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.
Lord_Gremlin
Gosh, kinect is not for gamers. Just like Wii in general.
Voolar
“Most of us won’t want a game that’s perfectly precise”
I never looked at it this way before… I’ve been all negative about the lag all this time, what was I thinking…? You’re right. I need games that stretch me, that push my gaming skills. I need games where I have to make pre-emptive movements in order for the camera to translate my movements in time for something to happen on the screen. That’s what I want.
Forget Move Table Tennis, I wasn’t looking forward to that at all, I want games that will allow me to flail around randomly. I’m a core gamer, fuck it, I want Kinect River Rush.
TRiLoGY
Nice write-up, Although I personally DO want a game that is perfectly precise. I want the wii but with “Hardcore” games and much greater accuracy. So I think Move could potentially be perfect for me, rather than Kinect, which for me would probably only come out at parties like the wii did, but each to their own.. :)
retro_
Plenty of holes in this article. Personally, I want accuracy, I want to shoot the mugger, not the little old lady being mugged….ooops, sorry madam, my kinnects accuracy is franky a little bit bobbins.
Also, I don’t want any lag or as little as possible, plus, I don’t want to have to fork out £125 for it in one go ( Move cost me £52, 1 controller , 1 sub controller, 1 RE 5 gold edition ), Another plus to buying separate is that my wife is getting me another controller for crimbo.
Kinnect is clever, no doubt but sorry, the tech isn’t ready and I suspect won’t be till the 720 appears in three years time.
So, I think I’ll stick with my fab ( and yes, i’ve now got Move and it really is fab ) Move which works perfectly today. yippee.
and yes, K.B. is brilliant, end of.
aldomontoya
Got my move controllers yesterday, must say it is awesome. My wife played PS3 last night for the first time since i got it…FTW. Gonna have to see a big Kinect improvement to entice me still, got a 360 too, but that will probably stay as is for now.
Blue Heeler
I thought this article was being sarcastic, but then realized you are serious…really, Kinect? Really? Players don’t want to play mime in front of their TV, they want to hold something that gives them 1:1. Sure Microsoft can push horrible shovelware out for Kinect, but the core gamers will leave the console. Wii gamers will look at Move and see something familiar, but better, and flock to it.
beeje13
in price you didn’t touch on games, some kinect launch titles are CoD price… on shopto at that !