Microsoft's Kinect Looks Great, But Still No Price
Microsoft just showed all the bells and whistles of its Kinect motion sensing peripheral and we have to say, though the rumored $150 price tag is steep, we're all but convinced that we want one.
As we reported earlier, there are a number of games expected to be available at launch (in November). Among them is a racing game, Kinect Joy Ride, which Microsoft says is going to "revolutionize the kart racing genre." Engadget reports that controls for the game include turning a virtual steering wheel with your hands, twisting your for body spins, and pushing your arms forward for a boost.
Another game USA Today named was Kinectimals. As far as we can tell, the game involves training a tiger, lion or other type of cub. The kid on stage at the demo went through a bunch of the activities and tickled the happy tiger cub. At one point she hid and he pressed his paws against the screen and whimpered until she came back.
Microsoft also showed off a range of Wii Sports-like games including boxing, bowling and soccer but some new ones like track and table tennis. Exactly what you'd expect but still, looks pretty fun.
Next up was a bunch of two player games involving rafting, mining carts and more. One nifty feature of these games is that they actually take random, silly photos of you when you're not paying attention.
Also demoed was Your Shape, an Ubisoft fitness game designed to get you moving even more. A full body scan displays a more accurate avatar and her body temperature. Your Shape allows you to do personal training with an on-screen trainer or 'fun gym activities.' There's also a 'Zen Energy Class,' which looks a lot like Yoga. The game tracks your skeleton and tells you exactly how much you need to shift about to execute the post correctly.
Next up is a dancing game from MTV and Harmonix. Described as "the Rock Band of dancing," Dance Central will feature tracks from MIA, No Doubt, Lady GaGa and some of the routines will be recognizable from the music videos. Dance Central includes a 'break it down' mode than teaches you the moves step-by-step, like a real dance class.
Next up was a demo for Forza, which shows the player walking up to the car and looking at it from a number of different angles and using gestures to zoom in on certain parts to get a better look. This is supposed to be the 'future of racing.'
Microsoft briefly showed a trailer from the Star Wars game we're all so excited about but gave no real details.
Secondary to the bevy of games Microsoft showed off, the company also showed a couple of other uses for Kinect. Video chat looked incredibly fun with Windows Live integration and no headset required. Engadget reports that there's also the ability to watch videos together online via a Bing tie-in, which is pretty neat.
The other notable feature of Kinect is a partnership with ESPN, which will bring over 3500 live and on-demand sporting events, mostly in HD. Soccer, MLB, NBA, college football, you name it, they've got it. There's also sports trivia at the bottom of the screen so you can answer questions between plays if that's your thing. The best part is that it's free for Xbox Live users.
Kinect is launching November 4th in the U.S and worldwide in time for the holidays. We'll update when we hear the price.
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First!
Looks like they are trying to boost popularity of the Kin phone by calling this Kinect. It really is a bad name, but they could have done worse. They could have called it Ballmer.
actually ballmer would have been better. remember "devoloper, developer..." rant with waving arms... controller free
Looks like they are trying to boost popularity of the Kin phone by calling this Kinect. It really is a bad name, but they could have done worse. They could have called it Ballmer.
...or Wii
Kinect what a bad name, why not Kin Etc....
Has the Wii finally been pwned at it's own game? Give me decent light-saber battles with that thing and I'm sold. Otherwise- no deal..
I own an Xbox 360 and really like it but am I the only one who thinks this looks really gay? You look like a monkey on crack trying to block the virtual balls...
I don't care if they called the thing "Choda" It looks interesting. And looks like what the next evolution Nintendo would have done. I can't wait to see how racing games are. BRING ME STAR WARS for Christmas please!!!!
Kinect, for Kinnetics?
The best "news" out of this whole article is ESPN360 on the xbox... Friggin sweeeeeeeet! yeah baby.... ( I don't have a cable or satellite subscription) The only things I ever watch are sports or movies. I rent my movies, and sports........ xbox 360. YEAH BABY!!!!!!!
I get that its an impressive hardware/user interface but I'm just not sold on standing around playing games. Regardless of the type of game your body is forced to face the direction of the tv making it hard to have any immersion into a virtual world for a game. This works for the kiddie games they have shown but I suspect there will be major difficulties for hardcore games.
That video with the guy, girl and the kid looks really retarded. I am not even trying to be funny.
I watched the expo live and Kinect was a real let down... all the games looked like something stolen from a Wii... in others the lag was very noticeable and others where not even playable yet... No real games out there only fit crap... The best of the expo was GOW 3 and MGS...
