Miley Sucks, Kinect Rocks

(Originally published 11/18/10)

The Microsoft Store opened in Bellevue Square today! To kick it off, the first three thousand people would get free tickets to a Miley Cyrus concert. (I know. What’s the connection?)

I figured if I got there early enough, I could score tickets and become a hero to a couple families I know with teenage daughters. But when I got there . . .

We love Miley!

That’s right, the end of the line had teenage girls camped out there for who knows how long. What burns me up is that Minneapolis also had a Microsoft Store open, and they were giving out Kelly Clarkson tickets! I would have gone there really early for that!

I missed the moment they opened the doors, though. Why? Because of my adventure with Microsoft Kinect.

This is their answer to the Nintendo Wii. They had booths set up for anyone walking by to go in and try it out. The woman above is part of the Microsoft staff and a great dancer, and she showed off the dance program that invites the user to match the moves of the animated figures.

I am not a great dancer.

But as a writer, I should try new things to help my creativity. Even if it involves public humiliation. (The young adult writer Veronica Roth blogs about this, although her motive is somewhat different.) So I went into the Kinect booth and danced to “Funky Town.” Nope, no pictures of me to share. But I did it.

Afterwards, as I sat down to write elsewhere in the mall, drops of sweat fell onto the page I was on. I was perspiring that hard, either from the exertion or the public humiliation.

When I did go into the Microsoft Store, it turns out the upper half of each wall is a series of computer screens. They wrap around the entire store. Kazowie.

What’s funny is a couple of spaces down inside Bellevue Square is the Apple Store.

All they had to announce is you can now buy songs from these four long-haired guys from their store. Kind of a let-down.

But better than Miley Cyrus.