Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

[quote name='Richlough']Did you do the Kinect ID for them?

I did it for my 6 yo daughter and it works alot better now .[/QUOTE]

Never thought of that, that might work alot better. I might try that next time they have issues.
 
I was thinking about this earlier but here it goes..Maybe we can get like a cag account going for Kinect videos/photos and see how everyone is doing and what not. Kinda show off what Kinect can do and what not.
 
I finally hooked mine up today. I don't have a space issue per se but I have a "room on my tv stand" issue. I have a 42" DLP (the top is a little too small to put on top) on a 2 ft TV stand (TV takes up the whole top portion). After much debate about what to do, I just said "lets try it by putting it on one of the shelves." It is only about 1.25 ft off the ground. How does everyone have theirs set up?

From a motion capturing perspective, it is working good even at that height; this is from about 6 feet away from the device (I am about 6'3). After playing with for a little bit of time, these are my only gripes. 1) it seems like I am constantly waving at it to get my "hand" available and 2) when games are running (i.e. sound is playing from the screen), it seems to have a problem hearing the commands. Besides that, I am pretty impressed and enjoying it (at least with Dance Central; haven't tried any other game yet).

I can see my arms getting tired from all the commands running off them.
 
Has anybody tried out any of the fitness games for kinect? I had my girl try out Kinect Adventures

and she really wasn't into it (she could really care less about video games). She is a real fitness freak

and skeptical to any of these kind of games, so any feedback would be appreciated.
 
Your Shape Fitness is super fun. It's a good warm up before my real workout. I did it yesterday (Some game stuff then some yoga) and I ran twice as long. I felt like I had more energy after the warm up with Kinect. That was a bonus surprise.

I also picked up the wall mount. It's $15 and I mounted it above my tv. My HDTV is on a tv stand, and a little bit away from the wall (to get access to cables). Mounting it above it and behind it gives me some breathing room. Really worth the $15 if anyone is interested. It was a pain to level it (had to put the level under the metal bracket and just hold it) but otherwise well worth it.
 
I had some friends over playing yesterday and it kept signing me in. I have several dance central achievements now, and I have never played it. I don't know if it's kinect ID going nuts or what, but I might have to turn it off.

Also, has anyone noticed that kids voices can't seem to control kinect?
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I had some friends over playing yesterday and it kept signing me in. I have several dance central achievements now, and I have never played it. I don't know if it's kinect ID going nuts or what, but I might have to turn it off.

Also, has anyone noticed that kids voices can't seem to control kinect?[/QUOTE]

Were you signed into the xbox? I think if Kinect ID can't find anyone, it will just default to the profile signed into Live.

And Kotaku mentioned kids not being able to use voice control.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I had some friends over playing yesterday and it kept signing me in. I have several dance central achievements now, and I have never played it. I don't know if it's kinect ID going nuts or what, but I might have to turn it off.

Also, has anyone noticed that kids voices can't seem to control kinect?[/QUOTE]

Yeah...my 7 and 5 year olds were bummed when we realized the voice commands do not work...
 
[quote name='token2k6']I was really scared reading this thread but soon caught on that everyone who bought it had no problems and practically loved it, while everyone elses 'friends' who they went over to their 'house' hated it.[/QUOTE]
:lol:

Clearly it's impossible to not enjoy Kinect. Anyone who says so is a liar.
 
Seems like a cool add-on. I'm not sure why so many people are so eager to hate on everything new. Will it revolutionize gaming over night? Eh, probably not, but I do see some of the applications being useful in fields other than video games in the future (like 5 years from now).

Glad to see some of you and your families are enjoying it. fuck the haters.
 
Well I tried out Kinect at Best Buy today and played a little bit of Kinect Adventures. I actually did enjoy playing but the space issue did become apparent for me. Whenever I stood at the distance I would be with my couch and everything in the living room it put me right at the edge of the red zone :cry:. At least with Move I can still play at least since it only tracks head (at some point) and the sticks. Ideally I would love to have both now after getting time with Kinect as well.

