The hardware in Kinect 2.0 looks to be amazing where is the software to show it off?

[Cyan]

I've never been a great fan of the ideal of motion control in terms inducing a massive change in the way the mainstream games. Full body motion control games will always be niche in my opinion.

But I love Kinect and mostly for its passive functionality, which I hoped will be focused on and expanded.

I wished the XB1 could be programmed so that at the times when my favorite show (this season it was HBO's True Detective) is about to air and it sees me sit down alone with remote in hand it automatically tunes in.

I would like it to register that I am picking up the controller so the last game I played is readied in the background before I say a word or push a button. Making time to play that much faster.

I wouldn't mind if it noticed I have accidentally fallen asleep on the couch and makes attempts to wake me, so I won't have a sore neck in the morning.

Automatically mute sound when it hears ringing or sees I am answering the telephone.

Automatically increases the volume when it hears my mother in law call out my name. LOL.

Automatically pause video or game when it notices someone about to cross my line of sight.

There are a ton of things Kinect can do to add value to a console.

Some excellent points, some are fun too! I can see the potential in you.

Kinect used for rehabilitation of people with multiple sclerosis and other illnesses.


http://www.virtual-reality-rehabilitation.com/

 

[Billy Idol]

There are lots on mobile where the interface required it. Same with DS. It doesn't need to be a completely new game idea, but the game design has to start with the input method and build from there, rather than starting with a game idea and trying to map that onto an input method. In the case of Ryse, it was a combat game set to a Roman story, which Crytek tried to map onto Kinect, which is where they went wrong. Don't start with boxing and try to get boxing working with Kinect; take what Kinect can do well and turn that into a game. This is what indies should give us, I hope.

That's an impossibility as long as it's not technically broken. Human beings can and do make games out of anything, and a flexible input to the versatility of software is going to result in games. Whether they are games people want to play is another question. Let's not forget that Kinect 1 did fabulously well. People did want to wobble about and knock balls around with flailing limbs. That fad may be over, but Kinect is not limited to those experiences - it's just no-one's innovating with what else is possible.

Well, it seems that accuracy and lag are an issue, as you already said: it is difficult to give feedback to the player. Furthermore, using your whole body means fatigue, which is uncomfortable. Kinect may not be technically broken...but it has its technical and conceptual issues.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Furthermore, using your whole body means fatigue, which is uncomfortable.

That just proves my point. How people think about this thing is competely wrong. It doesn't have to be standing up full body movement, but as long as the devs, who are core gamers, think like you and the other core gamers who see Kinect as a stand-up waggle-fest, we can't rely on them to forge new ground.

 

[DrJay24]

I think sitting is preferred sometimes. I read that Kinect Rivals rock climbing doesn't work well standing because your hands can go out of view.

 

[Billy Idol]

That just proves my point. How people think about this thing is competely wrong. It doesn't have to be standing up full body movement, but as long as the devs, who are core gamers, think like you and the other core gamers who see Kinect as a stand-up waggle-fest, we can't rely on them to forge new ground.

Even if you sit, and just lift your arms...how long can you do this? Or you want devs to use ear-waggle as the input???

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Covered already in the discussion on alternative inputs.

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

So? What's the verdict? Is Kinect Sports Rivals the game that demonstrates the improvements in Kinect2 over Kinect?

The reviews I've read say that it is a vastly improved experience and a very entertaining game although not expected to start the Kinect2 revolution the way Wii Sports did for the Wii.

Has anybody gotten it yet? If not - why not?

And weren't Kinect games discounted on the 360? Looks like Sports Rivals is a full priced game.

 

[Nesh]

So? What's the verdict? Is Kinect Sports Rivals the game that demonstrates the improvements in Kinect2 over Kinect?

The reviews I've read say that it is a vastly improved experience and a very entertaining game although not expected to start the Kinect2 revolution the way Wii Sports did for the Wii.

Has anybody gotten it yet? If not - why not?

And weren't Kinect games discounted on the 360? Looks like Sports Rivals is a full priced game.

Its certainly improved but the problem is the gameplay ideas are saturated and no matter how capable it is, controller free motion controls have their drawbacks in their nature that no one has found a workable solution to them yet.

 

[Cyan]

One of the best uses of Kinect is the 3D scan of your face and body. I hope they implement it in every game that lets you customise your character.

http://www.slashgear.com/kinect-champion-scan-xbox-ones-first-killer-kinect-experience-09324524/

Dragon Age Inquisition, which should allow for great personalisation, for instance, is just going to use the voice commands for Kinect in the X360 and the Xbox One version. Cool, but falls short in my opinion.

I wonder if that's related to the art style of the game.

 

[Cyan]

The author of this article says, among other things, that he believes Kinect failed (again, among other reasons) because "Kinect was Microsoft’s version of Sony’s infatuation with Blu-Ray on PS3. It was a vision imposed on a gaming product for corporate reasons."

I had never shared that feeling when it comes to Kinect, but anyways. It is a very interesting read nonetheless.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/18/welcome-back-xbox-one/?ncid=rss

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I had never shared that feeling when it comes to Kinect, but anyways. It is a very interesting read nonetheless.

