KiNeCt!!! Who picked one up!?

current feelings on the kinect.

  • Yes, I have it, and I LOVE IT!

    Votes: 64 26.1%
  • I'm not white - It doesn't work!

    Votes: 13 5.3%
  • I'm not getting it. I don't want to look like a god damn monkey puzzle jumping around.

    Votes: 110 44.9%
  • I'm on the fence... I'm going to wait and see how it does/what games come out.

    Votes: 58 23.7%

  • Total voters
    245
I bet he thought Just Dance was shit tho ;)

My sister had Just Dance for the Wii and I tried it months back. It was quirky fun in its own way, but even my 3 year old nephew knows you can completely cheat the game since its only tracking the wiimote.

Kinect and Dance Central are not for everyone, however the level of precision and difficulty within Dance Central is just another few tiers above anything any of the competition has currently. Its really hard to describe, it takes one to likely either play the game or be in a room watching someone play the game. That same level of allure that Guitar Hero or Rockband brought to the table is present in Dance Central. People willing to dance will dance, people embarrassed will probably still be intrigued enough to stay in the room and watch other people.

I was demo'ing Kinect to my in-laws over the weekend. They were simply blown away by the motion tracking, even only when I was in the Kinect hub using my hands to navigate. They immediately saw the difference between Kinect Sports and Wii Sports the moment I started with table tennis. I think they enjoyed Adventures a lot, but it was when I was doing Brickhouse in Dance Central (a game I've mastered on Hard.. heh) that they were just speechless.

They went to 4 stores before they could fine one, and that was a goddamn bundle (since they don't own a 360). They didn't set it up yet because they're going to be waiting until Christmas morning when all the kids are at their place, and have it be a surprise. Regardless the story was that Dance Central nearly single handedly sold some 50+ year olds on buying an Xbox and Kinect.

From just the small amount of exposure this device has gotten in the past few days, IMO (which doesn't mean much) I suspect that Kinect is going to be fucking HUGE. Not just during the holidays, matter of fact I think its going to pick up most of its steam after Christmas. After kids get one, and others see it in action. Its being in the room, watching or playing is whats going to open people up to the idea of spending money on it. And thats because it works as advertised, I think perhaps better than most expected. Is it for everyone? Certainly not, the launch titles are definitely more casual, but there is nothing wrong with a core gamer having some fun with fun casual games. Especially if that means with family or people who normally wouldn't play with you. Its also worth noting that most of my family interested in buying one (or who have already), already own a Wii.

I think people wanting or expecting this thing to fail are going to be in for a big let down.
 
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theNoid,

That was a nice write-up you have there on the Kinect. It's amazing how much fun this thing is even to a hardcore gamer like myself. I really hope that it takes off enough so that there is interest in more hardcore type games for the device. There is a lot of promise here because it actually works as advertised and makes the Wii look like a joke.
 
I picked one up this weekend and have to say I'm pretty impressed. It has about a half second lag on the negative, but I'm suprised how much it's pretty accurate.
 
I picked up the Kinect because I was hoping to get a fancy remote for my 360 and was a little let down by the lack of Netflix and streaming support but to much of a surprise I find the games to be fun. Kinect Adventures and Dance Central are both a blast and can not wait to see where the tech can be a year from now with controller hybrid games could be a lot of potential. My main complaint is that it did not come with a HD camera... I mean seriously 640x480 camera is extremely weak exspecilly for the $150 price tag, It should have at least came with a 720p camera. So if you're looking at the Kinect for a fancy remote I would wait on it to get more support but the games are pretty solid for a launch product and if you are interested in the games then I would defiantly get one.
 
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Well.. thats the only song. I loved it on easy, kept on with medium and felt compelled to master Hard. Thats all I've really done with the game thus far. Just like GT or RB, fun songs are fun.

