(Warning: This post is about video-games. If you are past a certain age, lacking in basic hand-eye co-ordination or still associate the subject matter with reprehensible pursuits for children who would be better off with a good book... look away now)
I'm lucky enough to be of a certain age. Specifically, an age that's about as young as it's possible to be and still have played the very earliest video-games as they emerged. (I'm not counting anything that required setup with a collection of cards with holes punched in them). No surprise then that I've been an avid follower of the games industry all my life, and still find a few minutes every now and then to find joy in the best of the industry's output. And, let's be clear - it's an industry characterised by a lot of samey, unoriginal dross. Which is why chancing on the occasional thing of beauty brings such excitement.
Ten years ago, I came across one such example - a game called Rez for the PS2 and Dreamcast. A game that wrapped the music into the gameplay in such an involving, hypnotic way that you couldn't help but be be entranced by it. When I sold the PS2 with all its games a few years later, I kept Rez back - and eventually sold it for £20, rather more than I paid for it: It had a huge cult following, despite limited success. You can download it on the Xbox 360 for a few quid and I recommend you do, just to get a flavour of the history to a game I picked up this weekend...
In an idle moment last week, after a frenetic round of Kinect Football with the girls, I googled around to see what were held to be the best Kinect games. And my Googling turned up a game I've never heard of before: Child of Eden. When I realised it came from the same stable - indeed, the same designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi - I had to give it a whirl. Cost all of £11.
It's like Rez. But more beautiful, more hypnotic and more involving, primarily because of the perfect Kinect integration. Once you get the hang of it, you're totally lost in it: It feels like conducting a universe. An utterly absorbing and joyous experience, which is not a description I can imagine fitting many other video games. Abby and I fought for controller rights all evening, until I had to pull the 'I'm afraid it's bedtime - school tomorrow!' card on her.
Here she is. First go, so not really worked it out. She and I got really good over the next three hours...
I'm lucky enough to be of a certain age. Specifically, an age that's about as young as it's possible to be and still have played the very earliest video-games as they emerged. (I'm not counting anything that required setup with a collection of cards with holes punched in them). No surprise then that I've been an avid follower of the games industry all my life, and still find a few minutes every now and then to find joy in the best of the industry's output. And, let's be clear - it's an industry characterised by a lot of samey, unoriginal dross. Which is why chancing on the occasional thing of beauty brings such excitement.
Ten years ago, I came across one such example - a game called Rez for the PS2 and Dreamcast. A game that wrapped the music into the gameplay in such an involving, hypnotic way that you couldn't help but be be entranced by it. When I sold the PS2 with all its games a few years later, I kept Rez back - and eventually sold it for £20, rather more than I paid for it: It had a huge cult following, despite limited success. You can download it on the Xbox 360 for a few quid and I recommend you do, just to get a flavour of the history to a game I picked up this weekend...
In an idle moment last week, after a frenetic round of Kinect Football with the girls, I googled around to see what were held to be the best Kinect games. And my Googling turned up a game I've never heard of before: Child of Eden. When I realised it came from the same stable - indeed, the same designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi - I had to give it a whirl. Cost all of £11.
It's like Rez. But more beautiful, more hypnotic and more involving, primarily because of the perfect Kinect integration. Once you get the hang of it, you're totally lost in it: It feels like conducting a universe. An utterly absorbing and joyous experience, which is not a description I can imagine fitting many other video games. Abby and I fought for controller rights all evening, until I had to pull the 'I'm afraid it's bedtime - school tomorrow!' card on her.
Here she is. First go, so not really worked it out. She and I got really good over the next three hours...
For the sake of completeness, the original trailer:
So, if you're wondering if there's more to Kinect than cutesie sports and 'keep fit in your living room' nonsense, I suggest you go and invest some small change: You could spend £11 on LSD for a much less satisfying mind-altering experience....
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