276 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
276 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
technology
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video-games
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8122546
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# Microsoft Kinect review
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## Tom Hoggins takes a look at Kinect, Microsoft's revolutionary hands-free
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interface for the Xbox 360 console.
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560
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315
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TelegraphPlayer-8113532
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[![Tom Hoggins][1]][2]
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By [Tom Hoggins][3] 11:15AM GMT 10 Nov 2010
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[Follow Tom Hoggins on Twitter][4]
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[Comments][5]
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For all the marketing buzz around Kinect, propelling Microsoft's motion-
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tracking camera into the public consciousness, more telling evidence of the
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device's propensity to impress has been filtering through social networking
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sites and forums from all corners of the web. Microsoft's attempt to woo the
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so called 'casual' crowd away from Nintendo's Wii console and onto their own
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Xbox 360 was greeted with the utmost cynicism from video game fans and critics
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alike, including myself. The faintly embarrassing and overly synthetic demo at
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this year's E3 did Kinect few favours, and rumours that the device suffered
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from excessive lag and other troubling issues only compounded the negativity
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surrounding it.
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It's been fascinating, then, to see how opinion morphed and shifted as people
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started to experience Kinect for themselves. Not so much a softening as a
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complete about turn. Not only did the device work, but it worked brilliantly
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and, most importantly, was guffaw-inducing fun.
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Me? A vocal critic of Kinect in the past, I was convinced five minutes after
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turning it on.
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It's tempting to attribute the turnaround of opinion to Microsoft's well oiled
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marketing machine, and it's certainly a huge part of the excitement that now
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crackles around Kinect, but the fact is the only thing that can prove Kinect
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to you is Kinect itself.
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It's a chunky thing, cast in the slick black of the new Xbox 360 S, and
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finding a stable spot to place it either above or beneath the TV caused a few
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furrowed brows in my household. But once it's set, it's set, the rotary
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assisted camera swivelling to take in as much as it can, like a curious cousin
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of Jonny 5 from Short Circuit.
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## Related Articles
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* [Dance Central review][6]
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12 Nov 2010
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* [Kinect Sports review][7]
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15 Nov 2010
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* [Xbox Kinect hacks, with light sabers][8]
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22 Nov 2010
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* [Microsoft confirms Kinect price][9]
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20 Jul 2010
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* [Microsoft Kinect and the future of gaming][10]
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04 Nov 2010
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* [Microsoft Kinect supplies 'running low'][11]
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15 Oct 2010
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Setup is a doddle, Kinect performing some basic calibration tests before
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asking you to move into certain areas of your living room to analyse the space
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you have. Now, there has been much consternation over how much space you will
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need for Kinect. I live in a modest-sized, two bedroom terraced house, and had
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just about enough space in my front room for Kinect's optimum 'play area'
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after having cleared the coffee table and footstool out of the way.So you will
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certainly need a decent amount of clear space to play Kinect, but perhaps not
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as much as the horror stories of having to sell all your furniture would have
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you believe.
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The simple calibration process is enough to give you a glimpse of Kinect's
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body tracking, your on screen 'Avatar' accurately replicating your movements.
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It's remarkable to witness, as you move your limbs and swivel your head and
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hips and see your avatar doing the exact same thing. First doubts
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extinguished. There IS perceptible lag between your movements and your
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Avatar's, but because it's noticeable, it helps you to understand the
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limitations of the tech and compensate for it. Having the lag there but barely
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apparant to the human eye would likely be far more frustrating when it came to
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playing games.
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But before even getting to any games, you'll find yourself mucking around in
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the menu system. Selecting options by hovering your hand over them, sweeping
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menus to the side with a flick of your hand, Minority Report-style. It is, in
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all honesty, quicker to pick up a controller and flick through the menus that
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way. But not nearly as fun or futuristic. Then there's the speech recognition,
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saying "Xbox Kinect" out loud will make your device 'listen' to you. From
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there you can say what you see and the relevant menu option will be selected,
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such as opening the disc tray just by asking, which my wife found rather
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unsettling. On that note, you can't actually switch off the Xbox through voice
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commands. So players needn't worry about disgruntled partners coming in and
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telling your console to shutdown during a game of Call of Duty.
