Some of us here at TSA towers are getting a little tired of all the Move chatter we’re hearing. Sure, Sony were first to release their effort to muscle in on the motion-control market but Microsoft have a solution on the way too, you know? Kinect is only a couple of months away and the debate over which system is “best” doesn’t look like it’s going to die down any time soon. We think it just depends on how you look at it…
The Games
Gaming is supposed to be all about fun. Isn’t that why the Wii has been so unbelievably popular, in spite of not having the most comprehensive selection of so-called “hardcore” games? Kinect isn’t about measuring you down to the nearest micrometer; it’s about banging on a game and having a bloody good time. Who needs headshots when you’ve got a room full of giggles?
The Tech
The two lenses in the front of that sleek Kinect unit mean that it essentially works just like your eyes. It judges where you are in three dimensional space based on the variance between the images from each camera. That’s clever stuff. While it might not be able to tell you the precise 3D coordinates of each of your fingertips at all times, it does track your skeletal structure and it knows how you’re moving.
The Price
Kinect is one price and it works. Whether it’s a single player experience or you’ve got multiple bodies prancing around in front of that thing it will know you’re there. Move needs you to hold on to something that looks like a future-dystopian ice cream cone in order to see you. That means every player needs their own “Blade-Runner 99”. That gets horrendously expensive when you start talking about the set up you might need for a larger multiplayer experience.
The Control
Most of us won’t want a game that’s perfectly precise. If I’m engaged in a video game bout of fisticuffs I’d like it to be less hard work than actually getting mugged in a dark alley. Kinect allows your movement to be tracked but you don’t have to be super-precise about everything. So there’s a margin of error built in to how it works. I won’t need to be Jackie Chan to fend off those muggers, I’ll just need the ability to swing a limb in their general direction and Kinect will use its clever brain power to predict that my flailing was indeed supposed to be a roundhouse kick. Me – 1, virtual muggers – 0.
The Marketing
Yes, yes, Kevin… very funny. We’ve all had a little giggle at the US Sony adverts making fun of competitor’s products. It’s creative. It’s amusing. But is it smart? Kinect’s marketing focuses on the family and in the run-up to Christmas that’s got to be a very smart move. The similarities between the new Kinect advertising and the old Wii advertising are not by accident. The Wii is unbelievably popular across the globe. Why not allow Kinect to nestle in that market and keep Halo and Gears iterations for their “hardcore” users? Less smudging of the lines, more focusing on what will make them popular.
Don’t agree? Click here to see if the counter-points suit you better.
spooner_22
the thing everyone seems to forgetting is that for the most part it doesn’t actually matter which is better…for the najority of people who are interested in getting something new and different it comes down to one thing…which console its on!
There is only a small minority of people who have both consoles and they will be the ones worried about prices and blah blah…
I mean its not like someone with a ps3 is gonna see konect and be convinced enough to get a box instead and vice versa…
spooner_22
sorry for mistakes im on a phone :{
project84music
Having said that, I have spoken to one 360 user who was considering switching to the PS3 who cited Move as one reason (of many) for why he was considering it. No-one the other way round – though I agree, one of the motion control devices tempting someone to switch console is going to be a fairly rare event.
I have also spoken to a few people who currently don’t have a console who are now wanting a PS3 because of Move – especially after having shown them what it’s capable of.
Tuffcub
I think the we can settle the “which is best” argument easily. Go on Youtube, Search for “Playstation Move Fail” – Zero videos showing Move fucking up. Do the same for Kinect and.. oh dear. Right, that’s that settled. Next!
kevatron400
I vote this logic is applied to all debates from this point forward, social, political or economical.
Tuffcub
Seconded!
spooner_22
For shizzle!
simplebob
Hmmm – good points, but not enough to convince me that Kinnect is going to be better. The one thing that will convince me that Kinnect is the better product is if they can bring out a truly new controller free gaming experience. Everything I’ve seen so far seems to suggest “a bit better than Eyetoy” when it comes to games. Move, alternatively strikes me as being “a bit better than Wii”. I know which one I would rather spend money on….
Peter Rushton
this article is clearly posted just to create banter…
Boomshanks
Really? I thought TSA was the only place where people had more than half a brain and that a normal discussion is perfectly fine here
cleric20
Pew pew… I’m in favour of Move, as there’s nothing quite like the feeling of pulling a real as opposed to a ‘pretend’ trigger!?
What is Kinect going to do when you need to fire anything at an enemy? shout ‘bang’?
I also like to play sitting down for games like Fight Control HD or RUSE – something that the Kinect is still trying to work out how to do. Wanna stand up to drive your Forza car?? No thanks.
Tuffcub
“The two lenses in the front of that sleek Kinect unit mean that it essentially works just like your eyes” – Yes, if you happen to be http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059039/
hazelam
i thought kinect used an infrared light and timed how long it took for the light to bounce back and not working it out from two cameras.
one’s the infrared camera and the other is a normal light camera.
hazelam
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/19/kinect-how-it-works-from-the-company-behind-the-tech/
well i was close.
Quinlank
Can be summed up in one word for me: Buttons.
Kinect is extremely limited in what it’s going to be able to achieve, there’s no getting around that. They can mouth off about how many joints in your finger it can track or whatever the hell it does all they like, but watching people using Kinect so far has not looked a jot different to how I watched the Eyetoy being played nearly ten years ago.
I’ve been rolling my eyes today with every post I’ve read on some sites about some game announcements made at TGS apparently now mean “Kinect owns Move” etc, but I’ve looked at the stuff announcements and all I can say is “What games?”, they showed pretty much zilch. Most interesting looking(Sounding?) one was Steel Battalion, and that isn’t even a Kinect game, it just “supports” it… which is funny, as I remember when Steel Battalion 1 came out on the original Xbox I took one look at the price and dimissed it as an overpriced gimmick and now… eh, you can probably complete that thought yourself folks.
I’m not defending the Move in anyway, but the Wii has proven that style of control scheme is extremely versatile and can be used for any game type on the market, Kinect is going to be useless for all but the merest handful of game types, which is going to leave it as nothing more than an overpriced remote control you talk to for your Xbox.
Charmed_Fanatic
You cant compare and use the same good points off the same cateogories ;)
ultimatepunchrod
everything you said made me want kinect less.
Boomshanks
But did it make you want to buy the Move more?