Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

Thrust, not sure if you can answer this, or if you even know the answer but...

Is the Kinect more of an experiment (sort of like the PSPGo) to see how the market reacts, or a well calculated decision based off of feedback, consumer research, etc.?

Only reason I ask is because it seems like MS will REALLY be pushing the Kinect on consumers. I'm expecting a huge advertising blitz this holiday.
 
Everything I have heard is that Microsoft really does see this as a new console launch and they will pretty much market it and treat it as one in every way. They are expecting it to extend the life of the 360.

As far as "research" or testing the waters - I think how Kinect sells will heavily affect how the 360 successor is designed.
 
Kinect is way better then will

and all Kinect games are 49.99
 
I'm pretty interested in these Kinect games announced at TGS. I mean, an exclusive Panzer Dragoon game? Come on, that's good stuff. Plus, I'm a sucker for spooky haunted house stuff and that game Haunted looks promising.

Finally, Kinect stuff for "me" to be interested, vs. just stuff for the family!
 
Just a heads up, but you can get this in your Amazon quick picks for $142.49. Only reason I mention this is because hardware of this sort is typically rare for the gold box and since a few might be picking this up, the extra 5% off will be appreciated. For ways to accomplish this, you can read the FAQ linked in my sig.
 
any deals for this? haven't really seen anything for awhile and I missed out on the amazon deal where you bought kinect+dance central and got a $20 game credit back. I haven't found out any information @ work (bb) as far as a sale/promotion yet.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']any deals for this? haven't really seen anything for awhile and I missed out on the amazon deal where you bought kinect+dance central and got a $20 game credit back. I haven't found out any information @ work (bb) as far as a sale/promotion yet.[/QUOTE]

I pre-ordered it for $99 during the Microsoft Store Labor Day sale so I'm set. That's the best deal I've seen, but K-Mart's deal is pretty good too.

11-4 Kinect Camera Offer $25 gaming coupon
11-4 Kinect 4GB/250GB Bundle $40 gaming coupon
11-4 Kinect Games Offer $15 gaming coupon with purchase of Kinect Camera or Hardware bundle

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274278
 
[quote name='KillerRamen']I pre-ordered it for $99 during the Microsoft Store Labor Day sale so I'm set. That's the best deal I've seen, but K-Mart's deal is pretty good too.

11-4 Kinect Camera Offer $25 gaming coupon
11-4 Kinect 4GB/250GB Bundle $40 gaming coupon
11-4 Kinect Games Offer $15 gaming coupon with purchase of Kinect Camera or Hardware bundle

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274278[/QUOTE]

yeah I saw that. do you happen to know if best buy would match those kmart deals? If so, then i'd be set and I would get it @ bb instead. Also, do ya think the deals could stack? Because i'll probably end up getting Kinect along with Dance Central and maybe Your Fitness as well.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']yeah I saw that. do you happen to know if best buy would match those kmart deals? If so, then i'd be set and I would get it @ bb instead. Also, do ya think the deals could stack? Because i'll probably end up getting Kinect along with Dance Central and maybe Your Fitness as well.[/QUOTE]

They should match it as long as you bring an ad and as long as kmart has it in stock.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']Best Buy is SUPPOSED to match giftcards, but I've never been able to get them to. Definitely YMMV on that one.

Marketing blitz is coming

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/microsoft_move_3gVmAyryJuD6px1dV7LeDP

Jesus...Pepsi and Kellogg's? I have a feeling the demand this christmas is going to be crazy. Gamestop.com is already sold out and GS stores aren't taking pre-orders anymore.[/QUOTE]

The whole GS being sold-out, and not taking pre-orders is just another publicity stunt being pulled to attract attention.

They're going to put out a media blitz, and tons of units will magically appear if the demand increases for the product.

This thing has not been getting positive impressions from any media outlets so far. All you hear is about the restrictions about lighting, room size, and even how clean the room has to be for this damn thing to work properly.
Will wait for failure (and massive discount) to try it.
 
[quote name='dragonjud']The whole GS being sold-out, and not taking pre-orders is just another publicity stunt being pulled to attract attention.

They're going to put out a media blitz, and tons of units will magically appear if the demand increases for the product.

This thing has not been getting positive impressions from any media outlets so far. All you hear is about the restrictions about lighting, room size, and even how clean the room has to be for this damn thing to work properly.
Will wait for failure (and massive discount) to try it.[/QUOTE]

If they pump enough money into it, it won't be a failure. From what I hear from people developing on the hardware is that it's not as picky as you are saying. You can play a lot of games in near darkness just fine if you like, since the important data is infrared.

