In a preview of Microsoft’s upcoming Kinect controller-less system, Digital Spy have noted that unlike the PlayStation Move and Nintendo Wii, Kinect requires players to be in a specific area “four to five feet from the screen”, in front of or behind which the system cannot detect the player.
“While you can play the Wii from a metre onwards, a possible issue with Kinect is that it has a specific zone of play,” reads the preview. “All demo stations required a lot of room to play games, with an area four to five feet from the screen needed to pick up the player. In front or behind that, and the sensor will struggle or fail to pick up users at all. While the experience is no doubt optimised for the living room, for those who play their consoles in compact spaces, this could end up being a real deciding factor. However, we’re hoping to test the device in real world situations before passing proper judgement in this regard.”
Of course, Kinect isn’t out until November, and so there’s a good few months of polish to come yet, but it’s interesting that the system requires such a specific area of play. It’s also a bit of a downer for those who don’t have a lot of space in their gaming area.
Source: Digital Spy
Armonster9000
Does Kinect work in the dark?
iAvernus
Good question…I doubt. The main feature is the camera, and a cheap one at that, so I don’t think so. I may be wrong =)
Grey_Ghost13
Ha Ha, Kinect Fail! Sorry couldn’t resist. I like the article and the comment that they want to reserve their judgement until they have fully tested the system. They are just letting the fact of the limitation public so hopefully MS can sort it before release.
iAvernus
Well it’s getting harder and harder for people to defend Kinect. We still have to wait to see the full product, and we can’t judge it by how it looks now, but we can see the Move is looking good…and this??.. not so good I’m afraid.
spek
Drop the price to £60 !
shields_t
Screwed in my living room then.