Introducing Kinect: An Eyewitness Account

[News Portal]

Bizarre. Spectacular. Cultish. Epic. Promising. Disappointing. Lightsabers. Kinect.

These are just a few of the words that spring to mind when describing the most bizarre gaming event I've ever attended. Back in my LA hotel room after being press-ganged into a surreal Cirque Du Soleil infomercial, my head is spinning. The launch of [comp=2]Microsoft[/comp]'s Project Natal wasn't quite what anybody expected, and while hard information was thin on the ground, at least we now know its final name – Kinect. Read on for my thoughts on this ... unique evening.

Read full article by Bennett Ring

[Yurtles]

Broadly speaking it sounds like it was an expensive and elaborate naming ceremony with nothing actually much different from what they showed last year.

[Submariner]

Why do I get the feeling that if Kinect comes out, it will cost the same amount as buying a Wii

[F4tal3rror]

I notice the arms are in the wrong place in one of the pictures.
I wonder if that is because of the program's character movement limitations, or due to poor capture on behalf of the kinect.

[Bronze_D]

or possibly lag...

if the lag was actually noticeable enough to notice it's possible that the short exposure shot end with the arm and the avatar arm in different position.

[kelik]

Kinect, a clever combination of Connect and Kinect.

Should that be Kinetic?

[Ivan]

Sounds like alot of money spend by all these poeple to go to an event that could have just been streamed and made available in hi-def ... E3 is just becoming one of those events that seems a waste of money and a waste of the worlds natural resources, it's a pity Internode still feel compelled to send someone there when the same report will be written up 1000 times or simply could be made available as a video for all to view and see. Most of all, it's almost the same as a beta, or preview screening, i bet they say things like "oh, these specs may change before launch" sooooo .. WHY ARE YOU THERE?
And ... and .... it seems most people already knew what was being annoucned .. before it got announced, half the time by the company who was going to announce it?

I can't think of another industry that says a week before the annoucement .. next week we will make the announcement ... YOU JUST DID!

Yeah, a feel better.

[skitzor]

most important point (to most people around here) was mentioned by bennett, will actual gamers want to buy this? probably not. unless there are more games like the star wars one mentioned, i doubt many mature (even slightly mature... im talking 16+) will want to lay down the required amount of money. it will probably be fun for a bit, but nothing like 20-40 hours of play time from games like red dead and gta4.

i don't see wii users changing over to kinect unless they have money to throw around, but i can see someone without any console going for the 360 over the wii.

[Artful-dodgeR]

The caked dust on my Wii should be a fair indication of what I feel about motion-involved controls. Sounds like I won't be shelling out for this bit of kit quite yet!

[Mythor]

E3 is just becoming one of those events that seems a waste of money

The industry thought that too so they scaled it back massively a few years back. Since then it's grown again because the people likes their E3 news.

most important point (to most people around here) was mentioned by bennett, will actual gamers want to buy this? probably not. unless there are more games like the star wars one mentioned

Yeah, lightsaber game would be cool but that's an awful expensive peripheral just to play with a fakie lightsaber.

If the inbuilt wifi and Kinect slim XBOX 360 rumour turns out to be true I can see that being popular.

[Brenna Hillier]

Should that be Kinetic?

Yes, it should! Fixed - and thank you!

I would tell you why that happened but it is a long story involving two tired journalists and four bouts of ctrl+f and replace all.

[Scarshi]

You're right, this does seem like a device not for hardcore gamers. It's a gimmick that won't really be fruitful for MS until a year or so of game releases have happened. Even then, the Xbox 360 doesn't seem to be fast enough to process these kinds of programming. Pity MS will be milking the XBox 360 for at least another 5 years.

I would much rather see something better in the way of new improved controllers. Games are getting more complex all the time, and controllers only really use the thumbs and index/middle fingers, what about the rest? Why just buttons, why not pressure pads now? Why not something that also uses your feet or butt muscle flexing? Why not tongue control? Hmm? Where is this going? (Insert sex joke here) ...

[Cirok]

Theres some "gameplay" videos out there that look completely fake, as in the character on the screen moves before the person does, it looks like they are miming and are way off sync.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_y1-xAXv4g

Not sure if MS said it was actual gameplay footage though, just repeating what ive read on websites calling it gameplay footage.

[ub3r]

Sounds like they had a Kiwi call them to give them the new name, over the phone the Kiwi named it connect, the secretary taking the notes wrote down what she heard... Kinect

[Phallas]

Halo with Kinect ftw.

You do realise that XBox 360's processor is never fully stressed by any game.
So if they can sneak in a new feature and call up unsused power, then why the hell not.

PS3 move , WHAT A JOKE.