I'm actually buying it because I'm mostly intrigued in the sophisticated voice stuff it does.

The electronics buying public has proven time and time again that marketing and perception of cool matters far far more than actual content (see most Apple products and Wii).
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']The electronics buying public has proven time and time again that marketing and perception of cool matters far far more than actual content (see most Apple products and Wii).[/QUOTE]

I am complete agreeance. The Kinect will sell out. I don't see this as a marketing ploy. I see the demand currently as a mixture of people interested in the technology (like me) or people that are interested in buying to re-sell on ebay/craigslist/etc closer to the holiday when parents can't find them on the shelf (think Wii/Zhu Zhu/etc).
 
They're pushing it on TV too. Last week 'How I Met Your Mother' some random dude walking out of an electronic store with a new X360 S and a Kinect in hand. Also a few weeks ago I mentioned it was on Entourage.
 
I like how it can be used by more than 1 person @ a time and them including a $49.99 game kinda brings the Kinect real price down to $100 which is a little more than what some people were looking to spend. However, they should have had better promotions/sales on Kinect for launch and thrown out some bundles. I've looked around and so far, kmart has been the only place putting out any type of decent deal so here's hoping to bb to price match it. -Edit- There are no kmarts in my area, shiit!! So much for trying to get a deal.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Are you getting one Sean?[/QUOTE]

Have two preordered. One to keep and one to sell if prices are high on Craigslist this holiday.

I'm most excited for Dance Central. People need to calm down over this thing. Until they announce Gears of War and Halo will play like Kinectimals, 'core' games aren't going anywhere.

If I can pay around 200.00 for Rock Band + plastic instruments, the same price really isn't a big deal for Kinect and Dance Central.
 
I'm opening the morning of Kinect and will be trying it out for myself first and see how it is. 6 months, no interest and same as cash is the way to go with best buy credit card so looks like i'll be doing that and probably also get dance central. Don't know which Fitness game to get. Perhaps 'your fitness'? We'll see..
 
Well I just pre-ordered one like a tool on Amazon. I don't really want it because I have interest in the launch games, but the technology intrigues me.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']Have two preordered. One to keep and one to sell if prices are high on Craigslist this holiday.

I'm most excited for Dance Central. People need to calm down over this thing. Until they announce Gears of War and Halo will play like Kinectimals, 'core' games aren't going anywhere.

If I can pay around 200.00 for Rock Band + plastic instruments, the same price really isn't a big deal for Kinect and Dance Central.[/QUOTE]

Good point. I actually want it for The Adventure game, Sports game, and Kinectimals...I hope my son gets a kick out of the latter.
 
haven't preordered but was looking to get one tomorrow (11/4). any one have ideas on stock or if all the places are just going to be fulfilling pre-orders or what? there's a gamestop next door which is going to open at 10pm but I don't really know if I want to go if they're just fulfilling pre-orders...
 
[quote name='nugarp']haven't preordered but was looking to get one tomorrow (11/4). any one have ideas on stock or if all the places are just going to be fulfilling pre-orders or what? there's a gamestop next door which is going to open at 10pm but I don't really know if I want to go if they're just fulfilling pre-orders...[/QUOTE]
If you have a k-mart near you they don't do pre-orders so it's first come, first served.
 
I thought this was somewhat interesting. It's from the SD thread on an expired Kinect deal in response to lots of people showing youtube videos and complaining that there is lag etc.

My husband is an MS'r at Xbox, and we've had a Kinect in our living room for about a month now. For a good solid two weeks, we were getting updates every time we flipped the LR console on, and were having to recalibrate the Kinect because they have made so many changes. The first week or so of receiving it, there was a very small, but just enough to notice and annoy-the-shit-out-of-you lag. I point blank told my husband that MS was #&*$ed if they were going to release something for $150 with a lag that makes you want to throw it out the window. Several updates and forced recalibration's later - no lag.

The biggest issue I foresee people having straight out of the box, is not placing the sensor properly (not high enough or not low enough) and standing too close. Browse the directions for sure, we initially didnt receive a manual and were pretty worried MS had bombed this one - but sensor placement and standing a few feet farther away makes a major the difference. We live in the Seattle area, and dont exactly have the best light at all times, but I can say we've never had issues with light affecting the Kinect. Pictures are kind of grainy if you are using low ambiance type lighting at night, but thats to be expected.

