Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

if you are concerned with the camera function of kinect you may need to get this accessory
tinfoil-hat.jpg
 
You guys are crazy.

I have my xbox in my living room also but not everyone who owns a xbox is a 25 year old or older with their own space. I assume that more kids than adults have gaming systems and thus have them in their bedroom.

I am sure that my parents were not the only ones that didnt allow me to hook up my gaming system on the bigger tv in the living room. You have to think outside of your normal group of friends here, the 20 people you hang out with dont represent the 8 billion people on the planet. And if its a mainstream product on a platform that is still commonly linked to children I would only assume you took what kids are normally allowed to do into account.

Crhist sake you have to spell out everything down to the T here.
 
[quote name='Soodmeg']
I assume that more kids than adults have gaming systems and thus have them in their bedroom.

...


Crhist sake you have to spell out everything down to the T here.[/QUOTE]

You're the one with a failure to understand the changing landscape, not us old folks.

[quote name='theredworm']gamers are getting older, not everyone still live at home with their parents, think outside your 20 or so people you hang out with[/QUOTE]

yup. Plus, it's a TARGET market. Which means Microsoft understands who is going to shell out for the kinect, and the majority of them are not 18 yo FPS people. Kinectimals as a launch title strongly indicated who they were going after.
 
Actual looking at it the report says that the average gamer is 34 apparently. (That seems impossible to me) but stats are stats I guess. I was way off on that. Last time I checked the average age was around 17. For everyone 1 person I know who is a gamer there is at least 5 people who thinks games are for children.

I can admit when I am wrong, way off on that call.

By the way, none of my friends or I live at home we all have our own homes now. I meant that when I was a kid I was wasnt allowed to hook up my system to the front room tv.
 
There are some families that don't want the game system in the living room, that is definitely true. When I go on our yearly beach vacation with my wife's family there is some pressure to not hook up a game system in the living room area of the beach house, though I got away with that last year. :) However, Microsoft absolutely wants the Xbox to be in the living room and not hidden away in the kids room. They want to be the entertainment center, and that isn't in the kids' room.

Oh, and no, I can't spend an entire day on the beach. :)
 
Just installed the wall mount for my Kinect and it actually looks better than sitting on tv. If anyone is interested, I bought the Performance Design Products wall mount http://www.pdp.com/p-928-wall-mount-for-kinect.aspx which also came with a promo code for a free pdp t-shirt which I only paid $2.99 for the s&h. The wall mount actually seems to make the Kinect more responsive than it was sitting on the tv, it is now about 1 1/2 feet higher than it was. :cool:
 
[quote name='Jabrim']Just installed the wall mount for my Kinect and it actually looks better than sitting on tv. If anyone is interested, I bought the Performance Design Products wall mount http://www.pdp.com/p-928-wall-mount-for-kinect.aspx which also came with a promo code for a free pdp t-shirt which I only paid $2.99 for the s&h. The wall mount actually seems to make the Kinect more responsive than it was sitting on the tv, it is now about 1 1/2 feet higher than it was. :cool:[/QUOTE]

I have this wall mount as well, and is was very easy to attach. My Kinect went from sitting on my media cabinet to the wall, about a foot higher, and it definitely decreased the distance you need to stand away from the camera.
 
8 million units sold in 60 days.


Damn Msoft! Now all you have to do is get some games to go with it.
 
8 million shipped. Last time i went to BB, walmart, frys, they were littered with kinect stand alones and bundles everywhere. Looks like MS stuffed the channels as much as possible to make sure they had enough to meet demand, good for them.

They sold for sure 5+ million camera, but now all of a sudden dont have real sold to consumer numbers anymore and never will again. IIAM.
 
[quote name='theredworm']just a matter of time till we see indie games with kinect controls for $1 each[/QUOTE]

Except currently there seems to be no way to launch a download game from the Kinect Hub. You can launch it with a controller and then play it with Kinect, but that's wonky. I hope they address this with the Spring dashboard update, or sooner.

By the way, has anybody tried mounting the Kinect Wall mount using heavy duty double-sided tape? We actually have a large mirror on that wall (it's actually where the fireplace is, which doesn't work, so we've got the TV there, and there's a large mirror above the fireplace). Anyway, I can't drill holes, but I'm wondering if I could mount it to the mirror with heavy duty double-sided tape after cleaning the mirror with alcohol. I might give it a shot. The mount is in my amazon quick picks today, so it got me thinking....
 
Uhhhh.

With enough gaffers tape you can do anything. Trust me, we once attached 2k Fresnels to the ceiling at a gig with a roll of gaff tape. Will it look good? Nope but it will work.

