Just Dance 3 Review

Just Dance is the game that made me want to get a Kinect in the first place, so its Xbox debut was something I was anticipating pretty hotly. So much so that I got it pre-ordered and shipped to arrive the same day.

Just Dance 3 is basically exactly like its predecessor. You follow the moves of a "coach" who can be anything from a generic b-girl to something as fanciful as a pumpkin-headed man. You can "shout out" lyrics to get extra points (joke's on me, I turned off chat so that I could stream Netflix without the Xbox taking its cues from the actors -- speaking of which, great news about Netflix, no? Except for the part where, if I want to rent games I'll have to turn to GameFly), and you catch special "yeah" moves. Dances are graded on a 1 to 3 scale on technical difficulty and exertion, so you have a bit of an idea what you're getting into.

The UI is much like Dance Central, with menus you scroll by raising and lowering your arm and selecting by swiping across your body. Way better than the Your Shape interface; speaking of which, the intro music for that game seems to have been remixed for JD3. Way to achieve brand consistency. I appreciate that.

The new stuff includes playlists, so you can play all the 80s songs in a row, or the "Fancy Dress Ball" playlist. Oddly, there's no way to make your own playlist, which would seem like a bit of code that would store on the Xbox. So while the playlists are nice features for a workout, it's still confusing that they wouldn't have figured out that this is what some folks would like.

Also new are some mini-games, which you unlock as you accumulate "mojo," or stars, on each dance. The better you dance, the more stars you get. You also unlock other songs. Obviously, if you're impatient, you need to look up some cheat codes. There is also a "Sweat" mode, which accumulates "sweat points," not calories, and I think you're supposed to battle your friends to see who can get the most, but I'd like a calorie counter instead, thanks. That way you get an idea -- even if it's a bad one -- of the kind of effort you're putting in at each session, and what you want to work up to.

As a bonus for Kinect players, you can choose a "level of difficulty." The dances are the same at all levels, but if you go the easy route, only your chest and arms are counted, and you don't have to spin around. The possible advantage is that if you have a disability, this might be a way to be able to play Kinect. I'd probably have to sit on a chair and test this theory out (I'm sure I'll have a free day soon).

Another thing I appreciate is that the women's bodies look fit, healthy, and not extravagantly ectomorphic in the flashy, pop-arty graphics. The graphics are pretty fun -- not really much improved from JD2 or anything -- but there isn't much overt sexualization, even in a belly dance song like "Beautiful Liar." This is important to an old fart like me, and for moms, I'm sure.

JD3 will obviously draw comparisons to Dance Central, but the two games seem like they have completely separate purposes. The Just Dance series is probably the best one (at this point) for multi-player hands-in-the-air-like-you-just-don't-care fun, or a fast-moving playlist workout with repetitive dances. You don't have the whole "break it down" drag, but you're not going to learn a whole lot of new dance moves.

Heck, you probably won't have to even do the ones it asks you to do well -- no matter whether I was in easy or normal mode, there were moves I got "perfects" on when I was clearly going the wrong way, lifting the wrong leg, raising the wrong arm -- it's a very forgiving game in many instances (not, however, in others where I thought I was spot-on but only got partial or no credit).

It is what it is -- a fun, fast-moving game for people who want to move and like the silly, flashy graphics.

One complaint, though. I jumped the gun and bought some DLC -- "Heart of Glass." It was a HUGE file, over 100 megs (as opposed to Dance Central's 25 or so megs per song, which includes three difficulty levels). And then, when I tried to find it, I couldn't. I blew 240 points on the sucker, it'd be nice to use it. And forget about customer service. There is no email address, phone number, website "contact us" button, nothing. I posted on their FB wall, but no response (although the post after mine, about being in the commercial, got a response. Sheesh).

So, any ideas what happened? How I can have this made right?

(Update: I had to re-download it. Duh. I am an old lady.)

Should exist

Is it me or does The Katamari Damacy seem like a perfect match for Kinect's gameplay environment?

The rolling, running, flinging and all such motions seem like there would be natural equivalents in the Kinect environment. And now that Namco has expanded the whole Katamari thing into the Xbox and iOS environments, there's a natural next step to take.

Also, it's a pretty family-friendly concept, and the Kinect seems to be working that angle with its games, for the most part.

Your emotions, kinected

There's an old article on Gizmodo on how making certain physical motions can drive your emotions, and how the Kinect and Wii can "hack" that effect.

Numerous studies have shown that movements or postures generate cues the mind can use to figure out how it feels, a phenomenon dubbed the physical-feedback effect. Wii games might also create emotions between people through "emotional contagion," where the brain can make us feel what we see, hear, read or think others experience.

I think this goes without saying -- haven't these people ever danced before? Climbed a tree? Been on a swing? Done a really great exercise class at the Y? And I'm not even talking runner's-high endorphins, I'm just thinking about that moment when you let something loose and boom, you feel fine about everything.

It's like that funny trick with Yoga -- you connect the name of the pose with the action you're doing (get into being a snake while doing Cobra, really push down like a petulant child in Child's Pose, make like a Warrior, etc.), you definitely get that mind-body connection.

However, I think one thing that the Kinect brings to the sheer joy of moving, something that hasn't been explored, is how pairing the Skinner box-like rewards systems of flashy lights and "gamer point" rewards with the fact that moving is fun.

Below are Wii players rating their emotions as they are having them. Maybe we should be doing this during daily activities -- and novel, exercise-based ones, as well?