NBA Baller Beats (Xbox 360/Kinect)

Official trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ifGC7Gvpw

Gameplay/Demo


Release date: September 11, 2012 (North America)

Somehow I overlooked this one during E3 (damn you AC III, Watch Dogs, Dance Central 3, etc.); basically its a Kinect game that essentially involves dribbling a basketball (it'll be bundled with one too, for those who somehow don't have one) to a song. Its an interesting use of Kinect for sure, and actually seems somewhat original (rather than being yet another Kinect-based dance game).

And of course, songlist-wise (according to Wikipedia):

"Access Hollywood" – Consequence
"Amazing" – Kanye West ft. Young Jeezy
"Another One Bites the Dust" – Queen
"Autobiotics" – Calling All Cars
"Bangarang" – Skrillex ft. Sirah
"Blue Sky" – Common
"Bust A Move" – Young MC
"Canon" – Justice
"Championship Fever" – Najee
"Chillin" – Wale ft. Lady Gaga
"C'Mon (Catch 'Em By Surprise)" – Tiësto vs. Diplo ft. Busta Rhymes
"Disparate Youth" – Santigold
"Don't Sweat the Technique" – Eric B. & Rakim
"Get Ur Freak On" – Missy Elliott
"It's Ok" – Cee Lo Green
"It's Tricky" – Run DMC
"Let It (Edit Remix)" – Machine Drum ft. Melo X
"Music Makes Me Feel So Good" – Static Revenger
"New Fang" – Them Crooked Vultures
"Night By Night" – Chromeo
"Obstacle 1" - Interpol
"O.N.E." – Yeasayer
"Party Rock Anthem" – LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock
"Roll Up" – Wiz Khalifa
"Satellite" – Rise Against
"Slam" – Onyx
"So Good" – B.o.B
"Stylo" – Gorillaz
"Surf Hell" – Little Barrie
"Tightrope" – Janelle Monae

Interesting selection there; it's got a rather diverse soundtrack which seems to mostly revolve around rock and hip-hop. Also I swear this is the first music game Skrillex has officially been in...

THIS is the trailer.
BTW, this looks really stupid.

On the one hand the concept is kinda dumb.
On the other...It has MOTHERFUCKING JUSTICE, Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures and Tiesto!

Too bad I don't have a Kinect...

9/11/2012

NEVER FORGET.

Kinect games, other than Dance Central, just try too hard in my opinion. I honestly have no idea how this is going to be played out when it ships.

But that soundtrack...holy damn random game developer I have no idea where you came from

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Such good music....WASTED

Uh this is a really bizarre game.

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B-BALL ME UP HOMIE, YOU CAN'T GET ON MY LEVEL.

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It's just Majesco.

This game looks awesome.
...

Yo, those beats are BAWLIN' bro!

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This is one of the weirdest music game idea I've ever seen.
It's so silly it kinda makes you want to buy this.

Oh, I cannot believe no one's joked of this yet but:

EVERYDAY I'M DRIBBLIN'

'Cuse me for the bumping, but I have something to say about this game.

I just got the game recently and, I must say, it is quite fun. The ball that came with my copy of the game was as inflated as it shoud've been. It didn't bounce as much and I needed to really push downward on the ball the ball to make it bounce back up. Good thing air pumps are like five to ten dollars. The game really is easy to pick up but hard to master. Some actual basketball skills are needed. It really is quite a workout and the song list is very solid. The interface in the menus are a bit sensitive so steady hands are needed to navigate. There is a small delay even with HDTVs that give off no latency whilst in game mode, but that can be adjusted easily through the calibration. The price of the game is a bit high but I can understand since it comes with an actual basketball. Although I don't see sales of the game without the basketball, which would be ideal for those that have basketballs at home. A little heads up - make sure there's nothing around you that's breakable/valuable when playing this game, unless you're a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. You might lose control of the ball and end up knocking over a lamp or even your 360 system.

One thing I could really see this game being used for is training at an actual basketball camp for kids. Because it does help build coordination with dribbling the ball around to a rhythm and maintaining control. I, for one, am still having some trouble controlling the ball, but I think that's because I'm not black. >.> Ha ha! Racial humor. In short - here are some TL;DR notes.

Pros
Excellent song list
Fun gameplay
Inventive new rhythm/music mechanic
Not just another dancing game, which is quite refreshing
Will help you with controlling the ball (practice practice practice, of course)
It's basketball (for those who love the sport)

Cons
A little lag but can be adjusted
Can't play late at night when people are asleep (unless you live alone or your roommate(s) is/are deaf)
UI is a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to the menu system
It's' basketball (for those who hate the sport)

I really do hope we get more refreshing music/rhythm games like this. I mean I do enjoy Dance Central and all, but I want to interact with music in other ways.

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