Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

Playing Kinectamals with My son, makes me wonder if Rare has Viva Pinata 3 in the works for the Kinect, it seems that it would be perfect for this system.
 
[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 don't leave my kids alone playing so I agree I could do it for them but they WANT to be able to do it for the fun of it...and it is an "advertised" function of the product...

I had forgotten about that Asian girl with Kinectimals...the "highness" of her voice is similar to my 7 year old daughter's voice and the Kinect understand her about 50% of the time...
 
[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]

It wasn't Kinect specific. I believe its Adidas avatar track suit you get for purchasing Adidas at any Foot Locker.
 
Just posting some other observations after a few days of playing.

1. Man this thing is a workout. But a very fun workout. My legs are killing me from Dance Central and Adventures.

2. The resolution could be better, and the camera needs to be faster. It takes a ton of great shots but 9/10 of them end up being blurry.

3. I look ridiculous "dancing"

I'm going to pick up Sports and DanceMasters with the amazon b150% off sale. Definitely worth a purchase for me, although I agree with the jumping comment. My neighbors are going to hate me.
 
Wow, the AC adapater costs $35! I realize you only need it if you want to use a Kinect you got in a system bundle with an older system, but come on, MS. X_X
 
Not needing a headset for chat is definitely appealing. I liked that about Wii Speak, except that nothing supports it... and it did have some issues. For example you weren't suppose to change the volume of your TV once the WiiSpeak had calibrated (you could, of course, but the results might not be good - feedback). Is that a problem with Kinect too? Also, do non-Kinect games support using Kinect for voice-chat, or does that require an update?

I still haven't bitten on Kinect, but Dance Masters and Dance Central are calling me each and every day... and I was thinking that exercise "games" with achievements might be exactly what I need too....
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Not needing a headset for chat is definitely appealing. I liked that about Wii Speak, except that nothing supports it... and it did have some issues. For example you weren't suppose to change the volume of your TV once the WiiSpeak had calibrated (you could, of course, but the results might not be good - feedback). Is that a problem with Kinect too? Also, do non-Kinect games support using Kinect for voice-chat, or does that require an update?

I still haven't bitten on Kinect, but Dance Masters and Dance Central are calling me each and every day... and I was thinking that exercise "games" with achievements might be exactly what I need too....[/QUOTE]

Kinect can completely replace your headset for party chat or any game, it just replaces it if you go into your guide and turn on it's mic. (Which is why it makes no sense the camera can't replace the live cam).

I have used it for several hours now, at various volume levels, it works flawless and everyone says they can't hear my game, just me. The xbox knows what sound it's producing and so it tells the mic to ignore it as it's making it.
 
Last night, I played Kinect with my 6 and 8 year old kids. I have couple questions.

I set up my avatar the other day (new Xbox owner) and the sensor immediately recognizes me when I play Kinect Adventures. However, when either of them jump in to the game, it doesn't recognize them. Do I have to set them up with their own specific avatar? Also, if the sensor isn't recognizing them right away, should I place the sensor below my HDTV? As it is now, it sits perfectly on top of my tv as it's about 3 inches wide. Then again, I'm 6'4. We have a good 9-10 feet of gameplay space in the basement.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']Kinect can completely replace your headset for party chat or any game, it just replaces it if you go into your guide and turn on it's mic. (Which is why it makes no sense the camera can't replace the live cam).

I have used it for several hours now, at various volume levels, it works flawless and everyone says they can't hear my game, just me. The xbox knows what sound it's producing and so it tells the mic to ignore it as it's making it.[/QUOTE]

I had no idea you could do that. That's awesome, I'll have to try it later.
 
I think I'm going to get it. I suppose I'll see if kmart across the street from work still has it in stock. Not sure if I'm going to buy a game with it for another $15 coupon, or just get the camera and use the $25 coupon later to buy a single game. Either way it's going to have to be an xmas gift for me, so I won't get to try it out until then. Oh well. And in the mean time other deals on the games might come up, so maybe it's just as well.
 
