Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

[quote name='eastx']I'm pretty happy with the Kinect games they announced. More would of course be better, but Ghost Recon and Mass Effect for the hardcore and a lot of higher-quality family stuff sounds great to me. Fruit Ninja and Minecraft will both be awesome, too.[/QUOTE]

The Mass Effect kinect support really bothers me. Mostly because it's not even necessary to use a kinect. Why can't we use our headsets? This is nothing revolutionary, I've been issuing commands with my headset since the ps2. There is no reason to keep this a kinect exclusive addition, the mic is the least of the tech in the kinect.
 
The mic in the Kinect is more advance than the headset mic, correct?

It could be because you can say EVERY dialogue option in ME3 that it only works with Kinect.
 
I was wondering the same, my fiancee picked one up yesterday and I don't know if she just doesn't talk right with it or what but it won't sense what she's saying most of the time.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']The mic in the Kinect is more advance than the headset mic, correct?

It could be because you can say EVERY dialogue option in ME3 that it only works with Kinect.[/QUOTE]

I highly doubt the mic is more advanced. As far as I can tell the mic quality is the same as my wireless headset if not worse.
 
[quote name='exileinoblivion']I highly doubt the mic is more advanced. As far as I can tell the mic quality is the same as my wireless headset if not worse.[/QUOTE]

Part of the Kinect technology is the advanced voice recognition, using hardware in Kinect. At least that's my understanding of it. I could be wrong. :)
 
[quote name='CaptainJoel']I was wondering the same, my fiancee picked one up yesterday and I don't know if she just doesn't talk right with it or what but it won't sense what she's saying most of the time.[/QUOTE]

People have told me over live it sounds like you are using Kinect. I think it winds up sounding like speakerphone.

So far the voice recognition is very basic. Xbox kinect, xbox dash, xbox play, xbox stop. I've found as long as I speak towards it, it works.

I think most people who got it at launch thought the camera worked better than expected and the voice recognition was much more basic than expected.

I believe voice recognition is very complex, so maybe Kinect and the Kinect voice recognition software is the only way that ME3 can actually recognize voice. Otherwise, wouldn't some game have implemented some basic headset commands already?
 
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[quote name='exileinoblivion']I highly doubt the mic is more advanced. As far as I can tell the mic quality is the same as my wireless headset if not worse.[/QUOTE]

I'm talking about voice recognition.

As someone who did research involving transcription, voice recognition is pretty complex.

Understanding a few commands...not bad. Understanding ALL the dialogue options in ME3? You're talking something different now.
 
For me Kinect's voice recognition works pretty flawless and amazingly well - best I've ever experienced - but for my kids it barely works at all. I hope they can improve that.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']For me Kinect's voice recognition works pretty flawless and amazingly well - best I've ever experienced - but for my kids it barely works at all. I hope they can improve that.[/QUOTE]

Get them Hooked on Phonics? :lol:
 
I think Microsoft, strangely enough, didn't consider making it work for kids. I've heard a lot of complaints in that regard - that the voice recognition doesn't work well for kids.
 
[quote name='exileinoblivion']I highly doubt the mic is more advanced. As far as I can tell the mic quality is the same as my wireless headset if not worse.[/QUOTE]

There is a multi-mic array which is vastly superior to the single headset mic. Those stock headsets are a piece of garbage. They serve their purpose, which is to build an online base that actually communicates unlike the PSN, but they suck. Could they have done the voice recognition on the headset? I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe running it wireless, or through the controller adds a technical challenge. I don't know, and I don't care. If they want to include a feature that requires a peripheral, but isn't required to play the game, then don't bitch about it, do a cost/benefit analysis. Is it worth the cost of Kinect to have access to that feature? If yes, buy, if no, don't buy. Nobody is telling you you have to use it. For me, that's just one of the many reasons why I like Kinect, because it does give me more features in gameplay.
 