I wouldnt use anything other than gaffers tape though. Gaffers tape is made to come off of surfaces without leaving sticky gunk and is some of the strongest tape around.


Or you might be able to find some of those Seen on TV hangers that might work.
 
so my xbox somehow scratched my kinect adventures, it was a half ring around the disc and wont play. Does xbox replace the game since it was bundled with the system? who should i contact?
 
[quote name='rly723']so my xbox somehow scratched my kinect adventures, it was a half ring around the disc and wont play. Does xbox replace the game since it was bundled with the system? who should i contact?[/QUOTE]

You can try contacting Microsoft, but honestly I doubt they will replace the game.
 
I downloaded the Kinect Sports demo and noticed that, unlike the Sonic Free Riders demo, the demo shows up in the Kinect hub. That shows that download games can show up in the hub, though I wonder what it will be like you have a lot of downloaded kinect games. Could get ugly.

Anyway, this demo of Kinect Sports really doesn't sell the game at all. I'm sure the real thing is better, but what you get to try here is pretty awful. The track and field sprint was a snooze and seemed to require unrealistic running in place. It only saw you going fast if you raised your knees high. If you didn't raise your knees high you could run fast as the wind and your on-screen character would be jogging casually and falling way behind. Then the bowling was pretty terrible too. Far worse then Wii Sports, let alone Wii Sports Resort. It clearly was helping inordinately because it couldn't really tell much about your swing. I wish they'd let me try the soccer and at least the hurdles in the track and field. I'm sure there has to be better ones then the ones in this demo. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

On the other hand, my son and I played 2-player River Raft in Kinect Adventures, and that was really a lot of fun. Yelling, "left left left! Right! Right! Jump!" to get each other in sync made that game a lot more fun (and actually I rather liked it single player too, but definitely more fun 2 player).
 
The Track and Field games in general are lame (though Hurdles is indeed better than sprinting). I like the bowling though, especially the minigame that lets you toss tons of balls for a limited time. But soccer, boxing, and volleyball are my favs.
 
I tried the Biggest Loser Workout demo and that seems pretty good except I think it needs to give more audio indications of if you are doing the routines right. It does give some, and maybe it was giving more then I realized and I just didn't know how to interpret them. These are mainly needed when it asks you to turn sideways for a routine. Still, I was definitely out of breath when it was over and unlike the other exercise game demo, the name of which is escaping me at the moment, this one actually has a lot of different exercises (all in one routine), which gives a better idea of what the game is like.

On a side note, after it was over I went back to the Kinect Hub and was trying to figure out if there was a voice command to shut the xbox off. After trying a bunch of different things without success, I finally said, "Xbox - fuck you". ESPN3 started. I'm not sure what that says. ;) :)
 
I tried the Biggest Loser Workout demo and that seems pretty good except I think it needs to give more audio indications of if you are doing the routines right. It does give some, and maybe it was giving more then I realized and I just didn't know how to interpret them. These are mainly needed when it asks you to turn sideways for a routine. Still, I was definitely out of breath when it was over and unlike the other exercise game demo, the name of which is escaping me at the moment, this one actually has a lot of different exercises (all in one routine), which gives a better idea of what the game is like.

On a side note, after it was over I went back to the Kinect Hub and was trying to figure out if there was a voice command to shut the xbox off. After trying a bunch of different things without success, I finally said, "Xbox - fuck you". ESPN3 started. I'm not sure what that says. ;) :)

EDIT:
Decided to throw caution to the wind, ignored the lame demo, and ordered a used copy of Kinect Sports from gamestop via their hard-to-believe B1newG1used half off deal. $25.69 shipped for KS (used, hopefully in good shape) and a throw away PS2 new game after all the discounts and with 6% tax. Looking forward to trying the full game out.
 
There is not a command to shut off the Xbox via voice. It was a design decision because you can not turn on the xbox via voice.
 
If there were a privacy issue with Kinect, you'd start to see a little bit of evidence of it by now. You'd see "super secret hacked videos" of people playing Kinect or just sitting on their couch while the thing is idle.

I've set my privacy settings not to share anything Kinect-related, but you really have to confirm it to share something.

I doubt there's a privacy issue. I jerked off on the couch in front of my Kinect and didn't really think anything of it. If you see a fat guy cumming on his stomach with full depth information, then we might have a problem.
 
I finally took the plunge. It came in yesterday via Amazon Warehouse deals. Probably going to hold off on playing much until next week. I'm really in the mood for an RPG right now. Plus I will probably pick up Kinectimals over the weekend.
 
is it true kinect is a max of 2 players? i've heard it might be able to support 4 but games dont have it yet?
anyone know?
 