Indeed. Blu-ray went into PlayStation to advantage other divisions of Sony. I can't see how including Kinect with Xbox helps any other division of Microsoft.

 

[zed]

It failed primary for the reasons I said on these forums back in 2010

1. Too much lag (most important thing)
2. Not nearly 100% accurate

Kinect2 may of improved those slightly but didnt fix them, for the vast majority of games these 2 things are vital
Also with the kinect2
3. No software at launch shows you MS had no idea how to work around 1&2

I think what happened is back in 2011/12 when they were designing xbone/kinect2, the bigwigs came in (ballmer etc) had a play with kinect2 for half an hour had some laughs and said, hell I havent had this much fun on a console for years, this is gonna be huge. Go with it.

 

[joker454]

The author of this article says, among other things, that he believes Kinect failed (again, among other reasons) because "Kinect was Microsoft’s version of Sony’s infatuation with Blu-Ray on PS3. It was a vision imposed on a gaming product for corporate reasons."

I dunno, I think it had to do more with poor software support. They almost have to treat a pack in like kinect as it's own console launch and flood it with titles specifically for it. Otherwise it ends up becoming like the pack-in paddles were on the Atari 2600, kinda cool on Circus Atari and Warlords but overall not hugely necessary. From my outsider looking in point of view it really appears like there were no where near enough dedicated kinect titles available signaling either developer apathy, developers not knowing what to do with it gaming wise, or some combination of the two.

 

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, biggest problem was lack of good games imo. But I am personally not sure, as stated in another thread a while ago, if this is related to bad hardware...maybe it is not possible to make good kinect games due to the hardware problems (e.g. Lag).

 

[function]

The hardware is fine. Making games that would be at the very, very least innovative and conceptually interesting would not be in any way difficult or even expensive.

But just say, for the sake of argument, that Kinect 2 had been flawless in it's abilities. Which Xbox One Kinect games would have been improved to the point of being killer apps, and driven sales to compete with PS4 during Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April, May?

 

[zed]

The hardware is fine. Making games that would be at the very, very least innovative and conceptually interesting would not be in any way difficult or even expensive.

So why didnt they make these games?
ANSWER: cause the hardware is not fine, its to much lag & inaccurate, which really limits you with what you can do with it.
Party/dancing/fitness stuff etc.

Man, theres still ppl that don't understand this [shock]
You would think with even MS practically giving up on kinect it would dawn on these ppl

 

[wco81]

That and the fact that developers of the most successful games will gross hundreds of millions whether or not they support the Kinect or any other peripheral.

So there was no economic case for it.

 

[function]

So why didnt they make these games?

They didn't make any games. A point that you have - incredibly - missed.

ANSWER: cause the hardware is not fine, its to much lag & inaccurate, which really limits you with what you can do with it.

You would be limited with it for sure, but not all of us would be.

Party/dancing/fitness stuff etc.

Tragically, there are many, many others who share the narrowness and shallowness of your thinking.

Man, theres still ppl that don't understand this [shock]
You would think with even MS practically giving up on kinect it would dawn on these ppl

Keep making those marble rolling games, zed. iOS domination is just around the corner.

 

[function]

That and the fact that developers of the most successful games will gross hundreds of millions whether or not they support the Kinect or any other peripheral.

So there was no economic case for it.

Indeed. The economic case needed to be demonstrated, and MS refused to even attempt to do this.

MS's support of Kinect has been utterly, utterly pathetic. Disgustingly so.

 

[AzBat]

Best game on the original Kinect was Kinect Adventures. And it wasn't a dancing or fitness game. They should have made a sequel but they have since disbanded the developer Good Science Studio.

BTW, another great Kinect game that didn't fit that mold was Kinectimals. They made an updated version with Bears & then branched it off onto Windows Phone, Windows 8, Android & iPhone/iPad with a non-Kinect interface.

Everybody holds up Kinect Sports as the best, but it was mixed. Couldn't believe they greenlighted Kinect Sports Rivals over a Kinect Adventures sequel.

The one thing Microsoft did that I think people don't see is Microsoft did support Kinect in gameplay with the controller on every launch title that MGS published. They relied on 3rd parties to provide launch titles that had the full Kinect interface games like Zumba, Fighter Within & Just Dance. MS did originally have Kinect Sports Rivals planned for launch but delayed it until March. I don't think it would have helped them any by shipping it November/December. Different demographic & all the other games would have overshadowed it. Too bad it don't better in March though.

The technology does in fact work. But I think the people(especially in this forum) that don't think it works haven't actually played with it. Yes, it does have a niche currently. Bad thing is core gamers are not too interested in that niche. Hard to sell that niche to core gamers that only want buy a console for core games, especially at the launch of a new system. MS would have had an easier time later in the system's life when the system is priced more inline with non-core gamers. I think this is why they didn't launch a proper Kinect game at launch. But if they were going to do that they should have had other Kinect game experiences that at least warranted the $100 premium. Otherwise they should have shipped a SKU without it.

Tommy McClain