Microsoft Kinect

[TehStu]

Why is this thread still called 'Project Natal'?

This never would have happened in my incredibly well-managed GTA:IV thread.

No one will be able to find it now I've renamed the thread. It's all your fault, sir.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Oh God, Lorfarius will have a fit.

[Mr Cochese]

Can someone rename the Halo: Reach thread to "Warning: Smitty In Rut", please?

[Harsin]

Can't wait for the first Kinect JRPG it'll be like Stephen King's The Long Walk.

[therealjohnpeat]

I'm pretty much convinced that all the love Natal got from it's announcement had nothing to do with it's abilities and everything to do with "Oh good, that's me not needing to buy a Wii now"...

It's clearly an inferior approach to motion tracking and it's utter reliance on unobstructed backgrounds and people standing to play games is going to make it amazingly limited. Eyetoy had similar potential and look what happened to that.

It's a way of selling some 360s this Christmas and I reckon that will be the end of it - by next year we'll be back on our arses playing with controllers...

[Fugitive]

It's a way of selling some 360s this Christmas

At a predicted $149, I'm guessing 7 for the Rllmuk "How Many Extra 360s will Kinect Sell" 2010 Christmas sweepstakes.

[Comrade]

I'm getting a bit annoyed with all the people going "Har har har, gamers are fat and can't bear to stand up!". Seriously, not even the biggest fitness fanatic is going to watch an entire film or play a whole RPG standing up. In fact, little but the type of non-games that MS are currently being criticised for would be played standing up. It's ridiculous if you have to play a driving game standing up with Kinect when to actually drive a car you have to sit.

[OuttaHere]

It's clearly an inferior approach to motion tracking and it's utter reliance on unobstructed backgrounds and people standing to play games is going to make it amazingly limited. Eyetoy had similar potential and look what happened to that.

I'd love to see how far Sony got with their version of Kinect and why they didn't attempt to take it to market.

I still think it's a mistake for Microsoft to release this as a peripheral. They should have manned-up and made the S a new more powerful backward compatible XBox with Kinect built-in.

[Asura]

I still think it's a mistake for Microsoft to release this as a peripheral. They should have manned-up and made the S a new more powerful backward compatible XBox with Kinect built-in.

Built-in? Do you have your 360 directly beneath your TV, at the exact midpoint of the screen? I don't and I'm sure many others don't either.

[Troublegum]

Built-in? Do you have your 360 directly beneath your TV, at the exact midpoint of the screen? I don't and I'm sure many others don't either.

I think that he means that the Kinect would come with the new console to create a new standard as with the Wii remote and the Wii, rather than have the Eye Toy* next to the disc drive of your 360 in your media centre from Ikea.

*Yeah, I went there.

[OuttaHere]

I think that he means that the Kinect would come with the new console to create a new standard as with the Wii remote and the Wii, rather than have the Eye Toy* next to the disc drive of your 360 in your media centre from Ikea.

Indeed. I've been waiting for a product like this since the original Eye Toy and I really want it to succeed (I love motion gaming). Releasing it as an accessory is a cop-out but I guess you have to be in a position as desperate as Nintendo were to be brave enough to bet the farm on it.

[Troublegum]

Actually, didn't Microsoft last year say that Natal would be bundled with every new 360 when launched?

[phresh]

Indeed. I've been waiting for a product like this since the original Eye Toy and I really want it to succeed (I love motion gaming). Releasing it as an accessory is a cop-out but I guess you have to be in a position as desperate as Nintendo were to be brave enough to bet the farm on it.

You have mentioned Nintendo being desparate and Kinetic in the same sentence. Fucking lol.

Nintendo weren't desperate at all, the Wii was just a calculated risk.

[Asura]

I think that he means that the Kinect would come with the new console to create a new standard as with the Wii remote and the Wii, rather than have the Eye Toy* next to the disc drive of your 360 in your media centre from Ikea.

Actually, didn't Microsoft last year say that Natal would be bundled with every new 360 when launched?

Yeah, they did. Hence my point earlier, I was looking at it from the standpoint of "but they're already going to do bundles, so he must mean actually BUILT-IN to the console" (he did use the term 'built-in', as opposed to 'bundled with').

[Stanley]

Releasing it as an accessory is a cop-out but I guess you have to be in a position as desperate as Nintendo were to be brave enough to bet the farm on it.

I guess that's why they're releasing the 3DS too, desperation.

[Asura]

I guess that's why they're releasing the 3DS too, desperation.

What's this about? Nintendo's release of the Wii was a colossal gamble that could have destroyed their business. They've been hugely successful, true, but that doesn't change the fact that they had come third in a three-horse race with the Gamecube and risked a lot with the Wii.

[Harsin]

So can I scan my skateboard in yet?

[Asura]

So can I scan my skateboard in yet?

Glad I'm not the only one to notice that this sort of feature was absent from the E3 showing this year.

[Stanley]

What's this about? Nintendo's release of the Wii was a colossal gamble that could have destroyed their business. They've been hugely successful, true, but that doesn't change the fact that they had come third in a three-horse race with the Gamecube and risked a lot with the Wii.

Gamecube did similar numbers to Xbox yet that wasn't considered a failure. Despite that, I'd hardly describe the Wii as a desperate move. DS was already doing huge numbers for them and the motion tech that ended up in Wii would have been in development for years before release. In other words, before Gamecube could be deemed a success or failure.

[Asura]

Gamecube did similar numbers to Xbox yet that wasn't considered a failure. Despite that, I'd hardly describe the Wii as a desperate move. DS was already doing huge numbers for them and the motion tech that ended up in Wii would have been in development for years before release. In other words, before Gamecube could be deemed a success or failure.