Overall, the device is great and like anything has its pitfalls (even if few and far between). The scary thing to me is that all of this just 'works' as advertised all this time. All the software is launch stuff too.. I mean, er.. its pretty promising what could be done down the line. The right developer, the right kind of dedicate focus and I think we'll see some neat software down the line.

Some of the core titles announced at TGS seem cool but more than anything, I'm interested in seeing how the Star Wars Kinect game turns out. Hopefully LucasArts/MGS take their take and do it 'right'.

edit. I believe Netflix Kinect support is in the works, though nothing official has been mentioned.
 
I picked up the Kinect because I was hoping to get a fancy remote for my 360 and was a little let down by the lack of Netflix and streaming support but to much of a surprise I find the games to be fun. Kinect Adventures and Dance Central are both a blast and can not wait to see where the tech can be a year from now with controller hybrid games could be a lot of potential. My main complaint is that it do not come with a HD camera... I mean seriously 640x480 camera is extremely weak exspecilly for the $150 price tag, It should have at least came with a 720p camera. So if you're looking at the Kinect for a fancy remote I would wait on it to get more support but the games are pretty solid for a launch product and if you are interested in the games then I would defiantly get one.

Same here...but I'm pretty sure, it is just a software issue, and Kinect support for the entire Xbox dashboard should eventually come, so...I'm hopeful :)
 
Perhaps a more intelligent solution to the core gamer problem with Kinect is to bundle special controllers with said game (I know, more shit to sell you, yay; the bean counters will love it though) that supplant Kinect and allow for gameplay styles not possible with teh sensor alone (e.g. aim and certain movements), while being less awkward than using a regular controller one handed.

Still, it needs to be more accurate and have more appealing titles before this jaded gamer will pick one up. As it stands Move is a much easier sell to me.
 
Perhaps a more intelligent solution to the core gamer problem with Kinect is to bundle special controllers with said game (I know, more shit to sell you, yay; the bean counters will love it though) that supplant Kinect and allow for gameplay styles not possible with teh sensor alone (e.g. aim and certain movements), while being less awkward than using a regular controller one handed.

Still, it needs to be more accurate and have more appealing titles before this jaded gamer will pick one up. As it stands Move is a much easier sell to me.

I'm not sure how move is a better sell. It's Wii HD...

Being restricted to having to use hand controls is part of the problem.
 
I'm not sure how move is a better sell. It's Wii HD...

Being restricted to having to use hand controls is part of the problem.

The problem is like you stated, that its very much like the Wii. I think outside of some PS3 owners who do not own a Wii, not many people are going to be impressed enough with Move to care. *shrug*

Kinect on the other hand is something on another level, it creates distance between itself and both Wii/Move. This helps to separate itself from technology that came out in 2006, and help to paint a broad 'hip' 'different' and 'new' aura.

Average consumers eat it up, and lately its very 'hip' to be on the bleeding edge with technology. Average consumers are the ones trading in iPhones for Android. Average consumers are the ones trading in laptops for tablets, using Skype, tweeting and talking about mundane shit on Facebook. Once the next 'hip' thing/software/hardware/gadget/cockring comes out .. these people are privvy to it.

Kinect is that next thing. So despite all the haters and people wanting for this device to fail.. its probably not part of the plan. $500 million dollars of marketing crammed down these consumers throats coupled with the fact that the damn thing works as advertised, is fun AND is new, hip and different means these alpha moms, average Joe's, and geeks alike are going to gobble this thing up.. initially.

The question is, can Kinect sustain sales? The answer is "Software"
 
Im very interested in kinect but ill wait for some hardcore games whatever they may be, just like im waiting for fps games for move. I dont think kinect is worth 130 quid at the moment. Im hoping it gets some pc love aswell. Kinect on pc with full media support would be the ultimate.
 
Im really wanting some hands on puzzle games for the Kinect..
If anyone remembers smartbomb for the PSP, something like that, but more difficult.. All this body flailing is hillarious, but I want it to pseudo interface me with a challenge looking like something out of Iron Man or Minority Report.
 