[quote name='sportdan30']Last night, I played Kinect with my 6 and 8 year old kids. I have couple questions.

I set up my avatar the other day (new Xbox owner) and the sensor immediately recognizes me when I play Kinect Adventures. However, when either of them jump in to the game, it doesn't recognize them. Do I have to set them up with their own specific avatar? Also, if the sensor isn't recognizing them right away, should I place the sensor below my HDTV? As it is now, it sits perfectly on top of my tv as it's about 3 inches wide. Then again, I'm 6'4. We have a good 9-10 feet of gameplay space in the basement.[/QUOTE]

You need to run Kinect ID for each gamertag.
 
[quote name='sportdan30']Last night, I played Kinect with my 6 and 8 year old kids. I have couple questions.

I set up my avatar the other day (new Xbox owner) and the sensor immediately recognizes me when I play Kinect Adventures. However, when either of them jump in to the game, it doesn't recognize them. Do I have to set them up with their own specific avatar? Also, if the sensor isn't recognizing them right away, should I place the sensor below my HDTV? As it is now, it sits perfectly on top of my tv as it's about 3 inches wide. Then again, I'm 6'4. We have a good 9-10 feet of gameplay space in the basement.[/QUOTE]

As the previous person said, set up the "Kinect ID" on each of their gamertags. If they do not have one you will have to do that first. You should set it up rather than your kids, as you will be able to create it as a "Child" account, so you can manage it. (Especially if you get the Gold Family pack)
 
Sounds simple enough. So, essentially I'm not set up either as I haven't done anything with regards to setting up the Kinect ID?

Thanks again.
 
[quote name='sportdan30']Sounds simple enough. So, essentially I'm not set up either as I haven't done anything with regards to setting up the Kinect ID?

Thanks again.[/QUOTE]

Right.

I don't know why it was signing in on you before. It may just be that you are the 'default' account, which will auto-sign in when the system is turned on unless you turn that feature off in settings.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']Kinect can completely replace your headset for party chat or any game, it just replaces it if you go into your guide and turn on it's mic. (Which is why it makes no sense the camera can't replace the live cam).

I have used it for several hours now, at various volume levels, it works flawless and everyone says they can't hear my game, just me. The xbox knows what sound it's producing and so it tells the mic to ignore it as it's making it.[/QUOTE]

One important thing to remember is that once you set the chat to Kinect, whenever you boot up a MP game its on by default. There's been reports of people forgetting that its on, and their conversations with their wives, kids, friends...etc. have been clearly heard by other players.
 
I did the math and realized that the kmart $25 gaming coupon only really saves me $18 for Kinect + Dance Central (purchased with $25 gaming coupon) due to 6% tax vs. none at Amazon. And Amazon has the deal where if you buy Kinect + Dance Masters (not Central) you get a $20 coupon. I'm actually really unsure which of those games to get. I know Dance Central is the rage, but I've always liked DDR, and in fact pop dance music appeals to me less then the weird music in DDR. :) I also think I like that Dance Masters is apparently more game-ey then Dance Central. Then again, everybody loves DC. So the amazon deal is probably better for me. Plus if I also bought Dance Central, thus ensuring happiness ;), at the same time I'd get that for 50% off. At least I hope the two combine. So I was pretty decided to do that and... now amazon is sold out of kinect again. Doh! Hopefully it comes back in stock before the drop these two deals.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']One important thing to remember is that once you set the chat to Kinect, whenever you boot up a MP game its on by default. There's been reports of people forgetting that its on, and their conversations with their wives, kids, friends...etc. have been clearly heard by other players.[/QUOTE]