[quote name='berzirk']There is a multi-mic array which is vastly superior to the single headset mic. Those stock headsets are a piece of garbage. They serve their purpose, which is to build an online base that actually communicates unlike the PSN, but they suck. Could they have done the voice recognition on the headset? I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe running it wireless, or through the controller adds a technical challenge. I don't know, and I don't care. If they want to include a feature that requires a peripheral, but isn't required to play the game, then don't bitch about it, do a cost/benefit analysis. Is it worth the cost of Kinect to have access to that feature? If yes, buy, if no, don't buy. Nobody is telling you you have to use it. For me, that's just one of the many reasons why I like Kinect, because it does give me more features in gameplay.[/QUOTE]

Why the shit are you dogging on PSN while talking about kinect vs headset? :roll:
 
If you're using the kinect as a mic to chat with people while playing halo reach, gears 2, call of duty black ops or any online multiplayer game like that you are wrong for that and should not even bother. It sounds a bit muffled/distorted, it's annoying and it echoes. I purchased my black 360 wireless headset for $30 and have had no problems with it. The headset that comes with the 360 console does it's purpose. It's not meant to last a lifetime or give you the best they have to offer it's to get you by for awhile and what not. Gotta stop having high expectations for everything.

Fruit Ninja looks like fun with kinect, but think it'll get boring fast. I haven't found much fun using kinect anymore really and I got rid of dance central 2. Hopefully that'll change in the fall with the new Ghost Recon game and other games.
 
[quote name='basilofbkrst']Why the shit are you dogging on PSN while talking about kinect vs headset? :roll:[/QUOTE]

It's obvious if you've played on psn before, it sucks entirely. It serves it's purpose really which is 'free online' play and that's it, everything else sucks! No one really uses a mic and when they do it's to play their music which is annoying. It's funny though, because you can use a bluetooth headset of your own to talk online for free and hardly anyone does it.
 
I would love to find a way to use my headset in conjunction with the Kinect for voice command like they were doing in the press conference. I love the voice stuff but sometimes I have to talk a bit louder than I'd like.
 
[quote name='basilofbkrst']Why the shit are you dogging on PSN while talking about kinect vs headset? :roll:[/QUOTE]

I wasn't dogging on PSN. I was making an observation that far fewer people communicate and are on mic because Sony didn't bundle even a cheap headset with consoles like MS has been doing. I wasn't making a real qualitative statement about it, it was factual. Kinect provides in-game chat, as do the headsets that ship with Xboxs. My comment was in regards to voice-commands and communication on the platform.

Damn, get a vinegar rinse or something.
 
[quote name='berzirk']There is a multi-mic array which is vastly superior to the single headset mic. Those stock headsets are a piece of garbage. They serve their purpose, which is to build an online base that actually communicates unlike the PSN, but they suck. Could they have done the voice recognition on the headset? I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe running it wireless, or through the controller adds a technical challenge. I don't know, and I don't care. If they want to include a feature that requires a peripheral, but isn't required to play the game, then don't bitch about it, do a cost/benefit analysis. Is it worth the cost of Kinect to have access to that feature? If yes, buy, if no, don't buy. Nobody is telling you you have to use it. For me, that's just one of the many reasons why I like Kinect, because it does give me more features in gameplay.[/QUOTE]

First off, I already own a kinect and if you read any of my other posts you'll see that I'm mostly happy with it so don't come to me as if I'm bitching about the thing. What others have said makes sense but you see why I might think otherwise when I was doing voice commands in socom on the ps2 and on the 360 with endwar with the lesser tech. Any voice command features so far implemented with the kinect have been underwhelming and I just don't see why we couldn't do the same with the headset since we did with Endwar on this gen and socom last gen.
 
Voice commands never worked for me with headset mics on games that supported it. The Kinect's voice commands work perfectly every single time.
 
[quote name='Spokker']Voice commands never worked for me with headset mics on games that supported it. The Kinect's voice commands work perfectly every single time.[/QUOTE]

I find myself shouting at netflix multiple times before it actually picks it up. That said, it still beats turning the controller back on to pause a movie.
 