I picked up the Kinect because I was hoping to get a fancy remote for my 360 and was a little let down by the lack of Netflix and streaming support but to much of a surprise I find the games to be fun. Kinect Adventures and Dance Central are both a blast and can not wait to see where the tech can be a year from now with controller hybrid games could be a lot of potential. My main complaint is that it did not come with a HD camera... I mean seriously 640x480 camera is extremely weak exspecilly for the $150 price tag, It should have at least came with a 720p camera. So if you're looking at the Kinect for a fancy remote I would wait on it to get more support but the games are pretty solid for a launch product and if you are interested in the games then I would defiantly get one.

Ahh bummer, this is what I was waiting for. At E3 they clearly showed navigation through the 360 menus through kinect. Can you at least control Windows Media Center?
 
Ahh bummer, this is what I was waiting for. At E3 they clearly showed navigation through the 360 menus through kinect. Can you at least control Windows Media Center?

What was shown at E3 is what you can do. Its called the Kinect Hub. Its a seperate UI that is launched from the main 360 dashboard. You do this 2 ways..

1. Wave your hand (Kinect does a facial scan to recognize you, sign you into Live and load the Kinect Hub)
2. Say "Xbox Kinect" (Kinect does a facial scan to recognize you, sign you into Live and load the Kinect Hub)

Once in the hub there are 3 menus "pages", you default to #2 (the middle one). On this menu you can launch your game, access other content. You can swipe left to access your friends list, configure Kinect or Kinect ID and other setup tasks. Swiping right lets you launch Last.fm, Zune video/music and other stuff.

As it stands, Kinect voice & gesture navigation is limited to the 3 menu Hub. Though not official, Netflix support is rumored to be in the pipe. I'm unsure if Kinect can be patched to work in Media Center but sign me up if so. I used MC daily for streaming content and would love for that.

As it stands the voice/gesture control works great, but feels a little constrained. However MS has a pretty good track record of patching the features and dashboard on a bi-annual basis so I would expect some kind of large updates for the Kinect Hub sometime between now and the Spring update. Its very solid for a launch window, and isn't a disappointment.
 
What was shown at E3 is what you can do. Its called the Kinect Hub. Its a seperate UI that is launched from the main 360 dashboard. You do this 2 ways..

1. Wave your hand (Kinect does a facial scan to recognize you, sign you into Live and load the Kinect Hub)
2. Say "Xbox Kinect" (Kinect does a facial scan to recognize you, sign you into Live and load the Kinect Hub)

Once in the hub there are 3 menus "pages", you default to #2 (the middle one). On this menu you can launch your game, access other content. You can swipe left to access your friends list, configure Kinect or Kinect ID and other setup tasks. Swiping right lets you launch Last.fm, Zune video/music and other stuff.

As it stands, Kinect voice & gesture navigation is limited to the 3 menu Hub. Though not official, Netflix support is rumored to be in the pipe. I'm unsure if Kinect can be patched to work in Media Center but sign me up if so. I used MC daily for streaming content and would love for that.

As it stands the voice/gesture control works great, but feels a little constrained. However MS has a pretty good track record of patching the features and dashboard on a bi-annual basis so I would expect some kind of large updates for the Kinect Hub sometime between now and the Spring update. Its very solid for a launch window, and isn't a disappointment.

yeah I really don't think people want to wait 6 months though... right now there is way too much swapping between the controller and kinect. what is the point for sslloowwllyy plodding though with kinect if you end up picking up the controller anyway? I was expecting to turn on the xbox and just control some media watching though motion and voice commands, this is definitely not the case. the full dashboard shuld be available in kinect, not a tiny constrained area that rarely shows me what I want.
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yeah I really don't think people want to wait 6 months though... right now there is way too much swapping between the controller and kinect. what is the point for sslloowwllyy plodding though with kinect if you end up picking up the controller anyway? I was expecting to turn on the xbox and just control some media watching though motion and voice commands, this is definitely not the case. the full dashboard shuld be available in kinect, not a tiny constrained area that rarely shows me what I want.
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I agree, but it seems MS's software engineers do not.

