Kinect - Gen. Info & Discussion

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Hey -- you know Microsoft's Project Natal? Well we've just gotten an up close look at what appears to be the retail version (though it's clearly marked a developer unit). We couldn't storm the stage while Walt and Kara (and her son!) were showing it off, but no one seemed to mind that we took a load of these shots for your perusal. Check out gallery below for more pics!
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/project-natal-retail-unit-revealed-at-d8/

Looks slightly smaller, which is good. Feel free to post any new info you find on Natal here as we near the E3 official name and reveal as well as the release date.
 
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This has me worried:

[quote name='XBOX']Eager to experience Project Natal for yourself? Xbox 360 has teamed up with Justin Bieber to bring all the fun of Project Natal to the singing sensation's "my World" tour. Just look for the Project Natal kiosks when you're at Justin's show and enjoy your sneak peek at the future of gaming!
[/QUOTE]

I understand them trying to appeal to the female tweens but, what a way to make a statement.

You should see the thousands of comments on XBOX's Facebook page in response to this...pretty funny.
 
it's going to be a gateway for shovelware. Just wait for Ubisoft to get ahold of it.. Imagine series to 360.. ugh
 
[quote name='AceSXE']Yes, I fear for the future of the 360.[/QUOTE]

You should have done that when it launched. It didn't make a name for itself then, and now it's getting all the stuff you kids have been making fun of the Wii for. A fitting end I say, lol.
 
If I were remotely interested in this (which I'm not) I'd be worried about the type of room you'll need to use it effectively. Not everyone has a large open area in front of their tv in which to flail about.
 
[quote name='DPsx7']You should have done that when it launched. It didn't make a name for itself then, and now it's getting all the stuff you kids have been making fun of the Wii for. A fitting end I say, lol.[/QUOTE]

This guy just keeps making shitty posts all over CAG...
 
[quote name='AceSXE']Yes, I fear for the future of the 360.[/QUOTE]

I fear for the future of gaming.

Though I do see a renaissance in PC gaming when all the console makers start catering to casual stuff like this.
 
I find responses like that to be pretty ironic, seeing how an intelligent person could argue that Hardcore gamers and catering to them is what's ultimately hurting the industry.
 
I totally think that Microsoft screwed themselves with this price point. Since E3 everyone has been stating that $149 is just to much for this thing and that $99 was the sweet spot for people that actually BUY games and would use this thing. So what do they do...they go with the price point that their focus groups said they would pay rather then listening to the majority audience..Hell at $149 you can almost get a Wii to plug into your tv and not use...
They should have taken the loss on the product to get them into homes and make up for the loss with quality games that everyone would want...they must have forgotten the razor/razor blade scenario now that J Allard and his shiny head are gone...
BIG MISTAKE MICROSOFT...way to drop the f'ing ball again...wonder if this will be going the way of the KIN...
 
[quote name='AceSXE']Yes, I fear for the future of the 360.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='animalspinners']I fear for the future of gaming.

Though I do see a renaissance in PC gaming when all the console makers start catering to casual stuff like this.[/QUOTE]

I don't think there's cause for that--and I LOATHE motion controls and casual games.

There's plenty of room in the market for both traditional games and motion games/casual games.

It's not like the development teams making Gears of War, Halo, Fallout 3, Fable, Mass Effect etc. etc. are suddenly going to shift to making dance games and Wii Sports knockoffs.
 
$99 bundle seems like a much better price, but I assume they expect it to sell out at $150.

It's really up to their marketing and word of mouth. It casuals love it, the $300 bundle will do great. Dance Central definitely has the potential to be a hit.
 
Were paying £130 here in the UK! Isn't that close to $200 at the moment? Either way, it's far too expensive, if I had to choose between this or Move, I'd pick Playstation Move.
 
"Xbox 360 4GB console"...4GB? At first I thought it was a typo but indeed it appears to be 4GB as I checked several sources and all I can say is, LOL although it wasn't too long ago that 512MB memory cards were the only thing available for the 360 as far as portable storage went...
 
[quote name='wakawakawa']It casuals love it, the $300 bundle will do great. Dance Central definitely has the potential to be a hit.[/QUOTE]

Yep, and the real keys on that front are:

1. Will casuals who already own a Wii (and not a 360) shell out $300 for the bundle to play more motion control games?

2. Will casuals who never bought a Wii be drawn to the 360+Kinect?

3. Will 360 owners with some interest in motion controls/casual games buy the Kinect at $150. A poll I posted back around E3 showed that 360 owners here with a Wii had some interest, but those without a Wii did not.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I don't think there's cause for that--and I LOATHE motion controls and casual games.

There's plenty of room in the market for both traditional games and motion games/casual games.