Presenting the Nyko Zoom:

Xbox_Zoom_product_new.jpg



  • Up to 40% reduction in space needed to play Compatible with all Kinect software
  • Play with 1 or 2 players in a smaller space
  • Easily clips over the Kinect Sensor – no modification or complex installation needed
  • Plug and play – no tuning, software or adjustment needed
  • Seamlessly blends in with the look of the Kinect Sensor



http://www.nyko.com/products/product-detail/?name=Zoom

If that thing works, I can see it selling really well. If anyone finds any reviews of it, post them here please.
 
Kinect can work as a mic in games just fine, without echo, if you calibrate it well. The only downside is your game sound has to be turned down somewhat or you can't hear the person talking through your speakers.

Also, I don't have to shout or usually try more than once to get my netflix playback to listen to me - again, all about calibration. It doesn't like it if you are talking over others though.

Kinect itself handles much of the heavy lifting of voice recognition, which is why Bioware is doing voice recognition for ME3 and not PS3.
 
That Nyko Zoom is a wide angle lens. So does that mean that in Kinect Adventure it will make you look a lot fatter then you actually are??? :) Clever idea, but I'd await reviews on that thing.
 
[quote name='berzirk']I wasn't dogging on PSN. I was making an observation that far fewer people communicate and are on mic because Sony didn't bundle even a cheap headset with consoles like MS has been doing. I wasn't making a real qualitative statement about it, it was factual. Kinect provides in-game chat, as do the headsets that ship with Xboxs. My comment was in regards to voice-commands and communication on the platform.

Damn, get a vinegar rinse or something.[/QUOTE]

I didn't call you a liar I just didn't know why you brought up in here, up in here. No need to be mean about it. :cry:

Also I want the Gears 360, but I also want Kinect and together that seems like a lot of money. Though Gears bundle has 2 controllers and a headset while the kinect version has just 1 controller and no headset, but its got kinect. What to doo....????????????
 
See the Forza 4 thread for an awesome video of how the head tracking works in the game and how you use it. I'm sold on it. It looks pretty fantastic. Of course I also wish I had one of those awesome racing sim setups. Oh well.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']See the Forza 4 thread for an awesome video of how the head tracking works in the game and how you use it. I'm sold on it. It looks pretty fantastic. Of course I also wish I had one of those awesome racing sim setups. Oh well.[/QUOTE]

See superior headtracking here: http://youtu.be/_AO0F5sLdVM

It's PC only, and the game support is quite limited unless you're into flight or racing sims, but in terms of tech specs, it blows Kinect headtracking out of the water.

I'm still partial to Kinect for body tracking though.

Quick question about the zoom, wouldn't this further lower the resolution by expanding the FOV? Seems like some functions of Kinect would be reduced. How much is yet to be seen, but lowering the already low resolution seems like a concern to me.
 
[quote name='wakawakawa']Why voice commands are kinect only

http://kotaku.com/5810138/mass-effect-3s-new-voice-commands-are-xbox-360+only-and-heres-why[/QUOTE]

That's pretty much what I expected. Kinect is like a coprocessor for this kind of stuff. I'm not that interested in the game myself, though. I tried the demo of ME2 a while back and thought it was pretty dull. I didn't even make it to the end of the demo before I deleted it to get the space back. I know lots of people love it, though.

Forza 4, though, I'm looking forward to that. That PC system for head tracking may be better - I don't know - but what I saw for Forza 4 looked pretty good and I've already got Kinect.
 
Does anyone know if there is a way to calibrate range on the kinect? Forza 4's headtracking has my interest piqued but kinect doesn't seem to pick me up from the couch. I've got a wide open area with the recommended distance from the kinect but my couch is only about 3 ft away from that so it's kind of a bummer if I'm going to miss out on some of these kinect integrations into real games.
 
