While hackers have been having their way with the Kinect on the PC for a long, long time, Microsoft itself has only recently embraced this sort of behavior. First it was with an official SDK and then, soon after, a follow-up letting things go commercial. We've been eagerly awaiting Office integration -- imagine lazily waving away every boring PPT that lands in your inbox -- but also struggling to figure out just how such a device would fit on our cluttered desks. Microsoft is now promising a PC-specific version to release sometime in 2012, able to focus on objects as close as 50cm from the lens -- quite an improvement given our current Kinect seems unhappy if we're standing anywhere within five feet. The hardware is also said to be "optimized" for desktop use and the USB cable shortened, but we're still in the dark about how exactly it will look. Might we suggest Keepon integration?
"Digital board games can be tons of fun, especially when they're cooperative. That's what's in store for Beacon Patrol from Assemble Entertainment. Based on the real-life board game by Torben Ratzlaff, Beacon Patrol has players work together to explore a map and create a network of coastal paths, all by placing tiles. It's a lot like Carcassonne and Kingdomino, but set on the high seas. The upcoming Steam version will support 4-player local co-op, and there's a single-player demo right now," says Co-Optimus.
Thanks to Call of Duty HQ, the early weapons list for Black Ops 7 has been unearthed, and it gives further evidence of wallruning returning.
A hands-on look at this upcoming acrobatic third-person sci-fi shooter.
This is were Kinect belongs and please put back the stand alone Kinect processor that was removed from the original Kinect.
While you at it MS make it half the size with a UBS power supply connection and blu tooth connection capable.