Kinect user discussion thread

This was my concern. I only have a 32" TV, so I'm not sure how much I'm going to like playing games 8' away from my TV

 

Try a 24" screen So far the games have been very easy to play, because the characters are very large. It's not like trying to play a shooter where you need to be able to see changes in small groups of pixels to recognize distant enemies. I think with a 32" screen, you'd be good to go. A large screen would definitely be nice.

 

I have quite a few skinned knuckles from volleyball...

Thanks, there were a few 80 hour weeks involved at one point, but seeing it work and people actually use it makes it worth it. I have driven some of my co-workers completely nuts by doing things like running calibration 500 times in a row. Just be glad we didn't stick with the tones MSR wanted us to use.

I don't think it will make allowances for armless folks .

One of my friends claims that 20000 leaks is essentially 3D twister.

I've played a couple of sessions of Your Shape now, and I'm enjoying it. It has everything from MMA like games to Tai Chi, as well as exercise programs. I'd have liked a more integrated approach, so I could put together a workout regime and it would just pick exercises to get me to my goals, but it's a little more granular, you have to pick each exercise set you want to do. (Beware, don't tell it you want "toning" unless you really love squats, my thighs still hurt...). I haven't found an option for "I want to be able to see my abs again", although I suspect the "Post pregnancy toning" might be it

The menus are easy to use, the game is executed very well. My only issues with it are the non-integrated workout system, and that it gets very finicky about how you do an exercise. I often feel that I've done a motion exactly right and it won't credit me. This is especially prevalent in the Tai Chi workout.

 

EA Sports Active 2 is something I'm looking forward to, except for the price. I wish you could buy it without the heart monitor. The EA MMA trainer from THQ might be pretty cool when its out.

bkillian, please use all of your connections to make a boxing sim happen. Even if it just has basic footwork to step side to side, and distance is controlled for you. I just want blocking that's a bit more sophisticated, and head tracking so you can slip or bob and weave. The punching in Kinect Sports boxing is actually very good. The only thing I didn't like how it handled really fast punches. Fighting against Robert, I was throwing deliberate shots, and one twos. Robert and his girlfriend were throwing really fast combinations, which is cool that it actually picked it up, but on my screen it just looked like their boxer was waving his gloves around, or pawing the air, and it was almost impossible to tell if the punches were high or low. It just looked like they had their hands out in front of them, grasping at air, like a zombiefied molester with boxing gloves on. Maybe that had something to do with the net code, not being able to sync so many movements perfectly. Haven't fought against another person on a local machine.

 

Heh, try having a chandelier hanging over your head. I think the poor chandelier might have objections to me buying Kinect Sports.

That's what I was afraid of and one of the reasons I was planning on picking up EA Sports Active 2.0. It seems to be a little more serious about fitness programs (workout regimens, etc.) and whatnot. While Your Shape seems to be a bit more of a relaxed/casual fitness program, which isn't to say that it won't make me sweat like a pig.

I was hoping Tai Chi would be very strict with matching poses and movements so that's encouraging. I've always wanted to do Tai Chi but didn't want to pay to learn it from someone and Tai Chi video's don't let you know if you are doing it correctly.

Sigh, another hour-ish before I can try it.

Regards,
SB

 

OK, bkilian is right. Your Shape is a butt kicker and it is REALLY evil with squats and squat lunges. No cheating here, it will gleefully tell you if you aren't squatting down far enough. Evil EVIL program.

By the end of my session I was pouring down sweat, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, and my thighs went from burning to turning into masses of jello to finally feeling like unresponsive chunks of wood. I have a feeling my thighs are going to absolutely hate me tomorrow.

I think this is the happiest I've been looking forward to a potential day of pain. I can already tell this is going to do a far better job than WiiFit in getting me into shape.

Regards,
SB

 

Thats ok then. I was wondering if you can tell me if this is Kinect?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7820866.stm

It came from one of the CES shows before E3 and it looks suspiciously like a TV with an Xbox 360 Kinect interface with an early NXE dashboard with an early version of Kinect.

 

Here's my experience.

I ordered the Kinect stand alone unit direct from MS thinking that I didn't want to run all over town to find one. I received it today. One problem, the power adapter must be bad, I couldn't do anything on my 360, kept getting error "kinect sensor has insufficient power." Tried different power sockets, different usb on the 360, nothing. Searched the xbox forums and found others with the same issue, they had to returned and replace their unit. Only problem is, for me returning to MS and replacing would take forever. So I went out and bought a 4GB 360 slim. WTH, quality control MS.