All of this crap will prove to be gimmicky.

Voice command has been around for awhile and never took off.

Head tracking has been around on the pc for awhile and never took off.

Eye Toy never hit a homerun either. Wii has proved that motion control is limited and flakey.

I don't see anything with KInect that changes this.
 
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There are several games I'm interested in now, my Kinect collection will certainly be expanded beyond Dance Central and Kinect Sports by the end of the year. I'm definitely getting Fruit Ninja and Kinect Sports Season 2, and games like Star Wars, Gunstringer, Child of Eden, and Hole in the Wall intrigue me. The Japan Human Tetris was great, but when the show came to America it sucked. I probably won't be getting Dance Central 2, as it looks like the same game with different songs. And of course, I'm excited that it's integrated in a non-gimmicky way in Mass Effect 3. I'm actually pretty excited to try that out in March. Regardless, Kinect is taking a step forward, and I still remain happy with what it is and what it will become.
 
I hope the Nyko Zoom works well. For $30 I will definitely get it.

A puzzle xbla game. Looks like it could be fun, but also looks like an Indie as in Xbox Indies game.

http://n4g.com/news/783840/konami-announced-leedmees-for-xbox-360-kinect-this-week-at-e3


Child of Eden and UFC Trainer are both coming out this month, they might wind up being among the best of the Kinect games this year. Too bad Amazon doesn't have any credits for them.
 
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[quote name='trip1eX']All of this crap will prove to be gimmicky.

Voice command has been around for awhile and never took off.

Head tracking has been around on the pc for awhile and never took off.

Eye Toy never hit a homerun either. Wii has proved that motion control is limited and flakey.

I don't see anything with KInect that changes this.[/QUOTE]

Trip1ex, thank you for trolling the Kinect thread. Your intelligent and well-reasoned, not at all annoying or dismissive argument has convinced us all to sell our Kinects and rub our standard controllers with loving, nearly sexual adoration. Also, I am highly impressed by your skipping of lines between sentences rather than adhering to the tired, dusty convention of paragraphs. Good job, little guy.

[quote name='matto1233']There are several games I'm interested in now, my Kinect collection will certainly be expanded beyond Dance Central and Kinect Sports by the end of the year. I'm definitely getting Fruit Ninja and Kinect Sports Season 2, and games like Star Wars, Gunstringer, Child of Eden, and Hole in the Wall intrigue me. The Japan Human Tetris was great, but when the show came to America it sucked. I probably won't be getting Dance Central 2, as it looks like the same game with different songs. And of course, I'm excited that it's integrated in a non-gimmicky way in Mass Effect 3. I'm actually pretty excited to try that out in March. Regardless, Kinect is taking a step forward, and I still remain happy with what it is and what it will become.[/QUOTE]

Dude, Dance Central 2 will be so much better and totally replace Dance Central 1. You could just transfer the songs over and sell the original, thus gaining a bunch more music, multiplayer features, a proper single-player game, etc.
 
[quote name='eastx']

Dude, Dance Central 2 will be so much better and totally replace Dance Central 1. You could just transfer the songs over and sell the original, thus gaining a bunch more music, multiplayer features, a proper single-player game, etc.[/QUOTE]
You can transfer the music over? I still don't know, I don't really play it except for when I have lots of friends over.
 
Matto, I would think proper multiplayer would really add to the experience when breaking out Dance Central to play with friends. Also, the first game's single-player mode was basically nonexistent and apparently 2 will have a better one. And yeah, you can transfer the songs over from the first game, just like in the Rock Band series.

UFC Personal Trainer Achievements

This could be the workout game to get... I think it would hold my interest better than YourShape. Comes out on June 28 - hope it turns out well.
 
[quote name='trip1eX']All of this crap will prove to be gimmicky.

Voice command has been around for awhile and never took off.

Head tracking has been around on the pc for awhile and never took off.

Eye Toy never hit a homerun either. Wii has proved that motion control is limited and flakey.