My best guess? Is that MS is marketing the Kinect launch as a casual device, "You are the controller." Part of this means heavily pushing this, if only at the beginning. If Kinect was initially aimed at core, existing Xbox owners (instead of targeting a new market of non Xbox owners) I could see MS making Kinect work better with the existing dashboard, if even only in some kind of 'hybrid' way.

However it seems the focus here is bringing new consumers to the brand, and doing so using the idea that you do not 'need' a controller. So from a functional standpoint, MS needs some kind of interface that is 100% Kinect/gesture oriented and that doesn't require a user to pickup a controller. I can confirm this is how I've been using the 360 since I got my Kinect. But I haven't used Netflix, so if I wanted to I would need a controller.. for now.

But MS is able to get this point across in adversing and it stays true after booting the device. I agree that waiting 6 months would fucking blow, but how often do we get significant updates between dash updates? I don't need full dash/Kinect integration but I would kill for Netflix/Media Center right now. However, I can accept what we have today as a launch platform and something that can be built upon.

Usually I would be more cynical, however I can base my judgement on the path the 360 has taken since its launch in 2005, the archaic blades, NXE and tons of features added in between. Certainly what we have today with Kinect, gesture and voice control is only a tip of the iceberg, I think we can all agree we'll probably see some cool additions over time. As to what those entail, shit if I know lol.
 
The poll needed a "No, we already own a Wii" option....I would fit into that category.

If it wasn't for the Homebrew Channel (especially emulators) I would never turn the Wii on. 360 and Ps3 get equal play time in our house.

From a games standpoint - I'm more impressed by Move, but I have 0 desire to buy either. My daughter may want Kinectimals and/or EyePet like there's no tomorrow, but...no. The game I found myself most interested in playing would be Sorcery (Move)...IMHO the Kinect stuff they've shown thus far does not interest me in the least, and TBH - the rest of the Move stuff fits into the same category. At least the Sorcery game was somewhat different...not a sports pack or a waggle title based on nothing more than waggling.

Move is definitely weaker hardware wise (and tech wise) than the Kinect, but again - from a games standpoint (and that's all that counts), Move > Kinect for me so far.

If we didn't already own and get bored with the Wii.....I'd probably go with the Move, but I'd wait at least 6-9 months to see what other games come out for either before buying.
 
zero, you have to see and play it in person to see what kinect has to offer. Its not for us hardcore gamers, i dont want to fool you there, its very casual, but its perfect for parties and family time, by far. When i had my wii, my wife and son rarely ever played it, too complicated. The kinect is as simple as jumping in and playing. When i bought the kinect i got it for my son and the nieces and nephews, this is being played more then when i first bought the wii.
 
It's like I'm reading posts about the Wii from 2006.

You know what, you could be right. But the graphics are far better than the wii. Only time and the creativity of the developers is the deciding factor of the kinect. What it has to offer with controller less gaming speaks a lot, and the simplicity of it all is its selling point.
 
It's a budget thing really. I have a wife and kids and they would love it but it's more money than I want to spend right now.

And my xbox isn't by my TV, it's on the side. So i'd need one hell of an extension cable.
 
It's a budget thing really. I have a wife and kids and they would love it but it's more money than I want to spend right now.

And my xbox isn't by my TV, it's on the side. So i'd need one hell of an extension cable.

How long? The default cable is pretty long.. something like 6-7 feet
 
You know what, you could be right. But the graphics are far better than the wii. Only time and the creativity of the developers is the deciding factor of the kinect. What it has to offer with controller less gaming speaks a lot, and the simplicity of it all is its selling point.

I'd have to disagree with that.

Graphics are on par with the wii. They aren't the graphics that we've come to expect from xbox titles, they're very dumbed down.