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It's interesting that Microsoft are releasing Kinect just a day after the
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latest entry in the Call of Duty series, Black Ops. Activision's military
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shooter represents the most popular franchise in 'traditional' gaming, high on
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action, thrills and high end graphics. Kinect feels like a counterpoint, as if
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Microsoft wanted to insist that 'hardcore' games and their family-friendly
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device can operate within the same sphere, without impinging on the other.
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Indeed, Kinect --more so than its rivals Wii and PlayStation Move-- already
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feels like an extremely different take on the world of video games, a
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complement to shooters and action titles, rather than a threat.
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Whether this different take will enjoy enduring success remains to be seen.
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The launch titles of Kinect certainly impress in terms of technical wizardry
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(more detailed assessments of each will follow shortly), but --with the
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exception of Harmonix's fantastic Dance Central-- are perhaps lacking in long
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term appeal. Games made for Kinect will need to be very careful in their
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design to work on the device. Unlike Wii and Move, it should prove a lot
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trickier to replace traditional controls when there is no controller at all.
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With the full body tracking, Kinect also can't help but sacrifice precision,
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with a great deal of room for error being taken into account. By the same
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token, however, these restrictions, as much as Kinect's obvious strengths,
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will hopefully bring completely new gaming experiences to bear.
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Away from the marketing blitz, that's what makes Kinect the most exciting
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hardware release in years: the promise of something new. The industry's
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developers seem to think so too, with even the most famous and talented
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directors in Japan keen to throw their weight behind the device. Tetsuya
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Mizuguchi's Child of Eden represents the most promising --and beautiful-- use
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of Kinect thus far.
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Kinect is certainly not without its supporters, then, and the charm offensive
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Microsoft have mounted continues to gather pace, converting even grumpy old
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cynics like me. The first battle is won, but the war to unlock the potential
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inside this remarkable piece of technology has only just begun.
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[**Buy the Xbox 360 Console with Kinect Sensor and Kinect Adventures for
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£299.99 from _Amazon.co.uk_![][12]**][13]**![][14]**
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[**Buy the Xbox 360 Console with Kinect Sensor and Kinect Adventures for
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$399.99 from _Amazon.com_![][12]**][15]**![][16]**
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[X][17] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][18]
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* Share: [Share][17] [ ][19] [ ][20]
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[Tweet][21]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8122546/Microsoft-Kinect-
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review.html
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Telegraph
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## [Video Games][22]
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* ### [Technology »][23]
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* ### [Microsoft »][24]
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* ### [Tom Hoggins »][2]
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* ### [Technology Reviews »][25]
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In technology
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[![Brink hands-on preview][26] ][27]
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### [UK video game chart 16 May 2011][27]
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[X][17] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][18]
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Share:
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* [ ][17]
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* [ ][19]
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* [ ][20]
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* [Tweet][21]
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* Advertisement
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![][28]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][29] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][30]
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[![Follow The Telegraph on social media][31]][32]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Loading
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## [VIDEO GAME TRAILERS »][33]
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### [Renegade Ops - Teaser Trailer][34]
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[![Renegade ops game][35] ][34]
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Renegade Ops puts players in a mobile commando unit sent behind enemy lines to
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defeat Inferno, a madman intent on global domination.
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### [Exclusive: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean - official trailer][36]
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### [Call Of Duty: Black Ops - Escalation DLC Trailer][37]
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### [LA Noire - new trailer][38]
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### [FEAR 3 - 'Ides Of March' Trailer][39]
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### [Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Reverie DLC Trailer][40]
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### [Forsaken World - launch trailer][41]
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### [Star Wars: The Old Republic - Fate Of The Galaxy trailer][42]
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### [Spanking video game pulled from UK][43]
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### [LA Noire Gameplay: Investigation and Interrogation][44]
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### [Call Of Duty: Black Ops - 'Berlin Wall' DLC trailer][45]
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TECHNOLOGY ADVICE AND REVIEWS
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### [Samsung Galaxy Tab: Review][46]
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[![Samsung Galaxy Tab][47] ][46]
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Slick, well-designed and highly usable - it's clear that Samsung's new Galaxy
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Tab tablet computer represents a real challenge to Apple's iPad
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### [Photoshop Elements 9 review][48]
|
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### [Just Dance 2 video game review][49]
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Advertisement
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Classified Advertising
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* [Cars][50]
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* [IT Jobs][51]
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* [Events][52]
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