Apparently some of the marketing folks behind some of these Kinect games have it all wrong.  They’re trying to implement motion controls in all the right ways, but as a result, they’re sacrificing the main ingredient that’s supposed to be selling these products in the first place – fun.  Some of these games simply aren’t that fun.  Find a person who made the unfortunate mistake of picking up a retail copy of Hole In the Wall and ask them if they’re having fun trying to stand in place of fast-moving silhouettes. 

Well over a year after its release on the market, the Kinect motion device is really growing into its own for Xbox 360 users, not only with a few family-related efforts (Kinect Sports, Dance Central) but also a decent amount of games dedicated to the "hardcore" crowd (Child of Eden, Rise of Nightmares).  But there's not too much of a market for downloadable Kinect games as of yet, though Fruit Ninja Kinect is doing fairly well.  Maybe that'll change once people see how good the haunted house adventure game Haunt is.  Maybe.

When UTV Ignition introduced Quarrel to the App Store a few months back, it brought a successful -- and somewhat addictive -- mix of Risk and Scrabble, with folks putting together words in a limited amount of time and dominating pieces of a map to eventually overcome their opponent.  Pleased with how the game turned out, they then opted to introduce it to a different market, this time on Xbox Live Marketplace.  And the war of words continues to play out as expected, despite some hitches.

The first chapter of the Star Wars Saga arrives in theatres for the first time ever in 3D starting February 10, and AMC theatres across the country are celebrating the occasion with plans to make opening weekend one for fans and families to remember. As part of the festivities, the new LucasArts and Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 3D Star Wars game will be playable.

Shmups -- or shoot-em-ups as they're better known by -- have come back to the surface as of late, between downloadable releases on consoles (Radiant Silvergun, for instance) and a thriving iPad market filled with returning favorites and new releases.  Among the bigger ones of 2012 is Sine Mora, the latest from Suda 51's Grasshopper Manufacture studio, which is being published by Microsoft Studios this year.

LAS VEGAS -- The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has officially put the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) into the record books as the largest in the show's 44 year history, with 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space. The previous record was 1.857 million net square feet of space at the 2008 International CES. Owned and produced by CEA, CES 2012, the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology, runs January 10 through January 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

LAS VEGAS -- Major product launches from more than 3,100 exhibitors and keynotes from the leaders of Qualcomm, Mercedes and Intel launched the 2012 International CES on Tuesday. Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), CES 2012, the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology, runs through Friday, January 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gaming was also prevalent with Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft all showing content. NVIDIA continues to push portable gaming and tablet pricing with Tegra as seen in the video below.