Washing Machine and Kinect

Alison got a bit of a fright last week when she heard a loud pop accompanied by a blue spark from the washing machine when she started a load. While the power light seemed to indicate that the machine was still somewhat functional, we couldn't get the old thing to actually start filling or spinning. Assuming that this came about due to a combination of age and the unnaturally humid weather, we decided it was best to just get a replacement. The front loader was progressively taking longer to finish cycles and would have been too small to accommodate our growing family anyway.

Expecting a rush of people looking to replace their white goods from the recent flood damage, Alison and I braved the traffic out to Indooroopilly in search of a decent deal on a washing machine. The Good Guys provided just that deal with a 7.5KG Whirlpool top loader for what seemed like a ridiculous price, supposedly over three hundred dollars under RRP and potentially even a little under cost to move stock. The salesman at Harvey Norman that we asked to price match thought so too, but did it anyway in the spirit of competition, so one week later we now have a much bigger beast to handle our laundry.



Being a top loader this of course will use a lot more water than our previous model, but at least we can open the lid whenever we miss a sock now. Amazingly this also finishes a cycle in about 15 minutes which is at least twice as fast as we're used to. Fantastic stuff.

Inspired to continue cleaning out more old bit lying around, I gathered an impressive pile of Gamecube, 360 and PS2/3 games that I had hidden away in back cupboards. Obviously these weren't going to be getting any use from me, heck I don't even know if I still have a Gamecube lying around or if I'd sold it off, so it was time to cart them all to Game Traders for an appraisal. The tally came up to $175 of in store credit, which was conveniently close to another purchase that I'd been considering for a while.



I followed the articles on Project Natal pretty closely before they launched the Kinect and thought it was full of promise. As the release date grew closer however I got a little skeptical about the available titles and decided that I would pass until something compelling came along. Santa must have picked up quite a few units over Christmas as most people at work got a Kinect with a few games and were surprisingly very happy with it. I have no doubt this is nothing more than the second round of the "Wii effect" but with just $15 to make up the difference I too have joined the millions of people forced to rearrange their living room to play this thing.

Working with the sensor is pretty fun and technically I'm reminded of the novelty of the Playstation EyeToy with the polish of the Wii remote. Unlike the EyeToy, the Kinect does a much better job of detecting your movements and the user experience is far more integrated into the Xbox menu system. There is still a noticeable lag when moving the cursor but with practice you soon learn how to move around the screen relative to your body. The facial recognition is particularly impressive and it's refreshing for Alison and I to be able to jump in and out of games without worrying about signing in or swapping controllers. As the marketing catch phrase goes, "You are the controller".

Only expecting an afternoon of entertainment from this we refrained from buying more games aside from Kinect Adventures, which comes free with the sensor. The mini games are pretty fun but I don't think it's going to have a lot of replayability. Great for parties and showing off technology to others but there's not a lot of substance there. One thing it does well to draw you in is automatically saving photos while you're busy making a fool of yourself. An ingenious addition as seeing your friends in stupid poses is a cheap but effective means of endearment.



The disc also came with a few demo titles, including one that has been getting a lot of positive attention in the reviews called Dance Central. It's a rhythm dance game made by Harmonix which already had something going for it in my books, but the execution is a clear indicator that serious, quality games can be made for the Kinect. Unlike any prior dance game, this one actually has you dancing real moves and assesses you on your accuracy. No more stomping feet a la DDR or semaphore mimicry from Para Para Paradise. The Kinect sensor is sensitive enough to identify the most subtle limb movements and with over 600 separate dance moves from shoulder popping to leg grabbing in the game. This is dance simulation with real credibility. Granted, you are limited to a space of around 1.5 metres to pop'n'lock but it's enough. I enjoy getting out on the dance floor whenever I get the chance (not that I consider myself any good mind you) and from what I can see this is a real winner. Will likely even learn a few usable moves for the next party we go to.