Kinect Hands-On: It works….kind of…

Gameondaily had the opportunity to put the new Kinect sensor through its paces at Gamescom with Kinect Sports Rivals. Opinion on the hardware is mixed, at least as far as motion control gaming is concerned.

(Warning: Video contains mild swearing)

[sAVAge_bEaST]

That lag is still noticable,.. Heck, M$ can't even get MIDI lag right,. as there is still lag on windows OS,.. but zero lag on mac's OSx,. So it doesn't surprise me Kinect still has slight lag.

(miniscule, but still noticeable.) imho -there should be none.

[malokevi]

Expecting Kinect to meet expectations in party games and 100% Kinect games is like begging to be disappointed.

I'm looking forward to Kinect coming into its own in mainstream integration. Things like voice control, face and body mapping, subtle integration like leaning in shooters, Spark style motion capture, maybe physically punching dogs in the face in COD... there's gotta be tons of cool integration that devs are/will be working on.

Not to mention tings like UI surfing, controller swapping, activating and signing in, voice recognition, app control. Right now, those are the things I want most. Waking up n an alcohol induced haze, activating the console and turning on netflix without moving a muscle... those types of scenarios will make my interaction with the console that much more fluid.

I find it hard to think of negatives, and therefore find it difficult to take the diehard critics seriously. I never expected that 1 to 1 would mean 0 delay... to me it means 1 to 1 tracking in the literal sense. So far, it's looking pretty awesome to me. In 2 months I'll be the judge.

[ScorpianusNoir]

You wake up in an alcohol induced haze and your first action is to turn on Netflix? Do you think Kinect will be able to decipher your, possibly, alcoholic slurred speech pattern? What a life you must lead.

On Topic: The Kinect 2.0 does not look much different from Kinect 1.0, but it doesn't matter to me because I will not be getting an XBone.

[malokevi]

ahahaha. Get off your high-horse. A ps4 fanboy would resort to meaningless and childish ad hominem insults in the absence of any real argument. Compare my well thought out post to your pathetic blurb. That's common around here. Funny how drinking is the ONLY thing you took from my post... because it's the only thing you can even remotely criticize. Thanks for confirming my suspicions and validating my beliefs :)

Yes, I drink on the weekend. As do many Canadians. My parents/friends/grandparents/c ohort. Thankfully I'm old enough to make that decision.

I lead a social life with friends who are fun to be with. Judging by your comment, you aren't to lucky! That explains why detracting for a piece of consumer electronics you have no interest in buying means so much to you... because you've got nothing else... lol. :P

And when I wake up after a long night of partying, I watch TV, because it's relaxing and easy on my body. How nice it would be to utter a few phrases and have my Xbox do all the work for me.

"On Topic: The Kinect 2.0 does not look much different from Kinect 1.0, but it doesn't matter to me because I will not be getting an XBone."

Well that pretty much confirmed everything I just said. Why do you even bother?

[redwin]

They looked like they were having fun. Isn't that the idea?

[3-4-5]

That looks like the complete opposite of fun.

[badboy776]

Raider Nation!

[Kingthrash360]

lol 1:1 tracking yet ANOTHER lie MS has said....how many does this make. my oh my I didnt expect them to lie so much. im really not feeling ms right now.......but I didnt need a video to show me the Kinect was a gimmick. X1 will fail....and no I dont want it to. its just they've lost their way, they are about money and thats all bad.

I understand this is a business and money is the focus, but you dont sell spam and call it ham. in business the customer is your boss and if you lie to them they will leave you. they will leave and go directly to your competition.....and this is why they will fail.

[Mystogan]

They're not going to fail. This is Xbox. It has had a fan base of over 77 million gamers. You think that even half of these gamers are suddenly going to get a PS4?...NO. Xbox is going nowhere. Microsoft has been through much worse then this. Vista and RROD for example. This bad PR is nothing compared to those fails.
Xbox is not going anywhere. Its here to stay. So is Kinect.

[Magicite]

thats number of consoles shipped, not number of players..

[shadyiswin]

He's not taking in account how the Xbox 360 is the number 1 selling console 31 and very soon 32 months in a row,almost 3 yes in a row...insane,also not taking in account a "broken" outsold gran turismo 5 almost 5:1 in there weeks of release setting a world record. They magically think Xbox has no fan base after Sony backtracked on DRM and took there camera out at the minute AND gave you no games at there reveal,e3,games on and pax. Sony is being very cocky not understanding preorders account for less that 20% of all sales,just wait till Microsoft's billion dollar marketing blitz hits,I look forward to seeing how n4g will put twist on higher than expected sales and good reviews of forza,ryse,killer instinct and dead rising 3. Why kill zone,drive club and knack all come up very short. Just watch lol

[Kingthrash360]

RROD is a great example...thats true 77 mil is the result of rrod because alot of repeat buyers including myself. thats not how many actual players its how many systems....smh
but this gen a few things are clear..
.1. no year head start

2. alot of people inincluding me will wait to see if there is another RROD debacle because im not going thru that again

3. ps2 was a huge success ps3 while successful wasnt as huge as ps2....why? price at launch. this gen x1 highest launch price.

