Why The Kinect Isn’t Innovation
It’s the Kinect’s first anniversary, and doesn’t Microsoft want you to know it.
Our favorite mummery-based-interface device was undoubtedly front and center at Microsoft’s E3 booth; ensconced in its own private booths and orbited by a constellation of lesser stars. (You know, the AAA titles and the best of the Xbox Live aimed at those of us whose reaction to a Fable rail shooter was polite bewilderment.) Then there was the press conference, which may as well have been headlined: “Microsoft Changes Name to Kinectosoft Inc., Makes Kinect Ownership Mandatory.” Sure, there were mentions of other titles, some remarkably promising (Tomb Raider origin story, anyone?) but Microsoft even felt the need to couple Mass Effect 3, a title which should merit a presentation all on its lonesome, with highly-publicized Kinect functionality that amounted to “shout at the screen and weird your roommates out late at night.” And that’s saying nothing of the new-and-trumpeted interface for the 360’s new television support.