I am gonna have to wait til a gullible friend takes the plunge first . That way I can see if its worth my 150 bucks.
The lag in many of the demos and the lack of anything that looks remotely fun is a BIG turn off. BTW thanks for the big Forza reveal, so you can do everything BUT drive the car??? Seriously walking around a car will be neat ONCE show so game play. Microsoft never fails to let me down.
Um... ONE word.. PROTOTYPE
i mean seriosly dont expect something work perfect before its launched, thats like bitching that a beta game had a glitch in it.
So if it sucks at launch, then feel free to bitch. even though there will still be some glitches/issues. but at least its at a point when they are saying it works well enough to sell now.
And of course its gonna be similar to the Wii, They came out with it first....
In general, it looks kinda bland but the tiger is ADORABLE. And I don't care if sound gay saying that.
From what i saw, it worked flawless. Its not the "Wii", nor is it "Move." Its entirely something different then those two. The whole voice command sold me, the games and the other cool features thats just a added bonus. I can see this going somewhere in the future even bigger then this.
Google TV? Why? Xbox TV!
I wait for the day when LG, Samsung, and especially Vizio to talk Microsoft to integrate xboxes and kinect to tvs.
First!
Fail post.
Anyways, I'd like to see how this ranks up against the Wii in terms of #s sold and reviews.
Am I the only one that thinks it's funny that she is bending over and the screen says "Joy Ride".
Dunno why but I have a feeling this will be the flop of the year.
Last year i was real excited about this system and couldnt wait for E3 this year.Natal promised full body real time motion controls an AI and voice commands.After watching the confrerence however im not as enthused, the motion tracking is NOT one to one ALL the time, if you watch closely you see its not consistent(this is most apparent in the fitness game from Ubisoft).The voice chat looks spot on but im still skeptical since the first person who demoed it looked scared that it might not work(the gentleman who explanined the new features for xbox live).To me if youre going to have a system like this you need make sure that you can get it 1:1 first beofre you start making stuff for it hoping to sort it out later.And to those that say its a protype, no its not ,The device has its retail name with bundles and hardware consideration already made and the developers have the finished product .Its not coming out today because some develpers are still working on thier games and it just makes sence to release something like this when you know there are going to be alot of dollars circulating in the consumer electronics market.
Wow... these really Cool to have... is like you are in the game
can't wait till this gets released so i can see how bad this and the sony move will fail
After all the hype this was a big let down. Can I hear people saying who "who cares?" and "gimmick"?
Seriously though this looks like yet another piece of very clever Microsoft technology that just misses the point.
After all the hype this was a big let down. Can I hear people saying who "who cares?" and "gimmick"?Seriously though this looks like yet another piece of very clever Microsoft technology that just misses the point.
I am thinking the same.
Funny how the so called "hardcore" gamers are not complaining calling MS's kinect a toy and kicking it to the curb. Yet if its the Wii they'd say its a kids toy and don't even acknowledge it like Obama upping the US's deficit for the fiscal yr to 1.8 trillion. Kinect is basically the Wiimote. Kinect is just more gimmicky that is all.
Will Kinect spurt sales like the Wii with its Wiimote? I doubt it. Innovation? Perhaps but Nintendo has already been there done that.
I was thinking "Gamer" the movie the entire time i was watching "Natal" aka Kinect in action. Considering i don't own a Wii, and the Wii price is still too high for old tech and uninspiring line-up of games, i rather wait and buy this and let my niece have a go with it for all the cool kiddie games and features it has and just see her have fun and wish when i was kid i had amazing tech like this.
It's been confirmed by Microsoft that there will be lag on the actions.
The technology is interesting, but the price is too steep. Plus most games rely on the gimmick of no controller rather than doing something interesting with it.
How did they get such amazing Motion-Sensing technology into a console when the hardware requirements for processing it are absolutely insane!
I just cant wait until this thing hit's the shelves, then i'll still be one step ahead of my friends
I am thinking the same. Funny how the so called "hardcore" gamers are not complaining calling MS's kinect a toy and kicking it to the curb. Yet if its the Wii they'd say its a kids toy and don't even acknowledge it like Obama upping the US's deficit for the fiscal yr to 1.8 trillion. Kinect is basically the Wiimote. Kinect is just more gimmicky that is all. Will Kinect spurt sales like the Wii with its Wiimote? I doubt it. Innovation? Perhaps but Nintendo has already been there done that.
Please. Kinect has loads more technology in it than the remote. Try dropping your Wiimote and waving your hands around, see what it does. Yeah, that's what I thought, r3t4rd.
/facepalm