I did notice a little bit of lag during the menus on Kinect Adventures but once the actual game started it was fine.
 
The voice recognition with children problem needs to be fixed...when playing Kinectimals (which is for kids right?), the voice commands only work when I say them...is it possible for each Kinect ID to do voice training separately and I'm just not seeing it?
 
[quote name='matto1233']Does anyone know if Blockbuster carries Kinect games in store?[/QUOTE]

Blockbuster only carries top seller and mainstream games from most systems. So, you'll find your Call of Duty, Dead Rising, etc. You will not find any other types of games (including the "Move" or Kinect games). This is particularly true now that they filed for Bankrupcy.

That said, they carry tons of Wii shovelware...you'll find just about everything. Go figure.
 
[quote name='Richlough']Did anyone get the extra levels for Kinect Adventures from the Best Buy pre-order ?[/QUOTE]

I did of course, along with the avatar prop. why sup?
 
[quote name='KongaKing']Your Shape Fitness is super fun. It's a good warm up before my real workout. I did it yesterday (Some game stuff then some yoga) and I ran twice as long. I felt like I had more energy after the warm up with Kinect. That was a bonus surprise.

I also picked up the wall mount. It's $15 and I mounted it above my tv. My HDTV is on a tv stand, and a little bit away from the wall (to get access to cables). Mounting it above it and behind it gives me some breathing room. Really worth the $15 if anyone is interested. It was a pain to level it (had to put the level under the metal bracket and just hold it) but otherwise well worth it.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the input, I ended up picking this up along with Joy Ride and Kinect Sports.
 
I am really glad I found this thread. I've been researching the Kinect since my wife had mentioned buying it for me for our anniversary (if we can find it!) and all I could find was message boards full of people completely bashing the thing. I can understand constructive criticism so that's why this thread has been such a big help. The one big thing I was concerned about with the Kinect was the space issue but it seems like most people have resolved this by mounting the camera above the TV, which is what I think I might need to do as well once I get one. Having never seen the unit before, will a normal shelf work? My wife and I bought a bunch of shelves on discount from Target and have pretty much no use for them. Just bought them because they were so cheap.
 
Dude I saw Kinects everywhere when I was out and about the other day.
Best Buy had like 20, and Gamestop said they still had quite a few.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']I did of course, along with the avatar prop. why sup?[/QUOTE]

I was wondering exactly what levels for which mini-games .
 
[quote name='metallicoholic']I am really glad I found this thread. I've been researching the Kinect since my wife had mentioned buying it for me for our anniversary (if we can find it!) and all I could find was message boards full of people completely bashing the thing. I can understand constructive criticism so that's why this thread has been such a big help. The one big thing I was concerned about with the Kinect was the space issue but it seems like most people have resolved this by mounting the camera above the TV, which is what I think I might need to do as well once I get one. Having never seen the unit before, will a normal shelf work? My wife and I bought a bunch of shelves on discount from Target and have pretty much no use for them. Just bought them because they were so cheap.[/QUOTE]

as long as it's extremely close to your tv. If it's like a foot higher it may not work well.

putting it on top of tv is like reducing it's requirements about a foot.
 
Just got mine at the MS Store today. So far I love it. Is is perfect, no. But the controls are pretty amazing, and I get the cool geeky tingle when I issue a voice command or wave to select something. Also Dance Central is pretty much a must have from the launch lineup. It is truly a fun and unique experience (and tiring). So far I am happy with my purchase, it seems like it will get me off the couch more than the Wii, which is a good thing.
 
We hosted a party last night with 30+ people. Kinect was a huge hit.

People were having a blast with Kinect Adventures and Dance Central. In fact when I switched to Rock Band 3 people got mad and after a few songs everyone requested that we go back to the Kinect games.