I haven't had a chance to check this out or not yet, but lets say I have that turned on, and put in Halo Reach. If I plug in a headset (or turn on my wireless headset) does that supersede the Kinect as the headset? So that the Kinect no longer acts as a headset (Of course till I unplug or turn off my headset?)
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I did the math and realized that the kmart $25 gaming coupon only really saves me $18 for Kinect + Dance Central (purchased with $25 gaming coupon) due to 6% tax vs. none at Amazon. And Amazon has the deal where if you buy Kinect + Dance Masters (not Central) you get a $20 coupon. I'm actually really unsure which of those games to get. I know Dance Central is the rage, but I've always liked DDR, and in fact pop dance music appeals to me less then the weird music in DDR. :) I also think I like that Dance Masters is apparently more game-ey then Dance Central. Then again, everybody loves DC. So the amazon deal is probably better for me. Plus if I also bought Dance Central, thus ensuring happiness ;), at the same time I'd get that for 50% off. At least I hope the two combine. So I was pretty decided to do that and... now amazon is sold out of kinect again. Doh! Hopefully it comes back in stock before the drop these two deals.[/QUOTE]

Just to clarify, the $25 you get from buying kinect at kmart, you would have to wait a few days to use on a game. However, if you buy a game with kinect at kmart, you'll also get an additional $15 coupon.
 
Right, but if I do that and I wanted Dance Masters, then Amazon is still the way to go: $20 gc for Kinect + DM, then 50% off DC ($25 off) and no tax. So $45 off, in effect, AND no tax, vs $40 off and with tax (and with kmart, and the coupon having a short expiration). If you didn't want Dance Masters it would be a different story, though.
 
Today was a good day and I love Amazon.

Your Shape (for my wife and I'll putz with it) + Kinect Sports with the B1G1 50% off deal....+ Enslaved for $25 + a Mass Effect book = $94 shipped. Can't wait to try out Kinect Sports. While the reviews have been 'meh', the actual player feedback has been very positive.
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']Today was a good day and I love Amazon.

Your Shape (for my wife and I'll putz with it) + Kinect Sports with the B1G1 50% off deal....+ Enslaved for $25 + a Mass Effect book = $94 shipped. Can't wait to try out Kinect Sports. While the reviews have been 'meh', the actual player feedback has been very positive.[/QUOTE]

I cannot tell you how much fun I have had with Kinect Sports the last couple of days. Not perfect by any means, but it is fun.
 
I've only had a dip with Kinect Adventures and found it to be relatively fun and something that would be played every once and a while whenever family members come over. What of the launch titles would you all consider to be the best for me to purchase. Not at all interested in Dance Central. How are the rest though?
 
Big write up incomming.

Background:

Always into new tech. Had Motion+ day 1, Move day 1 and got Kinect day 1 also.

I own every system out, tried it all, so im very experienced in current gen games + motion controls of all kinda.

Got kinect, Kinect Adventures of course, Kinect sports, Dance Central and Yourself Fitness.

Hardware, i am impressed. Very well built and honestly, it DOES work. That in of itself is impressive that its not smoke and mirrors, it does as advertised.

Gaming wise it is a mixed bag. Here is what i'll say:

Yourself Fitness - First game i tried, it was actually really impressive. It works well and functions exactly how you'd expect. The lag is basically non-existent when you are playing. Block Breaking game is super fun.

Kinect Sports - Following YF, i had high hopes due to so much praise this was getting. Rare is a wildcard in motion gaming and i wanted to get right into it. Sadly, this game is terrible. I think the best thing about this game is raising your hands to have the crowd cheer. Otherwise, its pretty bad. I played Bowling which is so imprecise its awful. Your lane position changes during swing, to do angles you have to throw your arm to the other side, and it guesses at when to throw the ball.

Ping pong was equally awful, i was able to stand still and just barely move my hand and the ball would hit from the other side as if there was a magic paddle there. At times i'd swing on time, then due to lag the ball would move past me, and then magically get hit back.

Volleyball was fun till it came time to hit spikes, i'd jump then swing hard, and it would register as if i tapped it with a sponge. Tried multiple times over and over, everytime, it wouldnt register. I just got frustrated and quit. I am going to go back to it and give it another shot, but so far, its really bad. Boxing was fun but easily exploitable. Took the fun out of it.

