The Day the Gaming Industry Died: Kinect

It's not massively surprising. So much of E3 is aimed at the mainstream press these days that we're bound to be disappointed by a lot of it.

I find GDC more interesting, as well as Leipzig (though that's now gone).
 
THIS article, which was linked to in the article posted by the OP, is just ridiculous. I mean - *gasp* - whoddathunkit that after selling a bunch of consoles and games that sales would eventually slow!!?! SAY IT AINT SO!!
 
Sony Move is a straight copy of the Wiimote, we all knew that for a while now. Natha... er, Kinect is an attempt to bring an immature technology into the wrong market. Methinks it's a tech which would be more successful in motion-capturing for games and such, not in feeling completely disconnected from the game one is playing and cursing at the many times the @#$@ thing doesn't respond in time, or at all. I think we all remember the fun that was the EyeToy.
 
Commander FAT said:
Screw Attack is slamming MS for their apparently shitty as fuck press conference.
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The only company that gives worse press conferences than Microsoft is Sony, its amazing. Even with their incredible motion controller from last year it was still perceived as a "loss" because the demonstration was so amateur and done without really convincing people that it was in fact, amazing technology.

I'm so sick of all these amateur hour presentations at CES and E3. Its like Apple and Nintendo are the only companies that give well paced presentations where the speakers seem to know WTF they're talking about, and even Nintendo screwed up the last two E3s.

I'm hoping they pull off a good one in the morning, we'll see.
 
Elledan said:
Sony Move is a straight copy of the Wiimote, we all knew that for a while now.
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I dunno dude, absolute precision to the millimeter is a far cry from random waggling. The Move demo from last year was pretty frigging great, the only tech between the three consoles that has convinced me of good, precise motion control. People are just eating up the Natal BS though, but I guess that's credit to Microsoft and their ginormous marketing budget.
 
Elledan said:
Methinks it's a tech which would be more successful in motion-capturing for games and such, not in feeling completely disconnected from the game one is playing and cursing at the many times the @#$@ thing doesn't respond in time, or at all. I think we all remember the fun that was the EyeToy.
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The problem is that with out any sort of feedback, it won't work. There isn't any sort of sense you doing anything other than flail around.

The Star Wars game made it look like the guy on screen was doing exactly what the operator was doing, but I don't think it would be any more immersive than pressing X. This is one of the problems I have with motion controls. Even games that do it well, tend to not do it convincingly.

I guess the big flaw I see with things like Kinect that wasn't such a bother with the Wii and Sony's Ripoff, is that you can play the game without moving furniture first.


And to be honest, I don't like waving at my neighbors. So I'm not really sure why I would enjoy a game where I wave at my X-Box for a few hours.
 
Heres my problem with Natal or Kinect or whatever its called -- I can't think of any genre of video game that would work well with this system. RTS, FPS, Roleplaying. Maybe I'm not being imaginative enough? I grant that the technology is cool, and impressive, but how well is it going to translate into gaming?

That video demo where they showed the kid holding his hands up as if he had a steering wheel and was driving the car? Dumbest thing I ever saw. Who's going to want to play like that. I don't want to hold an imaginary pistol, and pull an imaginary trigger.

Seriously, how is this going to improve gaming? I can see a few minor uses for it, but color me skeptical. I don't see the use just yet.
 
Its not going to improve gaming. They just want some of the casual koolaid(money) that nintendo has been rolling in. I would do the same thing, those dance / fitness games will sell. We are just not the audience.
 
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snaggletooth said:
Kinect would work best as an interface for my PC's desktop.
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I'm not entirely sure of that, honestly. I can't imagine it would be much better than our current input devices. If I had to hold my arms up all day when working with my computer, I'd get physically tired pretty fast.

With a mouse, I move my hand an inch or two (tops) for full motion over my two monitors. With this, I'd have to be moving my arms significantly more, WHILE holding them up in the air. Hold your arms up in the air in front of your monitor for 2 minutes straight, and see how it feels. Now imagine that for 8 hours straight.
 
Direwolf20 said:
Heres my problem with Natal or Kinect or whatever its called -- I can't think of any genre of video game that would work well with this system. RTS, FPS, Roleplaying. Maybe I'm not being imaginative enough? I grant that the technology is cool, and impressive, but how well is it going to translate into gaming?

That video demo where they showed the kid holding his hands up as if he had a steering wheel and was driving the car? Dumbest thing I ever saw. Who's going to want to play like that. I don't want to hold an imaginary pistol, and pull an imaginary trigger.

