Kinect Reviews

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

I was hoping it would work with Media Center, as I dont remember seeing anything about that mentioned anywhere, but it doesnt far as I can tell.

Nope, but I'm hoping that these other applications (i.e., Netflix, Windows Media Center, etc.) get updated to support Kinect

[Vandalsquad]

Wrong thread mate, your talking about a failed sony product there. Maybe post this in the move thread.

[George P Global Moderator]

Source: Kotaku

Someone posted this on the main page as well but I forget who, the reason is level of contrast. The camera needs enough light to see the details on your face, it's harder to do so in low light with darker skin. I'm sure MS tested the hell out of this either way, and anyone with a manual can you see what they say about lighting conditions? Everyones talking about space needed to play but no one has said anything about required lighting.

[red.]

Wrong thread mate, your talking about a failed sony product there. Maybe post this in the move thread.

I believe he was replying to the post right above his.

Anyway, i'm more interested in how this gets used in traditional gaming experiences. Like i said before, being a person with no imagination at all, i struggle to come up with ways that can be used but hopefully the people making games in the future will be able to come out with some innovative ideas to incorporate it into games that use the controllers too.

[threetonesun]

On a whim I picked one up on the way home yesterday. For reference, I live with my fiance, and she's a fan of simple iPhone games, and the Sims. Not Halo, obviously. I figured she could get into the Kinect as well.

The Hardware: First off, it needs a lot of room. I have (what I thought was) a large living room, although the space between the TV and the couch isn't as far as we could make it. But without moving the couch, when I first booted up Kinect Adventures, it said I was at the back of the "Good" area, which meant one player only. Recognizing me, calibration, voice recognition all worked wonderfully, although voice recognition isn't supported on a lot of things. Navigating with your hand takes about 2 seconds to get used to, and works wonderfully, IMO.

But the distance thing is a killer. I wanted to play two player Kinect Adventures, but it kept saying we needed to move back. I've since repositioned the Kinect, but didn't get a chance to retry that, as I started up the Dance Central demo, and we played that for a few hours.

And I can say this, everything about Dance Central is awesome. The menus, the technology, the concept of the game. I hate dancing, but I still think what the game is capable of doing is impressive, and even more importantly, fun. Also, if that's what the future of Kinect games is going to be like, this thing will be a massive success. There were definitely a few moments playing both Dance Central and Kinect Adventures where I thought, "this isn't like anything I've played before". And I've been playing video games for a long time. Simply being able to use your feet, or being able to use both hands (without a cable connecting them) to twist into odd shapes to grab coins in Adventures is game changing. It made me realize that while the Wii and Move are interesting, they're still essentially pointers, and a lot of games for them could be played with a normal controller. That's not the case with Kinect.

TL;DR: The hardware itself is neat but not mind blowing, it has some potentially major flaws depending on where you live, but there are already games out showing how awesome the idea of using your body as controller is, and I have to assume they will only get more impressive over time.

[Massiveterra]

Wrong thread mate, your talking about a failed sony product there. Maybe post this in the move thread.

I posted this as a response (and a joke) as to why people keep typing "Kinetic" instead of "Kinect"

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Glad to see it off to a successful start :)

[firebelly]

Really nice seeing that something innovative got of the ground better, hope this works and the smaal quirks are straightened out soon

Happy with my purchase, wife is loving it especially the video chat thing

[Woelfel]

For those wondering (even though it was debunked) about dark-skinned people not being recognized. False. I'm mixed and it recognizes me but I went to my friend who is WAY darker than me (like dark as night...just joking but still) and Kinect setup for him perfectly. Funny thing is, it wouldn't recognize me but it would him, thing was, I was wearing glasses and the light was doing some weird stuff. It happened to me back at my place but you have to give kinect more than just 1 sample for it to recognize you. Different times of day, different lighting and it gets better. Now it recognizes me if I have my glasses on or off. :D

[ShawnB]

I picked up the 250GB Kinect bundle today and a copy of Ubisoft's Fitness Evolved. My kids love it. They played practically non-stop until bed. I didn't have to tell them how to play -- it was very intuitive. The only down side is that they're going to be very disappointed when Black Ops comes out on Tuesday........

[George P Global Moderator]

For those wondering (even though it was debunked) about dark-skinned people not being recognized. False. I'm mixed and it recognizes me but I went to my friend who is WAY darker than me (like dark as night...just joking but still) and Kinect setup for him perfectly. Funny thing is, it wouldn't recognize me but it would him, thing was, I was wearing glasses and the light was doing some weird stuff. It happened to me back at my place but you have to give kinect more than just 1 sample for it to recognize you. Different times of day, different lighting and it gets better. Now it recognizes me if I have my glasses on or off. :D

This makes sense, it should get better over time with enough samples in different conditions so you bring up a good point.