4. 1st party support is really weak...if not the weakest. look at Nintendo...why is a company atill floating? it has the strongest 1st party games in gaming. period....weakest hardware strongest 1st party ips....ms 2nd strongest CONSOLE hardware last in 1st party.....it showed in 360's last years.

5. trust factor......smart customers dont buy stuff they dont trust....if I get bad chicken at a restaurant you better believe im not going back to spend my money on bad food...same goes for ms...all these lies, all these 180's, the rrod and lack of games for 360, the deal with it cockyness of ms gas rubbed alot of paying customers the wrong way.

I dont want them or anyone else to fail its just qhen you lie at every gaming event why should I believe anything you say? why spend money on a product that I had past problems with?

4.

[yellowgerbil]

they only have 77 million because of sony overcharging the ps3 so much at launch and coming a year later. they sold like 25mil original xbox. I wonder how many of the 50mil players who came onboard this gen will stay for the next gen?
I see sony regaining a lot of lost sheep

[dantesparda]

@shadywin

That's only true in America, in the rest of the world the PS3 has been outselling the 360 for years! Try again kid

[devwan]

@Mystogan 77m xbox 360 sales does not equate to a fan base of 77m gamers. Just sayin.

[IcicleTrepan]

Same can be said of Sony and their sales so come off it.

[dantesparda]

Stupid MS fanboy comprehension levels being shown by you, Icicle. He's not saying that Sony's number are its total fanbase, while Ms's arent. He's just merely pointing it out to shady, who like you obviously doesnt get that. Thanks for showing MS fanboy intelligence levels though

[MariaHelFutura]

"It works….kind of…"

This should be the slogan for Kinect and motions controls in general that aren't dance games w/ the exception of a few Wii title and a few PS3 titles motion control gaming as the focus just doesn't work. The sole reason I'm getting the PS camera is for Media Molecule's PS4 title, if anyone can do anything phenomenal w/ motion control gaming it's them, they're creative geniuses.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Other than that I have pretty much ZERO faith in motion control gaming at this point w/ what the technology has presented thus far.

Great article and site Septic, good job.

[Loki86]

Yeah Project Spark's full motion capture or KI's profile integration is completely overrated. Rather than a MM game we have seen nothing on, stop your low key trolling on every article it's ridiculous.

[Kingnichendrix]

I really liked the look of project spark one of the only games that tweaked my interest

[Shadonic]

I wouldnt say that, from the culmination of videos I've seen this had to be the worst for this game thought it seemed to be mostly the players fault since there moves were much more broad and exaggerated in this video while in others it seemed more subtle i mean I never seen anyone turn in the jet-ski demos until now. On the rock climbing it was clear that once you know how to play its pretty simple and actually works well.

Still I need to try it for myself.

[Mystogan]

Shut up...

[Rhinoceros]

Don't feed the troll. MariaHelFutura is about as common and boring as the ubiquitous font he put in his name. This person would have diminished the early iterations of videogames to the point of nonexistence.

I gave the Kinect 1 a chance and was disappointed, but still I never gave up on the technology. Someone so quick to dismiss such a recent development in the gaming world has no place in it.

[Xsilver]

hey its a free country

[Heartnet]

Media Molecule are good at creating games that make the user create for them...

But that gives them 0 background in motion tech.. Why wouild they be the One company you rely on to do motion control when they have very little experience with the technology?

The People you SHOULD be relying on is Sony Studio's London who are the people behind EyePet as there core focus is motion controll....

Obv troll is obv but please suck up harder...

Your comment is equal to me saying "RTS SUCK" but Naughty Dog are creating one and if any1 can make a good RTS its Naughty Dog... Even though they have no experience creating one...

Please... if your going to troll and put Sony into every Xbox Article.. do it with research and knowledge..

PEACE LATE

[MariaHelFutura]

Uhhhh. Because of the Tech demo is the basis of their PS4 game (link below) and the fact the made LittleBigPlanet. You know it won many GOTY's and is one of the highest rated series this generation.
http://www.shacknews.com/ar...

[gaelic_laoch]

"It works….kind of…"

Not good enough.

[Shadonic]

I agree I like the whole motion control thing but sort of is not good enough though there's still variables on how the player moved that play into the overall functionality. I just want a kinect fighting input MOD form what ive seen online since in that the lag was almost non existent.

