Dis-Kinect

Xbox 360 opinion by James Dewitt on 22nd July 2010

During this year’s E3, Sony and Microsoft unveiled their take on the motion-control idea Nintendo capitalized on with the Wii. Unfortunately, neither company had a calendar on hand. If they had, they would’ve seen it’s 2010 and not 2006 when the concept was a novelty. Chiming in on Move would be redundant, so the focus for the remainder will be on Microsoft’s silly-sounding Kinect, formerly known as the equally silly-sounding Project Natal.

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In an E3 that was by most accounts underwhelming, Kinect easily ranks as the most embarrassing moment for a multitude of reasons. Priced at $150, Microsoft stands to lose a lot more than just revenue, but credibility as well. The gamble on Kinect is especially dicey considering that instead of merely copying the Wii, they’ve decided to jettison the entire concept of a controller altogether.

I wouldn’t make much of a big deal over Kinect if I was assured it was just a little pet project without much marketing muscle, but it is. The E3 unveiling of the newly-christened Kinect was Microsoft’s centerpiece, a loud and celebratory declaration for what they believe to be the future of gaming. Look, they’ve even brought out the Cirque du Soleil troop to help introduce it to the public! Gamers love avant-garde circus performers, right?

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Such diametrically-opposing viewpoints of what constitutes the modern gaming experience brings up an unpleasant question—is Microsoft becoming disconnected from gamers? In their bid to steal Nintendo’s thunder, Microsoft may find they’ve alienated their core market and embraced an audience who in all likelihood will not purchase an Xbox 360, let alone look in its general direction.

It also seems that motion-controls just aren’t cool anymore, or depending on your point of view even less cool than before. Sales of the Wii have slowed, and even Nintendo distanced themselves from motion-controls. Instead they opted to unveil sequels, re-quels, and re-imaginings of their classic franchises to the collective shock and surprise of absolutely no one. And Nintendo is regarded as having the best showing out of the three.

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A more important thought to consider is how will Kinect be any more intuitive than the Wiimote? The motions of the player, to the Wiimote, to the onscreen action was always an awkward process—with some movements having barely any resemblance to what’s happening on the screen. All the Wii is really detecting is how you flick your wrist, the remote’s position and how soft/hard your motions are. Consider that Kinect will have to register every facet of your body: the movement of your hips, the position of your feet, and the manic flailing of your hands.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. If the system already has difficulty analyzing movements while players are sitting, what about a pet frolicking on the couch or someone moving near you? More importantly, if the Wii caused the premature deaths of many a TV from players hurling the remote at it, what’s going to prevent you from slamming into it during a vigorous game of make-believe tennis?

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The voice-recognition angle also reeks of desperately cramming in an unwanted gimmick in package stuffed with unwanted gimmicks. Voice-rec is already known as something of a boondoggle and the opportunities for miscommunication are endless. But regardless, assuming you find it too difficult to navigate your DVD with the Xbox controller, you can always lay down the cash for a remote—a much cheaper solution.

However, it’s software that will ultimately determine success. Great titles were, are, and forever will be how we remember a system and if the quality is—oh, forget it. The Kinect titles that were unveiled were so painfully unoriginal they made the Wii versions look like the cutting edge of gaming. Sports, dancing and exercise? This is nothing short of turning the valve that will unleash a torrent of brown, steaming shovelware onto the hardcore crowd Microsoft built the Xbox brand off of.

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There’s the mentality that anything that might eventually lead to developing something akin to Star Trek’s holo-deck is a direction we should race towards. In the spirit of unfounded doom-saying, I’d like to state that’s an unfeasible goal and motion controls are not going to be the building blocks for it.

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About the author

James Dewitt is a Senior Staff Writer at Thunderbolt, having joined in March 2010.

Comments

demolisher
22nd July 2010

u suck okay ps3 move copied wii…
Anthony
22nd July 2010

This devolved quickly.
Delapidated Escapism
23rd July 2010

If i’m not mistaken, you can navigate menus alot easier with Kinect. With a lot of until-recently-computer-only game genres being translated to console, Kinect MIGHT enable to translate the computer-only genres that developers have always failed to translate, namely real time strategy, sport simulation (Football Manager ), economy simulation, because with Kinect you are controlling the navigation with your hands , while mouse doesn’t have that flexibility, because you only grasp it with one hand.
justanexer
23rd July 2010

There is a definite ‘core’ gamer niche that is being disregarded on many sites, predicting the downfall of xbox because of kinect. That niche is the ‘core’ gamer that shares a house with non-core gamers (wife, girlfriend, kids). My wife loves gaming, (rockband, and telling me what to do in RPG’s, etc.) but, hates the xbox/ps3 controllers. To a core gamer a controller is an intuitive natural device to control games. For everyone else it’s not, it’s actually fairly difficult to master.

As soon as my wife saw Kinect she said, “We are getting that! Now I’ll be able to watch movies, listen to music, play some games without trying to figure out what friggin button i’m supposed to push.”