[spudtrooper]

A couple of days in on our kinect purchase and we are loving it. We have tweaked it a bit and its working really well. Can't wait to get some more games.. Anyone use that any of the workout ones? (all though at my age kinect adventures is quite the workout lol)

[carmatic]

i wonder if a 3rd party would come up with clip-on Kinect optics or something to reduce the distance that it needs to work... it would probably be quite complex, having to exactly scale down the positions of the cameras , and you'll end up as giant people to kinect...

[George P Global Moderator]

i wonder if a 3rd party would come up with clip-on Kinect optics or something to reduce the distance that it needs to work... it would probably be quite complex, having to exactly scale down the positions of the cameras , and you'll end up as giant people to kinect...

I thought the idea was that the higher off of the floor you set it the less room back from the TV it would need.

[+Mystic MVC]

Take it with a grain of salt but two of my friends who purchased Kinect are loving it so far. One of my friends whose girlfriend doesn't really play video games at all told me she had a blast playing it the other night. Can't wait to try it out myself!

[Evolution]

So far the only two good titles that work with the Kinect are Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Hopefully the game developers can do better in the future.

[Slane]

So far the only two good titles that work with the Kinect are Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Hopefully the game developers can do better in the future.

Your shape works marvelous. I'm enjoying that nearly more than Sports.

[spudtrooper]

So far the only two good titles that work with the Kinect are Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Hopefully the game developers can do better in the future.

We haven't put down kinect adventures.. its not nearly as bad as some places make it out to be. It gets really fun the more you progress through some of the challenges. Simple, yeah.. But fun and thats what counts :)

Great excersize too when you're on advanced mode.. Makes me want to see some downhill skiing or snow boarding games!

[ViperAFK]

I've been watching giantbomb use the kinnect and it looks ****ing AWFUL to me. Seems to be incredibly glitchy and very limited to use. Not even in the same realm as the stuff Microsoft was hyping. The playstation moves looks far more precise and versatile from the videos I have been watching of both.

[maash]

I've been watching giantbomb use the kinnect and it looks ****ing AWFUL to me. Seems to be incredibly glitchy and very limited to use. Not even in the same realm as the stuff Microsoft was hyping. The playstation moves looks far more precise and versatile from the videos I have been watching of both.

i was very skeptical too. until i used it. it is amazing. Just go to walmart and try it. if you don't like it. return it

I've been watching giantbomb use the kinnect and it looks ****ing AWFUL to me. Seems to be incredibly glitchy and very limited to use. Not even in the same realm as the stuff Microsoft was hyping. The playstation moves looks far more precise and versatile from the videos I have been watching of both.

i was very skeptical too. until i used it. it is amazing. Just go to walmart and try it. if you don't like it. return it

[mousestrap0731]

my room is barely big enough and i have to move stuff way to the left and right each time i want to play :(

[Slane]

my room is barely big enough and i have to move stuff way to the left and right each time i want to play :(

Kinect requires space. It was known since it was first announced. Don't buy a 60 inch TV if you don't have the room, why buy Kinect if you don't have the room?

I would recommend anyone who is short on space, to put kincet above the TV/ontop. I screwed a small shelf above mine (about 6 inches above TV) and I'm able to stand about a 1 1/2ft closer to the TV due to that. It really makes a difference, not to mention how much better it is at tracking from that high (eye level /shoulder height) compared to being waist level.

[Omen1393]

I tried Kinect out at Best Buy. I was pretty skeptical at first but it does work as advertised. I didn't experience any glitchy experiences and it tracked my movement accurately. As for UI being slow, it takes about 1.5 seconds of hold your hand in one place which isn't too slow imo. It seems like something that will get better the longer it's out there. It certainly has potential.

[Hedon]

I've been watching giantbomb use the kinnect and it looks ****ing AWFUL to me. Seems to be incredibly glitchy and very limited to use. Not even in the same realm as the stuff Microsoft was hyping. The playstation moves looks far more precise and versatile from the videos I have been watching of both.

It's actually pretty awesome. We already took down the PS Eye and replaced it with Kinect. We are trading in the Move bundle at gamestop for in store credit to go towards the 3DS when it comes out.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

It's actually pretty awesome. We already took down the PS Eye and replaced it with Kinect. We are trading in the Move bundle at gamestop for in store credit to go towards the 3DS when it comes out.

March 11th if the latest rumours are to be believed.