Microsoft says 2 players.

Also, as tweeted by Major Nelson, there's now a demo (Gold-only) for Konami's Dance Masters:

majornelson: Got Kinect? Download the free DanceMasters demo now available http://mjr.mn/ifXnQj
Click to expand...

I have and like this game. It's not perfect, but it's still a lot of fun. I hope they'll add a training mode to DM2, as the game could certainly use it. Anyway, check out the demo.
 
Kinect cannot track more then 2 people at a time. Also, you need 8+ feet for 2 players, imagine how much you'll need for 4, maybe an entire football field?
 
Just my bundle up a couple days ago, and I have to say that I'm surprised by how much I enjoy using the sensor.

The only issue I have had with it is that it seems to absolutely need 8 ft or more between me and the sensor no matter where I put it. I'm not sure if this is due to my height and build (I'm a little over six feet and one inches. Our living room isn't small by any stretch of the imagination, but a large and beautiflul mahoghany epic entertainment center takes up about three feet of depth along one wall. I also have our couch centered and calibrated into our self adjusting Audyssey surround sound system, and I don't want to go through 10 to 15 minutes of clicking each time I move things...

8ft fits within our current set up, but just barely.
 
For those that own kinect. Do you have a coffee table? If so, I'm guessing you have to move it to play most games, correct? Assuming that the kinect sensor is setup under your TV, with your TV being in front of a coffee table of course.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']For those that own kinect. Do you have a coffee table? If so, I'm guessing you have to move it to play most games, correct? Assuming that the kinect sensor is setup under your TV, with your TV being in front of a coffee table of course.[/QUOTE]

We have a coffee table. It's on wheels and we just shove it into a corner while playing.
 
You need to move any furniture out of the way. Not only because it would mess up the sensor, but because you probably don't want to kick it! :)

I got my copy of Kinect Sports in last night and we played a fair bit today. I actually ended up liking the track and field event - it's fun with two players. My opinion of the bowling didn't change - it's awful. I'll stick to Wii Sports Resort for that. I also didn't like the boxing. I felt like I was punching and 50% or more of the time it wasn't doing anything. My 9 year old had little problem with it, though. I love the soccer and soccer target mini game. We also really enjoyed playing volleyball. Table tennis the verdict is out. I would like to try it some more.

Overall I like it. The soccer and volleyball are the best so far. I've got lots of minigames to try yet.

One problem we had, and we had this with Adventures too, is that we have problems when switching who is playing. It keeps wanting one of us to still be in the game even when we're sitting out. We had to quit back to the hub and relaunch the game. Does anyone else have problems with this? Found a solution?

EDIT: also Kinect I'D doesn't recognize me any more since getting a haircut. Having to redo that is annoying. I wonder if it saves previous runs so that as my hair grows out it will still recognize me, even having redone it with short hair? Hopefully so.
 
had no problems like that yet

had a big crowd for new years eve playing kinect, had me and my gf's accounts signed in and there were no issues when neither of us were physically playing
 
If anybody wants to compete on mini-games in Kinect Sports or any game, or maybe even play online, feel free to add me. Just let me know who you are on CAG and that it's about Kinect.
 
I enjoy kinect sports but even their main games are pretty short. I believe only up to 11 points in table tennis, 1 set. 1 set in volleyball, etc. I'd like full games, multiple sets as if youd play in real life, but obviously with online replay value is extended. Mini games are okay. The boxng king of the king is pretty intense and fast paced. Single player gets a bit short vs computer, but with party play and xbox live definitely can spend hours playing this. My only complaint was track n field, there isnt much difficulty, learning curve on discus and javelin
 
My wife actually said she'd play Kinect Sports beach volleyball with me. This is pretty amazing. She is terrible at video games and feels like she can't control them. So far, though, this is just words. I plan to test this claim out soon. :)
 
I finally have enough room to play in my new place! Before, I needed at least 7 feet of space just for one player. In the small bedroom I had it set up in at the old house, I had to lean my bed against the wall, and even with 10 feet of space, my friends and I would bang into each other and the walls during 2 player games. Now I have twice as much space even without moving my bed, thank God. Unfortunately, I had to buy the overpriced TV mount. The wall mount won't work in a corner, and there's no configuration that allows me to place the TV up against a flat wall without getting rid of other important things.
 
I have ONE major issue with Kinect right now, which has to do with lighting. Due to my apartment being a little older (not extremely old, but older to a point it doesn't have many ceiling lights), getting it to recognize and work for me is a pain in the ass (also doesn't helped that I'm dark skinned). The only way I can get it to work properly is drag a lamp from another room, put it underneath the sensor, then try to get an extension cord just to plug in the lamp.

