Kinect user discussion thread

[RobertR1]

I want it, but I don't think my downstairs neighbor would appreciate it.

You can easily put something on the floor to soften your landing and/or learn to land softly (watch your cat do it for tips )

This is really cool stuff. Perfect? Nope but the fact that it does as well as it does is very impressive.

I'm very excited for Childern of Eden now.

 

[eastmen]

I want it, but I don't think my downstairs neighbor would appreciate it.

You could try something like this

http://www.greatmats.com/products/foamspecial.php

we used it for my nephew mainly so he wouldn't hurt him self running around. However it will help reduce the sound and its pretty cheap depending on how much u need.

 

[Rangers]

Yeah wheres the minority report, me flipping through the icons side to side on the dash super fast? Instead it's, move your hand over a static panel, wait till the circle completes...

I can sort of see this being version 1.0, with Minority Report being version 20.0 or something A lot of refinement needed.

You can sort of see, down the road, where so much of this motion control stuff could get combined, become much more sophisticated, along with maybe 3D and who knows what, something progressing toward a holodeck. For starters a much more sophisticated, accurate, HD Kinect would be cool.

 

[Squilliam]

Hey could one of you Kinect people do me a favour? Could you create a new profile whilst hiding your arms behind your back / in your shirt so Kinect cannot see them? I want to know how it would cope with a no arm situation for instance.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The good stuff? No-controller gaming is a better & different experience than waggle. But that also comes from somebody that doesn't own a Wii or played very many games on that system. But I think being able to stand there in front of your TV & see you control your on screen avatar with your body movements is freaking cool.

Very good review! I think your experiences will be the mainstream response and some up what MS were gunning for. Regards the novelty, did you ever play EyeToy? I'm wondering if that intial impact is affected by prior EyeToy experience, if people who used EyeToy still find Kinect as magical. That is, is it really the 3D avatar interface that makes the experience, or the controllerless one? This question goes out to every Kinect user, obviously!

 

[goonergaz]

Very good review! I think your experiences will be the mainstream response and some up what MS were gunning for. Regards the novelty, did you ever play EyeToy? I'm wondering if that intial impact is affected by prior EyeToy experience, if people who used EyeToy still find Kinect as magical. That is, is it really the 3D avatar interface that makes the experience, or the controllerless one? This question goes out to every Kinect user, obviously!

This is key to me, I hear people talk about 'no controller whoop' and think 'but what about eyetoy? have you lived in a cave for 10 years!?'. Looking through the comments it sounds like eyetoy next-gen still (to me) - it has inacuracy, issues with how it's set up and lag. It even has the same menu system of holding you had over a button for X seconds. Don't get me wrong, it sounds better than eyetoy but it also sounds miles off what I expected from the MS reveal...the problem will be how consumers take that (like I've said before, those expecting FPSs to have finger recognition).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

This is key to me, I hear people talk about 'no controller whoop' and think 'but what about eyetoy? have you lived in a cave for 10 years!?'.

In a thread reviewing Kinect, we don't want to go into another "it's Eyetoy" debate. I'm just wanting a reference for opinions regards the novelty of controllerless gaming, to see if there's some correlation between level of impressiveness and amount of prior experience.

 

[goonergaz]

In a thread reviewing Kinect, we don't want to go into another "it's Eyetoy" debate. I'm just wanting a reference for opinions regards the novelty of controllerless gaming, to see if there's some correlation between level of impressiveness and amount of prior experience.

sorry but in my eyes comparision is avoidable - esp. if you've played both...I want to know what makes this worth £130 when I already have the other options already out.

 

[scently]

sorry but in my eyes comparision is avoidable - esp. if you've played both...I want to know what makes this worth £130 when I already have the other options already out.

This is a thread for the Kinect experience, if you want to know what makes it so different from the Eyetoy please head over to the Kinect Tech thread for your answer.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

sorry but in my eyes comparision is avoidable - esp. if you've played both...I want to know what makes this worth £130 when I already have the other options already out.

The title reads "Kinect user discussion thread." It's for users to post their views, and non-users to ask questions about Kinect and these views. Comparing the different motion platforms is a subject of the non-standard gaming interfaces thread. If you want to be convinced to buy Kinect, ask the right questions that'll tell you if it's good value or not. Your post was nothing of the sort; instead it was an expression that Kinect (which you don't own and aren't using) is little more than EyeToy, which neither describes a Kinect user experience, nor asks something of the Kinect users. that sort of comparison serves no constructive purpose in this thread.

 

[AzBat]

Very good review! I think your experiences will be the mainstream response and some up what MS were gunning for. Regards the novelty, did you ever play EyeToy? I'm wondering if that intial impact is affected by prior EyeToy experience, if people who used EyeToy still find Kinect as magical. That is, is it really the 3D avatar interface that makes the experience, or the controllerless one? This question goes out to every Kinect user, obviously!

Thanks. As I've gotten older the more mainstream I've become.

