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Demo Impressions: Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster

October 5, 2011, Author: James Joell-Ireland

Long gone are the days of decent kids programming. These days it’s full of characters that have odd shapes or are dreamt up by producers who spent a good spell using Lithium. Back in my day kids TV had a little more character to them, unlike todays throttle neck cartoons and Dick & Dom.

Sesame Street was a classic back in the 90’s, it became a daily ritual waking up at stupid-o-clock as a kid to catch a glimpse of Big Bird and Cookie Monster. To find that Double Fine (Brutal Legend, Costume Quest) were taking the helm with a Microsoft Kinect project was an interesting one.

Nobody could have expected the announcement of a Sesame Street game, and when it was made known at E3, there was somewhat a tongue in cheek smile on my face. A smile on my face because I was shy to admit I was pleased about the announcement, and also because Microsoft’s conference felt so weak that year they felt the need to devote what felt like ten minutes of their conference to this game…

Maybe, however, there was a better reason that ten minutes were devoted, because what I have played of Once Upon a Monster in the demo alone appears to be the truly first Kinect game that has properly bridged that adult and kid divide. Sure, you have sports and dance games but this title gives nostalgia and a new experience in one foul swoop.

Watch my video impression below to find out more; the tone of my voice should say it all.