RIP Kinect. Let us remember the Kinect.
- Thread starter cyrribrae
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Same here, internet high five!
Everyone remembers Dance Central, but I never liked that you had to mimic all the moves on screen and learn the dance routines. Dance Masters was more immediate. It felt like DDR in 3D space and the over the top J-Pop songs with their high BPM like this one were great when played as a workout:
I did use a Kinect for a project called AR Sandbox and was used semi-frequently in a middle school classroom. Haven't really used it for games at all.
I had a Nike FuelBand and the Nike Kinect game and I don't think anyone has come closer since to a fitness solution. The game was really good, actually. After using both, I would say it was better than Ring Fit.
I held off on XBOX ONE until it was Kinect-less, but I *did* pick up a Kinect back in the 360 days. For me, I was specifically curious to see what Mass Effect 3 was like with the voice commands. If wearing headphones, the voice stuff was surprisingly reliable, but ultimately not worth the cost of entry.
*Without* headphones... It was wild. The game-audio would be picked up as voice commands; it was like playing the game with someone else randomly inputting squad commands.
Now, to be sure, I didn't play too many Kinect games (and no dancing games, that isn't my jam), but of the ones I did, only one ever felt like Kinect was a good fit; Wreckateer. The physical actions you took to control things mapped well to in-game actions, and made sense. And there was something charmining about mimmicking wings as you steer your projectile.
But at the end of the day, I'm a lazy gamer who very much prefers to slouch in a chair, controller in hand, and Kinect soon found itself collecting dust on a shelf.
Edit: I'll also give an honourable mention to the game, I think already mentioned, where you'd contort your body to create platforms and the like to allow ingame characters to navigate a level, reminiscent of Lemmings. Neat idea, but the tracking was super, duper not up to the task of making it work properly.
*Without* headphones... It was wild. The game-audio would be picked up as voice commands; it was like playing the game with someone else randomly inputting squad commands.
Now, to be sure, I didn't play too many Kinect games (and no dancing games, that isn't my jam), but of the ones I did, only one ever felt like Kinect was a good fit; Wreckateer. The physical actions you took to control things mapped well to in-game actions, and made sense. And there was something charmining about mimmicking wings as you steer your projectile.
But at the end of the day, I'm a lazy gamer who very much prefers to slouch in a chair, controller in hand, and Kinect soon found itself collecting dust on a shelf.
Edit: I'll also give an honourable mention to the game, I think already mentioned, where you'd contort your body to create platforms and the like to allow ingame characters to navigate a level, reminiscent of Lemmings. Neat idea, but the tracking was super, duper not up to the task of making it work properly.
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Yea.. Select functionality is missed. It was a clunky way to navigate the UI, but I just tried navigating with Alexa in navigation mode and it's not the same (Right 3, Down 2). Having those numbers pop up was a great way to at least select what you needed, rather than trying to navigate as a controller with my voice. Sometimes saying the name works, but not always (so the "functionality" is kind of there, but the functionality definitely is not). FWIW, "go to YouTube" still works for me via voice assistants.. Just tried it and it automatically turned on my Xbox and went to YT. I was surprised, cuz I'm pretty sure THAT wasn't taken away.
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Controlling my Xbox One with voice controls was legit useful but the hand gestures almost never worked properly.
Imagine being a violin player and say: 'fuck that violin, I'll just play airviolin!'
Memes and all, I had a great time with franchises like Kinect Sports, Fruit Ninja and Dance Central among others. Sonic Free Riders was also pretty dope, all things considered. I haven't touched my Kinect in years so I can't say I'll miss it too much, but I have great memories attached to it. It was a great thing at the right time, one that died because Microsoft believed it will last long after it could have.
Honestly - I think if Microsoft hadn't botched the XB1 launch and had the development portfolio setup they had now to support it, the Kinect would still be here today. Microsoft could very well have been a big player in the VR market via Kinect.
Sounds like you haven't played Dance Central.
Quite comfortably worth the price of admission alone.
