340°

Xbox Kinect Does Not Play Well With Couch Potatoes

From Kotaku:

To those doubting Kinect, I can say that, after a week of playing more of its games, it works great. But after a week of noticing a lack of seated play — after a week of not getting a single developer or Microsoft person to clearly state that Kinect can track your body while you sit — I'm left to wonder if this impressive tech has a problem. Controller-free gaming is an axciting future. Couch-free gaming (and maybe movie-watching and video-chatting)? Say it ain't so.

M-Easy5486d ago

Valveteen was sitting down while talking to lolipop. Skittles come here skittles.

Jamie Foxx5486d ago (Edited 5486d ago )

'But, I asked the Microsoft people running the demo, could I drag a chair over and try this sitting down?

No.'

and that was when controlling the dashboard? WTF

this is going to BLOW UP if true,i hope for microsofts sake this isnt true because I can imagine now the copious amount of articles begging for hits well have to shovel through about this, well written article from kotaku...surprisingly

k-Lan5486d ago

NOBODY will get up from the couch to control the dash or play a racing game. Imagine getting up everytime you want to forward or replay a scene in a movie. LOL! IF they don't fix this before released, MS is in big trouble.

HDgamer5486d ago

No gameplay videos at all.

Blacktric5486d ago ShowReplies(1)
ShadowCK5486d ago (Edited 5486d ago )

Well you play Resistance. So what would you know about Natal seeing as you haven't touched a 360?

ShadowCK5486d ago (Edited 5486d ago )

@ Article

So because you can't sit down that automatically means it's going to fail?

If you think that, you are a failure.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5486d ago
Mista T5486d ago

you know I want to actually have fun playing games, not do this
http://i48.tinypic.com/2dl9...

Pennywise5486d ago

That guy has probably lost many fights in his life.

Do they really consider this gaming? This is the fail of flail I have been talking about. No precision... just flap and flail and you win. No thank you.

R2D25486d ago

I have a 5 year old daughter, my question to you is would you laugh at her if you saw her playing Kinect?
Kinect is not meant for people like you or me who do not want to look like fools but for the Wiii crowld who actually play games and dont give a f@#k about what people on N4G think.

Pennywise5486d ago

NO Precision R2D2, just flap. That doesn't seem like fun... see what I like about gaming is the precision that gives you the ability to hone your skills.

People on N4G dont give a %$#%^ what people not on N4G think. If your 5yr old daughter plays this, fine... That is who it is made for.

feelintheflow5486d ago

I play wii games with my family and we look like idiots, who cares. Are you trying to hook up with someone your playing with? Since most gamers are fat ugly nerds, I would imagine that they don't have many people they are trying to impress with how they look while playing a video game. This thing might flop, but not because of how you look while playing it. I am sure you look really cool swing your arms around playing a sword game with move?? All motion games make you look like a dork, who cares. If you are a hardcore gamer, you are probably a dork anyways. Quit being so obsessed with how you look.

tplarkin75486d ago

But regarding sitting and gaming, it will happen. I think that MS said to focus on standing because that is more important for E3. It's a new SDK that developers are just learning.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5486d ago
Parapraxis5486d ago (Edited 5486d ago )

So do people think MS will get this fixed in 4 months?
Kinect has been in development for years, you'd think this issue would have been resolved if it is possible.

Gothdom5486d ago

of course. in 2009 it was "wait 'til you see NATAL! it will own"

this year was "wait for the NATAL conference, it'll own!"
then
"that was just prep stuff, wait for the MS conference"
then
"wait for it to be released..."

and those same people used to call the PS3 a delaystation....

midgard2295486d ago

the fact ms cant show their product live and have to script it is proof enough that it is fail

D4RkNIKON5486d ago

Gothdom, couldn't have said it better myself. Then it will be wait till it gets better support and devs start to take advantage of it. Followed by wait till the next xbox comes out.

Doc Sony5486d ago (Edited 5486d ago )

Exactly, this is one of the first bugs I would have dealt with if I had come up with Kinect. You could win a lot of people over by just showing people playing while sitting down on a couch relaxing.

For real, not some scripted all american family ad.

tiamat55486d ago

Wow. Microsoft is really bombing big time with Kinect. Who would have predicted that the tide would have turned so fast

negative5486d ago

Why don't you wait until it gets released before making uneducated, ignorant responses. Oh wait you're a sony fanboy........

D4RkNIKON5486d ago

I like your avatar blueshirt because it looks like you are whining.

Sprudling5486d ago

Many technically inclined people predicted it. It's just insanely hard for a machine to accurately pinpoint the location of human limbs with just two cameras. The hardware itself probably does a very good job at capturing the 3D space. The challenge is translating that data into limb positions, in real time.

There's a reason why motion capture artists wear special skintight suits with LEDs everywhere. Motion capture also uses a ton more cameras.

Show all comments (51)
620°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
15h agoReplies(1)
14h agoReplies(1)
Obscure_Observer14h ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

14h ago
pwnmaster300014h ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

14h ago
Obscure_Observer14h ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger13h ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster300012h ago(Edited 12h ago)

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole7h ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 7h ago
Tacoboto14h ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing6913h ago(Edited 13h ago)

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif12h ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing6912h ago(Edited 12h ago)

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif11h ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein11h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 11h ago
-Foxtrot13h ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast13h ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts12h ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto12h ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 12h ago
Profchaos9h ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo1h ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
14h ago
Show all comments (78)
260°

AMD CEO Shares Vision Behind Xbox Partnership and Next-Gen Chip Roadmap

AMD CEO Lisa Su talks about the Xbox AMD partnership, next-gen Ryzen + Radeon chips, and AI rendering tech coming to all Xbox devices.