I think the best thing about Kinect was watching so many people jump in and out of the game without the hassle of logging in/out, turning on/off controllers etc. It was really eye-opening, and it makes me that much more excited to see what non-motion-control uses we see with Kinect.
 
I wonder if the DLC affects achievements? Like the getting gold on everything in quick play, etc.

Also, I really wish I didn't have to jump so often since I'm on the second floor of the apartment. It is making it hard to play this and Kinect Sports.
 
It would be nice if we turned this into an official Kinect thread. While part of me wants to try out dance central the CAG in my can't justify the price right now. But I am curious what other games are in the pipe and it would be nice to have an official thread to visit from time to time.
 
so after a few more hours of playing around.....


It HATES kids voices. Little girls can't voice control it.

If people play it that don't have gamer tags, it WILL eventually log in someone that has used kinect id.

if any gamertags are signed in, and non gamertags play, all the gamertags get achievements.
 
[quote name='ZForce915']I wonder if the DLC affects achievements? Like the getting gold on everything in quick play, etc.[/QUOTE]
No, it doesn't. I got them all without the DLC.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']as long as it's extremely close to your tv. If it's like a foot higher it may not work well.

putting it on top of tv is like reducing it's requirements about a foot.[/QUOTE]

What would be the problem if it was a foot higher than the tv? Mine is 6' off the ground but about a foot higher than the top edge of the tv...
 
[quote name='ZForce915']I wonder if the DLC affects achievements? Like the getting gold on everything in quick play, etc.

Also, I really wish I didn't have to jump so often since I'm on the second floor of the apartment. It is making it hard to play this and Kinect Sports.[/QUOTE]

So I just picked up my Kinect and I have the same dilemma. Just out of curiosity while playing River Raft in Kinect Adventures tonight, I made the motion of jumping without actually doing it and it worked just fine. It's not as fun as jumping up in the air and shouting "WHEEE!" at the top of your lungs but it'll be better for your downstairs neighbors in the longrun.

Just pretend like you're going to jump but don't actually leave the ground. Kind of like jumping on the Wii Balance Board (if you've ever used it). I don't know how this works on Kinect Sports though.
 
I'll go through the last few pages of user reviews when I have a bit more time, but so far my two cents is that Kinect is amazing. Kinect Adventures feels like more than just a pack in, I've played it and loved it, my wife has played it and loved it (she's not much of a gamer at all) my 4 year old son played it and loved it. Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, and Dance Central will be arriving soon.

The gesture controls on the dashboard blow my mind, the facial recognition hasn't failed me. Seriously, I was incredibly skeptical coming in, I work in the infrared tracking/entertainment business, the technology in this thing is dazzling.

I sound like a shill, so I'll throw in the statement that lag is pronounced, and the color camera's VGA resolution seems a bit weak, but my God...greatly exceeded my expectations. Glad I picked it up, and for $100 thanks to the CAG forum about $50 off on hardware a couple months back.

Oh, and I've felt like Kinect wants me closer to the TV than I'd really like to be, so the capture volume is a little small. I'd prefer to be 10 feet back, but all minor complaints.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Kinectimals is surprisingly deep. My 3 year old son loves the game.[/QUOTE]
Did he have trouble navigating? it seemed like they would ask a lot of yes/no question while my 3 year old daughter just wanted to do tricks and pet her tiger. She is getting used to it, but I just wish you could override with the controller or something or allow them to just say Yes or No not have to point to it and hold their arm up.

Also has Mircosoft come out and said when to expect the ability to buy a movie besides Karate Kid (EDIT: Nevermind, they are under zune, shows how often I buy/rent movies from there)? Or even better Netflix? Hulu better be Kinect compatible when it comes out, which probably won't be until the Spring update.
 
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I'm confused with Last FM and voice control. It won't really do anything besides play and stop...if I say an artists name on the screen it doesn't recognize it.

This question is for your shape fitness...can you have two characters on the same account? If my gf wants to play, does she have to make her own Silver account?
 