Seriously, how is this going to improve gaming? I can see a few minor uses for it, but color me skeptical. I don't see the use just yet.
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Sporting games are the only real viable game I believe.
 
party games galore, i cant see any hardcore games being made, or i suppose it will get integrated somehow with gears 3 but using the 360 pad for 99% of the game
 
CryingGod said:
Sporting games are the only real viable game I believe.
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Well, I still think you'll need some kind of remote to move your character. You can only move so far to the 'left' before you'll either A) Walk into a wall, or B) Move out of the 'field of vision' of the camera. Same for any direction, really.

So lets say you're playing Tennis, and you want your character to move further to the right than your camera can see. What do you do?
 
Fuck all this stupid motion control bullshit. Give me a hardware upgrade in your consoles and make some decent games. Can you imagine what kind of gpu's we'd have in these consoles if they put the kind of R&D into hardware upgrades as they did in this natal/move bullshit?
 
I think theres a lot of potential for the tech, especially if used in conjunction with more traditional input modalities. Take how newer gamers tend to act when they pick up a remote; its not unusual to see your younger sibling moving their body left or right when they try to steer in mario kart, etc. Incorporating your body movements into gameplay is a natural phenomenon - we mature gamers have simply taught ourselves to ignore the impulse.

At the end of the day, purchasing natal is the user's choice. Every current game in the 360's library will still be every bit as compatible as it ever was, and I'm sure the majority of new games released won't require kinect. So if you truly think that natal is a gimmick, simply ignore it and keep on gaming.
 
Direwolf20 said:
I'm not entirely sure of that, honestly. I can't imagine it would be much better than our current input devices. If I had to hold my arms up all day when working with my computer, I'd get physically tired pretty fast.

With a mouse, I move my hand an inch or two (tops) for full motion over my two monitors. With this, I'd have to be moving my arms significantly more, WHILE holding them up in the air. Hold your arms up in the air in front of your monitor for 2 minutes straight, and see how it feels. Now imagine that for 8 hours straight.
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I'll be more specific since I agree with your point. I'm interfacing with my PC, which is connected to my 47" HDTV, from my living room couch. I don't want extra keyboards/mice on my living room coffee table. My workstation (which the same PC is also connected to) already has 2 sets which I use for my FPS gaming and actual work.

Kinect wont be replacing a mouse/keyboard any time soon, but when I switch displays and sit down in my Playseat Evo (which resides directly in front of my big screen) for some Need For Speed Shift/GTR2 action, I'd really enjoy setting everything up with gestures as opposed to fumbling with mouse/keyboard/Xbox360 controller/G25 buttons. I was very impressed with the menu navigations in the Forza 4 Kinect demo.

Another example: I usually pull up an online pizza menu on the big screen when I have friends over for some gaming action. It might just be a simple party trick but website navigation with a Kinect type of interface would work very well for me in a living room setting. You know, not really doing anything important, just showing friends stuff on Youtube or something else quick and easy on the big screen. Having everyone huddle around a workstation sucks.
 
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snaggletooth said:
I'll be more specific since I agree with your point. I'm interfacing with my PC, which is connected to my 47" HDTV, from my living room couch. I don't want extra keyboards/mice on my living room coffee table. My workstation (which the same PC is also connected to) already has 2 sets which I use for my FPS gaming and actual work.

Kinect wont be replacing a mouse/keyboard any time soon, but when I switch displays and sit down in my Playseat Evo which resides directly in front of my big screen for some Need For Speed Shift/GTR2 action, I'd really enjoy setting everything up with gestures as opposed to mouse/keyboard/Xbox360 controller/G25 buttons. I was very impressed with the menu navigations in the Forza 4 Kinect demo.

Another example: I usually pull up an online pizza menu on the big screen when I have friends over. It might just be a simple party trick but website navigation with a Kinect type of interface would work very well for me in a living room setting.
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First practical use for this thing I have heard of!
 
Looks like their will be plenty of Kintecs available given the amount of bitching im hearing here.... :rolleyes:
 
snaggletooth said:
I'll be more specific since I agree with your point. I'm interfacing with my PC, which is connected to my 47" HDTV, from my living room couch. I don't want extra keyboards/mice on my living room coffee table. My workstation (which the same PC is also connected to) already has 2 sets which I use for my FPS gaming and actual work.

Kinect wont be replacing a mouse/keyboard any time soon, but when I switch displays and sit down in my Playseat Evo (which resides directly in front of my big screen) for some Need For Speed Shift/GTR2 action, I'd really enjoy setting everything up with gestures as opposed to fumbling with mouse/keyboard/Xbox360 controller/G25 buttons. I was very impressed with the menu navigations in the Forza 4 Kinect demo.