It's not like the development teams making Gears of War, Halo, Fallout 3, Fable, Mass Effect etc. etc. are suddenly going to shift to making dance games and Wii Sports knockoffs.[/QUOTE]


They will if there is more money in the casual market.

This is just has epic fail written all over it. OVerpriced, and M$ failed to show Kinect being a revolution instead of just a kiddie game gadget.
 
[quote name='kingkiller33']They will if there is more money in the casual market.
[/QUOTE]

Well you have to keep in mind that developers like to make games they enjoy. So the teams for the games I listed (or any traditional games) are unlikely to want to make casual games, nor do they have expertise in those type of games.

Thus if there's money in them, you'd see publishers hiring new development teams to make such games. Not pulling talent from top franchises that are making them millions of dollars.

That said, my only worry is that if it is somehow a success (and maybe even if it's not) then we'll see the next version of Kinect packed in with all next-gen MS consoles. And then we may have our experience impacted as motion controls get shoehorned into traditional games as they have on the Wii. Though that's a bit less likely/trickier to with something like Kinect vs. the Wii motei/Nunchuck controller combo.
 
$150? What a surprise!! I never saw that coming! ;)

At least they were smart enough to include a game with it.

And the $300 Kinect bundle wouldn't be a bad upgrade option - EXCEPT it won't be compatible with the old HDD's. so you have to wait for the $400 Kinect "Elite" bundle to be announced with a bigger HDD.

hopefully some enterprising individuals will manufacture some HDD conversion kits.
 
[quote name='PhaperPlane']Were paying £130 here in the UK! Isn't that close to $200 at the moment? Either way, it's far too expensive, if I had to choose between this or Move, I'd pick Playstation Move.[/QUOTE]

I know that this discussion has played out before but for two people to play move it could cost 200 to 300.

In the end both products for 2 people to play is about the same
 
So if it was priced at 99.99 without a game would everyone be ok?

Also, remember when MS said all their games would be 49.99? We know how that turned out.
 
Wow, I thought it would be mathematically impossible for me to care less about Kinect.

I stand corrected.
 
While I would have preferred a white Xbox S, I like the option of getting a matte finish one by going the 4GB route. I am running low on HD space on my 60GB HDD right now but rather than upgrading the drive I think I will just make do and then one day upgrade to a slim 360, possibly the 4GB matte model and buy a 250(+)GB HD for it.
 
Not I. I got Guitar Hero 2 and 3 dirt cheap a year+ after they came out, and just played Rock Band 1 & 2 (got the game only versions from Goozex) with those guitars. :D

But I'm happy about the price. Higher the better since I hate motion controls and don't want them to become the norm. :D
 
Like I said in threads before, I knew they would package a title with it. I still need a second game in order for me to get one (first game would be Dance Central).
 
[quote name='DestroVega']but isn't a wii almost the same price?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but this will make you look 10x more idiotic. What a deal!
 
A Kinect was on display at Herald Square this weekend. I tried it because I own all systems and love technology in general. I thought the Kinect was meh. It felt like a PS2 eye toy that worked fairly well. Nothing too revolutionary... I was left wanting more.

This is not a trolling post, but a post of a disappointed gamer. Hopefully better games come out. For the record, I played two of the Kinect Adventure games.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']How many of you people that are complaining about the price paid $150+ for one game with a bunch of fake musical instruments?[/QUOTE]
Worst comparison ever.
 
$150 w/ game isn't so bad. I'm gonna pick it up mainly because my wife and kids are showing interest in it. My 4.5 and 2 year old are both excited for Kinectimals. Adventures will be fun to play with my oldest and my wife. For me, I'll probably get Harry Potter, which has Kinect compatibility.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Worst comparison ever.[/QUOTE]

I hate this motion control stuff. But it is a reasonable comparison. Both are big chunk's of change to play casual games.

And I say that as again, someone who hates motion control and enjoys guitar games. Never gave a shit about the drums or vocals or stuff like DJ hero.
 
Count me out. I wasn't interested to begin with, but $149.99? Maybe Im cheap but that seems extremely expensive. When I saw that price I had the initial reaction I did to the PS3 opening price.
 
My girlfriend and her kids have shown great interest in Kinect. I'm interested in Dance Central but I think a purchase may go on the back burner since Rockband 3 comes out 9 days earlier. Going to get game + keyboard and that's going to be ~$130.
 
I was always fine with the $150 price with no game, or would have been had there been a game I wanted. Racing and Adventures both sounded cool till I saw the E3 videos. Dance Central looks good, but I'm stereotypically white. I still haven't regained most of the interest I lost during E3.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Worst comparison ever.[/QUOTE]

Why?