Next game up was Dance Central. Game is EXCELLENT. So fun, blast to play, controls work. The only issue i have with it is, is way too few songs. Otherwise its a+, nothing else to say, it works as advertised.

I popped in Kinect Adventures and played Rally Ball. It was ok, works but not very fun. Im going to go back to this again, but everyone here just wants to play dance central so i put that back on for them.

Overall:

Hardware works. I am impressed and am very glad i got it.

Software... INSANELY hit or miss so far. Dance Central and Yourself Fitness are great and work as advertised. The Minigame Compilations so far have failed to impress. After experiencing everything on the nintendo side (wiimote, motion plus, wii fit) and on the sony side (Move), the minigames on those blow away the ones on the kinect for fun and accuracy. Stuff line dancing/fitness, kinect is the hands down winner by a mile.

I would recommend purchasing right now only if you are into dance games (i am as are my large extended family i play with) or fitness games (its rather fun actually). Im hoping to get some more games to try soon. Im interested in joyride in particular.
 
[quote name='sportdan30']Last night, I played Kinect with my 6 and 8 year old kids. I have couple questions.

I set up my avatar the other day (new Xbox owner) and the sensor immediately recognizes me when I play Kinect Adventures. However, when either of them jump in to the game, it doesn't recognize them. Do I have to set them up with their own specific avatar? Also, if the sensor isn't recognizing them right away, should I place the sensor below my HDTV? As it is now, it sits perfectly on top of my tv as it's about 3 inches wide. Then again, I'm 6'4. We have a good 9-10 feet of gameplay space in the basement.[/QUOTE]

You need to set up avatars and do kinect ID (I believe you need to be signed out to use kinect ID). I've read that Kinect has some issues recognizing kids. I've also read that below the tv is better for kids, while above the tv is better for adults/requires 1 foot less.

I started out with my below the TV and it worked fine for my girlfriend and me. I switched it to above and its appears to work a little better and require a little less space.
 
[quote name='Ryandb2']Just posting some other observations after a few days of playing.

2. The resolution could be better, and the camera needs to be faster. It takes a ton of great shots but 9/10 of them end up being blurry.

[/QUOTE]

You might not have enough light behind you (assuming they are very blurry). I believe it takes a slower picture if you have less light.
 
[quote name='wakawakawa']You need to set up avatars and do kinect ID (I believe you need to be signed out to use kinect ID). I've read that Kinect has some issues recognizing kids. I've also read that below the tv is better for kids, while above the tv is better for adults/requires 1 foot less.[/QUOTE]

Anecdotal but I have a 4 and 6 year old. I did the Kinect ID with them and it has no issues recognizing them. They are both on the small side. I have my sensor above the tv due it being a rear projection floor model.
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']Big write up incomming.

Background:

Always into new tech. Had Motion+ day 1, Move day 1 and got Kinect day 1 also.

I own every system out, tried it all, so im very experienced in current gen games + motion controls of all kinda.

Got kinect, Kinect Adventures of course, Kinect sports, Dance Central and Yourself Fitness.

Hardware, i am impressed. Very well built and honestly, it DOES work. That in of itself is impressive that its not smoke and mirrors, it does as advertised.

Gaming wise it is a mixed bag. Here is what i'll say:

Yourself Fitness - First game i tried, it was actually really impressive. It works well and functions exactly how you'd expect. The lag is basically non-existent when you are playing. Block Breaking game is super fun.

Kinect Sports - Following YF, i had high hopes due to so much praise this was getting. Rare is a wildcard in motion gaming and i wanted to get right into it. Sadly, this game is terrible. I think the best thing about this game is raising your hands to have the crowd cheer. Otherwise, its pretty bad. I played Bowling which is so imprecise its awful. Your lane position changes during swing, to do angles you have to throw your arm to the other side, and it guesses at when to throw the ball.

