For months now Microsoft has spoke with much excitement about it’s upcoming innovation called Project Natal which seeks to take what the Wii began and make it better. This week Microsoft’s hard work was displayed to E3 crowd in with promises of revolutionizing gaming as we know it. Kinect as it is now known appears to be the next step in interactivity between gamers and their consoles. Kinect will utilize numerous sensors to detect movement and sound. In addition it will allow full motion control of menus and with gestures and voice prompts.
Also showcased was a new Video Kinect interface that seemed strangely similar to the recently debuted Apple Face Time application. The video interface is compatible amongst XBL players as well as Messenger users. One thing I liked was the ability to watch movies with people you are chatting with. It raises the question “will both parties need to own the film?” or will it be along the lines of just watching a movie with a buddy and not requiring dual ownership of media.
Kinect will launch November 4th, 2010 just in time for the holiday season. There have been strong rumors indicating the unit will cost $149 and that older Xbox consoles will require a separate power supply to run the hardware. Owners of the newly debuted Xbox Slim will not require anything additional to run Kinect.
Kinect will debut with 15 titles of which 6 were showcased thus far which are
- Kinectimals – Microsoft’s attempt at a nintendogs style game
- Kinect Sports- Gee shitting on Wii Sports much hahaha?
- Kinect Joy Ride-Cart racing anyone?
- Kinect Adventures-Shades of Wii Play to me
- Your Shape:Fitness Evolve- Wii Fit is gonna be jealous
- Dance Central- From MTV & Harmonix with lots of DDR undertones.
Check out all the media and decide if it’s worth the alleged $149. It shows tons of promise but a part of me feels that they really “borrowed” a lot of Nintendo’s ideas. Considering Nintendo isn’t doing shit for the Wii thus far is it really a bad thing.
Trailer Credit:GameTrailers
Last night, Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb and Kevin Periera were all discussing Kinect and they pointed out two things, the first being that what was showcased is nothing that the Wii and even the EyeToys have not already done years ago. Secondly, Adam Sessler made a huge point which will come into play if the price in that picture is correct: If the Kinect is priced over $100, it is going to miss that casual target audience that it is hoping to capture.