoft have other plans up their sleeve.

KinectShare.com will allow you to create, record and playback your social interactments, and share them with the rest of the Kinect world. Other services have also been put on offer which are part of Kinect Fun Labs that include “Kinect Sparkler,” software that will track hand movements to write with light on a 3D virtual canvas.

For the time being, Avatar Kinect will be made available free for all Xbox Live members, but come September 8 the feature will turn gold, meaning that you must have a valid Xbox Live subscription to get in on the fun.

All in all, what do you think of Avatar Kinect? Do you think it is a good idea? Apart from the fun-factor, what else could it be used for? I guess the only way we will find out is to use it and see.

More About: Avatar Kinect, microsoft, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

An article from Games Industry suggests that it could be another two-years before Kinect is able to offer us the kind of gameplay that we get from a traditional game. By now developers should have been able to come up with new genres for the latest Xbox accessories, but instead we are just getting a few rehashed ones instead.

We cannot blame them, as this is a new market for game developers, but we still cannot help thinking that they would do a much better job if they were told to forget about the Xbox 360 and work on the new 720. However, they would need to know what they are dealing with in terms of specs of the next-gen console. We keep saying that the new Xbox will be called the 720, but we have all seen how we get things wrong – NGP being a fine example of that.

Now we do not want to cause concern and say that these developers should just stop coming up with new titles for Kinect, we just mean that they should be thinking about the future. There are a number of new and exiting games coming up for Kinect, but they still do not have that wow factor like Wii games did when they launched that new console back in 2006.

More About: microsoft, Xbox 360 Kinect, Xbox 720

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

According to a recent article by Redeema over at dreamstation.cc, 2K Play has recently announced the new Let’s Cheer game for Xbox 360 Kinect. The Let’s Cheer! game will have players learning competitive routines and authentic cheers, which have all been choreographed by professional cheerleaders.

To make it even more fun, all routines will be set to licensed cheerleading songs, as well as popular dance hits. Not only will players earn spirit stars as they progress through the game, but they will also unlock new routines by mastering moves accurately and with full cheerleading spirit.

The Xbox 360 Kinect device will measure players’ body motions; while the voice recognition technology will make sure they stay on count vocally. The game’s moves include everything from basic motions such as the Broken T, Right Punch and the High V, to the more advanced moves such as the Touchdown Sway.

Although we don’t have details on a release date as of yet, we do know that Let’s Cheer! should be available sometime later this year. Would you buy the Let’s Cheer! game?

More About: Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

According to Matrarch from trueachievements.com, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 has been redone using community feedback and players should now find the game more user-friendly. The feedback system has also been improved, so your coach will now praise you as well as tell you where you are going wrong.

The Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 game features more than 90 hours of new and improved content, as well as a wide variety of workout routines and a broader selection of classes. It also comes with a new ‘Run the World’ feature, which enables players to run through virtual streets of places such as Paris and London.

Players will also have the ability to visit the Your Shape Center, where they can see how they are ranking on the global leaderboard or challenge their friends. Although we don’t actually have a specific release date at this stage, we do know that the fitness game should be arriving in November this year.

Are you a fan of fitness games such as the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved series?

More About: Xbox 360 Kinect, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

As Michael Gorman from engadget.com recently reported, Nyko introduced a number of new gaming accessories on Monday including Zoom for Kinect, the Play Clock, the Charge Base 3 for the PlayStation 3 console and three new extended battery packs for the Nintendo 3DS.

If you’re looking for a new charging dock for your PlayStation 3 controllers, then you might like Nyko’s stylish Charge Base 3 for PS3. The dock enables users to rapidly charge two PlayStation 3 controllers, and features magnetic charging adaptors to allow for easy charging.

Meanwhile, the Zoom for Kinect is a clip-on accessory with specially-designed lenses, which enables Kinect gaming in apartments and smaller rooms by reducing the distance that is required for the device to function correctly by up to forty percent.