[Heartnet]

Lag will always be there but in games itll be less noticeable as they will have workarounds and things to make it less noticable...

and also the games will never track you 1:1 even if the techonlogy enables you to as its not immersive enough...

A good example of this is The Shrek game where you played as That Cat, The devs tried it with 1:1 motion tracking and the users werent into it so they just look for the slightest gesture and it does the animation.. This also helps motivate the player....

So alot of the lag will be reduced in things like this

[ABeastNamedTariq]

Kind of? I don't particularly like the sound of that. If you're being forced to buy this thing for an extra hundred bones, it damn sure needs to be accurate like it says it is.

[pyramidshead]

disgonebegood.jpg

Serious note though, there really shouldn't be any lag. I thought this camera had military technology inside it or something?

[Heartnet]

No.... Just no.....

There will always be lag... its not a mirror lol it has so much stuff going on under the hood it needs time to calculate...

saying this though games will have a good workaround so it wont be noticable... It will be most noticable however when you just see a tracking of yourself...

[pyramidshead]

You haven't seen The Fighter Within gameplay I imagine lol. They promised 1:1 and it's not. It's disappointing for a peripheral they're so keen to sell you on.

[Pancit_Canton]

Same S*** different case.

Maybe the Engineers that made this should Kinect more with R&D.

[AllroundGamer]

The main selling point for Xbox one is working only kind of... nice to hear. Maybe that's why they are pushing it so hard to be in the box, cause normally nobody would buy it.

[corvusmd]

Actually it appears to work just fine...just the guys demoing it had no idea what to do, I was actually impressed when the booth host got a hold of it...there were no issues at all

[davidj88]

I disagree, even when the booth guy was playing there was lag...look at when he jumped and when the game registered it. This isn't the 1:1 that MS were raving about, this has me wondering if the voice recognition also has a delay after you speak.

[Heartnet]

it is 1:1 if it tracks the movement fine... it could take 10 years aslong as the arm moves in the same way he did its 1:1...

lag is something else which devs will find a way around to reduce / cover up so it wont be noticable In game...

[TheFutureIsBlue]

Waving your arms up and down to climb a mountain looks fine to you?

[Stuntz]

you guys do realize that is the game right... they have showed multiple times the kinects camera, it is no lag whatsoever go youtube. They are showing the calibration of what it would see in that specific game.. you guys are such toolbags. Search kinect Xbox one on youtube and watch the demo's the detail, and movement that it captures is frickin amazing.

[sigomorasihy]

my parents in law recently purchased a nearly new cream BMW M3 Coupe from only workin on a computer. my company
http://9nl.me/qdot/

[4logpc]

Weird that some people say it works flawlessly while others say there is lag.

probably why the game way delayed.

[Foxhound922]

This isn't news to anyone. We knew Kinect was a gimmick since its inception, and judging by the footage we've seen of Kinect 2, it looks like more of the same. Why ms would build their entire console around this piece of crap is beyond me.

[stuna1]

The thing is people are spamming disagrees although they have two eyes and can see the footage for themselves, no conspiracy involved! Being forced to by an accessory that's packed with the Xbox 1 for $100 more, when it's obvious it needs more work, in my mind is ludicrous!

Preference is everyone's right, but if you're happy with how the bit of kit is performing in your eyes is good and all, but when someone see's things a different light, you have no right to label them. And from my perspective Microsoft have always been about quick money grab schemes! That not to say that they don't have good products here and there, but all one has to do is look at the underlying policies to know that Micosoft will always favor money over even the basic responsibilities they have for their consumers, which is prevalent by their untruths.

[Niv]

Spending €150 extra for this! No way!

Ps camera in only €59
And is 3D capable( got 2 cameras)

[TheBurger29]

besides the lag, that guy has got moves

[stage88]

It still doesn't work.

Argue all you want but the video i just watched, in real time, clearly shows it doesn't.

Why is there still huge lag and right at the start of the video they had to reset because it wouldn't pick up the guy. He also said they had to reset Ryse as well.

Honestly, this is not good enough. Not by a long shot.

[HurtfulTimez]

Wow all i gotta say is Kinect is absolutely a complete piece of shit for gaming and this video proves it.

[NeutralXP]

Just as Ps4 is !!!

[stuna1]

Just WOW..... Not only to your comment, but also to the ones who agreed with you! This just proves that there are many levels of fanboyism! And you my friend are from the lowest level...

To think that the comment you replied to, brought out such a negative reaction as it did, make me wonder if gaming is not a direct reflection of your user name.

[Heartnet]

Well tbh if E3 is anything to go by..

the ps4 is an Indie Box.. Its launch titels are so Meh ( it does look better 2014 though )

Sony are all about Indie but who is paying 400£ to play Indie games that are released on steam!

