I've never been one to care much for things that don’t affect me. That is just how I operate and that is exactly how I felt about all those online passes that have been coming with new games.  I rarely buy used games so it just never mattered and all the talk just came across as petty.  I just didn’t understand it.  This week EA released Battlefield 3 (BF3) that came with an online pass.  The online pass for BF3 was a little different than those that I have run into before as it didn't offer any type of trial for the multiplayer portion of the game.  No code... no multiplayer.  That simple.  I actually did know about the online pass prior to renting it from my local Blockbuster.  I hoped that there was a code in the box since I was the first to rent that copy, but didn't really care because I just knew there was a free trial.  I mean, there had to be… right?  The beta was so terrible that there had to be a trial. Nope, no trial and I wasn't going to pay $10 on top of the rental fee for something that would be useless in week or so.  Later that night I took it back to Blockbuster and told the girl working there what was going on.  She was extremely knowledgeable about gaming and told me of a similar issue that they had with THQ’s Homefront, but she had absolutely no idea that it was about to happen with BF3.  I found an article on my phone (while in the store) that was posted a few days prior to the release regarding the BF3 online pass and showed it to her.  There was really nothing that she could do about the situation, so I kept it.  After leaving I took my issue to Twitter as I felt that someone working there should have made it clear that there was no code and no trial.  After going back and forth with the Blockbuster Twitter rep I got a free online pass code.  The rep also told me that they are working on getting a list of codes from EA to give to people that rent the game.  I agree with what EA wants to do with the online pass.  I can totally get behind an incentive to buy a game new, but I cannot get behind a penalty for not buying it new.  I really liked what they did with the Cerberus Network for Mass Effect 2 and thought that was the proper way to do it.  I know that the online pass practice isn’t going away, but I hope that this situation somehow blows up in the face of EA.  If they hadn’t totally botched the launch of BF3 I might be a little more forgiving.  I purchased the PC version thinking that it would be better there, but it is also littered with issues.

I rarely play my PS3, but when I do it seems to always needs an update.  Everything that I tried to play today needed an update.  First my PS3 needed an update, then Killzone 3 needed an update and then Dead Space needed an update.  Once I got everything updated I wanted to try the MK demo and get the Dead Space: Severed DLC.  The MK demo downloaded fairly quickly... maybe about 20 minutes, but DS:S took well over an hour to download.  When I finally got around to playing the DS:S DLC my controller died.  I guess I will recharge my controller and try again tomorrow.  I'm hoping for no  updates.

The day that the Kinect was unveiled on the Jimmy Fallon show I showed the video to my wife to get her opinion.  No lead in or explanations, just a simple "hey, look at this".  She was immediately fascinated and wanted one.  I have to admit that when Microsoft's marketing started, they hit their mark with her.  She is the most casual of casual gamers.  When she found out that she could play games and didn't really have to maneuver a controller with 2 analog sticks, 12 buttons and a directional pad she was sold.  When she played Kinect Adventures her first comment was "This is fun.  This is better than the Wii".  While she can say one is better than the other, I can't.  That reason is because the technology is so different.  To me it would be like comparing apples to oranges.

After I put away the pack-in games it was time to test out the menu navigation and voice recognition.  This is the real reason that I was somewhat interested in getting the Kinect.

User Interface/ Motion Controls

I knew from the start that there would be a special interface that the Kinect would mainly be used for.  This is called the Kinect Hub.  Even knowing that this menu would exist, I thought that I would also be able to navigate the basic menus with the Kinect.  That is just not the case.  That isn’t a huge issue because almost everything that you need or would really need to access is in the Kinect Hub.  The flaw in this is that I can't find a way to launch straight into the Kinect Hub.  Starting at one dashboard then launching into another dashboard (the Kinect Hub) is redundant.  Navigating the actual Kinect Hub interface is not quite as smooth as I would have thought that it would have been.  Navigating the Hub with your hand had feel of moving around a Wiimote (for me), though not as "jumpy”.  It's not bad at all, but the feel of navigating the Dance Central menus is better.   Harmonix really made navigation in Dance Central really fluid and it was infinitely better for me. There was no holding my hand in one location to move another page or holding it in a position to grab a slider.  I could just go to an option and just swipe.