I was thinking that maybe it was because of some of the extra processing the 360 has to do to understand the motion controls. With the Wii, the controller does the work -- with the 360, I believe the actual 360 does a bunch of the processing.


With the wii, you've got quite a few more input options than you do with kinect. You've got all the directions from both motion controllers, plus all the buttons on the controller. With Kinect, you've got your limbs + a direction.

When it comes down to it, you're still "pushing a button" with kinect, just like the wii. And I don't think that'll ever change. Games like bowling or ping pong -- maybe some fighting games -- they're great with 1 to 1 controls. Anything else, your movements will have to initiate an action, and the end user will interprit this as input lag.

For example -- I'm playing a track and field game. I'm running and come to a hurdle that I need to jump. There's very few people who are going to do a standing jump that would clear the hurdle, so when you jump, it triggers the "character jump" action, the same as pushing the x button.

It's a great system -- I'm enjoying mine, and I'd highly recommend it. I just don't think it's a "wii killer" and that it's going be the only controller we'll ever need. Games are going to be casual and fun, but they're always going to end up doing something automatically -- such as the braking and gas in Joy Ride.
 
I'd have to disagree with that.

Graphics are on par with the wii. They aren't the graphics that we've come to expect from xbox titles, they're very dumbed down.
You've obviously not played Kinectimals, it's easily one of the best looking titles on the 360.
 
zero, you have to see and play it in person to see what kinect has to offer. Its not for us hardcore gamers, i dont want to fool you there, its very casual, but its perfect for parties and family time, by far. When i had my wii, my wife and son rarely ever played it, too complicated. The kinect is as simple as jumping in and playing. When i bought the kinect i got it for my son and the nieces and nephews, this is being played more then when i first bought the wii.

I get the gist of it really. ;) I follow e3 in ridiculous ways, so I mean I've seen what they've shown. They've pimped the hell out of it on tv commercials, I've seen all of those as well.

In our case, the Wii isn't too complicated. My wife's been a gamer since the Playstation era; my daughter will be 6 and she has no trouble at all with the Wii (but her favorite games would be playing Fat Princess and Castle Crashers especially when she gets to play with me). ;)

Again, I definitely applaud the tech behind Kinect; it's impressive. Way more impressive than the alternatives. My biggest beef with the platform though is it's so far (IMHO at least) a re-tread of the lifespan of the Wii. Granted, I haven't seen a rafting game for the Wii yet, but otherwise....the general gist is pretty similar. I know the Kinect has the facial recognition stuff (which impresses me, again, on the tech side), and you have to do whole body movement sometimes, you're not doing arms only.... still though, at the end of the day, it's still similar to me.

The second beef I have is that it's expensive. Move undercut them by a good margin and I would be more apt to buy a Move on impulse than a Kinect purely because the Move is half the price (I believe), but not counting a [strike=]Nunchuck[/s] :D navigation controller. And again, game wise I'm most interested in playing Sorcery. I'm curious what they add, Move-wise, to Heavy Rain, but granted I haven't picked that game up yet anyway (though it's on my "buy next" list along with Uncharted 2....yes, I'm quite behind the times on owning newer console games since I've migrated more towards the PC side).

Just my thoughts though, I'm sure both will sell like hotcakes. I just hope the next generation of consoles still have controllers and don't put all their eggs into the motion gaming basket, because I really don't have interest in it on a long-term basis. The Wii is a novelty console, it fits a niche very well...but I'll be damned if I want the neXt box and the Ps4 to forego Gears of War 4 and God of War 4 in favor of....another Ubisoft Rabbids game. :p
 
How long? The default cable is pretty long.. something like 6-7 feet

15 feet ought to do it. I'm actually using a projector. So all my components are above my fireplace and wired up to the projector through the ceiling. I ran into the same issue with the Wii but luckily there are wireless sensor bars.
 
15 feet ought to do it. I'm actually using a projector. So all my components are above my fireplace and wired up to the projector through the ceiling. I ran into the same issue with the Wii but luckily there are wireless sensor bars.