[quote name='seanr1221']Also, it's pretty dumb Kinect doesn't double as a vision cam, but maybe there's something I'm missing from a tech standpoint.[/QUOTE]


The reason why is those games were NOT programed originally to use Kinect. They were programed to look for the Vision camera hardware plugged in. Each piece of hardware that plugs in has a hardware identifier so the 360 knows what's plugged in (Allows MS to allow certain pieces of hardware etc they license) those games that are vision cam games are going to look for that. Kinect of course is going to be identified as a different piece of hardware. From what I heard from Xbox support on twitter is that if a developer updates their game to use the Kinect camera as a regular camera this is fine, but it's up to the developer to do so.

[quote name='pdawg17']What would be the problem if it was a foot higher than the tv? Mine is 6' off the ground but about a foot higher than the top edge of the tv...[/QUOTE]

When it is a foot higer it allows the camera to see more of the room, it essentially gives the camera an extra foot that doesn't actually exist. Allowing it to work better for those with smaller living rooms.

I was worried I would run into problems, even though from my TV to the couch is 9 feet and I have vaulted ceilings. Thankfully it works like a charm for me, as I have plenty of space.
 
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[quote name='Goodeye']The reason why is those games were NOT programed originally to use Kinect. They were programed to look for the Vision camera hardware plugged in. Each piece of hardware that plugs in has a hardware identifier so the 360 knows what's plugged in (Allows MS to allow certain pieces of hardware etc they license) those games that are vision cam games are going to look for that. Kinect of course is going to be identified as a different piece of hardware. From what I heard from Xbox support on twitter is that if a developer updates their game to use the Kinect camera as a regular camera this is fine, but it's up to the developer to do so.[/QUOTE]

So my gf has no hope for You're in the Movies? Oh well, game sucks big D anyway :lol:
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I'm confused with Last FM and voice control. It won't really do anything besides play and stop...if I say an artists name on the screen it doesn't recognize it.
[/QUOTE]
They way voice is suppose to work, in ALL apps is that you say "Xbox".... What you see appear after that on the bottom of the screen or anywhere else, is what you can say. It's not going to read dynamic names. Even in ESPN3, you have to say "Play Video 2", for example.

Last FM can also let you skip songs by saying "Xbox Next".

As I have said before, the only app you can do EVERYTHING with voice right now is ESPN. All the other apps require SOME gesture input.

Zune marketplace works pretty well, but still requires you point at what you want to play initially.

[quote name='Goodeye']The reason why is those games were NOT programed originally to use Kinect. They were programed to look for the Vision camera hardware plugged in. Each piece of hardware that plugs in has a hardware identifier so the 360 knows what's plugged in (Allows MS to allow certain pieces of hardware etc they license) those games that are vision cam games are going to look for that. Kinect of course is going to be identified as a different piece of hardware. From what I heard from Xbox support on twitter is that if a developer updates their game to use the Kinect camera as a regular camera this is fine, but it's up to the developer to do so.[/QUOTE]

There is little excuse for this, imo. Along with the dashboard update they could have updated the SDK to simply identify Kinect as a vision cam for any app looking for a vision cam.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']

There is little excuse for this, imo. Along with the dashboard update they could have updated the SDK to simply identify Kinect as a vision cam for any app looking for a vision cam.[/QUOTE]

Ok but depending on how the dashboard works this may not have been possible. The dashboard also works with the vision cam.

The tech in Kinect is somewhat advanced maybe due to how it works, that couldn't have been done, and has to be on a game by game basis. I dunno this is just wild speculation on my part.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']so after a few more hours of playing around.....


It HATES kids voices. Little girls can't voice control it.

If people play it that don't have gamer tags, it WILL eventually log in someone that has used kinect id.

if any gamertags are signed in, and non gamertags play, all the gamertags get achievements.[/QUOTE]

I've found the same thing...especially the speech with kids...kind of sucks considering Kinect is aimed for kids to some extent...
 
