Kinect (previously Natal)

[baad bwoy]

Wonder if the divergence in opinions on how effective a control system connect is, is due to variables such as player height, the way its been set up stuff like that.

[eastyy]

have to say kinect does not appeal to me for several reason...1 i dont have the space to be waving and moving around and 2 . i dont like the idea of no tactile feedback

[teddymeow]

I was swapping in and out with a chap a bit shorter than me with no issues at all.

Microsoft did say that early lag had been resolved through constant refining of the software and UI. I saw next to no lag on anything I played.

Really can't wait to get mine!

[Brats]

At ?130 for it and the amount of time and money MS have spent on it, they can't afford it to be that bad.

But it could be. You can see the talks in the board room now 'Sure there are a few kinks in the system, but by the time it is released, our software engineers will have worked all of this out'.

This does feel to me like MS wanted their own answer to the Wii, saw a demo of this and bought the company, without necessarily considering the final cost or the viability of it. I hope it works out really well, but is does feel like their business plan has been very 'Woooo, this is gonna be great. Come on let's jump on board' rather than a properly co-ordinated affair.

[Kongster]

I'd buy it but the price just puts me off a bit.

[Brats]

Glad to hear opinions that it works really well, yet I read things like this....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-20-sonic-free-riders-hands-on

....and think 'Oh Dear'.

[MartyG]

There's massive differences on opinion on Kinect. Some people say it works really well and the games are fun, others say it functions like a 1st year science project with massive lag and all kinds of problems.

It's all down to environment. Kinect needs room, light and no clutter.

[teddymeow]

It's all down to environment. Kinect needs room, light and no clutter.

The light source isn't an issue as we were playing in an almost club like environment with some pods in the dark and others buy strobes. They all worked fine.

[MartyG]

I guarantee it works far better with good light. Room and lack of clutter is the main factor though. When MS lift the NDA I will post my full impressions of the hardware and software I've been able to test.

[Brad]

Glad to hear opinions that it works really well, yet I read things like this....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-20-sonic-free-riders-hands-on

....and think 'Oh Dear'.

To be fair though, the fact that sega have ballsed up sonic riders shouldn't really be taken as any indication of the general quality of kinect. I admit that the non functioning menu is worrying mind.

[EvilBoris]

Yeah sonic Riders, why has that made a weird comeback from 2004?

Even the preview says this

Remember Sonic Riders? No? That's probably because it was awful. It's the worst racing game I've ever had to play except Donkey Kong Jet Race.

[Jebus]

Sonic Racers = Gash

Dance Central = Awesome

Like anything, it depends on the developer using the tech properly.

[Charlie]

I laugh at the thought of geeks up and down the country strutting their stuff in their living room.

It's an amusing image, I agree.

[MJ]

But it could be. You can see the talks in the board room now 'Sure there are a few kinks in the system, but by the time it is released, our software engineers will have worked all of this out'.

Of course. I'm not saying it's going to be amazing, because we don't know yet, there's just a part of me that thinks MS have done enough to make sure it's not a turkey. That said, I'm not prepared to pay £130 for one, even though I am interested in it.

No matter what people say about the Wii, Move and Kinect, I admire MS for bringing a full body motion capture camera into our homes, albeit without the on-board processor it was originally going to have. We'll just have to wait to see how well it works in practice and I do hope that devs and MS get behind it to delivery more than a party game accessory.

[booth83]

WARNING!! WARNING!! OPINION CHANGE IMMINENT!!

Just finished my annual work conference and got the opportunity to play pretty much finished code the last 2 days.

I am totally, utterly sold on Kinect now.

Dance Central is still amazing. Typical Harmonix goodness.

Kinect Sports is great. Javelin is mega-fun but football is where it's at for me. I scored a cracking curler of a free kick in injury time to win my game!!

Kinectimals is ?ber-cute. Falling on your back with your limbs in the air makes the cat play dead. So funny!!

Joyride was okay until I figured out leaning your body into the corners makes you drift and you have total control of the length of the slide. Then it became brilliant.

Totally pre-ordering when I get back into work on Saturday.

So, so good!!

Completely with you on this one mate, I wasn't completely sold on it until I had my first go on Dance Central, and then every other game I tried, even a third party title (Your Shape) which I wouldn't expect to be as well applied as a first party title, didn't go on the Sonic game as I was dying from last night and snuck out for a smoke and another coffee, but everything I played has amazed me, and they really got across how big it's going to be once it's in the living rooms of the public! Seriously though, anyone that's doubting it needs to get down to whatever shops have it on demo (and I'm really not trying to sell here) or put a deposit down in the next few days just in case you get convinced, cos it'll be nintendogs/brain training/wii/wii fit all over again this christmas!

By the way teddy, I wonder how many will be on ebay 2 weeks before launch!