If you already have a 360 and are buying the stand alone Kinect unit (+game) it comes with a cable that has USB (that goes into the 360) and AC power (to the wall). In theory you can just buy a USB cable long enough to extend the existing one.

It gets tricky if you buy a newer Slim 360, bundled with Kinect. In those cases, you only need 1 cable for both power/data and the bundle doesn't come with the usb/AC one (just a propriatary cable). Extended cables for that one are expensive, so as long as you get the standalone unit with USB/AC you should be able to buy a long USB cable on the cheap to reach your projector.
 
I have a question, if, like me, you have limited mobility with your hands/arms are you screwed?
 
I have a question, if, like me, you have limited mobility with your hands/arms are you screwed?

you need to raise your arms above your head and straight out to your sides for various games. also your elbows need to work because you need to pull your forearm into your chest in some games. it never cares what your hands are doing though.
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I have a question, if, like me, you have limited mobility with your hands/arms are you screwed?

Can you explain any better? I will give you an honest response.

For the most part, the skeletal tracking is fairly accurate, so that means the games have the ability to 'really' track the entire body... and the space around you (key). Most of the games I'm playing not only require full body movement, they require you to actually be moving around in a 3D space to compete.

And thats on Easy.

When you get into higher difficulties of the games, fast, full body reflexes coupled with actually dodging and moving all over the 3D space are required to even want to compete. The AI in Kinect Sports for example is near impossible to beat on the harder 2 difficulties unless you are pretty athletic, fast and can extend your arms/leap at the same time.
 
Add me to the list that has one and loves it. My only complaint, as others have mentioned, is the preferred distance. In the entertainment room I have exactly 6 feet from the TV to the couch. I'm in the considered good area for one player, but really need an additional foot for best (2 players).
I wasn't too fond of the price, but at the same time I sold my wii collecting dust on CL to cover it and a few games to start.
My main complaint with the wii was the graphics and controller cost. I'm really encouraged where this technology will go especially how polished the product is on launch.
As others have pointed out I'm looking forward to the implementation across multiple apps (netflix and etc).
 
the kinect in my house got moved from a spot in front of the tv to a wall mount above the tv and back further. it works much more reliably in this position compared to looking at everyone's crotch where it was before. for anyone having distance or side-to-side problems, give this a shot and I think you will be very surprised. it lets the lenses see more of the room and gets less confused at the taller height.

also everyone should go through and do the calibration with the black and white face card. initial setup did *not* prompt for the card at all. with the new placement and calibrations things are working much better.

and now I need to bolt my fish tank stand to the wall, its really bouncing around too much when people are playing :(
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i tried for most of the afternoon setting this thing up, as others have said, this thing needs to be above the tv for optimal performance. i must say i am very impressed by it, i was even impressed without playing any of the games lol. It has huge huge potential and im sure its the way forward in many ways for casual gamers. Id like to see some strategy/tower defense games on kinect. Dance central is very very good, iits not my cup of tea but i reckon it will be the biggest seller this christmas out of all the console casual games.
 
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Yeah, I reckon it's going to be a fight between Kinect Sports and Dance Central, though I reckon Dance Central will win out in the long run through word of mouth.
 
Can you explain any better? I will give you an honest response.

For the most part, the skeletal tracking is fairly accurate, so that means the games have the ability to 'really' track the entire body... and the space around you (key). Most of the games I'm playing not only require full body movement, they require you to actually be moving around in a 3D space to compete.

And thats on Easy.

When you get into higher difficulties of the games, fast, full body reflexes coupled with actually dodging and moving all over the 3D space are required to even want to compete. The AI in Kinect Sports for example is near impossible to beat on the harder 2 difficulties unless you are pretty athletic, fast and can extend your arms/leap at the same time.

This is me:
SUNP0054.jpg

I can't move my arms very high or out to the side.
 
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