I work for Sony, so I admit up front that I’m biased against the Kinect. I’ve played around with one at work and the experience reminded me of everything I hated about our Eyetoy games – mushy control and pointless Simon-says gameplay.
On the other hand, Microsoft is certainly selling a lot of them. So I’m curious about first impressions. If you have a Kinect, are you having fun with it? What games are you playing? What do you like most about it?
I think the people who are going to enjoy connect don’t -care- if the controls are “mushy” (what does that even mean?). It’s the same phenomenon as the fact that the millions of people who apparently enjoy the Wii didn’t care that the controls were jittery and imprecise. As long as it’s “good enough” to flail around with, these people aren’t really bothered.
I personally suspect Kinect will beat Move, because Kinect is clearly targetted at non-“core”-gamers, whereas Move seems to be trying to do both. In this particular sort of situation, I think it’s going to be much easier to succeed at wooing the unwashed masses than to convince a (smaller) bunch of people who probably have a predisposition against motion control in the first place.
Edit: Of course, really, I should keep my mouth shut here, because I’ve played with neither.
I’ve played with both.
The move is an improvement over the Wii. But it’s still the same basic interface. I got bored of the Wii after a few weeks (at least the motion control aspect of it), and I got bored of the Move even quicker.
The kinect has some impressive and truly unique tech going for it, but again, I was bored very quickly.
First the games that come with Kinect are trash. Kinect adventures is little more than a set of tech demos. Repetitive, extremely boring tech demos. Kinect sports and the dance game (forget it’s name) are much better at using the tech and keeping you engaged.
If you like the idea of motion controls, I think Kinect is the more futuristic-feeling option. No controls, just your body. Of course that brings other limitations to the gameplay, but the kind of games that you’ll be playing with motion controls aren’t likely to be the kind of games you’re used to playing with a controller/mouse&KB.
Take this with a grain of salt though. I found that the kind of games made for motion controllers are just not for me, and being a PC gamer I was also soured on the whole playing on consoles aspect of it too.
I’m waiting until Microsoft brings out a strategy game using the kinect, something like Total War…
That won’t happen. The tech is unable to distinguish fine features and the number of tracked articulations Are limited. I think you’re giving the tech too much credit here. It’s way off in terms of fully replacing a controller, never mind the more complex and precise mouse and keyboard.
I played Kinect in the store and I only had to do the ‘setup’ once, maybe there’s a more detailed setup that kept it from performing better, but what I saw was a visible lag between movements and their representation on the screen.
I think the system is well designed for strategy games, like Monopoly (which I just saw out for wii) or Civ or something like that. But action games still need work. All the action I saw required that the gamer ‘pre-act’ instead of ‘react’. Which is why that adventure game works, you can see the move needed coming up and prepare for it.
Kinect also needs a button, or some visual cue for a button. This whole ‘wait on the clickable item for 1-2 seconds’ is annoying for me.
Well that’s the entire issue isn’t it?
I don’t understand the idea that this would be good for strategy games.
A genre that has failed miserably going from the accurate, quick and lots of hotkey realm of mouse and keyboard to the less accurate, more limited controller, you think will be perfect for an even LESS accurate control model with even less options, that requires players to move their entire body to perform actions?
Where is the logic?
I’m not an avid gamer but I’m a tech geek so I follow the news on all this stuff pretty closely. I just bought a new 360 and declined on the Kinect option. I’m just not very eager to use any of the interactive controller systems. When the Wii came out it was a big old “meh” from me. The Sony Move is basically a half-assed middle ground between the Kinect and Wii. My issue with all of them is that I live in an apartment and in order to play any of these games I’d essentially have to rearrange my living room to create the space for it. Sometimes I’m not motivated to learn and play a new game, adding in moving furniture and you’re really just further motivating me to watch a movie instead.
Obviously all these systems are geared toward family play in the suburbs with big living rooms/basements.
Of the 3 concepts the Kinect is by far the most interesting. The appeal of the Kinect isn’t in the current implementation but in the potential it shows. If the software and hardware are capable of growing beyond basic Simon Says type games then I might be convinced. First and foremost I need the Kinect to learn how to recognize a seated user reliably. If the Kinect grows into a tool to interact with my TV and Media Extender using hand gestures I might be interested. If the Kinect is able to be used with a gun where the walking/crouching/aiming is accomplished via body tracking then I might actually be interested in FPSes for a change.
The complete bias against all buttons is a bit of an issue. Creating a simple trigger or a select button that was somehow worn might eliminate some of the clumsiness with menus and commands.