Not working with kids is a huge issue. Hopefully, though, this just requires a shortly coming software tweak. Yes??? My kids would DEFINITELY be very disappointed if the voice control didn't work for them. I don't even really care about it myself, but them? That's a highlight and pretty surprising that Microsoft would have messed that up - didn't they test it with kids, given the family friendly aspect they are pushing so hard?
 
[quote name='seanr1221']The child voice issue might have to do with this...

http://www.asel.udel.edu/icslp/cdrom/vol2/175/a175.pdf[/QUOTE]

holy sh*t what is this? You just drop some knowledge on us or something?? :lol:

my 2 cents on the child voice command thing is couldn't ya'll just do it for them? I mean, it's not like you have to be in front of the camera for it to pick up the voice. Maybe if we're talking about kids 5 yrs + I understand, but I really don't expect any kids younger to grasp the whole concept of giving an artificial unit commands and I would never leave my 4 year old alone in front of the Xbox..Plus, unless that E3 demo was staged, that little asian girl had no problem interacting with Kinectimals, and no major web outlet has even mentioned anything about it yet..Maybe the kids just need to enunciate better or something?
 
[quote name='seanr1221']The child voice issue might have to do with this...

http://www.asel.udel.edu/icslp/cdrom/vol2/175/a175.pdf[/QUOTE]

It contained a graph so I stopped reading lol.

I opened up my Kinect since it's widely available now and no reason to sell it. In my very, very small space of a room, it worked ok. It's not Kinect's fault, but still. The voice commands work great though and that's the main reason I wanted it. The gf was pissed that I bought it, but then I told her Dance Central has Lady Gaga and suddenly it was a wise purchase...go figure. GUess I'll picking that game up in the coming few days.
 
[quote name='token2k6']holy sh*t what is this? You just drop some knowledge on us or something?? :lol:

my 2 cents on the child voice command thing is couldn't ya'll just do it for them? I mean, it's not like you have to be in front of the camera for it to pick up the voice. Maybe if we're talking about kids 5 yrs + I understand, but I really don't expect any kids younger to grasp the whole concept of giving an artificial unit commands and I would never leave my 4 year old alone in front of the Xbox..Plus, unless that E3 demo was staged, that little asian girl had no problem interacting with Kinectimals, and no major web outlet has even mentioned anything about it yet..Maybe the kids just need to enunciate better or something?[/QUOTE]

I spent 5 minutes having my 7 year old niece try to control it, she couldn't.

Oh well, i think you make some good points.
 
Could it be the acoustics in a room contributing to this as well? My 3 year old can't control it but I expected that. My 5 year old however can with no problems. His voice is a little high like most kids his age would be, but it works fine.
 
If anyone is interested, I have a factory sealed Kinect Sports and factory sealed Kinect Joyride for trade/sale! Iwill be throwing in the Kinect launch exclusive avatar item: Adidas Superstart outfit with every trade/purchase!

I also have a 12 month XBL gold card for trade/sale!

PM me!
 
[quote name='flameofdoom666']If anyone is interested, I have a factory sealed Kinect Sports and factory sealed Kinect Joyride for trade/sale! Iwill be throwing in the Kinect launch exclusive avatar item: Adidas Superstart outfit with every trade/purchase!

I also have a 12 month XBL gold card for trade/sale!

PM me![/QUOTE]

Please keep these type of deals in the appropriate forums

Also what tracksuit came with Kinect Sports? Was it retailer specific? I got the game brand new.
 
[quote name='Goodeye']Please keep these type of deals in the appropriate forums

Also what tracksuit came with Kinect Sports? Was it retailer specific? I got the game brand new.[/QUOTE]

Maybe something that went along with the deal at TRU times square that's obviously in play here (free Joy Ride, Kinect Sports and 12-month XBL Gold)? Wish I'd been in NYC for the launch... not that I'd care about advertising for my avatar....
 
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