And really, who takes ‘core’ gamers too seriously? I’ve been gaming since pong and have owned every gaming system that has come along. I’ve spent countless hours on forums and the one thing that I’ve taken away is that ‘core’ gamers like nothing more than to bitch, complain and fight about everything. And every change or perceived change to gaming is cynically believed to foreshadow the end of ‘core’ gaming.

I think Kinect and controller games can and will quite happily side by side on the xbox. Why wouldn’t they? Developers are not going to quite developing great ‘core’ games for that market because of Kinect. I think Kinect has the potential to open the xbox platform up for more people as the centre for media in the living room. I’m extremely happy that the xbox (and ps3) are becoming more than just for gaming media and evolving into the control centre for all media.
Matt Wadleigh
23rd July 2010

Yes, wives and girlfriends may pick up the system, but why would someone who doesn’t have a 360 spend $400 to get a 360 and a Kinect when they can spend the same amount for a Wii and end up with pretty much the same thing and about 6 games, counting the two the Wii comes bundled with. And it plays Netflix. And you can listen to music on it. Kinect is simply too little, too late, too expensive and not creative enough to appeal to core gamers.

I read statistics on Kotaku asking if 360 owners are going to get it. Less than 10% said yes. Why would EA or Activision spend millions developing a serious title for this piece of hardware when an incredibly small sample of the 360 market is actually going to buy it, and a smaller sample of that tiny market might buy their game? Kinect has potential, maybe, but only as a pack-in with a new system. As an add-on, there’s just no way I’m spending $150 on it and a lot more people agree with my sentiments than disagree.
Trekster_Gamer
24th July 2010

Kinect is going to be really fun especially for family. It will be much easier than a Wii Mote or PS Move to just pick up and use for those who are new to games.
It will appeal to Wii users as it is the next generation step from what they have with the Wii. Sony will spend next year still explaining why you should get Move especially if you have a Wii.
Stuart Edwards
25th July 2010

HD-DVD, anyone?
Sean
25th July 2010

I think you’re either missing or ignoring the fact Kinect isn’t intended for gamers, at this point. Microsoft has put themselves in a good position - disregarding price - because Kinect is fundamentally different technology than the Wii and is arguably the logical next step away from traditional controller based gaming.

Cirque du Soleil wasn’t for gamers - though they’re awesome. It was for parents at home, people who would never read about an Xbox product normally to save their lives. Kinect is targeting these people, these non-gamers.

In terms of E3 presence Kinect was absolutely the focus, and of course core Xbox players were disappointed. That doesn’t mean they’re being ignored or forgotten though, you have Reach, Fable III and Gears 3 all arriving over the next year.
Calvin Kemph
25th July 2010

I’m not going to make any qualitative judgments before playing Kinect, but from what I’ve seen it works well enough.

Microsoft said in an interview a few days back that although they’re appealing to the casual gamer with the planned launch titles, they’re looking to target core gamers further down the road and expect core gamers to be the first ones to pick up Kinect, anyway.
James Dewitt
25th July 2010

Games for non-gamers makes about as much sense to me as coffee for non-coffee drinkers or visual art for the blind. No matter how you slice it, the fact is if somebody doesn’t already have the Wii and is a non-gamer, then they’re going to buy one over having to buy an Xbox 360 plus a Kinect.
Anthony
26th July 2010

I think the Kinect looks cool, but one things is really bothering me whenever Microsoft hypes it up. Several times they’ve bragged about how “easy it is to” pick a movie, pause it, fast forward and so on. Are we so helpless as a species that using a controller is just too taxing? No matter how good the Kinect is, it will be quicker to use a controller to navigate a film menu.
Sean
26th July 2010

@ Anthony - I don’t think it’s really about ease, but rather a perception thing. Some people are inherently vexed by the site of a controller, sadly it carries a certain stigma. Once that is out of the equation the experience is much more open to everyone.
Calvin Kemph
26th July 2010

James, I agree with you for the most part. However, I also think that by extending the shelf life of the 360 & PS3 beyond the typical hardware cycle, Microsoft and Sony have to be pushing some kind of hardware upgrade to keep their consoles exciting/relevant and fill expectations

I’m OK with the Kinect for now. At least, I’m more OK with it than when they mentioned it would be the next generation of Xbox. If all future consoles are motion control only, I’ll know it’s time for me to move on.
Josh Kramer
26th July 2010

See, that’s the scary part. With each one of the big three moving in this direction (even if without the same zeal as Nintendo), I’m worried about the upcoming generation. I love controllers.

And why ditch them so soon after they were nearly perfected? Rumble, twin analog sticks, shoulder buttons and triggers, wireless — controllers today are a glorious amalgamation of the fantastic upgrades of generations past.

In the past, fishing/maracas/steering wheel/flight stick controllers were all seen and treated as entertaining diversions - and that’s the way I hope it’ll stay.