Articles - The Future Of Kinect for Xbox 360: googly eyed casual gamers, or hardcore

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After Microsoft's Kinect-focused presser, we wonder what the future holds for its motion-sensing peripheral.

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The problem I've got with Kinect is simply the sheer amount of space that it needs. As far as I'm concerned this is definitely something you use in a living room. Certainly there's no chance of using it in one of the bedrooms in the houses they're building locally (unless you dedicated a room as a 'games room').

Some of the titles (like the upcoming Forza4 and possibly that other driving game, who's name escapes me for the moment) don't need large movements, so it's a wee bit annoying to have to have that large amount of free space to be able to use it. So if MS can "update" it to allow the use of smaller areas (we don't all live in places like that Southfork clone that they used for the PR videos) then I'd be really happy.

Don't get me wrong - I bought one at launch and was very impressed with it. Unfortunately, to be able to use it means having to move the XBox into the living room, then setup it and Kinect, move furniture, get the cat toys/scratching posts/etc out and then recalibrate. This is such a pain that really the Kinect is only bought out when we've got company (as an alternative to the Wii) and the rest of the time it's in the cupboard gathering dust. :(

I\'m wondering whether to try mounting it up high, because - according to some of the forums posts I\'ve seen - doing that means you can use a smaller area. In which case I\'ll need a monitor/tv mount.

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Originally Posted by crossy

The problem I've got with Kinect is simply the sheer amount of space that it needs. As far as I'm concerned this is definitely something you use in a living room. Certainly there's no chance of using it in one of the bedrooms in the houses they're building locally (unless you dedicated a room as a 'games room').

Some of the titles (like the upcoming Forza4 and possibly that other driving game, who's name escapes me for the moment) don't need large movements, so it's a wee bit annoying to have to have that large amount of free space to be able to use it. So if MS can "update" it to allow the use of smaller areas (we don't all live in places like that Southfork clone that they used for the PR videos) then I'd be really happy.

Don't get me wrong - I bought one at launch and was very impressed with it. Unfortunately, to be able to use it means having to move the XBox into the living room, then setup it and Kinect, move furniture, get the cat toys/scratching posts/etc out and then recalibrate. This is such a pain that really the Kinect is only bought out when we've got company (as an alternative to the Wii) and the rest of the time it's in the cupboard gathering dust. :(

I\'m wondering whether to try mounting it up high, because - according to some of the forums posts I\'ve seen - doing that means you can use a smaller area. In which case I\'ll need a monitor/tv mount.

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That\'s a great idea. I too think that the space required is far too big. I have to play it in my living room, but lucky for me I have the luxury of being able to move it from a smaller space to this larger space - even then I have to move furniture out of the way. Would be great to have some games optimised for a smaller space.

The only problem i have with kinect is that althouhg its fun for casual games, the only shooters you can play on it are rail shooter/fighting games so its almost like games are taking a step back in some cases. Also i don\'t understand how Kinect will be integrated into Ghost Recon, i love how interactive it is but i feel like it should be kept on the same level as the Wii, fun and casual, great with friends but no more than that.
The worst thing is that when i was watching the livestream of E3 i skipped to a bit where there were LAATs leaving a battleship in starwars and got excited over SW Battlefront 3, and it turned out to be Starwars Kinect which really pissed me off. I guess thats probably why i dislike it more than i really should.

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Originally Posted by Steven W

That's a great idea. I too think that the space required is far too big. I have to play it in my living room, but lucky for me I have the luxury of being able to move it from a smaller space to this larger space - even then I have to move furniture out of the way. Would be great to have some games optimised for a smaller space.

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That was kind of my point - Kinect Joyride (I finally remembered the name!) could probably be played reasonably in about 2-3 sqm (or even less perhaps?).

Just ordered a Turtle Beach DSS sound processor (because the sound output from my new monitor sucks, and having HDMI+VGA cables in means my XBox360 boots twice) and I came across this:
http://www.gamingzap.com/blog/2011/0...-a-small-room/
Okay, the lens is £30+ but maybe that, and another 30 quids worth of TV mount, is the answer. Although the lack of VESA mounts on my LG monitor means I can't use the "official" TV mount. :(

Maybe this\'ll help someone out there with the same lack-of-space problem.

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Originally Posted by crossy

The problem I've got with Kinect is simply the sheer amount of space that it needs.

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4 Player Tekken in a box room? :juggle:

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Originally Posted by shaithis

4 Player Tekken in a box room? :juggle:

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Yep, that'll be the new 'enhanced reality' version with the new "Actua Bruise" feature that makes you feel each hit 'like real'. :angst:

Comes with a free £10 off voucher for a first-aid kit from Boots... :mrgreen:

there was an article when it came out about how it is really designed with American's and their mahussive hosues in mind :p.
I would expect subsequent version of it (albeit in later years) to be less constrained but unlikely much will be done with it in terms of the space required, it is likely to be a fundamental necessity of the device.

On the games end it's hard to know what will come, it's nifty technology that no one's entirely sure what to do with yet. There are no heuristics for game design or anything like that, no standard controls (WASD etc) so it will take time and some ingenuity.

I guess thet real problem with it (and the reason why we are seeing the titles that we are) is that it's not yet been targeted at "traditional" gamers.

Microsoft (and sony) saw what Nintendo managed to do with the wii - that is open up gaming to everyone..the whole family, and they wanted a slice of the action. Kinect does just that - it's great fun for the cutesy party games, and as has already been mentioned, its a great alternative to the wii.

It seems to suffer from exactly the same problems though - that traditional games just don't work that well with it. The technology shines when you get a game that has been built from the ground up to work with it, but falls over when you try to bolt it on to call of duty or Fifa. It's going to take time for 3rd party developers to pick up the concept and create something truely magical that appeals to traditional gamers rather than the family marketplace.

Microsoft have one of the best game studios in the world - Rare - surely they can put their minds to good use and come up with something decent. It's the least they can do after removing all possibilities of getting some more of the best games of all time re-released on the 3DS (Banjo Kazooi, Donkey Kong, Goldeneye etc).

I did like the gameplay elements it added to the Mass Effect 3 demo (ignoring the dialog selection bit) giving orders to the AI team mates, but I can hardly see me getting one just for that (plus my 360 is set up in the bedroom so again no space).

it does seem slightly gimmicky and for casual gamers at the moment but i can definitely see it becoming something much bigger and more integrated than it is today

Problem I have with Kinect is that it doesn't detect I exist :(