The impressions posted here thus far sound like they’re most from what Airk described as “core gamers,” or at least tech geeks who are used to more careful analysis of electronic products, and he’s absolutely right that we are not the target audience of products like Kinect and the Wii. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost thrown my Wiimote through a wall out of frustration at its “mushiness,” but the friends I’m playing with who aren’t tech geeks (read: almost all of them) couldn’t care less. The interface works “good enough” so that it’s fun and sensical, even if it lacks the precision a core gamer might prefer. For the vast majority of Wii players, who aren’t interested in being the best at any particular game but just want to spend an hour or two having a good time, that’s plenty.
Kinect has one huge advantage over Move in one respect: it’s clearly differentiated as a product from the Wii. Sure, it’s obviously a market reaction by Microsoft to the Wii’s success, but it goes about motion control in a very obviously different way, and can thus sell itself as “new.” The Move just looks too much like “Playstation Wii.” Speaking anecdotally again, I’ve heard quite a bit of intrigued buzz from non-gamer friends about Kinect (“Is it really just waving your arms? How does it work without a controller?”), but the Move is universally greeted with shrugs: “Well, the Wii already does that, right?”
That being said, I think it’s too early to say whether or not the Kinect will be a success. Its early sales are impressive, but what it really needs is a Wii-type killer app like Wii Sports - something so new, intuitive, and immediately fun that word of mouth kicks in and turns it into a phenomenon. “Dance Central” has the potential to be that killer app, but it’ll take some time before we can really tell whether it has taken off or not.
I’m agreeing with most of what I’m seeing her.
Sony positioned the Move as an upgrade to the wii. The problem there si that most people who have a wii and aren’t tired of it aren’t willing to drop the $400+ on upgrading to Wii HD. There’s simply not enough incentive.
MS has positioned the Kinect as something to get the whole family involved with the Xbox. What people have ignored here is that, aside from games, you can use the kinect to navigate the xbox menus, rent movies, start/pause/rewind said movies, etc. It gets people passed the “controller barrier.” Sure the games for it are bad, though I suppose good enough for the casual gamer, but that will likely change. THere’ll be someone out there who can take advantage of it. Harmonix has already shown promise with Dance Central. I think where they screwed up royally with the kinect was with the pricing. If, as several sites are reporting, it only costs $56 to make, pricing it at $150 was a huge mistake. Had they priced it below $100 it would have severely dropped the barrier for people to get into it. I know it’s far too expensive for my (public school teaching) blood.
I think it’s great :-). I’m a pretty hardcore PC gamer and for the games i usually play the kinect wouldn’t cut it. But for casual gaming, maybe including alcohol helps ;), it’s a blast. I’ve played most of the small games and a dancing game which i don’t know the name of.
It’s a lot of fun! Until your girlfriend breaks her ankle during the dance game’s freestyle part :smack:. And she’s still getting me a Kinect for christmas! :). Microsoft should pay her for all the publicity she has gotten them (although most of her friends still refers to it as the Wii.)
I went and got myself the Wii. As a gamer who’s gotten used to the old school controls, I only tolerate the “tilting the controller” variant of motion controls, since I do occasionally do that when I’m really getting into the game. Everything else, no thanks.
I’m lazy. My muscle memory has been trained towards button mashing. I don’t have to put a lot of conscious thought into that any more. I don’t want to add a new slew of Wiimote flails on top of that.
That said, I do see the potential of motion controls being an aid in games that are now better served by a mouse and keyboard (real-time strategies like Starcraft, top down hack and slashers like Diablo, or first person shooters like Team Fortress 2). If they can work the lag and precision kinks out, I’d definitely be a lot more inclined to adapt to them.
The new Microsoft store opened in Bellevue and they have had some Kinects for general play in the mall. In the words of China Bambinas (aged 10 and 6) it’s the “bestest ever.” And all they did was the river rafting.
You can read about a Kinect reviewer that I think nails something here: In a heartwarming post entitled “I think Kinect is OK, but it’s the best $150 I spent on a console,” Yan recounts his son’s experience with Kinect. Basically, with just a little instruction, he was able to navigate menus and play games without any trouble.
Yan’s son is autistic, as is my youngest twin. China Bambina couldn’t do the river rafting all that well alone, but she jumped with me as we tried it several times. Kinectamals will be in China Bambina’s stocking for sure this Xmas. Playing volleyball with my eldest girl was fun, and it gave her a lot of additional exercise.
Kinect ain’t for hardcore gamers. Kinect is for the mass market of families, kids and teenage girls (Dance Central). I think it will get huge. I’m waiting for the Kenpo Karate kata and techniques to come out. There’s an exercise game already. My youngest twin has autism and fine motor skill issues.
I also think that it will morph into a lot of cool stuff and games that gamers will like too
I’m confused.
A) What does this have to do with the topic?
B) Why did you buy a Wii if you don’t like motion controls?