I mean, I even tried playing during the daytime while sunny (with windows open) and still didn't recognize me well. UGH, it's why I never just leave my Kinect unplugged and rarely bother to play it (I also already have my PS Eye and Wii sensor bar around my TV right now, so there isn't much room).

Kinect Sports is fun (although I felt bowling was terrible compared to other bowling games I played) mostly because of boxing/soccer, and I had some fun with Kinect Adventures. I HATED Dance Masters (despite being a DDR fan, the main reason I bought my Kinect) and did not like Dance Central. I'm tempted to just ditch my Kinect more so because of the issues getting it to work (not worth my time), but since it only gets $60 credit on Amazon, I may wait.

Big disappointment for me even if I played some of the demos to games also. Wish I never bought it especially when I'm actually having money issues for once.
 
Mana - I haven't had such issues with Kinect. Just it's voracious appetite for space. One thing to be sure of is that you place the sensor where it's as close to either 2 feet or 6 feet from the floor. That's what it says to do... I think in the manual, but don't quote me on it. I know I read that somewhere either online or in the documentation. We have a floor standing lamp and a table lamp in the room, both in corners or close to them, and that's it and it works well for us. The sensor is on our TV stand which is exactly 2 feet off the floor. Well, there's windows too, but it works just as well or perhaps better at night.

I like Dance Masters. It's a fun game, it just needs a training mode to make it easier to learn the harder routines. It really needs that, but it's still fun. I find it really satisfying when I'm hitting those circles with hands and feet (I mean, the ones that have you kicking your foot to a spot.)
 
Mana Knight, you should try getting a lamp specifically for the room your Kinect is in (I'd recommend one with 3 brightness settings as those are great to have). It sucks that you're having money troubles, but don't give up on it just yet.
 
If you have money issues, dont even think about it, Kinect is a bonus type of thing that can be replaced at anytime. Dont worry and get some money and rebuy it later if need be.
 
[quote name='rly723']I enjoy kinect sports but even their main games are pretty short. I believe only up to 11 points in table tennis, 1 set. 1 set in volleyball, etc. I'd like full games, multiple sets as if youd play in real life, but obviously with online replay value is extended. Mini games are okay. The boxng king of the king is pretty intense and fast paced. Single player gets a bit short vs computer, but with party play and xbox live definitely can spend hours playing this. My only complaint was track n field, there isnt much difficulty, learning curve on discus and javelin[/QUOTE]

yeah they need to update kinect sports so you can play longer Soccer matches, would live to play a good 10 minute or longer match on the harder difficulties
 
The Gunstringer, Twisted Pixel's new game, sounds like a potential win. The Teaser Trialer doesn't really show anyone playing the game, only hints at how it's played, but I like what they write here:

You can play it sitting down, which is great if you just want to play and relax rather than burn crazy calories. Most importantly, you can aim and move with precision not seen in any of the Kinect launch titles, and with a speed and feel that’s just not possible with a traditional controller.
Click to expand...


I don't actually care too much about playing while sitting down (I'd rather burn some calories myself), but I like the idea that Kinect can do that. So far that hasn't seemed to be the case. Kinect never recognizes me when I'm sitting on the couch, which is lousy given that I'd like to control ESPN3 with it, using more then just voice. Ditto for Netflix once that's out. And I really like that they say the aim and precision will be better then we've seen so far. I also like that it's an XBLA game - I'm glad to see that such games are coming!

http://www.thegunstringer.com/

I look forward to trying out a demo. No word on when this game is due yet.
 
Keep in mind that TwistedPixel is known for working on XBLA title, as far as I know, they haven't done anything retail yet. That doesn't mean that this will be an XBLA title, but if it is, the graphics look on par with the rest of their games.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Will there be a bong hitting minigame for the plethora of Xbox Live members with 420 in their gamertags?[/QUOTE]

I was actually hoping for a way to electrocute them. :D
 
I was interested in that game, but since when does a 3.5/5 from Gamepro equal good? It is Gamepro, after all, and the average from the few reviews that have come in so far is around 56%. The reviews made me lose any hope that the game would be good. :(

I have an uncomfortable question to ask regarding Kinect Sports- uncomfortable for you guys to read, and uncomfortable for me as it pertains to the experience which led me to ask: Has anyone else had issues with the running in Kinect Sports and, um... testicular discomfort? Maybe it's the lack of support since I'm a boxers kind of guy and I was wearing loose fitting pants that I'd normally wear to the gym, but the 10 seconds or so of running for stuff like the hurdles in track & field was causing pain as stuff moved around down there and bounced. Sorry for the mental image.
 
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