Voice Controls

A few days ago I saw a video of a family watching a movie and the son coming in and saying "Xbox pause" and the movie/video pausing while he gets a seat.  Imagine my surprise when I find out that this feature half works.  I say half because it works with Zune videos and not with DVD's or the HD-DVD's.  **Interesting fact: The HD-DVD interface was not updated as part of the new dashboard like the normal DVD interface was when using the on-board Xbox DVD player. ** The voice controls work pretty well.  You can launch to the Kinect Hub from the Dashboard by saying "Xbox Kinect".  While in the Kinect Hub you can say different things like "Xbox play disc" or “Xbox  ESPN” or “Xbox Zune” and it will launch those applications.  You can also navigate ESPN highlights* by saying things like "Xbox play video 1" to play the highlight video in position 1 or "Xbox stop" to stop that video.   I've never had to yell or over-enunciate in order for the Kinect sensor to pick up.  I expected the voice commands to be used in game, but that feature is also missing.  You can't say "Xbox quit game" or "Xbox dashboard" and quit your game or do back out to the dashboard or hub.  Those commands would have been really useful and really nice to have.  My only major complaint with the voice recognition is that you cannot turn off the system.  I can understand not being able to turn on the console, but powering it down seemed to be a no-brainer.  I had heard multiple reports, prior to purchase, of that feature being included, but it's not there.

All things considered, the Kinect is a great accessory and has the potential to do so much.  I only wonder what Microsoft will do with that potential.  They obviously left a lot of features on the table that I think most people would have really valued and enjoyed.  My personal opinion is that in its current state this unit is not worth $150.  I do not regret buying the Kinect, but I think it should be priced somewhere around $100.  It is capable of much more, but I don’t really believe in paying for potential.

*I only mentioned the ESPN highlights as my ISP doesn't have full access to ESPN3 via the Xbox yet.

Today a friend of mine told me about a game called Trials HD on the XBL marketplace. I got on and downloaded the demo and went to play. Wow!! It was a simple game but I really liked it and it would have been a great game to have and play just to burn some time. It's kind of like an updated version of Excitebike. I looked at the price and I thought it should have been an 800 point game but I liked it so I was willing to pay the 1200 points that they were asking. That was until I realized that this game was going to cost me $18.75.  

For whatever reason MS offers the points in 500, 1000, 2000 & 5000 point increments. I already had 180 points but that’s obviously short of what I needed. I would have had to purchase 500 for $6.25 and 1000 for $12.50. If I were the type of person that buys a lot of things from the marketplace that would be ok, but I'm not. I was already on the fence because the game is more that I really wanted to give up but it was MS's stupid "space bucks" system that was a deal breaker. Why would I pay $18.75 for 1500 points when all I don’t need that?

It seems that the games and most DLC is priced in increments of 400, so why sell points in increment of 500? (Rhetorical) They are banking on those points that are sitting in my account to burn a hole in my pocket because I am pretty close to getting that Fallout 3 DLC. Then they are betting me buying a few more because I only need "x" amount to get cool a$$ Splinter Cell avatar outfit. Then I have more leftover and am close to getting something else. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat....I know, but this time they are losing out on a sell because of their funny money system.

 This is where I think that the PSN has it right. If it's $5, I can pay $5. If its $10, I can pay $10. I am not saying that I won’t use the MS points because there will be things that I will really want to have (sorry Games on Demand, I am not talking to you). I know that MS won't change anything because it's working for them and it’s a business, but I needed to vent a bit. In the end I, unfortunately, will not own this game and will continue to fight the good fight against these types of shenanigans.

Vote with your wallet!!!