Kinectimals
Encyclopedia
Kinectimals is a video game for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 that uses Kinect. In Kinectimals players can interact with virtual animals in a manner akin to pets, gameplay includes activities such as teaching tricks to the animal, guiding the animal around an obstacle course, and free-form play.

The video game is aimed at a young audience, particularly children, and includes eleven different virtual animals all based on wild cats. Kinectimals was developed by Frontier Developments
Frontier Developments
Frontier Developments is a video game developer based in Cambridge, England. It is a private limited company and was incorporated in January 1994. The company is still headed by David Braben, in the position of Chairman....

 and was a launch title for Kinect.

A sequel, Kinectimals: Now With Bears!, was released on October 11, 2011.

Gameplay

Throughout the game players spend time using the Kinect System to feed, play with, and care for their animal. Upon starting the game the player will visit Fur Town, where they will choose one of the 5 initial cubs. As they play the game, more cubs can be unlocked. Throughout the game there are 11 cubs.

List of Animals

When a player first visits Fur Town to select a cub, they are presented with five initial cubs that can be further expanded by advancing through the game's storyline, scanning in Kinectimals Scan Codes, or through downloadable content.

Initial Cubs

  • Cheetah
    Cheetah
    The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...

  • Royal Bengal Tiger
    Bengal Tiger
    The Bengal tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent that in 2010 has been classified as endangered by IUCN...

  • Black Panther
    Black panther
    A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...

  • African Lion
  • African Leopard
    African Leopard
    The African Leopard is a leopard subspecies occurring across most of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, the IUCN classified leopards as Near Threatened, stating that they may soon qualify for the Vulnerable status due to habitat loss and fragmentation. They are becoming increasingly rare outside...


Additional Cubs

Through gameplay, the following cubs can be unlocked:
  • Bornean Clouded Leopard
    Bornean Clouded Leopard
    The Sunda clouded leopard , also known as the Sundaland clouded leopard and is a medium-sized wild cat found in Borneo and Sumatra...

  • Serval
    Serval
    The serval , Leptailurus serval or Caracal serval, known in Afrikaans as Tierboskat, "tiger-forest-cat", is a medium-sized African wild cat. DNA studies have shown that the serval is closely related to the African golden cat and the caracal...

  • White Jaguar
    Jaguar
    The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat
    The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...

  • Siberian Tiger
  • Sabertooth Tiger

Rare Cubs

  • Zwijndrecht, South Holland Sabertooth Tiger
  • Yegoryevsky District Siberian Tiger

Bear Cubs

Only Avaliable in Kinectimals Now with bears
  • Cinnamon Bear
    Cinnamon bear
    The Cinnamon Bear is a subspecies of the American black bear, native to Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and western Canada...

  • Polar Bear
    Polar Bear
    The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...

  • Black Bear
  • Grizzly Bear
    Grizzly Bear
    The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

  • Panda Bear

Additional Bear Cubs

Through gameplay, the following bear cubs can be unlocked:
  • Glacier Bear
  • Kodiak Bear
    Kodiak Bear
    The Kodiak bear , also known as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan grizzly bear or American brown bear, occupies the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in South-Western Alaska. Its name in the Alutiiq language is Taquka-aq. It is the largest subspecies of brown bear.- Taxonomy :Taxonomist C.H...

  • Sun Bear
    Sun Bear
    The sun bear , sometimes known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.-Description:The sun bear...

  • Spectacled Bear
    Spectacled Bear
    The spectacled bear , also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.The spectacled bear is a...

  • Teddy Bear
    Teddy bear
    The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...

  • Red Panda
    Red Panda
    The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...


Additional Cat Cubs from Kinectimals now with Bears (Bear Island DLC)

Through gameplay, the following cat cubs can be unlocked from the now with bears or bear island DLC:
  • Caspian Tiger
    Caspian Tiger
    The Caspian tiger, also known as the Turan tiger and Hyrcanian tiger, is an extinct tiger subspecies that has been recorded in the wild until the early 1970s, and used to inhabit the sparse forest habitats and riverine corridors west and south of the Caspian Sea, from Turkey, Iran and west through...

