The Strange Return of Kinect Xbox One

Xbox has really just left Kinect to die this generation which I find rather sad, but many rejoice about and oddly there are some Kinect games releasing after many years. While these games aren't new releases, all three of them support Kinect and are also full examples of Xbox's current direction. This list includes Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection, Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure and Disneyland Adventures. All three of these are just remasters from Xbox One or Xbox 360, but have been beefed up.

They sport full 4k on Xbox One X or Windows 10 as Xbox Play Anywhere titles and also support HDR. It's an odd selection of games to bring back quite honestly and they all support Kinect as well as the controller. It was actually funny during the announcement as the Kinect part was somewhat of a side thing. They'll have this long list of improvements featuring controller and.... Kinect support. Being family focused titles I can see this as an interesting move that Xbox hasn't tried to release games for in awhile.


You have to keep in mind that the Kinect on Xbox 360 was actually a really successful device and it was incredible how fast the company caused its collateral destruction on Xbox one. I see this set of new releases as perhaps a way to test the waters of the device to maybe give it another push or at least to send it towards a family focused direction. All three of these games are the furthest examples from what hardcore gamers would want to play and great for the younger audience. I'm personally excited to see what they've done with Zoo Tycoon as that was solid aside from the build limit which killed the experience (update: apparently that limit is removed for this new version).

Whatever the case is with these remastered games, it's nice to see more titles get a fancy upgrade. I'm sure it wasn't too difficult to touch them up to take aim at the family side of things that has been left aside like many genres within the first party line-up. With limited changes aside from the core upgrades to push them on Xbox One X or Windows 10 they might have just thrown Kinect support in because it was already there. That's a little less believable for the two Xbox 360 remasters since both Kinect devices are rather different so some work had to be done there. It's not a big deal for Kinect right now and really strange quite honestly. That being said, it'll be nice to have some new games to play on a device I've always enjoyed. Motion controls can work in games and I've always felt it was unfairly sent to its doom.

Read Why Gears of War 4 is the Best Example of Xbox's Direction
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