We were only given access to 6 or 7 games depending on the update and none of them were the entire full version, but I have to say Dance Central is the winner game IMO. So much fun, even for a household of people with two left feet.
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I wish the voice commands were praised more. I don't think people understand how difficult voice recognition is to accomplish.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I wish the voice commands were praised more. I don't think people understand how difficult voice recognition is to accomplish.[/QUOTE]

That's actually the aspect I am most excited about. Being able to chat during games without a headset will be sweet too.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I wish the voice commands were praised more. I don't think people understand how difficult voice recognition is to accomplish.[/QUOTE]

And what if it doesn't work well? I've never been impressed with voice recognition and I have my doubts it's going to work that well with Kinect. A few times of having to repeat the same command multiple times and/or having it do the wrong thing, and that alone might get people to throw it out the window. Now, if by chance they did pull off flawless voice recognition... which I tend to think is highly unlikely... well I'd probably shut it off anyway. Saying commands really isn't as useful as one might think. Mostly it just annoys everyone else in the room, and if you're single you might end up worrying your neighbors think you're a quack. Then again, people talk on those bluetooth headsets all the time, so maybe no one would look at you funny. Much. :) Just think about it - how many times have voice recognition phone trees made you happy?
 
[quote name='pjb16']If you have a k-mart near you they don't do pre-orders so it's first come, first served.[/QUOTE]

awesome! thank you for that. i do have one nearby..and kmart has the best deal anyway.
 
The SD post above is interesting. The problem is, MS is hedging their bets that EVERY house, apartment, condo, etc has the space required to play. I don't. I have my consoles in my room and they are about 3-4 feet away from my bed. I play sitting on my bed, back against the headboard, which is another 4 feet or so. In other words, how am I supposed to use Kinect, or any motion control device for that matter? I consider myself a hardcore gamer in that I play "hardcore" games and purchase them quite often (thanks to this site!).

I understand that I'm not the target audience for this thing. I understand that they want the "casual" crowd pulled from Nintendo and swayed towards MS. The simple fact is, and as always been, most families don't have the room to play 8 feet away from a TV with perfect lighting, perfect noise, and the perfect amount of people in the room. It just seems that MS is throwing caution to the wind here and seeing what falls in place and what doesn't. It worked for the Wii because it was new and exciting. People made room for the Wii. Will people do the same for the THIRD and LAST motion controller of this console generation?

Last question: How many people play their Wii on a nearly daily basis? How many people buy game after game for their Wii? I have one and I haven't played it in months. Will the same happen for the Kinect? It kinda sounds like it when you look at the games and the reviews of it...
 
[quote name='Pck21']The SD post above is interesting. The problem is, MS is hedging their bets that EVERY house, apartment, condo, etc has the space required to play. I don't. I have my consoles in my room and they are about 3-4 feet away from my bed. I play sitting on my bed, back against the headboard, which is another 4 feet or so. In other words, how am I supposed to use Kinect, or any motion control device for that matter? I consider myself a hardcore gamer in that I play "hardcore" games and purchase them quite often (thanks to this site!).

I understand that I'm not the target audience for this thing. I understand that they want the "casual" crowd pulled from Nintendo and swayed towards MS. The simple fact is, and as always been, most families don't have the room to play 8 feet away from a TV with perfect lighting, perfect noise, and the perfect amount of people in the room. It just seems that MS is throwing caution to the wind here and seeing what falls in place and what doesn't. It worked for the Wii because it was new and exciting. People made room for the Wii. Will people do the same for the THIRD and LAST motion controller of this console generation?

Last question: How many people play their Wii on a nearly daily basis? How many people buy game after game for their Wii? I have one and I haven't played it in months. Will the same happen for the Kinect? It kinda sounds like it when you look at the games and the reviews of it...[/QUOTE]

I doubt it will be the only game I get (or play), but if Dance Central is as good and fun as it's supposed to be, to me it will be worth buying the kinect just for that game.

I mean how many people play fable 2, guitar hero 1, gears of war, and call of duty 2 on a daily basis? Those games together cost as much (more actually) as the Kinect (plus another game) does when they came out, but I doubt hardly anyone still plays them on a daily basis (or even close to it) any more.
 
I'm in the same boat as Pck21. I play my xbox daily, for hours, and it's about 3 feet away from the comfy chair, which is two feet away from my bed. I don't have 8 feet of space, nor free floorspace to dance around. So the kinect would be useless for me. Also no one I know in RL ever wants to play anything (tried monopoly and scene it, and no one would play), so party games are completely out. Plus, it's a bedroom. Usually only have one other person in there at a time...kinect just seems like something a person like myself wouldn't ever use.

Had a Wii, and hated it. Just not a fan of motion controls. And voice commands....how lazy are we getting that a person can't flip a controller stick? Just seems like a really lame peripheral to me.
 
