There are so many things wrong with everything said here, I can only conclude that you are a huge troll.
I like how you don’t bother to post a counter argument but rather make a personal attack. Classy and intelligent.
One day, people will eventually realize that only a small percentage of kerzain posts are serious, and the rest are incredibly dry satire.
One day, people will eventually realize that kerzain is completely worthless.
Bob is just mad I’ve been copying his shtick for over a year.
2/10
If non-gamers can’t see what the 360 has over the Wii in the first place, I have no idea what they’re supposed to see in Kinect over the EyeToy. I had a lot of fun with EyeToy games like 5 years ago, so I’m sure there’ll be cool stuff on Kinect too, but how on earth are you supposed to explain the difference in price outlay?
I know the technology is different, EyeToy doesn’t track your body etc, but Microsoft haven’t really shown anything that looks clearly impossible on anything other than Kinect to the average observer (except that Ubisoft fitness game). 90% of their lineup appears to be the exact same array of wave-your-arms-in-the-air stuff that people were playing back on PS2.
This is before we even get into their historical lack of competence in making software like this appealing next to offerings from Nintendo or Sony. I have no doubt that there’ll be interesting stuff that uses Kinect, and I’ll pick it up (once I get assurance that it’ll actually work in my apartment) because I’m interested in the tech, but I cannot see it being a success in the casual market for a second - especially not at $150. I don’t think Move will be anywhere close to a Wii-level success, either, but at least the hardware has obvious and practical implementations for the types of game already popular on the platform. Oh, and it also works as an EyeToy.
So, I got my look at it yesterday. Some people were just finishing up with the river rafting game. Next up were two brothers, about ages 5 and 8, I’d say. It took them forever to start the game, because it wanted the five year-old to pull the zipper and he just didn’t understand. The demo guy asked him to hold up his hand towards the screen; he’d hold both arms straight out from his sides. It took so long, that eventually the guy grabbed his arm and did the gesture.
Then the river adventure began. I think it takes about two minutes, maybe three? The little guy just started jumping up and down. His brother was stepping side to side and making his guy hold his arms up for about ten seconds, then he was jumping too. They jumped and jumped and jumped for the whole run. It was pretty funny.
The demo guy then played the hurdles game and some other people tried out “rallyball” which was just a kickball in a walled off lane that you had to block as it bounced back from the far wall and knocked out targets. If you could give the ball a smack it would turn into a fireball. That was it. It seemed like the ball had a knack for going after the targets no matter how you actually blocked it. A father and his daughter tried it. She was maybe three, a little younger. She just stood stock still the entire time, like she was paralyzed, and said nothing. On screen, the avatar was on its knees, but with the feet to one side, head lolling. That was pretty funny too.
My 20 month-old daughter really liked the oversized futon they had and the big pillows with the Kinect logo on them. When she wasn’t making a toddler run for the stairway or the door, she was standing by the sofa and putting the side of her head on the pillows. But she had no regard for the games at all.
In summary:
Kid appropriateness
20 months - Not interested
2.5 years - Some unknown connection with on-screen avatar, causing mute paralyzation
5 years - Cannot start game without help, will jump up and down until game is over
8 years - Probably can start the game, but will also jump up and down until game is over
Game summary
River rafting - Kind of neat.
Hurdles - 16 seconds of running in place, four jumps, Chariots of Fire for the replay.
Rallyball - You will probably end up bruising or getting bruised by the other person if you keep playing this two player, but you won’t because it is dumb.
Confirmed as $150, $300 with a new 4GB Arcade 360.
I can’t see this working out.
Neither can I. This will be an amusing read in a future “Top Ten Tech Bombs” article.
I’m trying to figure out whether the skepticism about the Kinect is due to conceptual problems or implementation problems. Is there some set of conditions where Kinect would be a successful product? $50 price point? <100ms lag? More compelling games?
- Alan
My biggest problem is the lag. Especially in anything requiring precision, or online.
Initially my first thought was that the interface could be really neat in a strategy game, but, with the lag I’m pretty sure it would drive me nuts.
For anything action based, where seconds count, pushing a button seems like it is going to be faster and more precise than voice or motion controls.
Then there is the issue of having voice chat with voice commands, and not having a button to push to talk. Or for that matter, having someone in the same room with you ask a question/have a conversation/etc.
Price-wise, it is almost the cost of buying a new 360 (arcade admittedly).
In the end it is the lag that bothers me the most about Kinect right now.
I can see the attraction, and I hope that I am proven wrong, purely for the geek factor if nothing else.
I’ve experienced a Wii, and after the novelty wore off, the motion controllers seemed a bit gimmicky. I haven’t seen anything in Kinect to make me think it’s going to be all that different.
The Kinect games look somewhat lame.
There do seem to be lag issues.
At $150 it’s pricey. And ultimately, as a gamer, I’d prefer to see it somehow work with gamepad controllers too since sometimes pressing a button is easier and more reliable than gesturing. The whole idea seems a bit off to me. Why do I want to pretend I’m holding a steering wheel? I’d rather actually hold a steering wheel.
It looks really good for dance and exercise games, though. If I was into those I’d be closer to buying one.
If there were compelling games for it, that’d be enough to sell it. The question is, can there be compelling games for the Kinect that wouldn’t work equally well with a Wiimote or a standard controller?
Yep. I won’t be judging the Kinect on its own, but rather the games using the device.
The Wiimote issue is interesting, because you still get to use buttons. I am wondering how you would play certain kinds of games without a controller. What about a Kinect baseball game? If you are pitching, how do you control velocity? How would the game know if you are throwing a curve, fastball, or slider?
And if it you are playing a platformer, do you have to jump every time you want your avatar to jump?
What about a game with shooting? How do you pull the trigger?
Concept leading to execution. It appears to have been designed from the start to be a full body waggle interface. That has zero appeal to me, no matter how well it “sees” you jumping around like a tool and translates that to avatar motion.
IF it had been designed as a game/interface enhancement rather than controller replacement, I could see some potential. But I’m not seeing any of the big publishers announcing any “Kinect added” features, like leaning in an FPS being translated; shaking the head, smiling, or shouting as an additional input (it has a mic, doesn’t it?); or standing or sitting to alter in-game perspective. As it is, it’s the opposite of a precice analog game controller that uses only 2 hands, it’s a broad and imprecise full-body controller that prevents you from using a game controller.
We, as a culture, have known about charades for many years. And yet how many parties have you been to where anyone seriously wanted to play the game? MS is on the wrong side of that ratio.
The only motion-controlled game I’m interested in is an exercise one. Even though Kinect and Move are expensive, given that I already own a 360 and a PS3, they still might be cheaper than buying a Wii and Wii Fit. I’ll just wait for reviews on Kinect and Move exercise games and see how they stack up against each other and the exercise games for the Wii.
Well, there’s an answer for the third one at least. You say “pew pew!”