My coverage of Kinect and a few of the titles available at release published in the Georgia Straight yesterday.

I’ve mentioned it before. There’s something quite intriguing about interacting with the software – not all of these titles are games – without needing a controller at all.

Connecting the Kinect peripheral is simple. For those with a newer Xbox 360—the model released this summer—one cable plugged into the back of the console is all that’s needed. Older units require a separate power adapter, which is provided, that plugs into a wall outlet.

I’m very curious to see what the clever developers out there will come up with. As it stands, while the launch titles are overall very good, they aren’t anything we haven’t seen before.

All of the current generation of video-game consoles now boast motion-detecting systems. But while Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Sony’s PlayStation Move are actual controllers, Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360, released on November 4, turns gamers themselves into controllers by sensing people’s bodies and their movements. As such, Kinect-enabled games provide some of the best full-body workouts you’ll find in front of a television. Here’s a look at some of the Kinect games available at launch.