I don't see anything with KInect that changes this.[/QUOTE]

There are several reasons Kinect changes it. Just to name a few:

Look how many Kinects have sold
Kinect has a robust SDK and API that's unified, for devs to plug into their games
Kinect is true hands free, you don't need to wear a headset
Some of the biggest AAA games coming out are using Kinect features, which has never been the case a year after any other similar peripheral was sold.

That's just some of the reasons your list is invalid.
 
[quote name='trip1eX']All of this crap will prove to be gimmicky.

Voice command has been around for awhile and never took off.

Head tracking has been around on the pc for awhile and never took off.

Eye Toy never hit a homerun either. Wii has proved that motion control is limited and flakey.

I don't see anything with KInect that changes this.[/QUOTE]

1. Probably, but we won't know until different ideas are tried.

2. advances in tech gives better implementation/recognition than before. Plus squad based commands are always limited to a half dozen phrases giving it no advantage over the D-pad. Something like Mass Effect where you can essentially carry on a conversation is pretty amazing.

3. there should be a big difference in head tracking on a 21" monitor and a 50"-100" screen.
 
[quote name='eastx']
UFC Personal Trainer Achievements

This could be the workout game to get... I think it would hold my interest better than YourShape. Comes out on June 28 - hope it turns out well.[/QUOTE]


Those achievements are serious business.

Perform a workout every day for 100 days.
Complete all three 60-day programs.
Complete all three 30-day programs.

Maybe you can cheese them, but otherwise thats 9 months of playing (everyday?) to unlock them all.
 
nah the cheesers will take their xbox offline
do a workout, go to dashboard, change the console's date, do another workout, go to dashboard.....rinse/repeat
 
Is the best (only?) deal on Child of Eden, at Kmart? They're offering a $15 gaming coupon. I'm considering it. Would prefer not to have to buy from kmart though as it's such an incredible pain in the ass to buy video games at the local kmart.
 
Yeah, I might just go the amazon route too, because otherwise I have to buy another video game from kmart. :( However, they also have Dirt 3 this week for $39.99. If I can use that coupon right away for Dirt 3, then I might have to go that route. I'm not sure if that's possible, though. $45.04 each after 6% tax. But I don't really like buying multiple games at once. Too much money, even if it's a deal, and by the time I get to the second game it might be cheaper anyway had I just waited to buy it. Hmm.
 
K-mart seems like the place to go. It wasn't even in any of the Sunday ads. Not even K-mart.

I'm hoping reviews start popping up today. I'm buying regardless, but I'd kinda like to read a few first.
 
Anyone pick up Child of Eden yet? It got great reviews, but I'm still a bit skeptical. Looks a lot like a more complicated version of Gunstringer.
 
[quote name='matto1233']Anyone pick up Child of Eden yet? It got great reviews, but I'm still a bit skeptical. Looks a lot like a more complicated version of Gunstringer.[/QUOTE]

I want to play it but I can't say it would ever be a game I'd spend $50 on. I'll be sending back red faction to gamefly today, and leaving just this in my queue in hopes that it ships within a week. The reviews I read were pretty great and said that kinect was the way to go as far as controls but I've also seen it noted that it would be more appropriate as a xbla title.
 
[quote name='matto1233']Anyone pick up Child of Eden yet? It got great reviews, but I'm still a bit skeptical. Looks a lot like a more complicated version of Gunstringer.[/QUOTE]

I'm very intrigued and I have a Kmart coupon, so I could get it for $30... But I didn't really "get" Rez and I've heard it's very similar... What to do?!
 
The joystiq review of Child of Eden is absolutely glowing! I was hesitant after reading the first couple of reviews (game informer and another). I want to try it, but not for $50. $35 seems to be my "what the heck, I want a new kinect game" price.

On that note, I have wipeout on the way from Toys R Us ($35 on sale), so I'll give my thoughts on that by the weekend.
 
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