Me too. In fact I remember him for everything that went wrong with the XBO launch.
I'll never forget him telling Geoff Keighley that if people had poor Internet connections to not buy the console.
What an absolute.....*insert rude comment here*
Yeah, I'm feelin' good tonight,
Finally feeling free and it feels so right, oh.
Time to do the things I like,
Gonna see a Princess, everything's all right, oh.
NoJabba to answer to,
Ain't a fixture in the palace zoo, no.
And since that carbonite's off me
I'm livin' life now that I'm free, yeah.
Videogames peeked with the Kinect and it was all down hill from there.
Finally feeling free and it feels so right, oh.
Time to do the things I like,
Gonna see a Princess, everything's all right, oh.
NoJabba to answer to,
Ain't a fixture in the palace zoo, no.
And since that carbonite's off me
I'm livin' life now that I'm free, yeah.
Videogames peeked with the Kinect and it was all down hill from there.
I know add on cameras never get the install base of a pack in, but I always thought Kinect was a horrible idea that should have just been an accessory. It was one of the many blunders that pit Microsoft behind the eight ball this gen.
I only remember Kinect because I got banned on GAF after talking about my experience of it in a store demo and guessing the only talk we would hear about it would be about how it doesn't work.
Guess I stepped on some sensitive toes. But it's without a doubt the jankiest piece of gaming tech I've ever tried in my whole life, and I started gaming in the early 80s so that makes it quite impressive I guess.
Guess I stepped on some sensitive toes. But it's without a doubt the jankiest piece of gaming tech I've ever tried in my whole life, and I started gaming in the early 80s so that makes it quite impressive I guess.
I had fun with some of the fitness and dance games with my wife but apart from that, no. Never used the Kinect for Xbox One so I don't know how much better that was. I took my Kinect out a few months ago because my wife wanted to try it again before I put my Xbox 360 away. Suddenly the darn thing wouldn't work. How can things break while being in a box?
For me Dance Central and Your Shape were actually two really exceptional uses of Kinect and if the Xbox One version had reviewed well I believe I would using it to this day as I had so much fun with it on 360.
That being said the decision to shirt change the specs of Xbox One to accommodate the pack in of Kinect is one of Microsoft's key mistakes this generation.
That being said the decision to shirt change the specs of Xbox One to accommodate the pack in of Kinect is one of Microsoft's key mistakes this generation.
I don't even reminisce about the EyeToy.
The only good thing to ever come from Kinect were the conference gifs.
The only good thing to ever come from Kinect were the conference gifs.
Expecting this announcement over the past month or so my daughters and I have been slowly working our way through playing each year of Just Dance XB1 with the Kinect (up to 2018 next I think). As a bonus it is one way to stay home and get some exercise.
It.. kinda.. works on the XB1. Even with a good sized room it doesn't seem to capture all 3 of very well. I won't miss it being 'detected' every few days and forcing a reboot. I'd have preferred better HW in the OG XB1, but that ship is long sailed.
Still, the JD marathons have been goofy fun for us as a send off to XB1 Kinect.
It.. kinda.. works on the XB1. Even with a good sized room it doesn't seem to capture all 3 of very well. I won't miss it being 'detected' every few days and forcing a reboot. I'd have preferred better HW in the OG XB1, but that ship is long sailed.
Still, the JD marathons have been goofy fun for us as a send off to XB1 Kinect.
Their initial insistence that Kinect and XBOX ONE were designed to work together and couldn't be unpaired was part of what sunk the brand, Kinect was a massive chain round the neck of the brand.
The other thing was the always on thing, which they did not handle well.
The other thing was the always on thing, which they did not handle well.
If you started gaming in the 80s and Kinect is the jankiest thing you've ever used them you haven't used much in 30 odd years.
While what I played of Kinect I HATED I think the idea behind it can work really well in conjunction with controllers. Imagine combining it with something like Move or the VR controllers we're seeing nowadays.