No problem with the slim so it's the power adapter. I'll try to get the adapter replaced sometime with MS.

So far, I've only played some Kinect Sports. Table tennis is great, I would say better than that on Wii sports resort. Mainly because you can move around, just feels more like the real thing. Track and field is kinda dorky, but fun. Boxing is a lot of fun, feels like much more in control of the punches than the Wii version. Though my avatar looks ridiculously stiff in the replays. Beach volleyball is ton of fun also, and fast pace. You can really work up a sweat on Kinect. I didn't like bowling at all, don't feel like I have anywhere near the control I have with even the original Wiisports version. And I didn't try soccer yet.

 

Played again for about 1.5hours tonight. In total darkness (just TV on) with a black full sleeve shirt and pants. The sensor never lost track of me. I was able to play all the games as good as in other light settings. I was impressed by that. A technical limitation, such as having optimal lighting conditions, would really make this not as fun. Like any other good device, it should be ready to perform when YOU are ready and so far, that's exactly what Kinect has been able to do.

I just realized while most people on my friends list are sitting around playing Black Ops, I've been having fun, drenched in sweat and now looking forward to some deep sleep after just having showered clean.

Never thought there would ever be a day like this when I went to pick up my 360 in 2005. It's all good fun when you're playing but it's only afterwards you realize that you managed to play a game, had fun, got a great workout in and can use the same device for many other purposes directly after.

I do hope the sensor does well this holiday season and more importantly, MS can get it's core studios and 3rd parties to pump out good Kinect only experiences.

My workout tonight consisted of:
Kinect Adventures:
1 run through of all Reflex Ridge levels (you can get Platinum medals on this btw)
Kinect Sports:
Too much boxing with breaks in between for table tennis. Also, shadowboxing 3 min rounds in the living room after each TT tennis to keep the sweat going. I really wish there was a heavy bag mini game in Kinect Sports. That would have been perfect.

For those with Your Shape. Is there an option for high intensity workouts? Is EA active known for such?

 

They may well have enjoyed themselves and be dripping in sweat too

Nice impressions BTW

 

EA Active is actually a pretty good workout. It never really stops. It had lots of obstacle course cardio that was mostly squats and lunges in various forms in combination with jumping. Squat jumps are brutal when you do them over and over and over again. It also had a number of different shadow boxing type games or activity games that tried to mimic sports movements. As long as they do a good job of tailoring Active 2 to connect, it'll be killer.

I'm still sore from boxing two nights ago. After we finished playing, I went back and tried to beat the CPU on the champion setting. I got a little too excited about it and I was loading up on right hands like my life depended on it, and there are still some sore spots lingering.

Tonight I'm going to try out Adventures and probably do some more sports, but only after I've done my medicine ball stuff. I don't want to tire myself out before I get to that.

Oh, and another comment about Kinect, in general. When this thing came out, the first thing that went through most people's minds, myself included, was whether you could use it for RTS games or for doing things like hand gestures in first person shooters. After playing with this thing, those types of games are furthest from my mind when thinking about Kinect. They'd still be cool, if they could work, but the real fun is in getting up and doing something with your entire body.

 

That's the thing that drew me to Kinect. I haven't bought a game for my 360 since Bioshock (when it launched). And even then, I didn't like playing it that way, hate console controllers, so I finished it on the PC. This kind of gaming, and Wii gaming, perfectly supplements my preference for PC gaming.

 

Well I will tell you this much. I've only had one game, but using ENDWAR voice commands with Kinect sure was nice. You do have to speak up, but nice surprise to see it does work.

 

I always wanted to try Endwar and thought that style of RTS would be the best approach for connect, using the voice commands and the motion control to manipulate the camera. Does Endwar actually work well with voice commands, and how reliant is it still on buttons?

 

Just to be clear, motion does not work of course, but you can give orders and requests using Kinect. I have not had the chance to go through a full game using it. Just happended to be in an online game today, and remembered I had Kinect. Took off my head phones and "Bam!" it worked. I ordered extra troops, and directed some units. I will try it offline against the computer later though. I'm really surprised Kinect worked with the game. Apologize if this is considered off topic.

I would also have to agree with everyone else. Boxing with Kinect Sports can get pretty tiring, but is loads of fun for how it works.

 

Oh yeah, I wasn't suggesting the motion control worked in Endwar. I was more curious to know how much had to use the standard gamepad to control the game, if you were using the voice commands.