Consoles should focus on Triple A titles as they have the hardware for it... no point supercharging a console to play Indie Titles... waste

[DigitalRaptor]

@ Heartnet

PS4 is a console for people who like all kinds of games, and developers who want to make any game they can imagine. You'll see motion games on PS4, but gladly they won't be its focus. Just because you are a closed minded gamer that thinks graphics should define a console, then Microsoft deserves you. They also deserve all consumers who are willing to support anti-consumerism, which equates to MS.

Despite this fact, inFamous: Second Son looks better than every single XB1 exclusive game so far in several key categories, and don't expect Sony's AAA presence to end there. Longevity is key, and it just so happens that MS not only showed their hand, but have removed games from their 360 lineup just to temporarily bolster their next-gen presence.

As a gamer, I'm so damn well seen to, that PS4 is just one of the many avenues I am continually receiving games to play. And it's just so great.

[NeutralXP]

Wow nice to see the PS4 trolls first in the comments Umm the article is as BS as Knack is

Oh by the way those 2 clowns are Ps Fanboys so article is invalid plus Kinect 2.0 works amazingly these clowns wouldn't no what even Lag is

Now back your pathetic trolling

[Foxhound922]

They probably wouldn't know what lag is because they've been using the PlayStation move. Denial at its finest. Anyone who thinks that video is the future of gaming needs to get their eyes checked. Be a big boy and admit that the majority of people don't like Kinect.

[Septic]

"Oh by the way those 2 clowns are Ps Fanboys so article is invalid plus Kinect 2.0 works amazingly these clowns wouldn't no what even Lag is "

I am one of the two 'clowns' and anyone who frequents this website enough knows that I am in no way a PS fanboy. I have defended the X1 and Kinect several times.

So you need to relax and watch the video for what it is. We didn't want the Kinect to fail and force the X1 to be rebooted. We didn't want it to have lag. We can't help these things.

[Septic]

@addivtivegamer

Okay....well what do I know....its not like I played the game or anything....oh wait.

[Foxhound922]

Septic, no matter what proof you show the fanboys,v they will always say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Fortunately, most people aren't dumb enough to fall for Kinect twice.

[MasterCornholio]

Wow its still laggy. I still don't understand why Xbox fans want Kinect with the Xbox One.

Motorola RAZR i

[tuglu_pati]

You i want it for the features it adds to the whole console experience not the gaming part. I'll never see myself jumping around in front the TV.

[SilentGuard]

Perhaps you do but many of us don't. For those of us that don't, paying for the Kinect along with the One does not sit well. You like it than buy it seperately. Let the rest of us save $100 in buying a One or risk having a smaller online community from less sales.

[Angeljuice]

"First of all, the Kinect 2.0 sensor doesn’t have 1-to-1 tracking, as originally touted by Microsoft. There is still a bit of a delay between your movements and what’s translated on screen. Also, it seems that either Kinect Sports Rivals or the sensor itself is not completely bug-free, as our hands-on session resulted in the XBox One console being rebooted due to some glitches we encountered."

Maybe they should ship it with the little button that sits in your pocket (you know the one they use at their staged demos), it seems to work perfectly when you use that./s

[skydragoonity]

Let's accept the truth people.. No true gamer really needs kinect.

[JunioRS101]

Wow, how cool!

Nothing is more neat than a $120 camera that doesn't do anything for the gaming console that I'm purchasing!

[buynit]

The thing actually does a lot but i would be lieing if i was to say i wasnt cringing during the face thing and the jet ski game..

What saved kinect,imo, was the xb1 guy at the end he clearly has had plenty of time with it and masterd it showing me that you just have to get familiar with it just like a new game on a controller.

Atm im glad im lookin forward to the function of the tv and ui rather than full blown motion games.. I still want to hold the controller so all i want is suttle motion control.. Just a point there, reach here, head tracking and voice comands is good enough for me..

[SilentGuard]

After watching I now want Kinect even less than before.

[Master-H]

The future of gaming ..ladies and gentlemen.
Bbbbut maybe it wasn't connected to teh cloudz that's why teh lag lol

[MotoDot]

That was sh*t

[Thomaticus]

Xbox would be a much beter console without the kinect. Now that this article is out watch how many more articles come out sayong that kinect is great.

[gdguide]

I found it very revealing that a game like Ryse that was BUILT for Kinect from the start opted out of Kinect for the character controls. If any game was meant for Kinect motion controls, this was going to be it.

If Kinect is so 1:1 and works so well, why not put Kinect to work with Ryse? This voice control stuff can just as easily be done with any camera with a mic. It was the being able to track fingers and more detail that was supposed to make Kinect 2 so remarkable IMO.

[Dlacy13g]

This doesnt make one difference for me on an xbox one.