E3 2010: hands off with Kinect

In a curious bubble-like booth set within Microsoft's vast E3 enclave, I finally got the chance to experience what the corporation believes is the future of gaming. Previously known under the codename Natal, Kinect is a totally hands-free control system, using an array of cameras and sensors to track player movements in 3D space and convert them into game actions. This technology, launching in the winter (when it will directly compete with Sony's PlayStation Move device) is at the centre of the Xbox universe this year, and as with the newly announced Nintendo 3DS, it's something that can only be appreciated by trying it out.

First up, I played Kinect Joy Ride, a knockabout driving game that nods toward the Mario Kart end of the genre spectrum. Standing in front of a large TV with my hands clutching an imaginary steering wheel felt slightly preposterous – until the race actually began. To me surprise vehicle responsiveness is reasonably accurate; I was able to subtly nudge other cars out of my way as well as target the apex of a corner before thrusting my hips left or right to add drift into the bend. There were only a couple of occasions where I slightly over-reacted to a clash with another vehicle, and my car edged off the road, but most of the time, I felt more-or-less in control – and as this is meant as a family diversion and not a Gran Turismo 5 beater, I'm okay with that.

For much of the game there's no accelerator – as in most mobile driving titles, it's an automatic system. However. throughout the race, successful drifting on corners charges your boost bar, which is ignited by thrusting your arms out then pulling them back in again, giving you a massive jolt of speed. Even in this turbo mode I was able to navigate corners while my imaginary steering wheel continually changed in size and shape as my arms flailed. The tracks also feature huge ramps which send your car soaring into the air – you can then sway backwards or forwards, or the left or right, to pull off tricks and spins. I just couldn't get the hang of this though, and failed to pull off a single special move. I'd like to bale the hardware, but I can't be entirely certain.

Joy Ride is by no means a deep driving experience, but it's amusing, especially with another player at your side (in fact, I'd go as far as to say exclusively with a player by yourside). In this situation, the game almost becomes a physical competition, the two of you jostling for living room space as well as the onscreen racing line.

Next we tried Kinect Sports, which features a selection of activities from boxing to beach volleyball. I tried the hurdles first, which requires you to run on the spot, then jump into the air at the right time before each set of barriers. After a day of pacing the E3 show floor, it was exhausting stuff, especially as the game demands that you perform a clear, reasonably lofty jump, not just a slightly heightened running step. But again, there were laughs aplenty. And brilliantly, during the action, the Kinect camera sneakily takes a few seconds of video footage, showing it back to you at the close of the race. It's not usually that pretty…

Finally, I played the ten pin bowling game. At the start your onscreen avatar simply stands at the end of the lane waiting for your movements. It's here I got my first experience of a character that mimics your every move; you can wave your arms about and almost instantaneously, your athlete does the same. It's just such a weird moment, like the first time you ever picked up a controller as a kid and realised the buttons affected what was happening on the TV screen.

Several of journalists I spoke to also said the same about Ubisoft's Your Shape, which puts an accurate, completely reactive representation of your own body onscreen. Whatever else you may think about Kinect, and I've not seen anywhere near enough to make an accurate judgement (or yet sampled PlayStation Home), this symbiosis between gamer and avatar feels like a defining moment in mainstream video game technology.

The game itself is basic bowling fun. You physically reach for a ball, pick it up and then send it hurtling down the lane with the appropriate bowling movement. To aid in aiming there's a series of blue markers halfway down the lane which show where your ball is likely to head, but you can apparently also add spin by slightly curving your bowling action.

I was desperate to see the more meaty Kinect Adventures, but our time was up and I was ushered from the cocoon-like demo pod. I'm still not convinced by the vision some have of a totally controller-free future. These were simple intuitive party games, mostly designed to flatter the physical abilities of the family audience. There's a whole world of gaming out there – the first person shooter, the complex fighting game – that would cease to exist in current forms, in a universe like that.

But what fun. And even navigating the game menu, which involves guiding a white circle around the screen with hand gestures then holding it over an option icon for a few seconds, felt subtly rewarding. It's easy to debate lag, to debate the amount of processing power that Kinect compatibility takes up, to debate the range of games available, but against that is a simple proposition: sometimes jumping over imaginary hurdles in your living room is captivating entertainment. As long as your legs hold out.