-
Junior Member
Just Dance 2021 on Switch or Xbox
Has anyone tried JD 2021 on Switch AND Xbox? Did you notice if performance / game play was better on one system vs the other? Thanks!
-
Member
I have tried Just Dance 2021 on both Switch and Xbox, though I have danced with Xbox a lot and just tested it out with Switch.
It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges. It really depends on how you plan to dance.
If you want to dance with a smart phone in your hand, it really doesn't matter which platform you choose, though it may be harder to compete with DOTW scores on Xbox as many of the players using Kinect can hit amazing scores with that. But the DOTW scores are often well into the 13k's even on Switch, so no matter what the high scores are way up there and there are phenomenal players on each platform.
If you want to dance without holding a phone or remote in your hand and want to have your whole body obviously scored (rather than have the motion of your right hand primarily detected and any other motions of your body only detected indirectly), then Xbox One with Kinect is the only way to do this (other than PS4 -- not PS5 -- and PS4's camera detection doesn't seem to work as well as Kinect). To me, this method of scoring seems more visual, and it's seems easier to figure out what is causing an X, OK, or Good most of the time. If you can get your whole body dancing well, once you get enough experience (or for some players, even before that) you have potential to hit a lot of great scores. Kinect doesn't appeal to everyone though, and not everyone figures out how to score as well with it (and there may also be limitations, for example size of the dancer if smaller than average, though I'm not sure what impact that has, if any). Along with possible dancer height, it may matter what the size of the dance area is, objects close by in the background, etc., though Kinect appears to be pretty flexible in this regard (much more so than the PS4 camera).
Switch is good for dancing with a small remote (Joy-Con) in your right hand. It seems to place a higher premium on different aspects of dancing. Perhaps it detects motion and synchronization more precisely (at least for the right hand). It can detect intricate hand motions that Kinect doesn't. It may also better detect and score other factors like smoothness. Switch appears to be scoring more favorably this year than in previous years. My first attempt on Switch was higher than I usually score on my first attempt (but still a few hundred points shy of my first attempt of the same dance with Kinect, but that probably reflects that I have much more experience with Kinect and knowledge of what it expects).
Another consideration may be the future. It appears that Kinect is no longer made or supported...? Though I believe it is still possible to find a way to purchase Xbox with Kinect (though on my Xbox One S I had to buy a special adapter for Kinect). From discussions here, it seems like Sony's PS5 is not supporting camera play with the PS5 version of the game...? I can't foresee the future, but it seems possible that Kinect may not be a possible mode of dancing in the future. But even Nintendo may replace Switch with something else in the future; nothing is guaranteed to be future proof.
Good luck and happy dancing.
-
Member
Perhaps I should mention that Switch may be more popular with kids. At least, my daughter tends to get more frustrated when dancing to Kinect than when dancing with Switch. I'm not sure if remote dancing just comes more naturally to her, if she has trouble getting her whole body moving with the coach, or if Kinect has trouble picking her up because of her size. (Though she definitely doesn't know all the little things that I have learned that the game seems to be looking for with Kinect, which may make a difference. In principle, if a player copies everything the coach does perfectly, a player should excel with any kind of game play. But for a specific person, one often comes more naturally than the other for many of the dances. For many of us, it takes some experience to really excel, but a few players seem to advance more easily.)
-
Community Representative
Hey there fivestars712,
Welcome to the forums!
I personally love playing on the switch, because of the Joycons. However, the Xbox One is a great option if you prefer using a camera for tracking, as you can use the Kinect.
Whichever version you decide to go with, I don't think you can go wrong! Let us know which route you end up going, and I hope that you enjoy the game and have lots of fun!
-
Member
I am a user of the switch version, and a quick feedback between the kinect version and the switch version is:
- holding the joycon while dancing is not really a problem
- motion detection is better each years
- on switch, the detection is not only based upon the movement but on speed too
- since JD 2019 / 2020, the detection of nearly all move is good (and much better on JD 2021)
- on songs before JD 2017 the motion detection can be very bad on a few songs (I have "easy" song I struggle to reach superstar, meanwhile I am Megastar on Expert songs...)
My conclusion is:
- If you just want to have fun and don't care with reaching Megastar on all songs with unlimited: the switch version is perfect
- If you want to reach 13k+ on all songs (with unlimited), you better go with the Kinect version (but since JD2021, 13k +can be done with the switch version)