Going controller-free can only work so far, and Kinect showcased those limits perfectly, but it still had a future. Microsoft at the time bet on the wrong horse when it came to launching the X1, and rather than making it optional at first they bundled it in and drove the cost way up, and between that and a much cheaper PS4 meant that momentum was more in favour of the cheaper system that did what the core gaming audience wanted (If PS4 owners wanted a camera, they got it separately).
Going controller-free can only work so far, and Kinect showcased those limits perfectly, but it still had a future. Microsoft at the time bet on the wrong horse when it came to launching the X1, and rather than making it optional at first they bundled it in and drove the cost way up, and between that and a much cheaper PS4 meant that momentum was more in favour of the cheaper system that did what the core gaming audience wanted (If PS4 owners wanted a camera, they got it separately).
RIP Kinect, the only two great games to make use of you were Dance Evolution (Dance Masters in the US) and Child of Eden - yet nobody bought either of them, so we lost the entire back half of the 360's lifespan on shovelware and Just Dance/Wii Sports clones.
Hey, two other people who bought Dance Evolution (Dance Masters). It's a massive shame that it was ignored while Dance Central/Just Dance style became popular as unlike those it was actually fairly accurate and very simple to dive into.
Hey, two other people who bought Dance Evolution (Dance Masters). It's a massive shame that it was ignored while Dance Central/Just Dance style became popular as unlike those it was actually fairly accurate and very simple to dive into.
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It alternated between not even working and not having any responsiveness at all, in a demo setup made to get you to buy it... Not sure what else that has been that bad. I guess playing Wii in a room with the sun shining in was close, I remember having a christmas tree completely mess up everything as well.
I remember the official unveiling with all those people dressed in white, an obviously fake video promising all sorts of things and then The dude's discount cousin trying and failing to show how it worked live. It was an even bigger fail than Skyward Sword's first gameplay.
Then I tried it personally after a few years and it was even WORSE than I thought. Good riddance.
Then I tried it personally after a few years and it was even WORSE than I thought. Good riddance.
After Warhawk+sixaxis everyone should have gotten the memo to fake their E3 presentations.
So you only used it in a store demo situation?
Ok cool so your post is even more nonsensical. Good to know.
While it was a little finicky in some conditions I think Kinect is a lot less clumsy than Playstation VR. I think that Kinect being a huge magnet for shovelware drowned out the few standout titles that worked well with it.
I used it a lot while playing Mass Effect 3 to order squad mates to use their skills without pausing the game. I believe that Fruit Ninja Kinect is the best version of that game with the VR version coming in a close second. Voice navigation and controlling media with Kinect on Xbox One was really useful as well. I hope that Microsoft finds a solution to allow these games to be backwards compatible in the future.
I used it a lot while playing Mass Effect 3 to order squad mates to use their skills without pausing the game. I believe that Fruit Ninja Kinect is the best version of that game with the VR version coming in a close second. Voice navigation and controlling media with Kinect on Xbox One was really useful as well. I hope that Microsoft finds a solution to allow these games to be backwards compatible in the future.
I don't want to trash it. The execution of the One was botched, but it was not an insane idea. For a media center, the Kinect is an amazing peripheral. It's accurate and fast enough to be used as the main "controller".
An Apple TV, or simply a smart TV with the Kinect would be absolutely amazing. It was just too expensive and niche for games to be a fancy remote.
It also kind of gave us FaceID which is amazing.
An Apple TV, or simply a smart TV with the Kinect would be absolutely amazing. It was just too expensive and niche for games to be a fancy remote.
It also kind of gave us FaceID which is amazing.
The Gunstringer is worth trying but the follow up they did is arguably even better if you are into '90s FMV games. It is also available on PC but only in the Windows Store.Never played a single Kinect game. But The Gunstringer always looked super cool.
The Gunstringer: The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles - Gameplay Quick Look
Gunstringer's day-one DLC is... well, let's just say I've never seen Patrick lose his mind before.Dig Deeper into The Gunstringer============================...
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