Nex Playground is a new game console that detects your body motion so you can control games without a controller. And Fruit Ninja is coming to the platform.
That means you can slice and chop with you hands and see the movements slicing through falling fruit in the Fruit Ninja game, said Halfbrick CEO Shainiel Deo, in an interview with GamesBeat.
This week, Nex Playground will sell for 10% off, or $180, on Amazon Prime Day as well as through July 17. Players can get Fruit Ninja for free with any Nex console purchases starting today.
Nex Playground launched in December 2023 and it has grown to 25 games, said Tom Kang, president of Nex, in an interview with GamesBeat. The full library of 25 games can be unlocked with an all-access Play Pass subscription, which is sold separately from the console.
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“When I saw this device that could capture a full body motion, where the remote is only used for navigating, and everything else you could do with motion gestures, I really thought” it was amazing, Kang said.
He noted that previous machines like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360 really established the market for motion gaming. The content is so intuitive and easy to adopt. The company is getting calls from hospitals and it’s selling to young and old players alike.
“That’s why I’m at this company,” Kang said. “I really feel this is an accessible device for everybody.”
Up to four people can play together, and about half of all sessions are multiplayer. The fare includes arcade games, sports games, fitness games, and education.
“It has a potential to bring families together in the living room with this new form factor that’s very simple,” Kang said. “This is the next evolution.”
The launch last year was a soft launch, and then the company launched on Amazon in May. And Kang said it will reach major retailers during the holidays.
The games range from sports and educational titles to collaborations with major brands like Hasbro and Sesame Street. The experience on Playground is fully motion-powered, meaning that players use their body movement instead of a controller, allowing all ages to play and making physical activity fun for the whole family.
“We’ve obviously been around for a long time and it’s one of those games that sort of transcends different hardware platforms,” Deo said. “We’ve always been of the mind to jump on new devices. We developed the Kinect version a long time ago. And it was one of those games which really showed off what motion gaming was about. And Microsoft really loved it. And they bundled it with the hardware.”
In the last couple of years, Deo has seen a resurgence of motion gaming.
“We’ve worked on bringing that back from the dead, resurrecting the code for another platform,” Deo said.
Deo was impressed with the cube-like Nex hardware, which uses a wide-angle camera and various sensors to detect movement. Fruit Ninja also became hugely popular on mobile platforms. For now, the Nex version will have a single-player version of Fruit Ninja.
Kang was formerly vice president of immersive commerce at Walmart, and he decided to join San Jose, California-based Nex, which is headed by CEO David Lee, earlier this year. Nex’s aim is to help families reconnect with the joy of movement through fun, social, and interactive content that’s accessible to all ages.
Kang was at Walmart when he met the Nex team. At the big retailer, Kang’s job was to take immersive commerce to virtual worlds.
“I was focusing on, you know, platforms and experiences that were the most accessible,” he said.
Kang said Nex reminded him of the joy of playing a video game with his mother for the first time with the Nintendo Wii console, which had its unique remote-control style controller. The natural body movement enabled her to learn how to play games like Wii Sports’ bowling.
Nex has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, Time’s Best Inventions, Parents’ Best Entertainment System for Families, and has been awarded the Apple Design Award. Nex Playground is also kidSAFE+ COPPA certified, highlighting the company’s firm stance on privacy and safety for kids and families.
Nex has 55 people.
“They’ve got big ambitions. And, yeah, the fact that they’re trying to launch a console with 55 people — I love the underdog story,” Kang said. “This little device is kind of the evolution of the Wii and the Kinect.”
Nex has a wide-angle camera and a neural processing unit.
Kang said he could not comment on whether Walmart would sell Nex Playground in its stores. Kang noted that you can program the Nex to recognize toys. Kang noted there are no major game hardware released announced so far for the holidays. That should create an opportunity for Nex.
“Our big push is during the holidays where we’re going to get the brand awareness from retail, as well as ecommerce,” Kang said.
“This is totally mission driven for me,” Kang added. “We want to get people moving while gaming. Let’s get kids and families moving.”