Anyway, it's pretty obvious from my history here I've never been much a PlayStation user. Only experience with EyeToy was at Walmart when it came out, but since then I've had the Live Vision camera and played that free Totem Ball game. Didn't really like that. It was too hard to use. I might go back to it and see if it's any better, but I doubt it. Either way, my from experience Kinect doesn't feel like the EyeToy/Live Vision experience. It feels new & actually more usable.

Tommy McClain

 

[mrcorbo]

I think just the fact that MS is so invested in the success of this platform gives it a boost in stature. You know that it will continue to be supported and that MS will be actively trying to encourage development by third parties to a degree that I don't think Nintendo did with the Wii early on (or perhaps ever), never mind what Sony did with the Eyetoy. Honestly, I think this is as big of a factor in the impact that this device will have as the technology itself.

BTW, try out the demo of Ubisoft's "Your Shape" on the Kinect Adventures disc. The UI is done amazingly well. The menu options float around your avatar on the screen and move with you to maintain their relative positions in the virtual space as you move in real space. The effect is very cool and overall "Your Shape"'s UI is one of the more visually interesting things I've seen in a Kinect game. Things like this are what make me excited to see what we will see in 2nd and 3rd generation titles.

 

[Rangers]

I'm having a hard time having kinect hear me on the voice commands sometimes. Even though I calibrated again. And the wave is still frustratingly difficult too. I almost wonder a little bit if I have a defective unit. Voice for example works but I practically have to yell sometimes. Especially when say watching movie trailers, to do play, pause etc I nearly have to yell.

It needs a lot of work, really far from say an Apple experience. For example just the wave alone is really troublesome, when it should be simple and easy. Especially when you have to do it CONSTANTLY.

OTOH Kinect adventures is pretty fun, and kinect overall feels like it opens up your whole console to a new world.

 

[goonergaz]

The title reads "Kinect user discussion thread." It's for users to post their views, and non-users to ask questions about Kinect and these views. Comparing the different motion platforms is a subject of the non-standard gaming interfaces thread. If you want to be convinced to buy Kinect, ask the right questions that'll tell you if it's good value or not. Your post was nothing of the sort; instead it was an expression that Kinect (which you don't own and aren't using) is little more than EyeToy, which neither describes a Kinect user experience, nor asks something of the Kinect users. that sort of comparison serves no constructive purpose in this thread.

I obviously read your comments re:eyetoy wrongly. Sorry.

Would be great to hear feedback tho, and people 'selling' it that way

 

[RobertR1]

Kinect Sports boxing is too cool. Knocking fools OUT online! Still it's a mini game but the potential for someone to make an incredible boxing game is there. Especially considering Kinect would allow you to move around and fight. If someone thinks it through, it'd be incredible.

The track n field stuff is fun. Didn't try all the sports since I got stuck on boxing.

 

[BadTB25]

The wife finally broke me down.
I got one today at Gamestop. They had 4 stand alone units left, but 2 people in line behind were going to pick them up so that would leave 1 stand alone and 4 4GB Bundles. My local exchange had 2 250GB bundles and no stand alone 4 GB bundles.

I picked up Kinect Sports and Dance Central (last copy) with it, but will have to wait for the wife to get back from the mall for the unboxing. While we were in Gamestop, she played the stop the leak game. She was laughing so much while she was playing it, that I had to get it for her.

I'll post my impressions after we've had a little time with it.

 

[AzBat]

That is, is it really the 3D avatar interface that makes the experience, or the controllerless one? This question goes out to every Kinect user, obviously!

Sorry, but I was running out the door when posted my previous reply & didn't respond to this. It's totally the 3D avatar interface that makes the experience for me. The first time I saw my avatar move on screen when I moved seemed magical.

BTW, took it to my dad's to hook it up to his system. Worked well there even with less 2 feet less room and him sitting in a recliner 2 feet behind me. He didn't want to move anything. It wasn't ideal though & had we used it more than 30 mins I would have insisted clearing more room. Anyway, I don't think he was as near excited as us younger folks. But at least said it was neat. Just not something that he would ever do due to his health. My sisters, brother-in-law and their kids are still buzzing about Kinect. They even tried explaining it to other people today. Considering they're big Wii fans, I think that says something.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

While we were in Gamestop, she played the stop the leak game. She was laughing so much while she was playing it, that I had to get it for her.

That's 20,000 Leaks and it's not too bad. My youngest niece loved it. She thought it was like Finding Nemo and she would spaz out playing it. LOL

Tommy McClain

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Man, I can't get wait for mine to get delivered on Monday. A girlfriend of mine who doesn't see the point in PC games or console games can't wait to try it with me. It's the first time she's ever looked at a console without just dimissing it off-hand. She even ignored the Wii and disparaged people that spent too much time on it. But she seems quite intrigued by Kinect.

Hopefully the experience lives up to what we're seeing and hearing from friends.

Regards,
SB

 

[RobertR1]

If you want a good work out:

Kinect Adventures, obstacle course. Go from the first to the last "champion" level as fast as you can.

The load up Kinect Sports. Do about 10 boxing matches in a row. Then do 10 sprints and 10 hurdles.

Makes for a good sweat and it's fun.