I just got a Kinect, I really love it,
I was kind of sceptical about kinect adventures, mini games never do anything for me, but these are brilliant
I also got yourshape, and this game impresses me, I bought it for some cardio workouts thinking it was little more then a fitness video but it really can track posture and such…I have been doing yoga all day and getting better at it
I said before that I would want to play something like a Rome total war on it, but now the game I really want to play is “Shaolin kinect”
so far brilliant
I think it’s a going to be a monster hit with casual gamers. It takes everything that made the Wii fun and intuitive and takes it to the next level. Kids will love it and parents who are worried their kids are turning into couch potatos will rush to buy it. There will be all sorts of cool ways of tying Kinect into social networking and I bet Facebook and Zynga are thinking hard about using Kinect right now. If you look at the old Project Natal promo video, I think the most remarkable, futuristic parts are when the girl talks with her friend and tries out dresses and the family plays a quiz game with another family.
What about hardcore gamers? It will happen but not now. The lags, which won’t bother casual gamers, are too long. It will take one or two iterations of hardware but once that happens I think it will become a significant part of hardcore gaming. I suspect Nintendo in particular will build something like Kinect into its next console generation and do great things with its big franchise games.
I just bought a Kinect with XBox360 and 2 of the bambina’s thought it was the BESTEST EVER last night. they are 6 and 10 years old. Gonna fire it up again tonight with my autistic 6 year old, which really made me get (plus, I can play some of the classic FPS games myself after the kiddies go to bed 
).
I’ll pick up Kinectimals and maybe one of the other games.
We got one for christmas; my wife and especially my kids aged 7, 5 and 3 love it. They are having so much fun with it, and the seven year old even said it, “I love the Kinnect”, like some Microsoft commercial.
I’ve played some too (41 old male), and I’m pretty impressed, though I myself prefer to sit down while playing me sports games.
The challange I foresee, is that as far as I can see, there are only so-and-so many games to create for this type of thing; but then again, what the heck do I know?
I picked up a Kinect after Xmas – the wife and I were given copies of Dance Central and YourShape, so purchasing the sensor was obligatory. But, honestly, we were happy for the excuse.
Impressions thus far:
Regarding the sensor itself, it’s cool tech with some definite growing pain issues. The amount of space it requires is really awkward, especially since there’s no way to tell it you CAN’T back up further. Our living room is pretty small, so we have to stand 7’ from the sensor at the furthest. At that range, it works but inelegantly. Only one player at a time, and you find yourself out of frame annoyingly often. But it works, and we might be able to drastically improve it with a slight rearrangment. And when it works, it’s like magic. I can certainly imagine my requests for Kinect 2 – higher res video cam, better calibration tools, better support for smaller spaces (using a fisheye lens, perhaps?), but I like what’s here.
The Xbox interface updates are cool, and the voice controls are super cool. They need much more dashboard integration, but I’m sure that’ll come.
Onto the games:
Kinect Adventures is much better than I expected. The minigames are mostly fun, with rafting and rallyball being the standouts and the bubble popping one by far the weakest. It could certainly use a little more variety, but it’s solid for what it is and the polish level is much higher than I expected. The game actually has a little pseudo plot, goals with fun rewards, and lots of outdoors-y flair throughout. It really emphasizes the “get off the couch” nature of Kinect, and that’s key for the pack-in.
YourShape is pretty impressive, although I haven’t spent much time with it yet. It’s visually great, the workouts seem well-designed, and it really does seem to track you well. It basically feels like the world’s greatest workout video, with the bonus of actually knowing if you’re followiing and the ability to give you solid coaching. Definitely not shovelware, this might be the first “workout game” to really earn the title.
Dance Central is the best game of the bunch, but it’s also the one I had highest expectations for and hence have the most criticism for. It’s a fun concept, it oozes with style, and, for the most part, it actually works, I have two big complaints, though, both about the core gameplay. First, it’s not very good at showing you the moves – even though there’s a training mode, it doesn’t always make it easy to figure out how the moves work. It really needs better diagrams, better voiceover instruction, or both. It’s very intimidating to beginners since some moves are simply hard to figure out just by watching the guy on screen, even slowed-down. My second complaint is that the game gives terrible feedback on what you’re doing wrong. In theory, your dancers body will glow in the part where you’re failing, but this is hard to see and doesn’t always seem consistent or helpful. I also hate most of the music, but I won’t fault Harmonix because I realize I’m outside the target demo for a clubby dance game.
Overall, I’m enjoying the Kinect and see myself using it plenty moving forward. As an increasingly busy adult, I find videogame time increasingly hard to justify. Kinect makes games an active, energetic, family-bonding event out of play, which makes it far more enticing.