[quote name='praxus07']I'm in the same boat as Pck21. I play my xbox daily, for hours, and it's about 3 feet away from the comfy chair, which is two feet away from my bed. I don't have 8 feet of space, nor free floorspace to dance around. So the kinect would be useless for me. Also no one I know in RL ever wants to play anything (tried monopoly and scene it, and no one would play), so party games are completely out. Plus, it's a bedroom. Usually only have one other person in there at a time...kinect just seems like something a person like myself wouldn't ever use.

Had a Wii, and hated it. Just not a fan of motion controls. And voice commands....how lazy are we getting that a person can't flip a controller stick? Just seems like a really lame peripheral to me.[/QUOTE]
I'm pretty sure MS (and Sony) are shooting for a home entertainment device (hence them being able to do so much), so of course someone who has the 360 in their bedroom wouldn't be what they are aiming for with the Kinect. They want it in the living room, where everyone can use it.
 
[quote name='pjb16']I'm pretty sure MS (and Sony) are shooting for a home entertainment device (hence them being able to do so much), so of course someone who has the 360 in their bedroom wouldn't be what they are aiming for with the Kinect. They want it in the living room, where everyone can use it.[/QUOTE]

the bathroom is better
 
[quote name='pjb16']I doubt it will be the only game I get (or play), but if Dance Central is as good and fun as it's supposed to be, to me it will be worth buying the kinect just for that game.

I mean how many people play fable 2, guitar hero 1, gears of war, and call of duty 2 on a daily basis? Those games together cost as much (more actually) as the Kinect (plus another game) does when they came out, but I doubt hardly anyone still plays them on a daily basis (or even close to it) any more.[/QUOTE]

I see your argument, but I wasn't really talking about the games, just the console. I know many of my friends have a Wii and a 360. The 360 is played on a nearly daily basis and the Wii collects dust. There are some fantastic titles for the Wii, no question, but not nearly as many as the 360 or PS3. Plus, many people play games online these days, which the Wii simply can't compete with, motion controls or not.

The games you mentioned are also older titles. I know guys who play MW2, WaW, Gears 2, NHL 11, Madden 11, and so on every day. I don't see Kinect games, past, present, or future, being able to sustain a long life due to either the quality of the game, multiplayer (or lack thereof) or the motion controls. Also, the Wii is completely motion controlled. Every Wii comes with a motion control controller while the Kinect is niche at best right now.

With all that being said, if a game interests you enough to warrant the $150 price tag and $50 for the game, then by all means buy it and enjoy it. I'm just second guessing my own purchase/pre-order right now based on my own personal experience and the experiences of my friends who, like me, also have limited space to play games.

[quote name='pjb16']I'm pretty sure MS (and Sony) are shooting for a home entertainment device (hence them being able to do so much), so of course someone who has the 360 in their bedroom wouldn't be what they are aiming for with the Kinect. They want it in the living room, where everyone can use it.[/QUOTE]

I completely agree. I think they are shooting for a home entertainment setup with the 360 and now Kinect. My argument is that a home entertainment center is not always a spacious living room with a couch, rug, a mother, father, two kids, and a dog in perfect light and all of that. The 360 can be played anywhere in the house or apartment without any real issues; why dilute or shrink the target audience from everyone who has a 360 (potentially) to families with a huge living room who play games maybe once a week?
 
[quote name='Pck21']I see your argument, but I wasn't really talking about the games, just the console. I know many of my friends have a Wii and a 360. The 360 is played on a nearly daily basis and the Wii collects dust. There are some fantastic titles for the Wii, no question, but not nearly as many as the 360 or PS3. Plus, many people play games online these days, which the Wii simply can't compete with, motion controls or not.[/QUOTE]

I play my 360 almost daily, and my Wii has been collecting dust despite some quality games. It just doesn't stack up to my PS3 or 360 sadly.

The games you mentioned are also older titles. I know guys who play MW2, WaW, Gears 2, NHL 11, Madden 11, and so on every day. I don't see Kinect games, past, present, or future, being able to sustain a long life due to either the quality of the game, multiplayer (or lack thereof) or the motion controls. Also, the Wii is completely motion controlled. Every Wii comes with a motion control controller while the Kinect is niche at best right now.
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I know they are older titles, that was my point. If I (or anyone) bought Kinect and played it every other day for an hour or 2 at a time (or more) for 6 months straight and then didn't touch it again, how would it be different than even the games you're mentioning? At some point you move on to a different game. If a great game for the Kinect comes out people will keep playing it (the Kinect), it's not like it's only going to have the 7 launch games.

The Wii isn't completely motion controlled either, a lot of games can be played without it. A lot of good games at that. I agree the Kinect is niche right now. But so are jRPGs, card games, fighting games, etc. Just because it doesn't appeal to you (not you, but a rhetorical you), doesn't mean it's doomed to fail or that many people aren't interested in it.