  • Cave Lion
    Cave lion
    Panthera leo spelaea also known as the European or Eurasian cave lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion known from fossils and many examples of prehistoric art.-Physical characteristics:This subspecies was one of the largest lions...

  • Iriomote Cat
    Iriomote cat
    The Iriomote cat , is a wild cat about the size of a domestic cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It is considered a "living fossil" by many biologists because it has not changed much from its primitive form...

  • Liger
    Liger
    The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress . Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon. It is the largest of all known cats and extant felines.Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and...

  • Marbled Cat
    Marbled Cat
    The Marbled Cat is a small wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as vulnerable by IUCN as it occurs at low densities, and its total effective population size is suspected to be fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, with no single population numbering more than...


Microsoft Tag Scan Codes

The Kinectimals brand extends beyond the video game with a series of toy animals that come with a Microsoft Tag scan code that can be redeemed within the game by holding the tag up to the Kinect sensor. In doing so, the player can receive a new cub or toy to use in game. So far Microsoft has released plush animals as promotional giveaways at Kinect Events and for purchase through select retails in a Kinectimals "Limited Edition" bundle that includes the game and plush toy. Microsoft has also partnered with Burger King restaurants to give away Kinectimal toys with the purchase of a kid's meal.

Promotional Plush Toys:
  • E3 Plush Royal Bengal Tiger
  • E3 Plush Black Panther
  • E3 Plush African Leopard

Limited Edition Plush Toys:
  • King Cheetah - Toys R Us
  • Maltese Tiger - Gamestop

Retail Plush Toys/XBL Marketplace DLC:

Wave #1
  • White Tiger
  • Iberian Lynx
  • Plush African Lion
  • Asiatic Cheetah
  • Plush Bornean Clouded Leopard

Wave#2
  • Golden Tabby Tiger
  • Plush Saber-tooth Tiger
  • Jaguar
  • Canadian Lynx
  • Asiatic Lion

Promotional Magazine:
  • Fishing Cat
  • Red-Striped White Bengal Tiger
  • Geoffroy's Cat
  • Black-Striped Red Bengal Tiger
  • Black-Striped Gold Bengal Tiger
  • Ocelot

Sandisk Promo:
  • Golden Tabby Tiger

Burger King Kid's Meal Toys (No Cub, In Game Toy Only):
  • Elephant
  • Gorilla
  • Lion
  • Monkey
  • Giraffe
  • Bear

Build-a-Bear Promotion for Kinectimals now with Bears (Bear Island DLC):
  • Colorful Hearts Bear
  • Peace & Hearts Bear
  • Champ Bear
  • Endless Hearts Teddy

Downloadable Content

Various downloadable content for Kinectimals is available, such as themes and avatar accessories, through its Xbox Live Game Marketplace. There are additional cubs for purchase too: the White Tiger, African Lion, Asiatic Cheetah, Bornean Clouded Leopard, and Iberian Lynx.

Redeemable codes for additional cubs for Kinectimals were distributed as a pre-order bonus and at Kinect Themed Events through select retailers.

Pre-order Cubs:
  • Black-Striped Red Bengal Tiger
  • Blue-Striped White Bengal Tiger
  • Black-Striped Gold Bengal Tiger
  • Ocelot

Hand Out Cubs: (such are given out at Kinect events at retail chains)
  • Black-Striped Blue Bengal Tiger


As of October 2011, the Bear Island expansion pack is also available. It adds bear cubs, a new island, story, minigames, and Achievements to the original game. The expansion can also be purchased together with the full game as Kinectimals: Now with Bears!.

Reception

Kinectimals has received mostly positive reviews. Video game talk show Good Game
Good Game
Good Game is an Australian video gaming talk show television programme created by Janet Carr and Jeremy Ray currently on ABC2. It premiered on ABC on 19 September 2006...

s two presenters gave the game a 7 and 7.5 out of 10 saying how it was quite fun and that your animal would give instant feedback as well most younger gamers would love playing it. Initially they said "It has a lot more life, energy and fun to it than something like EyePet
EyePet
EyePet is a game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, developed by London Studio and Playlogic Game Factory. The original PlayStation 3 version was released in Europe on 23 October 2009 and in Australia on 27 October 2009. This version of EyePet was originally scheduled to be released in...

- there's a lot of sparkle, but I was okay with that."

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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