Another example: I usually pull up an online pizza menu on the big screen when I have friends over for some gaming action. It might just be a simple party trick but website navigation with a Kinect type of interface would work very well for me in a living room setting. You know, not really doing anything important, just showing friends stuff on Youtube or something else quick and easy on the big screen. Having everyone huddle around a workstation sucks.
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What you describe sounds like a useful application. Just FYI, logitech makes a wireless keyboard/trackpad in one device that really improves the usability of the PS3 browser. I use it frequently to pull up youtube, pandora, etc when I have people over
 
Yeah, I've looked at the device you're mentioning. I've actually come close to buying... but I'll keep managing right now with my keyboard and mouse from across the room. Thankfully, my eyesight is still up to par and 'across the room' isn't any more than 10'. :D

I just have so many PS3 Controllers/Xbox360 Controllers/Wheels/Pedals/Shifters/Keyboards/Mice/Rock Band Toys/etc etc. I don't want anything else in my living room.

I'm looking forward to a solid implementation of Kinect for the PC. Move doesn't really interest me for this purpose... more stuff to finagle.
 
arr4ws said:
http://screwattack.com/videos/Exclusive-Microsoft-Press-Conference-Recap
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emot-worship.gif
Thank you Stuttering Craig
emot-worship.gif

Couldn't have said it better myself.
 
so i'm a lil confused on something, does this mean that you have to buy the new Slimed-Down Xbox360 in order to use kinect, or can any of the xbox consoles use it ?
 
Direwolf20 said:
I can't think of any genre of video game that would work well with this system. RTS, FPS, Roleplaying. Maybe I'm not being imaginative enough? I grant that the technology is cool, and impressive, but how well is it going to translate into gaming?
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I can see it for an RTS. But it wouldn't be anything that couldn't be done with a mouse or controller.
 
xenios said:
Its not going to improve gaming. They just want some of the casual koolaid(money) that nintendo has been rolling in. I would do the same thing, those dance / fitness games will sell. We are just not the audience.
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Bingo!

Just because there is a motion controller doesn't mean you have to use it. It doesn't mean that you lose all kinds of controller based games. It's for a different market entirely. Those bitching about it don't realize this product was not made for you. It is not marketed towards you. For you nothing has changed. You have the same console and the same types of games you've been playing.
 
AnAngelsDeath said:
so i'm a lil confused on something, does this mean that you have to buy the new Slimed-Down Xbox360 in order to use kinect, or can any of the xbox consoles use it ?
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Any can use it, older non slim consoles use a special cable and a dedicated power supply to the Kinect unit whereas the Kinect plugs right into a slim and gets its power from it and doesn't need an external power source.

Archer75 said:
Bingo!

Just because there is a motion controller doesn't mean you have to use it. It doesn't mean that you lose all kinds of controller based games. It's for a different market entirely. Those bitching about it don't realize this product was not made for you. It is not marketed towards you. For you nothing has changed. You have the same console and the same types of games you've been playing.
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I think the issue most people have (on the complaining side) is that in a 90 minute E3 showcase, a good 60 minutes were spent on Kinect. Either there's more multiplatform titles than everyone thinks there are at this point, or they (MS) really don't have much to show this year. I would have thought console exclusives (Gears 3, Halo: Reach, and Fable 3) would have gotten more than a couple minutes of play or videos and a couple sentences. I know they have a lot to show in a short amount of time, but it's still disappointing to me. All of those games are exclusives, franchise sequels and those franchises have sold the console over the last few years; instead of putting more buzz and showcase into those titles, they're really devoting way too much time to a product that already has cheaper competition and therefore will be a tough sell.

Maybe they pulled a Nintendo the last few years and said "the hell with the hardcore/dedicated/lifelong gamer, we've already got their $$$, let's focus only on the newbies", but either way I'm still pretty shocked and disappointed that they spent that much time on Kinect.
 
zero2dash said:
Maybe they pulled a Nintendo the last few years and said "the hell with the hardcore/dedicated/lifelong gamer, we've already got their $$$, let's focus only on the newbies", but either way I'm still pretty shocked and disappointed that they spent that much time on Kinect.
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That's probably correct. I don't blame them though. All the other hardcore games are covered everywhere. Talked about everywhere. All more of the same and most people are happy with that. Time to go after a new market.
Even if they showed off 4 new shooters they are still shooters.
 