Ping pong was equally awful, i was able to stand still and just barely move my hand and the ball would hit from the other side as if there was a magic paddle there. At times i'd swing on time, then due to lag the ball would move past me, and then magically get hit back.

Volleyball was fun till it came time to hit spikes, i'd jump then swing hard, and it would register as if i tapped it with a sponge. Tried multiple times over and over, everytime, it wouldnt register. I just got frustrated and quit. I am going to go back to it and give it another shot, but so far, its really bad. Boxing was fun but easily exploitable. Took the fun out of it.

Next game up was Dance Central. Game is EXCELLENT. So fun, blast to play, controls work. The only issue i have with it is, is way too few songs. Otherwise its a+, nothing else to say, it works as advertised.

I popped in Kinect Adventures and played Rally Ball. It was ok, works but not very fun. Im going to go back to this again, but everyone here just wants to play dance central so i put that back on for them.

Overall:

Hardware works. I am impressed and am very glad i got it.

Software... INSANELY hit or miss so far. Dance Central and Yourself Fitness are great and work as advertised. The Minigame Compilations so far have failed to impress. After experiencing everything on the nintendo side (wiimote, motion plus, wii fit) and on the sony side (Move), the minigames on those blow away the ones on the kinect for fun and accuracy. Stuff line dancing/fitness, kinect is the hands down winner by a mile.

I would recommend purchasing right now only if you are into dance games (i am as are my large extended family i play with) or fitness games (its rather fun actually). Im hoping to get some more games to try soon. Im interested in joyride in particular.[/QUOTE]

I agree with your review completely...I too have all 3 systems and for Kinect I have Dance Central, Kinectimals and Kinect Sports...

DC is great, the kids love Kinectimals although the throwing in many of the minigames is very inaccurate...the biggest disappointment is Kinect Sports...after playing Ping Pong with the Move, the Kinect version is a joke...bowling is not realistic in that to put spin on the ball you actually have to throw your arm across your body which is not realistic...the track & field and soccer are fun for what they are though and we are enjoying those...for some reason boxing seems more laggy than the other games...

I am also very excited for the potential it offers but when it comes to "accuracy" sports however I am not very hopeful...games like golf may never be what the Move can offer...
 
Your Fitness - Actually gave me a good workout. I like it so far.

Kinect Adventures - Fun mini games and very few issues with lag

Kinect Sports - Not perfect motion controls but overall work and fun

Kinectimals - The kids absolutely love this game.

Dance Central - My favorite Kinect game by far.

Getting Dancemasters and Sonic Free Riders tomorrow so we'll see how those stock up.

On a side note, wish Kinect Adventures and Sports would show up properly on Mygamercard gamer tags.
 
[quote name='blitz6speed']
Next game up was Dance Central. Game is EXCELLENT. So fun, blast to play, controls work. The only issue i have with it is, is way too few songs. Otherwise its a+, nothing else to say, it works as advertised.
[/QUOTE]

It is supported by Harmonix. They already have DLC (3 tracks + 1 timed exclusive Best Buy track). Each one is 240pts. There should be new tracks each week like Rock Band.

DLC
Sean Paul - Temperature
Lady Sovereign - I Got You Dancing
Ne-Yo - Because of You
Best Buy track: Janet Jackson - Control (will be released later on)
 
I am trading/selling a factory sealed copy of Kinect Joy ride for $30. PM me if interested!

I also have a 1 year XBL gold sub for trade/sale!
 
[quote name='flameofdoom666']I am trading/selling xxxxx [deleted so as not to spread the spam][/QUOTE]

You *really* need to stop all those spam posts, flame. This stuff belongs in the marketplace, not here. One time I would have not minded, but I've seen you post at least 3 times about your stuff for sale. I vote for the OP deleting his post.
 
