Last week we reported the news coming out of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show that Kinect Star Wars would be getting a 3-D enhancement. In addition, it looks as though we're now anticipating a release in the late spring/early summer time frame. Those two pieces of info seem to be the biggest Kinect Star Wars "news items" coming out of the convention.
While the 3-D news and possible release time frame are very cool, what I thought was most interesting is that I have yet to see the same grumblings about motion control issues that we had seen following previous conventions where Kinect Star Wars was showing off its features. The game's delay was thought to be in response to those early criticisms in order to fine tune the motion controls. Perhaps the idea of adding 3-D into the mix also played a healthy part in the delay. Either way, though there are a number of us out there who are looking forward to the game, let's welcome any delay that promises a better game play experience. We'll be pretending to be Jedi in no time! Until then, we'll be sure to keep you posted as new info comes out.
Regarding Amazon: While we all love Amazon and look to the site for their release date information, let's remember that those dates are not firm until we get official release date announcements. The Xbox 360 Star Wars Bundle is listed with a June 1, 2012 release date while Kinect Star Wars displays 12-31-12. I think we can safely assume it will release at some point mid 2012, but again, Amazon release dates are subject to change pending official announcements. On the other hand, the link to the Kinect Star Wars game page does include an old preview video from SDCC if you have yet to see it.
And now, on to a few preview links and videos coming out of CES 2012...
The following video from InsideXBox touches on a few games at CES, the first of which being Star Wars Kinect:
PunchJump.com has a short preview and expressed satisfaction with the motion controls:
"All of the gesture-controls were accurate and in seconds it felt like second-nature to take sharp canyon turns and boost past the competition."
BusinessInsider.com takes you inside the Microsoft CES booth with glimpses of Kinect Star Wars being demoed. WashingtonPost.com also features some demo pictures.
And rounding things out for now, if you have yet to check out the link from our original Kinect Star Wars CES post, GamerLive.tv posted on the 3-D news and also had positive thoughts on the motion controls:
"The game is supported fully by motion controls, but uses an interesting steering mechanic for handling the pod. Instead of simply turning our arms like a typical racing game, we pull our arms back and forth to control turns, or shoot them both back and forward quickly when we need to use a turbo boost. While it's unconventional, it's a control method that works remarkably well, as we had no problem keeping our pod on track and guiding it through rocky formations and in the air."