And here sit the PC gamers, pointing and laughing at the console industry all now trying to copy the failure that is the Wii. SC2 and Diablo 3 alone constitute a much brighter future for the PC gaming market than everything I've seen at E3. These companies have all bumped their heads and forgotten that they aren't Fisher Price, at least Blizzard still develops actual games.
 
krameriffic said:
And here sit the PC gamers, pointing and laughing at the console industry all now trying to copy the failure that is the Wii. SC2 and Diablo 3 alone constitute a much brighter future for the PC gaming market than everything I've seen at E3. These companies have all bumped their heads and forgotten that they aren't Fisher Price, at least Blizzard still develops actual games.
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The Wii has been a huge success. Like it or not it's selling like crazy. I don't know that i'd call it a failure. PC gaming is on the decline. I don't like it as i'm a PC gamer but I understand it.
 
I'll give it a chance. Like others have said, I don't know how well it will actually work though due to not having any sort of tacticle feedback. The Wii works well when the developers actually think out the control scheme and don't just add motion controls for the hell of it (which a LOT of Wii games tend to do).

I don't see many hardcore type of games made for the Kinect though. It's probably going to be limited to workout, racing and casual party type of games.

krameriffic said:
And here sit the PC gamers, pointing and laughing at the console industry all now trying to copy the failure that is the Wii.
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uhhh, the Wii has sold more than 70 million consoles since it's release... I wouldn't call that a failure.
 
I apologize if this comes across snarky, but maybe companies like Nintendo/MS/Sony would spend more on "quality games" as you like to say if you would stop bitching about the price and actually buy them. No matter what, they are out to make money. If you don't give them that money and thus guide their direction they will tell you to bugger off and find a direction that does.
 
Archer75 said:
PC gaming is on the decline. I don't like it as i'm a PC gamer but I understand it.
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It is now (and has been for awhile), but in all honesty - I wouldn't be surprised if PC gaming picks up and actually starts an upward trend, especially if MS and Sony decide to really push Kinect and Move, two things that most non-casual gamers don't want.

PC gaming is like the last bastion of pure gaming IMHO - sure it may cost a bit more because you may need to buy a new gpu to stay on the curve, but then again you don't get much farther than either KB+M or some controller play; leave your motion controls at the door. :) For that reason, I will always love PC gaming.

Besides that, people say "PC gaming is dying" but I point you to the piddly PC gaming that can be done on any PC regardless of specs, and that would be shit like Farmville. Consoles may have web browsers, but Flash runs like crap on them (if you can get it to run instead of giving you an error about updating your Flash :D). All 3 console companies could go full bore 100% motion control gaming tomorrow, and I honestly wouldn't care too much. I'd miss Gears, God of War and Uncharted, but I'd still have Valve, Portal, TF2 and HL to keep me company at night. (as well as plenty others like Audiosurf and Beat Hazard)
 
zero2dash said:
It is now (and has been for awhile), but in all honesty - I wouldn't be surprised if PC gaming picks up and actually starts an upward trend, especially if MS and Sony decide to really push Kinect and Move, two things that most non-casual gamers don't want.

PC gaming is like the last bastion of pure gaming IMHO - sure it may cost a bit more because you may need to buy a new gpu to stay on the curve, but then again you don't get much farther than either KB+M or some controller play; leave your motion controls at the door. :) For that reason, I will always love PC gaming.

Besides that, people say "PC gaming is dying" but I point you to the piddly PC gaming that can be done on any PC regardless of specs, and that would be shit like Farmville. Consoles may have web browsers, but Flash runs like crap on them (if you can get it to run instead of giving you an error about updating your Flash :D). All 3 console companies could go full bore 100% motion control gaming tomorrow, and I honestly wouldn't care too much. I'd miss Gears, God of War and Uncharted, but I'd still have Valve, Portal, TF2 and HL to keep me company at night. (as well as plenty others like Audiosurf and Beat Hazard)
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Gaming in terms of flash games, yeah. Games on the ipad/iphone/android, yeah, that I can see.
PC titles I just don't see gaining traction. I always felt that FPS games are better on the PC but they've taken over on the console. Seems i'm in the minority. MMO's keep people on the PC and I think that may be it's only saving grace.
 
That guy is a moron and a typical contrarian, what a joke of an article. Microsoft Games Division is not in the red by a long shot. Second of all, it's for casual gamers, and there were plenty of exciting games at E3 this year.

Also, in regards to the Xbox Voice, he also doesn't know what he's talking about either. Their new software has really damn good voice detection. On your profile it will only respond to your voice, what a fucking idiot. It's a gaming device, all games have sound, by his logic Kinect wouldn't work with your sound on your TV.
 
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