I'm wondering if Kinect can handle a game like Tiger Woods. Can Kinect accurately track a swing? I'd guess not, but it would be nice to be surprised. One thing's for sure, it would NEED some plastic. Swinging just your hands would be very weird. Hopefully no one would be stupid enough to swing a real golf club!!
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I'm wondering if Kinect can handle a game like Tiger Woods. Can Kinect accurately track a swing? I'd guess not, but it would be nice to be surprised. One thing's for sure, it would NEED some plastic. Swinging just your hands would be very weird. Hopefully no one would be stupid enough to swing a real golf club!![/QUOTE]

I believe it can. In Kinect Sports Bowling it can track your throw enough to spin the ball to the left or right. Like crazy tracking right there, even if your slightly off, just as you would in bowling. I would think it's tracking is good enough for Golf. I would suspect we may see the next Tiger Woods game to be a Hybrid (Controller with Kinect if you so choose)
 
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Will be purchasing YourShape for my mom and maybe Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Will probably wait until Black Friday to make my purchases :)
 
Ahh, I did forget about how bad the motion blur is in the photo stills. I wonder what the shutterspeed of the lens is. The fps is 30, but I don't recall seeing any info on shutterspeed.
 
I'm kind of jealous that I don't have a 360! I have a PS3 with Move, and I do love it, but I really would like to try out Kinect.
 
I am really enjoying the Kinect right now. I bought it for review purposes, but I can see this thing getting a ton of "party play" from me an my friends. (If you want to see my coverage, check out www.GamerFill.com) *shameless plug* =]
 
My 360 is on the other side of the country so I'll have to wait until Christmas break to play Kinect. In the meantime, I'm having fine watching Kinect youtube vids.

A collection:

Call of Duty's Ghost plays Dance Masters. Great use of the player-in-background http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMLY6veUvoE

Dance crew of 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyBRJD9AwuI

Another dance crew, of the younger variety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j4l0lWfEEc

Guy playing ping-pong and flipping out. Best part is the on-screen character mirroring all his gestures. If you play this online, your opponent can see your movements as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BIy-tmIB4A

Overzealous jump http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv-EA4EzSY&t=2m45s
 
Do we know much about what the future of Kinect holds?

I know MS put a lot of hype into the games available now, but I'm curious what is going to be going on in 2011 and beyond.

Thinking about picking it up with that K-Mart deal (got coupons to burn, and then I'll get some back, so it's win / win), but information on future games is spotty at best.
 
I am hoping there are lots of titles in the works. I personally know of one xbla dev working on an unannounced xbla title for it.

I am guessing that many devs were waiting to see how it sold.
 
[quote name='animalspinners']Do we know much about what the future of Kinect holds?

I know MS put a lot of hype into the games available now, but I'm curious what is going to be going on in 2011 and beyond.

Thinking about picking it up with that K-Mart deal (got coupons to burn, and then I'll get some back, so it's win / win), but information on future games is spotty at best.[/QUOTE]

Unless those coupons expire, I'd wait. Unless you plan on buying one around Christmas, the Kinect shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm not saying that it is not selling, but if Microsoft expects to sell the insane amount of units they have said they will, they obviously had to make a ton. Wait until that "must buy" game is released and pick it up then. You might even be able to save a few more bucks then.

That way, if nothing really grabs you, or support for the Kinect significantly declines, you save yourself some cash and you don't get screwed.

As you can tell, I follow a very "Wombat" path on game releases. Hype all you want, until the game is released, I don't care what you say about it. It's amazing what can change a week or two before the actual release.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']I want to get Your Shape Fitness Evolved but I need to make more space before I do.[/QUOTE]


It's not that bad your not moving too much around in that game, your feet stay pretty much stationary.

When your excersising, it has a box your entire body needs to stay in. If you have enough room to play any other Kinect games you have enough room for that.
 
Kinect Sports has been incredible. I played it for a solid hour last night. As someone who is certainly a fair bit above average in terms of physical condition...I'm sore as hell today. haa haa. Something about swinging haymakers boxing, spiking pretend volleyballs, and smash shots in ping pong makes me tired apparently.

It was great fun, will be playing tonight with my son.
 
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