"Technology," says Laurent Detoc, CEO of Ubisoft North America, "makes the experience better."

That's something I've wondered about ever since Microsoft' first announced their Kinect controller in 2009. I never doubted Kinect's unique interface could make a game fun, but games are already fun. I want to know if it could make them more fun than traditional controllers. That's the point, right?

Use the Force, Luke!

Let’s get the misnomers out of the way. This isn't motion control; it's body interface, translating every move you make onto the virtual plane...in theory. Ubisoft got behind the risky little peripheral early and bet heavy. Aside from Microsoft, nobody else is contributing nearly as much to help make Kinect a sucess. All three of Ubisoft's launch titles -- plus second-wave leader Child of Eden -- are on display at an invite-only preview event.

The room's full of skeptics, but Detoc's sold. He's been sold since 2007, when he first took the tech for a spin. "I believed from day one you could play without any controller," he says. "Kinect certainly brings that leapfrog to the interactivity. It's a clear change in evolution."

No argument there. But does it really make the experience better?

I'm required by law to try Child of Eden first. Tetsuya Mizuguchi's spiritual successor to Rez tops my list of possible killer apps, but it takes two sessions to make a good impression. Blame Kinect. To start with, it can't find me; mid-game, the cameras de-synch, forcing wildly exaggerated moves to aim. I even go on tippy-toes a few times. It's worth noting Eden also supports standard Xbox 360 controllers...the only demo here that does.

The second time's much better. Eden's a rail shooter with some camera control, but that hardly covers it. Mizuguchi has created a stunningly beautiful stream of consciousness, a pulsing geometric lightshow better seen than described, set to a driving techno-pop beat. Your empty hand guides a circular blue reticule: Glide over targets to lock on, then snap it at the screen to fire. A clap switches homing lasers to autofire. Controls feel a bit floaty, though I expect they'll tighten up. This very early version stutters and freezes regularly, and doesn't even have the HUD running yet. Grading on that curve, I'm seriously digging it.

That said, Eden might be the quintessential "30 seconds of fun" game. My arm's ready to fall off after a seven-minute demo. A seven-hour game might qualify as torture. I consider switching arms, but I don't want to risk another de-synch.

It also confirms a basic design philosophy: Kinect works best when you're moving naturally, gracefully, in ways that make sense both to the game and the person playing it. In fact, none of Ubisoft's games encourage the spaz-dance flailing you'd expect. Sometimes to their detriment.

Armpit attack!

Fighters Uncaged  -- a third person, over-the-shoulder brawler -- doesn't allow Kinect-style button-mashing. Players must pick their shots and time counterattacks. Unfortunately, that puts anyone who even vaguely knows how to fight at a severe disadvantage. I throw up an arm to block incoming punches...so sorry, no blocks in the move set. I launch one-two combos, and years pass before my fighter obeys. He slows down, exhausted. I'm still moving at full speed.

The disconnect between me and my avatar puts us on different planets, and no online matches seals the deal. I just discovered the weak sister of the lineup.

While first-person boxing in Motionsports fares better, it also demands you conform to the game's rhythms. Most games do, but Kinect is a different experience requiring a different approach. If I'm the controller, the game should respond precisely to what I do. Motionsport doesn't, though I still put the Amazonian Devil on the mat early in the second. Hang gliding, horseback riding, and a soccer shootout I'm not supposed to see don't impress, either.

I must break you.

The score stands at 2-1 against Kinect, and I tell 1UP.com Previews Editor Thierry Nguyen so as we pass too close to an empty game station...and I catch sight of a fairly accurate version of Nguyen walking across the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved start menu. It moves as he does in real time -- the magic 1-to-1 response rate -- and vanishes like a ghost when he moves out of range.

Then it grabs me.

Your Shape is the only game here using Ubisoft's in-house Player Projection technology, which Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tony Key describes as their primary development tool. Most systems track joint movements. Player Projection adds 75,000 data points to fill in the picture. On screen, Your Shape's caught the sunglasses tucked into my collar, the design on my shirt, the notebook in my hand, and the pen I'm scribbling notes with.

I step forward and suddenly I'm in full color...and the top of my head's cut off. Ubisoft disabled Kinect's motorized tracking function to offset crowd movements.

Rus, exclusively for Microsoft Kinect. Rated M for Mature.

The exercises Your Shape deals out are intentionally low-impact -- Child of Eden was a bigger workout -- but it's staggering how well I'm translated into the game. It's motion-capturing me, fast or slow, sweeping arm or smiling mouth. In all honesty, Player Projection should've been used in every game on the floor, because this is the "more fun" I'm looking for. At last, I truly feel like I'm making the decisions, not the game.

Kinect's killer app should be Child of Eden, but no. It's an exercise sim.

So yes, technology can make the experience better, but it still comes down to application. If Kinect is indeed a change in evolution, then games must evolve as well. For starters, they can't box me in anymore. I'm the controller. I control what happens, or the entire system breaks down. What comes next must adapt itself to everything I can do and correct around things I can't do.

As-is, Ubisoft stands about 50-50 on that learning curve. But I'm expecting great things when they finally shift focus away from simply feeding the hardware and fully commit to creating new experiences with it.