Kinect Nat Geo TV Review

With Microsoft always looking to expand on what the Xbox 360 offers, from TV Streaming services to movies and of course gaming, it was only a matter of time before a title was released that tried to take advantage of both these mediums. Enter the new Playful Learning program, a brand for games that look to combine interactivity with educational content. One such title is Kinect Nat Geo TV, an interactive video series where players can not only learn about nature but also play a few minigames. While the kid-friendly content is sometimes offset by difficulty, this is a good first entry for the initiative.

Kinect Nat Geo TV (that’s National Geographic, for those still wondering) is essentially a $30 Kinect title that offers eight interactive TV episodes of the popular nature show. Each episode is about 30 minutes of video content but with gameplay can last up to an hour, and focuses on a different animal species. For majority of the time, you’ll be watching rather than playing, since this is a TV-based experience. Like any Nat Geo episode, the shows are both entertaining and informative, while also very kid-friendly. So you can be sure there’s nothing too violent, but the adults may be a bit bored.

The game’s menu is easy to navigate as if you’re watching a DVD, with Kinect, controller, and voice support. Actual gameplay focuses around (as you might expect) minigames. During the course of the episode, you’ll be presented with three sets of activities. All of these actions are heavily promoted in advance so they won’t exactly catch you off-guard. First, players will need to shout “SNAP” at the screen when you’re in the picture-taking phase. As live video rolls, you’re tasked with capturing a couple of snaps of the animals. It’s simple enough, but also hardly feels satisfying.

Episode will roll on, and eventually come to a section where tracks will appear on screen (again, the game ensures you don’t miss it), so go ahead and say “TRACKS” which initiates the second minigame. Here, pop-in video appears that offers extra content to the main episode as if you’re watching picture-in-picture extras on a DVD. The main goal here is to answer quiz questions that have two choices by raising one of your arms. The questions can actually be tough and will test how well you’ve been paying attention, which throws a wrench into the otherwise very kid-friendly experience.

After watching some more, the final activity will come up, titled “Go Wild”. Probably the most Kinect-tailored minigame in the whole title, players are required to stand in front of the TV and be transformed into an animal of the episode you’re watching, and then perform some arbitrary tasks. Kids will no doubt get a blast out of seeing themselves as a bear or a lion and move around on screen. The objectives are also tailored to the specific animal, so as a bear you might be shaking three branches and eating bugs, or pouncing on birds as a lion. As you’ll no doubt expect from a Kinect minigame, these activities are mostly about waving your arms like a crazy person. Some minigames are definitely better than others in this regard.

These three activities are essentially all that you’ll get to do besides watching TV as you normally would. It might work well for kids, or it might not, depending on their desire to be active while watching. The interactive parts can be turned off in the menus so you could in fact just watch the shows. The minigames repeat multiple times per episode, so repetition does become a factor. All of the activities do have a score associated with them, so there is some replay value if you want to attempt the high score. As mentioned, some of the minigames can be difficult – not only because of Kinect and the precision often required, but the harsh scoring system. Making just a few mistakes will likely cost you the points needed for the gold medal, so again the game suddenly becomes less kid-friendly.

The games can be played outside of the TV episodes by launching the Party Animal mode. Here, the same games you’ve played while watching are accessible without video content. The bad design decision appears with the fact that you can’t select what minigames to play, as they are all sort of cycled through. They can also all be enjoyed with a partner in co-op, but with that score requirements for medals are increased, making the game that much more difficult and requiring both participants to play well to earn a decent score.

For the $30 asking price, the eight episodes included may not offer much value. However, new copies of the game also have National Geographic TV episode pass. This provides one year of access to more than 20 TV episodes of the actual TV show, so it comes recommended to fans and adds further value to the package. However, these episodes don’t include any interactive content and also don’t focus on kid-friendly content like the ones in the game.

Kinect Nat Geo TV is a good start to the Microsoft’s apparent interactive TV push. The activities included are basic yet may be too tough for younger audiences, and the TV episodes provide great educational value. Kinect integration is uninspired and often needlessly tiring, which begs the question of why this is a Kinect-required title. If you have kids who love learning about animals and you’re ready to help them achieve some high scores, give Kinect Nat Geo TV a go.