The only real difference is that people paid $150 for a single game they knew they wanted (dmaul excluded apparently). Kinect is the possibility of many games that few know anything about so far.
 
I initially decided to get this for the family to play (death to that stupid wii, it never gets played at our house). But, I'm getting pretty excited for it, myself. Can't wait to try Adventures with my daughter (4.5) and my son (2) gets geeked whenever he see's the vid for Kinectimals.
 
honestly, I think Kinect is doomed to bomb for a couple of reasons.

- its hard to not look at this as a copy of the Wii. not trying to be a fanboy here (i don't really like Wii's approach to gaming all that much), but a good number of buyers are going to make that conclusion immediately before their purchases, which means theres a good chance that part of the audience is going to just buy a Wii instead of a Kinect.

- on top of that, there are little to no games for Kinect yet. the system is brand new, so we have yet to see how these games will fare. from the ones that I've seen in videos, and read about on xbox enthusiast sites, none of them are particularly impressive, mostly because Wii already did them.

- Kinect is $150 for just the equipment. With one game that's already $200. At that point, it seems like its way too much money to spend on a single game. I could understand if games that have the level of quality of Call of Duty: Black Ops or Halo: Reach or Grand Theft Auto 4 were also being released, but none of the launch titles give me that impression.

- a ton of people (myself included) are quite bitter about JoyRide becoming a pay to play title. Microsoft basically lied to all of us and made us believe it was going to be free for everyone. It may have been Xbox's Mario Kart (enhanced greatly because your avatar gets to participate in the action), but now its going to be a $50 - $60 game that uses Kinect as a poor method of controlling your car. Honestly, it looks like a $10 arcade game, so I don't really think it's going to go far.

well, that was a bit of a rant, so I apologize if other CAGs disagree with my points on why I believe Kinect will not sell.

tl;dr I do believe that Kinect is a step in the right direction and is excellent technology, but it simply has no support and no market.
 
The games announced yesterday from Japanese developers could be interesting.

I'm curious to see how Steel Battalion turns out.

And the Suda 51 game. I'm kind of picturing it like you use the bat and ball to kill the costumed guys. You'll have to throw the ball up in the air with one hand, and then realistically swing, in the direction of the enemy to hit them. You'll also be able to melee attack the enemies if they come too close.
 
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[quote name='AquaKnight']honestly, I think Kinect is doomed to bomb for a couple of reasons.

- its hard to not look at this as a copy of the Wii. not trying to be a fanboy here (i don't really like Wii's approach to gaming all that much), but a good number of buyers are going to make that conclusion immediately before their purchases, which means theres a good chance that part of the audience is going to just buy a Wii instead of a Kinect.[/quote]

That's possible.

- on top of that, there are little to no games for Kinect yet. the system is brand new, so we have yet to see how these games will fare. from the ones that I've seen in videos, and read about on xbox enthusiast sites, none of them are particularly impressive, mostly because Wii already did them.

The first ones, that's true. More is coming. Higher ups in Microsoft made a decision about a year ago to launch Kinect directly competing with Wii. That's what the release games do. That's not what is intended forever though.

I have it on authority that Microsoft sort of realizes that they miscalculated with the whole "Wii is the one to beat" angle with the Kinect launch, since the Wii has kind of taken a downturn in popularity over the last year - but it's too late to do anything about and games take time to make.

I know for a fact that 6-12 months ago they were shooting down 'mature' title proposals from various developers (Epic was one, I can't name the other) or titles that use the controller with it. But I also know that they will be changing those plans soon, if they haven't already (look at the TGS Kinect game announcements).

- Kinect is $150 for just the equipment. With one game that's already $200. At that point, it seems like its way too much money to spend on a single game. I could understand if games that have the level of quality of Call of Duty: Black Ops or Halo: Reach or Grand Theft Auto 4 were also being released, but none of the launch titles give me that impression.
An awful lot of people spent $150 on single games recently. Rock band? Guitar Hero: World Tour?

- a ton of people (myself included) are quite bitter about JoyRide becoming a pay to play title. Microsoft basically lied to all of us and made us believe it was going to be free for everyone. It may have been Xbox's Mario Kart (enhanced greatly because your avatar gets to participate in the action), but now its going to be a $50 - $60 game that uses Kinect as a poor method of controlling your car. Honestly, it looks like a $10 arcade game, so I don't really think it's going to go far.
I may have just missed it, but I don't think Microsoft has ever said what Joyride will cost or if it will, specifically. But you are most likely right.

tl;dr I do believe that Kinect is a step in the right direction and is excellent technology, but it simply has no support and no market.

I think it will sell better than you think it will, but that will highly depend on how fast they get out other games and games that use regular controllers with it etc.
 
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