''Kinect Sports'' is a

sports video game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...

developed by Rare and published by

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

. The game utilizes the

Kinect Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB color model, RGB cameras, and Thermographic camera, infrared projectors and detectors that map dep ...

motion-sensing peripheral and was released in North America on 4 November 2010 as a launch title for

, then, a few days later, in Europe and Australia. The game is a collection of six sports simulations and eight mini-games, designed to demonstrate the motion-sensing capabilities of Kinect. The six sports included are:

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

("soccer" in North America). Standing in front of the Kinect sensor, players compete by mimicking actions performed in real-life sports, such as throwing a javelin or kicking a football. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and sold over three million units as of April 2011. A sequel to the game, '' Kinect Sports: Season Two'', developed by Rare and BigPark, was released in October 2011. Along with its sequel, ''Kinect Sports'' has been released in the ''Kinect Sports Ultimate Collection'' bundle on 18 September 2012, with additional bonus content and extra sports in ''Season Two'' added,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

. A third entry, ''

Kinect Sports Rivals ''Kinect Sports Rivals'' is a sports video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. It is the third game in the ''Kinect Sports'' series and utilizes the console's Kinect motion-sensing camera. The game was ann ...

'', was released for the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

in 2014.

Gameplay

All six of the events in ''Kinect Sports'' support multiplayer both locally and online, with a mixture of competitive and cooperative play options. In addition, players can also take part in eight sport-based mini games, or join in the Party Play mode designed to accommodate a larger number of players amassed in the same room, divided into two teams. Players are represented in-game by their Xbox 360 avatar. Using the

sensor, the player's physical gestures and body movements are tracked and translated into in-game actions without the need for a controller. At the end of each event, players are shown a video compilation of their 'best bits' captured by the

sensor. Clips can be uploaded to the KinectShare website where they can be downloaded, deleted or shared directly with

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Sports

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

takes place at Neon Lanes. Players are required to reach to their left or right to take up a ball before swinging their arm forwards to bowl, exaggerating the arm motion to add spin if required. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available. Bowling mini games include One Bowl Roll, in which the player must clear as many pin setups as possible before running out of chances, and Pin Rush, where the player is challenged to knock over as many pins as possible within a time limit.

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

takes place at Tornado Gardens. Players are encouraged to use their left and right arms to punch and block, both at head and body height. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available. It is the only sport without any mini games.

Track & Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

is a collection of five separate events, all of which take place at Flame Stadium. The events are

Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

Long Jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, Discus and

Hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. Each event can be played individually (within the Mini Games area) or collectively as a

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

. Players must jog on the spot to run, jump to clear hurdles or make a long jump, and perform the relevant arm motion to throw a javelin or discus. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available.

Table Tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

takes place at the Blade Center. Players are required to reach to their left or right to pick up a paddle before serving, and can then incorporate topspin, backspin and smash shots. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available. Table Tennis mini games include Paddle Panic, in which the player must take up a paddle in each hand and return as many balls as possible within a fixed time limit, and Rally Tally, where the player is challenged to maintain a single rally for as long as possible.

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

takes place at Lotus Park. As an attacker, the player is required to kick the ball to pass or shoot. As a defender, the player is encouraged to move from side to side to block passes and use their full body to block shots. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available. Soccer mini games include Super Saver, which puts the player in goal trying to block the striker's shots, and Target Kick, in which the player must beat the goalkeeper and launch the ball at goal-based targets.

Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

takes place at Waveside. Players serve by making an upward throwing motion with one hand and then a swinging motion with the other. The ball is passed or returned using bump, set and spike motions. Single player, local multiplayer and online multiplayer game modes are available. Beach Volleyball mini games include Bump Bash, in which the player must avoid as many thrown objects as possible, and Body Ball, where the player is required to return the ball using a specific body part.

Downloadable content

On 14 December 2010, a free downloadable

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

-sponsored 'Party Pack' was made available for the game. The pack included six new mini games (one per sport: King of the Ring, Rapid Runner, Super Striker, Target Smash, Fruit Splatter and Pinvaders), and three new Party Play mascots. On 26 April 2011, a 'Calorie Challenge' game add-on was released. It introduced the titular mode in which players compete in a series of events against food-themed mascots. Players are tasked with burning a specific number of calories within an allotted time limit to complete each challenge.

Development

''Kinect Sports'' was first previewed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2010. It was also previewed at Microsoft's

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

event and subsequently launched alongside the

peripheral in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

on 4 November 2010, in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

on 10 November 2010, and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 18 November 2010. ''Kinect Sports'' features a front end and Party Play voiceover recorded by Peter Dickson and a number of licensed music tracks from artists including

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

and

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

. Celebratory stings from these tracks are used throughout the game when players score a goal, achieve a strike, break a record or win an otherwise crucial point. On 11 November 2010, a ''Kinect Sports''

app was released which sorts times set in the

game into online leagues. Co-developed by Rare and web agency Nzime, the Facebook app uses an

Xbox LIVE The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...

gamertag to compare results with friends and other players in ''Kinect Sports'', join or create leagues and watch video performances uploaded from the game. On 23 April 2011, ''Kinect Sports'' players set a new

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the largest simultaneous 100m sprint with 10,539 participants.

Reception

The game received above-average reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. In Japan, where the game was ported for release on 20 November 2010, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of 29 out of 40, while ''Famitsu X360'' gave it 30 out of 40. Video game talk show '' Good Game'' gave it 7 out of 10, saying that it didn't feel like a Wii sports game and that you actually had to use your whole body to play it; however they said that the soccer felt a bit brain dead. Overall, they said, "It's a solid sports collection to show off Kinect and it is presented well with lots of great licensed music." As of April 2011, the game sold over three million units.

Awards

''Kinect Sports'' won an award for the BAFTA Family Game of the Year and was nominated for 5 other awards, including the

Golden Joystick Award The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be vote ...

for Best Sports Game Award of 2011 and Best New IP, Audio Accomplishment and Technical Innovation awards in the Develop Awards 2011. It was a finalist for the New Game Brand award at the 2011 ''MCV'' Industry Excellence Awards. During the

14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The ''14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' was the 14th edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2010. The awards were arranged by the Academy of I ...

, the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

nominated ''Kinect Sports'' for " Casual Game of the Year".

References

External links

Kinect Sports at xbox.comKinect Sports at Rare
* {{Authority control Kinect Sports 2010 video games Association football video games BAFTA winners (video games) Beach volleyball video games Bowling video games Boxing video games Kinect games Microsoft franchises Microsoft games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiple-sport video games Pack-in video games Party video games Rare (company) games Sports video games Table tennis video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Robin Beanland Xbox 360 games Xbox 360-only games