How would you like to turn your Nintendo 3DS into an alarm clock? Well now you will be able to thanks to the new Play Clock for 3DS, which also serves as a charging dock and powered speaker system. It also comes with a built-in line-in port that allows users to hook up an MP3 player or other audio device.

If on the other hand you want to extend the battery life of your Nintendo 3DS, then you may like the Shock n’ Rock for 3DS. This 3DS add-on offers three times the battery life, and comes with 4 powered speakers, vibration feedback and an ergonomic design for comfort.

The other two extended battery pack options are the snap-on Game Boost backup battery that provides an extra 1-2 hours of battery life, and the Power Grip external battery, which also offers 3 x the battery life. Would you buy any of these gaming accessories?

More About: Nintendo 3DS, nyko, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Games are now being developed for the younger audience, and this is what worries us. It is all well and good having kids play on these consoles, but should they be doing so at the age of 3? That is such an important age in their development, and stopping them from playing with learning toys and getting outside could stunt their growth mentally.

We know that we are now in an age where technology plays a major part in our lives, but surely three years old is a little too soon to rely on it? Do not get me wrong, technology is here to stay and we say embrace it, but not when you are a toddler. How can a child learn all of their motor skills by holding out their hands and trying to control something that is not there? They need to be able to feel and touch different things so that they can learn to hold things.

There are some parents who will agree with this, and those that do not, and that is their prerogative. The video game industry believes that there are no boundaries when it comes to how old someone is when they start playing games; so do you have a problem with this?

More About: microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

As noted over on the spong.com website, the Blackwater game – which is titled for the former name of the private security firm that was founded by former Navy SEAL Erik Prince back in 1997 – is an immersive first-person experience that is heading exclusively to the Xbox 360 Kinect sometime in the fall.

Players are given the ability to control the gameplay experience in two different ways: either by using a traditional Xbox 360 controller, or the Kinect’s controller-free abilities. The Blackwater game also comes with a variety of officially-licensed weapons that players can choose from.

Using the Xbox 360’s motion-sensing Kinect controller, gamers can do pretty much everything from moving their character around to aiming and firing their weapons. The game sees players leading a team of Blackwater Operators that are sent to protect a fictional North African town.

What are your thoughts on the Blackwater game for the Xbox 360 Kinect? Do you think you will buy this game?

More About: Blackwater, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Another announcement was of the new Kinect Sports: Season Two game. The new game’s predecessor was Kinect Sports which included six different sports in which players could take part in. The games included Football, Beach Volleyball, Table Tennis, Track and Field, Boxing and Bowling. You can head over to CVG for some screenshots of the new game.

We previously brought you news of an update for the original Kinect Sports games called Calorie Challenge. The new game’s E3 announcement earlier today also revealed that it would include six new games. These include American Football, Tennis, Baseball, Skiing, Golf and Darts as well as the original sports.

New features also include a voice activation control and new gesture functions which make interaction more fun. The example which can be seen in the video below is of a player saying out loud the club she wishes to use in order to change it.

Will you be getting this new game? What do you think of E3 so far?

More About: microsoft xbox 360, Rare, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

As Dale North over at destructoid.com recently noted, the miCoach title provides users with training programs developed for a number of sports including soccer, tennis, running and basketball. Sports stars such as Dwight Howard, Tyson Gay and Ana Ivanovic have all signed to appear in the title as trainers.

The miCoach game enables players to choose their individual fitness goals, and then takes over to coach them along the way. Players will be displayed inside the game using Sony’s PlayStation Move camera for the PS3 or Microsoft’s Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360.

Sports stars will be seen exercising alongside the player, while the game keeps a track of the player’s progress. When speaking about his recording session that took place a few weeks back, Orlando Magic basketball star Dwight Howard said that he was hurting so much after that he had to go and get a massage.

Although we haven’t got news of a release date as of yet, we do know that the miCoach title should be arriving in the early part of 2012. Would you buy the miCoach interactive athletic training system for the Kinect / Move?

More About: micoach, Playstation Move, Xbox 360 Kinect

For more Product-Reviews.net coverage:

• Follow Product Reviews on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to PR
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad