So you've played the game enough to make such a statement?  Considering your statements, that would be a Reasonable expectation . . .

Why do people even give them so much attention? There's going to be inconsistent reviewers everywhere. No need to keep fretting over this stuff.

Yup - and it's poor.  The game itself isn't so bad, but the reality is that you're being forced to use the worst input mechanism because MS wanted more launch titles and diverted the progress of this game.

It's a bit like the often misused quote of Malcom's from Jurassic Park...  I'm sure you know the one.

The reality is that for driving - even fun driving - controls go in the following order:

1. wheel or controller in a wheel (a'la Mario Kart)
2. gameplad
3. keyboard
4. Kinect

This isn't a knock at Kinect, because it's great for titles that suit it - so far I've tried Adventures, Dance Central and Sports and they all work well and are fun, particularly Sports.

The simle fact is that if you took the exact same game, removed Kinect and used a gamepad, you'd automatically have a better game.

There is no input device I can think of that is best for every title/genre, and here it's a case of definately the worst device.  Using Kinect never feels right next to other perfectly good available options.

Definately a case of doing it because they could - or rather wanted to - rather than they should have.

Cool.  I'm glad you actually played, because a lot of people haven't and make comments like you have.

Friend of mine picked it and other games up when he got Kinect and said that it sucks, but his 7 year old son wanted it and likes it.  So maybe its that you're just not the demo for this game.

To be completely honest, I really never expected Joyride to be a great game.  Heck, it was going to be free to begin with, and I never expect anything special with free games no matter if they are add or DLC supported.  But you're right, it probably would've been better as a controller based game because ... that is what it was intended to be when designed.  Kinect will fail or succeed as a creative endeavor based on how developers recognize that fact and design games SPECIFICALLY for Kinect.

Which is one of the big reasons I commend Harmonix for Dance Central, it was aptly designed in many ways to get around the limitations of the device, and if I ever finally purchase a Kinect it will be one of the titles I pick up.

I never really got who thought it'd be a good idea to make a racing game based on you holding an invisible wheel.  First off it gets tiring holding your arms out without anything to grip on to, and secondly racing games have always been about a decent amount of precision but because of the first reason you've got to account for people dropping their hands and whatnot, so you can't exactly develop that precision you need with racing games, it's just a bad idea lol

Ignore him, he's rarely if ever "reasonable" when it comes to anything 360

Was it sad that I was thinking the same thing?

Actually I own one now, so we'll have none of that.  I've never spoke badly of the 360 out of bias, I've just clipped the wings of fanboys posting rubbish in PS3 threads.  Now I can clip wings on both sides.

As for Joyride, are you arguing it works well with Kinect?

Darth - I can see a kid liking it, and maybe that's the aim, but the fact remains the kid would be able to drive better with a gamepad.  The game just doesn't suit the controller.  If you play Joyride then immediately play something like Kinect Sports the difference is immediate.  Sports feels right with Kinect, Joyride just doesn't.

Funny, I'm not talking about posts of you talking about PS3 vs 360, they're usually some thing or other to do with 360 itself. First 10 or posts I ignored, but others I've spoken to have said the same, which is a shame as you're a good poster. FYI owning a console doesn't mean anything around here :-S although I do hope it means you'll be less negative about it. I thought you owned one all this time.

And no Joyride sucks on Kinect, I agree with you there, still given what I've seen from you (and you even admitting you having been prasiing MS on my wall some time ago) it's hard to take your posts for what they are :

Actually, if you check my history you'll see me defending 360 from stupid comments too, way before I had one.  What I don't have is any genuine 'yay' for a console itself, be it MS or Sony, so you'll never see me waving a flag for any of the consoles themselves.  Most of my focus is the games - that's where the interest is for me.  The consoles are just buckets of components and I'm amazed people talk about them as though they were anything else.

Also, as I noted, as a PS3 (well Wii and PC too) owner for a long time, I only really posted in those forums where - guess what - I found myself replying too stupid troll posts from 360 owners, which tends to cast you in that light.  I know the core 360 crowd probably thought I was always having a go at the console but again - if you check the posts - you'll see I only ever responded to stupid trolls/claims and never said anything bad about the 360 itself.  In fact, I've always maintained it's a very good console and, if you're not interested in Blu Ray or driven by exclusives, the better choice as it's cheaper than PS3 and offers the same features and 90% same titles.

These days I don't bother, because I realise I was allowing a silly few - I won't name names - to draw me into replying when I should have been ignoring.

But... I like racing games and I like developers to do what's best for the consumer, not themselves, and Joyride is both a decent fun racer ruined by poor controls and a clear example of MS putting what they wanted - another Kinect family game - over what was best for the consumer - gamepad controls for this title.

Anyway - now I have a 360 and am getting to grips with Kinect you have to like me!