Well, i guess i will join the deluge of people giving their opinions on MSFT's (stock symbol, how i usually refer to them) newly released controller without a controller device.
First off, the concept. The concept here is a device that will take the place of the controller in certain games. In a way it has kind of a retro vibe to it: reduced button combinations. It is nice to have games that don't use every single button on the controller (no x, y, a, b, RB, LB, left trigger, right trigger, back, start, clickable thumbsticks, etc). This is not as easy of sale to someone who is used to the controller (the Xbox contoller is fairly good except for the d-pad). Predictably, the self-professed "hard-core" gamer do not seem impresed. Though eventually, maybe Kinect can be used to enhance games that use the control pad (like head tracking). The concept of a simplified control scheme (how simplified it really is can be debated) with a more natural interface is interesting. If you have been scared off by the myriad of buttons on controllers, this might be for you. It is the implementation that will be important.
Kinect seem to be pretty decent from what i've played so far. There is a little lag, but i don't really notice it unless i'm looking for it. The voice commands (i like speech recognition/control) works fairly well for what it does - though it should be noted that voice control is rather limited at the moment (i expect its vocabulary to be expanded in the future). Another cool feature has you waving to sign in. However, depending on the sensor height (closer to 6' should work better - mine is at about 3') you may have to change where you wave. There is one game that recommends putting the Kinect closer to eye level. i have to wave at a little under shoulder level to get it to recognize me. Kinect should improve over time as the sotfware running it improves. There are, however, some limitations of Kinect that are hardware (like the resolution of the camera) that cannot be changed.
i have played on the Wii a little, and i can say that early Kinect games are a lot more active. With the Wii, you can find ways to move the Wii mote where you don't actually have to do the intended motions. i'm sure there are ways to "cheat the motions" in Kinect, but i don't know them. It seems to me that the Kinect will have the edge on the Wii (and Move) in terms of fitness or dancing games. Though, i guess that will depend on the quality of the games released. Keep in mind, however, that software developers really haven't had the development kits for that long. So, the current line-up is just scratching the surface of what can be done with Kinect.
The games that seem to work best for Kinect (currently anyway) are games "on rails". i kind of miss the more "on rails" games that i grew up with on the Genesis (or if you want to go back that far, the Atari 2600). i only have three games for the Kinect (the pack-in, Kinect Sports and You Shape: Fitness Evolved). However, one of the stand-out games is the Harmonix dance game, Dance Central.
If i had to give the Kinect a number grade, i would say 8/10 currently, with a future possibility of higher score. At $150 (USD) Kinect is a little harder of a sale ($99.99 sounds so much better).
With that being said, i forgot to mention that the Kinect needs a significant amount of space (about 6-10 feet). Single player is the closer end of that range (use about 7' for the estimate though). However, i have had some problems playing with two players. i would guess that they didn't plan this with what could be considered two (chronologically speaking) adult males playing at once. Maybe the person i was playing with was too far on my side, but i found myself constantly stepping out of range, usually to the side (sometimes to the back).
If you are new to the Xbox world, i would recommend the Xbox 360 S 4 GB model bundle for $299.99. Many game saves are around 1-10 MB or so (and you can use up to two USB drives, 2-16 GB to get you a little space). If you are going to download a ton of games (like XBLA arcade games, Indie games, Songs for music games, etc) or play games from the hard drive, you may want to check out the Xbox 360 S 250 GB Kinect bundle for $399.99. i view the Xbox 360 bundles as a decent deal now, however, there may be a better deal - maybe 6 months to a year down the line. The links are at amazon, you probably can find these in most retail stores too.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003O6EE4U/amazon0b53-20/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003O6JLZ2/amazon0b53-20/
No comments:
Post a Comment