Twister Mania Coming To Xbox 360 Kinect November 1, 2011

This is not your daddy’s Twister.  No mat or spinner; instead, you are trying to match your body to a shape cut out of a wall headed toward you on the screen.

Twister Mania is an extremely fun filled game that combines the colorful, expressive and cooperative gameplay of the iconic Twister® board game with modern updates and added hilarity for the digital generation. Just as you are the game piece for Twister®, you are now the controller in Twister™ Mania! Twist into fun with friends and family in this light-hearted, fast paced game that supports up to eight players with deep gameplay across three game modes offering 16 variations and over 1,800 shapes to play! Don’t hold back as you move your body to match your opponent’s silhouette, knock down blocks against the clock and fill in thousands of crazy shapes of all sizes and themes!

Twister Mania will be available November 1, 2011 and will retail for $49.99.  Kinect is required, and not included.

Check out the screenshots in the gallery below.

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Console Price Cut Rumors Have Started, Again

Every year predictions of price cuts preempt E3 and this year will be no exception.  Michael Pachter, gaming industry analyst, has predicted the console price cuts he anticipates will occur this year.

“We expect Microsoft to announce a price cut at this year’s E3 Expo in June, and expect Sony and Nintendo to rapidly follow suit.”

The expectation is that Microsoft will take advantage of the success with Kinect and lower the price of the Xbox 360 Kinect bundle to $300 (US).  Patchter is confident that all three consoles (Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii) will be at least $50 cheaper by the 2011 holiday season.

In opposition, my Magic 8 Ball states firmly that its “sources say no”.

Via: Joystiq

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With the holiday season upon us, many shoppers are contemplating the annual quandary of purchasing a gaming system either for their family, the kids, a college student, or even themselves.  With the sales, special offers and bonus pack-ins – how does one decide what o buy?

At Platform Nation we have a large community of gamers that write for this site – many of which have vast experience with multiple gaming systems.  I decided to tap this wealth of knowledge for our readers and find out which gaming systems our writers prefer and why.  My hope is that readers who are in the market for a gaming console might gain some insight into the appeal of each system based on the interests and preferences of our writers.

SEE WHAT THE PLATFORM NATION WRITERS HAD TO SAY

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This past Thursday was Thanksgiving in the U.S. when we gather with family and friends in celebration of all the things we are thankful for.  For Americans this is a tradition that began in the 1600s when native Indians helped settlers learn to fish and live off the land thus saving them from starvation during the coming winter.  It was during my household’s preparation to have our family gather here to consume the sacrificial turkey that it came to me – this week’s Stir will be different.  Instead of asking the other writers to take time to contribute, I will showcase some of their past work that I found to be “good reads” and excellent examples of the talent on staff here at Platform Nation.

Without the staff of writers, editors and leadership at Platform Nation, Stir would have never existed.  It is their weekly contributions that make Stir what it is – and for that I am thankful.  Our writers span the globe with a diversity in sex, culture, race, religion, language and age – yet we function as a family.  We are all part of Platform Nation for many of the same reasons you are reading this article right now.  We are passionate about gaming and enjoy the community of gaming.  We take it one step further by writing about it to keep others informed.  None of the staff is paid – it is entirely volunteer driven which makes it very special.  No one is at the Nation who does not want to be here and it is this common commitment to each other that makes all the other differences between us melt away – and for this I am also thankful.

Each of the following is an excerpt from an article found elsewhere on Platform Nation.  I encourage you to click through to any that interest you – or that you remember reading – and leave a comment for the writer – even if it’s just a simple thanks for writing for you – because at the end of the day, that’s really what we do – we write for you.  These are just a few examples of what you can find looking back through the archives here at Platform Nation.

SEE WHAT THE PLATFORM NATION WRITERS HAD TO SAY

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Everyone (read Sony and Microsoft) is jumping onto the motion control bandwagon.  Nintendo really started something when they released the Wii back in November of 2006.  They created a niche market where there was really no competition for the same type of gaming experience.  The Wii controlls allowed them to offer a different variety of games that fit the Wii motion controls.  With sports and fitness games leading the pack, Nintendo had a plan and they have executed it beautifully.  According to Wikipedia, “As of June 2010, the Wii leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales, and in December 2009 broke the record for best-selling console in a single month in the United States.”

Now come the followers.  It makes good business sense to get in on this action but jumping in four years behind is going to be a test of which companies and developers have been paying close attention to the rise of the Wii.  Let’s take the comers one at a time and examine their stratagy.

See my complete article HERE at Platform Nation where I cover:

Sony Move, Microsoft Kinect, Head Tracking and include a revealing video from Johnny Chung Lee who is on the Kinect development team.