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.)

Netflix/Qwikster

It goes without saying that this is a bad idea, right? I mean, I didn't think the price hike was as big a deal as people were making it out to be (it's still cheaper than cable, with a better catalog than anywhere else), and I kind of wonder if the anonymous nature of the internet and its tendency to be overheated affected Netflix as an internet company more than it would had it been, say, Wal-Mart's streaming video plan.

A positive note: Video games are going to be in Qwikster (Qwickster?) 's mix. That's great for a casual gamer like me, who doesn't want to try out enough to make the $22/mo cost of Game Fly pencil out.

So, okay, splintering the two complementary parts of the company into two companies is kind of like following through on Solomon's edict to split the baby in half (which, if you are not familiar with the Old Testament, was strictly a ploy, not serious). It's just not a good idea at all.

In spite of this apparent blunder, I have to have great sympathy for Netflix and the way it has to deal with being the scapegoat while being bullied by content providers (who, because they cannot get their acts together and create the distribution model that will allow us to seamlessly get what we want when we want it, are squashing the one company that has a shot at doing just that). A few articles with some context are here, here, here, here, here, and there's one article out there I can't find with a real takedown in 11 points ... but my Google skills are weak tonight.

On being "Microsofty"

If you are wondering what I mean when I carp about Microsoft's general inability to get things intuitive and right, this video will show you what I mean:

(It's 24 minutes, which is ridonkulously long, so you were warned)

In short, they are trying to show off the new features and:

2:20 -- tried to use left hand for "back," gets the pause feature to pop up

3:40 -- they break the voice command then they can't get it to pause.

4:15 -- "what the hell did I do?" I dunno how you got it back to the Kinect hub, either, dude.

Only five minutes! But see, this is what I mean when I talk about Microsoft being Microsofty. It is also what I mean when I am watching streaming "Downton Abbey" from Netflix on the Xbox and some character says something that makes it start to fast-forward (or reverse, or stop, or whatever), and you basically find it does this so often you have to disable the voice commands altogether so you can just find out whether the daughter will stay on course to marry her distant cousin after her mother learns she is preggers and might just save the family estate from falling into said distant cousin's hands.

Watching streaming video is sketchy enough, I'm curious to see how the actual gameplay comes out with voice commands so totally integrated. There seems to be a potential downside to such attentiveness on the part of the system and developers.

All that said, I would absolutely LOVE to see Microsoft get all things Xbox right. Not only have I invested in the Kinect system (by buying it, not by owning a ton of MS stock), but it's a great company that is deeply supportive of my beloved Pacific Northwest, and I want to see it flourish for all kinds of selfish reasons, whether it's my game system or my community reaping the benefits.