NBA Baller Beats (heading to the Xbox 360 this Fall) is a pretty unique idea. There are some very cool things happening here and pretty neat ways of taking advantage of the Kinect sensor.
“NBA Baller Beats introduces an unprecedented way to experience basketball through a video game like never before,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer of Majesco Entertainment. “Our innovative play mechanic combined with Kinect technology puts the ball in players’ hands, tracking both full-body gameplay and ball movement, so players are going to have to get up and actually play basketball to get in the game. Ballers and fans alike will love this game.”
That was Common narrating by the way, he's one of the featured artists on the soundtrack. A roster that includes: "Kanye West, Run DMC, Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures, Common, Tiesto and more."
But lets get back to the actual game because off the top of my head, I can't think of any other Kinect game that actually takes a real world prop (the ball) and adds it into the game world. Basically, the game tracks your ball movement and general style as you pace yourself to the soundtrack. Now that's different... Provided the mechanic works as advertised, NBA Baller Beats could actually be a nice little proof of concept too.
Not that BB can't stand on it's own as a solid gaming experience, it certainly seems like it can, but I've been wondering when a title was going to do something like this since the Kinect debuted. It just looks like it'd be kind of obvious to me- add real world items into the on screen action.
Certainly, playing with a real basketball (as in Baller Beats) is infinitely cooler than dribbling and posting with a pretend air-ball. I have high hopes for this one if for nothing else than seeing a brand new way to play in action. We'll find out whats what this Fall when NBA Baller Beats debuts exclusively on the Xbox 360.