Hmmm... Despite the success of the DS, I did always think of the Wii as an enormous risk for Nintendo at the time. You sound as though you're saying that because Nintendo developed the motion controls over several years, they somehow "just knew" it would be successful. Whilst they were obviously convinced that it would be (otherwise they would never have even tried) I still think that there will have been a fair few sleepless nights over it.

[Destruktofraz]

Plus Nintendo made a profit on every GC sold, whereas MS didn't make a profit on their hardware for a very long while.

[Comrade]

Apparently, Milo And Kate actually has been shown at E3, but not to press - only to celebrities?

But what of Milo & Kate at this year's E3? CVG managed to catch up with Molyneux in Los Angeles, who was on hand to talk about his other big game at this year's event, Fable III.

According to Molyneux, the title is currently only being demoed to celebrities and select viewers at E3 this week, with Microsoft requesting that press not be shown the game at this stage in its development.

"Milo still exists - absolutely, it still exists," Molyneux told CVG. "In fact, famous people are seeing it as we speak, probably. We're just not showing it to the press. "There's a very interesting reason why, but I can't tell you why. It absolutely exists."

In typically ebullient form, Molyneux added that Milo is '10 times more amazing' than his 2009 demo and he feels that it is "robust" enough for single-player trials.

"I promise you it is now ten times more amazing than you'd expect it to be from what you saw at [E3 2009]," said Molyneux. "Because what I showed in Milo then was just a tech demo. I think everyone asked: 'That was pretty fascinating, but what does it all mean?'

"It's only when you see it in its entirety and play it that you realise it's robust enough for people to play on their own."

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/e3-20...e-demoed-697059

[Asura]

"Milo still exists - absolutely, it still exists," Molyneux told CVG. "In fact, famous people are seeing it as we speak, probably. We're just not showing it to the press. "There's a very interesting reason why - [insert funny reason here]. It absolutely exists."

That's just begging for it.

[Stanley]

Hmmm... Despite the success of the DS, I did always think of the Wii as an enormous risk for Nintendo at the time. You sound as though you're saying that because Nintendo developed the motion controls over several years, they somehow "just knew" it would be successful. Whilst they were obviously convinced that it would be (otherwise they would never have even tried) I still think that there will have been a fair few sleepless nights over it.

Let's be honest Nintendo's problems started with the N64, a machine hopelessly at odds with the direction the market was taking i.e. optical based media. This lost them a lot of 3rd party support which continued right through to the Gamecube era, and if anything it was the Gamecube which was their most desperate move to date. A machine designed solely to compete with the Playstation.

Wii was a return to form, and far from a desperate move for a company as cash rich. Gamecube turned a profit, after all, don't forget.

[Professor Puzzles]

Molyneux then went on to say: "I am the robust king of all mortal kind, and only the richest, most robust celebrities will ever be able to set eyes upon the robust magnificence of Kate and Milo without fainting away into a robust slumber from which only the kiss of a handsome, robust prince will be able to wake them robust robust ROBOTS!"

He also went on to liken Kinetic to the monoliths from 2001: A Space Oddysey, but '7 billion times better' and 'less boring.' Then he wiped his bum on a drawing of a Wiimote and jumped out of the window.

[Stanley]

Let's be honest Nintendo's problems started with the N64, a machine hopelessly at odds with the direction the market was taking i.e. optical based media. This lost them a lot of 3rd party support which continued right through to the Gamecube era, and if anything it was the Gamecube which was their most desperate move to date. A machine designed solely to compete with the Playstation.

Wii was a return to form, and far from a desperate move for a company as cash rich. Gamecube turned a profit, after all, don't forget.

Anyway - the point I was originally making is that Nintendo had obviously decided to use motion tech for some time. It wouldn't have just been decided a year before release. This was the direction they going in whatever happened with the Gamecube, even if it PS2 numbers.

[ras el hanout]

Things nintendo would be fucked without;

the gameboy

ds

wii

mario

only a fucking moron would suggest nintedo, who time after find come up with the goods were desperate. The wii was a risk as everything is but if it had flopped they just would have come up with something else, like they always do, because nintendo fucking rule.

[Meers]

Things nintendo would be fucked without;

the gameboy

ds

wii

mario

only a fucking moron would suggest nintedo, who time after find come up with the goods were desperate. The wii was a risk as everything is but if it had flopped they just would have come up with something else, like they always do, because nintendo fucking rule.

Just back from the pub, ramone?

[Asura]

only a fucking moron would suggest nintedo, who time after find come up with the goods were desperate. The wii was a risk as everything is but if it had flopped they just would have come up with something else, like they always do, because nintendo fucking rule.

It's true everything's a risk, but in the case of the Wii, Nintendo were going off on a real tangent to their competitors. I'd argue their gamble was higher than Sony or MS, who were really just producing a new iteration of the format they'd previously produced (doubly so with Sony). Not saying that the 360 and PS3 didn't innovate; more that they innovated in the direction everyone expected, whereas the Wii was a real re-think.

That being said, I think my definition of "desperate" in this situation is different to that of Coxy. From what he said, I think he meant that Ninty were desperate to just stay afloat, which wasn't really the case (Pokemon alone would have seen to that). I meant more along the lines of that they were desperate to come first - to go off in this new direction, and have it proved a prudent course by having an out-and-out, rip-roaring success, which is what has happened. Even now, every time I see the Wii on something like The Simpsons I marvel at just how well it has done in terms of becoming part of popular culture.

I suppose in my case, actually, "desperate" was the wrong word to use. Better choices would probably be "opportunistic" and "daring".

[Stanley]

They're just being Nintendo, it's what they do. The Wii would have happened whether Gamecube completely flopped or did DS numbers - it was the direction they were heading anyway.

I mean look at the 3DS - the first mass market 3D gaming device. Perhaps it won't be as much of a success as the DS or Wii, but it's just as daring.