Read Full Story >>
clouddosage.com
Obscure_Observer5d ago

AMD is really building hype around their unique partnership with Microsoft to help and build an advanced and seamless Xbox ecosystem across all Xbox consoles and devices.

I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimized chips" though? Seems ambitious.

Next year´s Xbox Showcase already looks promising and exciting. Here´s hoping they deliver.

InUrFoxHole5d ago

They had best show 3yrs in a row. Heading for another

VenomUK4d ago

Obscure_Observer said “I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimised chips" though? Seems ambitious.” To me, I interpret this to mean rather than having a couple of X/S products for launch and a handheld there is a longer term plan to release new products with higher specs at timed intervals. I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec.

Agent754d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games.

KwietStorm_BLM4d ago

It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever.

Ganif4d ago

Correct.

"Sony's PlayStation 6 reportedly will feature an AMD semi-custom APU with a Zen 5 CPU and UDNA GPU, capable of 4K 120FPS and 8K 60FPS gaming. The console will include X3D cache and advanced AI upscaling technology."

https://www.tweaktown.com/n...

Obscure_Observer4d ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever."

I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released.

Notellin4d ago

You should have just lead this comment with the fact that you have zero understanding of technology in the consoles and instead have a Toms Hardware online forum level of education.

Obscure_Observer1d 13h ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever"

I´d told you were on some bs

https://www.pcgamesn.com/wp...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 13h ago
Agent754d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games

Obscure_Observer4d ago

@VenomUK

"I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec."

Very interesting theory. Still not sure how MS would actually make it work.

KwietStorm_BLM4d ago

"I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released."

How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is.

Obscure_Observer3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

"How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is."

Dude, what I know for certain is that a tech as old as X3D chips which is actually *older* than both PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, is hardly the reason behind this new partnership between AMD and MS to build new *custom silicon* for next generation of consoles.

And yes it´s a huge announcement since AMD is working closely with MS to co-develop custom SoC which will allow backwards compatibility across all MS´s next gen devices allowing seamless integration between devices and full backwards compatibility across all generations of Xbox consoles.

I also know is that this announcement don´t have anything to do with Playstation and their strategy with AMD for the PS6, so stop comparing the two pretending that you know what´s going on, because you clearly don´t.

If Sony is working on something remotely similar, that´s remain to be seen.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1d 13h ago
Fishy Fingers5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Some odd, deliberate wording, no branding, not 'Xbox consoles, Xbox handhelds' specifically, feels and sounds like they're building towards hardware that anyone can be used or licensed to/by themselves and other manufacturers.

Multiplatform software and hardware 'Xbox/AMD APU'.

Obscure_Observer5d ago

I guess you missed Sarah Bond´s next generation Xbox announcement this week, were she clearly states:

"I´m thrilled to share that we´ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including, *our* next generation *Xbox consoles*."

But hey, I don´t think you´re entirely wrong, maybe MS will build their own Xbox consoles while licencing other manufactures to build and sell their own Xbox branded consoles. Who knows

BeHunted5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I think you watched the wrong video. It's below the description, or you can watch it directly on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/kprpRvsOua...

HyperMoused5d ago

Shares vision....we provide chips for money, this deal will sell many chips, we will make lots of money...good vision

Christopher5d ago

The marketing behind this is so heavy that I worry about the actual outcome. Why are they just not showing us the product, why all this talking in market speak?

Lightning775d ago

Probably because the next xbox isn't ready to release yet?

The marketing and rumors seem to be heavy out of no where. The rumor was a 27 release but it maybe it could be 26 new console launch instead.

Who knows.

Eonjay4d ago

There PR is alrways super heavy handed. No one is acutally buying an Xbox as is.
Also it is very early to be talking so much about a next gen console.

Obscure_Observer4d ago

There´s a lot of people interested on Xbox Next and its ability to run games from major stores like Steam.

We know that the PS6 is just around the corner as well, but so far, no news on what it might improve over the PS5 or PS5 Pro.

However, Sony already made public that their priority and actual focus is the PS6. So its not "very early" to talk about next gen when the very console manufactures are talking about it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4d ago
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210°

Activision Forces Adverts into Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone Loadouts

With the launch of Call of Duty Season 4, Activision quietly put adverts inside loadouts for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, sparking a backlash in the process.

24d ago
24d ago
lukasmain24d ago

Putting Ads in a pay-to-play Premium title? Well done Microsoft. Well done /s This is really scummy.

jjb198123d ago

This game will never change because these sweatlords love buying up all the skins and bundles that become obsolete the following year. They're the ones perpetuating Activision's greed.

VenomUK22d ago

If Microsoft introduces adverts into its other games I hope it can do them without disrupting the immersion of the game world. So for example in the new Fable game it would look out of place if there was a billboard advertising Cadillacs.

A far better way to do it would be to have a wizard conjure a 'dream cloud' in front of your character and then in the cloud you can see the Cadillac car and see the text with price and availability and hear a booming sales voice promoting the car. That would work so well as it wouldn't be a billboard and completely, 100%, fit in with your character's adventuring in Albion. Doesn't that sound so much better?!

crazyCoconuts22d ago

@venom, or how about our of 100 farts in Albion, 1 of them has a Cadillac pop out

VenomUK22d ago

@crazyCoconuts That’s undeniably off-beat - but it could really work!

23d ago
Show all comments (19)