With all that being said, if a game interests you enough to warrant the $150 price tag and $50 for the game, then by all means buy it and enjoy it. I'm just second guessing my own purchase/pre-order right now based on my own personal experience and the experiences of my friends who, like me, also have limited space to play games.
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Space is definitely a factor, I have plenty of room if I move my coffee table. Not everyone can create as much space as I have even with my coffee table between the couch and tv.


I completely agree. I think they are shooting for a home entertainment setup with the 360 and now Kinect. My argument is that a home entertainment center is not always a spacious living room with a couch, rug, a mother, father, two kids, and a dog in perfect light and all of that. The 360 can be played anywhere in the house or apartment without any real issues; why dilute or shrink the target audience from everyone who has a 360 (potentially) to families with a huge living room who play games maybe once a week?
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I agree it isn't that. But that's what they are marketing it for. That's what they want their market to be.

The target audience is far larger than what you or I (or what I used to be) are. (I'm skeptical about needing perfect light for the record) Rather than going to a family movie or something, MS wants to carve out a portion of that entertainment money (1 movie for 4 is almost equal the cost of a game, depending where you go). MS doesn't care if they play the game 24 hours a day, or not at all. All they care about is how many units they move (and rightfully so).

Even if the game line-up were different, you even said that space would hinder you from being able to use the kinect. So are they really even shrinking the market? You've (again rhetorical you) shrunk it for them.

They put out a racing wheel peripheral, they certainly weren't planning on selling one to everyone who has a 360 (this is no different). It's important to be diverse, especially if you want to get in everyone's home, when so many people have so many different interests.
 
I'm on the fence, I want one because I think it'd be neat, but I don't want to move my table out of the way and move my couch back a few feet everytime I want to stand and wiggle as opposed to flop on the couch for a game.
 
My Kinect finally shipped from the Microsoft Store today! There's no way I'm getting it tomorrow, but I'm just happy I was able to get it so cheap. :bouncy:

My local Wal-Mart already had Sonic Free Riders out for sale today and the boxes are definitely purple. I don't know if I like them yet, but that's certainly one way to distinguish the Kinect games from the regular Xbox games. (For anyone wondering, the spine remains the same)
 
HIDE YO KIDS
HIDE YO WIFE

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Legal/livetou

In the event you are using the console with Kinect, we may also collect data about the way in which you interact with the console and the Service to improve Microsoft products and services. Any software or hardware errors, which may occur while you are connected to the Service or offline, may be uploaded and reported. All such data may be stored with the console’s unique identifier, and may be associated with other personally identifiable information. You may read about this data collection in more detail in the Microsoft Online Privacy Notice at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=81184.

Additionally, to evaluate and enable the features and functions of the Service, such as leaderboards, live-hosted gameplay, achievements, tournaments, and gamer profile sharing, you grant Microsoft and each of our affiliates, resellers, distributors, service providers, partners, and/or suppliers (each, a "Microsoft party"), permission to use, track, store, copy, distribute, broadcast, transmit, publicly display and perform, and reproduce your game scores, your game play sessions, your presence on the Service, the time that you spend on or within particular portions of the Service, portions of the Service that are displayed on your monitor or screen and the duration of that display, rankings, statistics, gamer profiles, avatars, content that you may submit, and other usage information with or without attribution to you, your gamertag, or avatar and without notice or compensation to you of any kind. To avoid any confusion, we have the right to make information pertaining to your use of, and gameplay on, Xbox LIVE available through Games for Windows LIVE, and vice versa.

You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Service. These communications may be monitored; however, we cannot monitor the entire Service and make no attempt to do so. You understand that these communications can be recorded and used by others, and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions may be broadcast to others. Some games may utilize game managers and hosts. Game managers and hosts are not authorized Microsoft spokespersons, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of Microsoft. We do not routinely monitor your use of the communication features of the Service. However, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we may monitor your communications and may disclose information about you as set forth in this Section 9.
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Microsoft reserves complete and sole discretion with respect to the operation of the Service. Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (b) retrieve information from the Authorized Device and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this contract; and (c) upgrade, modify, withdraw, suspend, or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Service, any game or other content available or accessible through the Service, or any hardware or software associated with the Service or with an Authorized Device, from time to time without notice, expressly including by the automatic download of related software directly to your Authorized Device, including software that prevents you from accessing the Service, playing pirated games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices.
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so basically they can record everything you do ever and tag it to your system ID and transmit the data to their affiliated partners with no warning to you.

so please, put pants on before playing.
 
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