When we went hands-on with Michael Jackson: The Experience on Kinect, one of the first songs we chose to play was one of our favourite Jackson tracks - Earth Song. A powerful ballad, we thought it'd be the best way for us to try out the new Kinect version of the game, which along with judging your dancing, will score you on your singing performance as well.
You can imagine our surprise, then, when we were told that Earth Song actually didn't have any choreography to go along with it, and was what was classed as a "Singing Only" song. Apparently, as the song's such a powerful ballad, the developers didn't think it'd make sense for you to be dancing at the same as singing it.
In Michael Jackson: The Experience, Kinect puts *you* in the game, *you* on the stage, leading *your* performance
What you're presented with instead is a stage in the middle of a forest, with clips from the music video projected into the sky. You can still make something of a performance of it though, as through Kinect, your image is separated from your living room, and projected up on to the stage, meaning there's nothing to stop you dancing, getting into it and looking good in the process - there's just no official moves in the game, and you won't get any points for anything you do outside of singing.
Apparently, Earth Song is only one of a number of songs in the game that are set to be "Singing Only", with "Heal the World" also being mentioned with regards to its singing part, although it's unclear as to whether it'll also be stripped of its dance moves. With both the Wii and PS3 versions of the game having dancing parts for the song, and the PS3 supporting both singing and dancing, it seems a strange decision to take, especially in the light of the revelation from the Michael Jackson: The Experience brand manager, Felicia Williams, that the Kinect game won't track you singing, and instead will only track the rhythm at which you sing the lyrics - not your pitch. It certainly makes singing the songs an easier prospect, but we can't help feeling just a tad disappointed.
To find out what we thought of the game when we went hands-on, why not check out our hands-on preview of Michael Jackson: The Experience on Kinect, or take a gander at our interview with one of the developers behind the game. For all the latest updates on Michael Jackson: The Experience for Kinect, why not follow us on Facebook, and be updated automatically with the latest news.
