Recent statements about Kinect have been less than flattering. Even the champion of all things Kinect – Peter Molyneux – has been a bit “meh” about it all. Add in the fact that Fable III won’t ship with Kinect support, and it would seem that Lionhead Studios is getting a bit disheartened with it all.
Fear not though Kinect fans, as Fable III’s senior design director – Josh Atkins – has burst onto the scene with an invigorating burst of enthusiasm! Speaking to CVG, he had the following to say;
“Kinect and the technology behind it is truly amazing and it definitely can be used to push any experience including the combat in a game like Fable.
However you’re going to have to wait to see the amazing things we do with Kinect.”
“Wait and see” really isn’t what people want to hear at the moment. In fact, we don’t want to hear anything, we want to see – show us some of this “amazing” stuff and convince us that the £130 price tag is well and truly worth it.
Still, we appreciate the enthusiasm.
Source: CVG
amiga_dude
Sounds like Microsoft is getting rather desperate and worried. I would belive him but isn’t Lionhead Studios also known as Microsoft Game Studios Europe. If this sort statment was coming from EA then I would more likely belive it.
Persionaly I think the Milo thing was just smoke and mirrors.
Seventy2
Milo – not so much ‘smoke and mirrors’ as ‘a twat in a red t-shirt’.
Kamokazi-UK
I really hope that all this good publicity doesn’t harm the xbox brand name…. ( tee hee hee )
hazelam
i’ll stick with my buttons thanks.
just make sure the combat works with a joypad and then after that you can do whatever you want with kinect.
amiga_dude
It would be so funny if Sony gives away T-Shirts at Eurogamer Expo say
“Gamers love Buttons”
cc_star
Kinect is amazing, the question is whether the first wave of games are or not.
Radboud
Kinect would have been amazing if they used the right quality camera. MS put in a lower quality camera than they could have, that is the problem.
This is the reason it has such low accuracy.
Accuracy in Kinect can only be made better by installing a new camera, I think I’ll wait for Kinect2 before buying into this (If it truly works great, I would buy a 360 for it)
bunimomike
Kinect is very good. Amazing? Can’t say I agree. None of this generation’s hardware is that. Although engineering and ideas teaches us everyday – you can come up with the coolest bit of kit ever but if you can’t apply it to something sellable you’re pretty much screwed. Where are the tech demos showing how incredible it is? Move has show countless tech demos where we’ve all be pretty damned impressed. Ok, that might not translate to actual games but it gives people inspiration with how to use Move in new and fascinating ways. Once again, I look forward to seeing how Kinect does. I’m hoping it’ll be great too but I’ve still to see anything that isn’t laggy and consists of slapping balls (steady on) with your limbs flying everywhere. Virtual dodgeball isn’t going to cut it sooner or later.
Actually, it’s kind of like the signal problem for the iPhone 4. There was a fundamental problem that left most people’s jaws on the floor. How could Apple get it so wrong? To a lesser extent it’s here again with the accuracy and lag that Kinect has. Fundamental flaws which the devs are trying to work around.
cc_star
Accuracy isn’t a problem.
Its a system which is capable of great gaming experiences, those experiences might not appeal to the core but Microsoft has already sold 360′s to the core, so won’t be too worried about it not appealing.
Also lag… hmmm, so far we’ve only seen pre-release software and the main lag point comes from the human body, not Kinect itself. For example physically jumping takes far longer than pressing X, and swinging your ass out to the left or right takes longer than flicking an analogue stick. Actual Kinect lag that is attributable to Kinect itself compares well with something like Killzone3′s controls.
Regardless, the tech is irrelevant compared to games and importantly the experiences those games give.
A big selling point of the Wii is the experience people have when they play a Wii around someone elses house – this leads them to buy a Wii themselves. Kinect could easily work like that.
The Just Dance phenomenon proves what is possible with Kinect and they already have a title in Dance Central which pisses all over Just Dance in terms of capability. Wii Fit shows that people are will to queue for weeks and weeks and hand over around £100 (in bundles from £80-£130) for an experience and peripheral.
All that’s required is software; Child Of Eden, Dance Central and The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout are amongst early titles available on the system and I can really see the whole hands-free thing turning into a Wii-like sales approach (when people play it around someone’s house they have to go out and buy it for themselves)
I know buttons are needed for some gaming experiences, you know buttons are needed in fact everyone reading TSA knows that buttons are required for some experiences, but there are many, many millions (maybe even 10′s of millions) of people won’t care and will get just as much out of the gaming experience as we do, if not more.
bunimomike
Accuracy isn’t a problem if you go for games that doesn’t rely on it, which makes sense. Regarding the lag, tell me cc… when are we going to see lag-free videos? Move seems to be very accurate and low in the lag department. People are now filming Kinect being demo’d across the US and it’s still so apparent. Out of every video I’ve seen with Kinect gameplay, it’s either laggy or fake (eg. acted out beforehand like E3 this year). Once again, if MS build games that don’t require quick reflexes and accuracy then there won’t be a problem. It’s just that we’ve seen nothing that compliments this allegedly revolutionary hardware. I think it’s a lovely bit of kit. I think it could sell well. But describing it as amazing is so very different to realising that if it sells well it’ll be because of MS pushing it properly. That’ll be the amazing part.
We can take Move out of the equation completely and it’s still a decent bit of kit but shows limitations from the off.
cc_star
Read one of the articles written over at the Digital Foundry on Eurogamer, Richard talks about it far better than I could. This is a good one to start, but he’s written loads about lag & the perception of lag across all manner of games. Also, when you’re playing a game and having a good time, its very different to watching a YouTube Video titled Kinect Lag.
Of course we can see problems with Kinect, but here in the TSA bubble where it’s constantly talked down…. Well, we’re hardly the target market.
bunimomike
I will when I can, fella. *opens up new tab*
I’m so utterly unbiased at nearly every turn. Enjoying Alan Wake last night, Limbo previously. Haven’t pre-ordered Move. I’m just going to buy what I fancy when I think it’s up to scratch. But (and it’s a big “but”) Kinect isn’t being shown off properly. In that shoulder-to-shoulder sort of way. It still might be a sales success; it might trump Wii and Move controls (in a different way) but it’s a nice idea that might be good in a few revisions or so.
Then again, MS might show us some stuff this week which’ll cause the world to shift its axis of tilt due to the number of people passing out simultaneously at it’s splendidness. I’m good with whatever! :-)
bunimomike
Finished the article. My thoughts to summarise are:
It’s a lovely idea and could be incredible come v2 or v3 in a few years time. Until then, it’s going after the Wii market (no shame in that).
hazelam
i think accuracy is an issue if you want games more sophisticated than catching a ball or leaning from side to side to control a raft.
without being able to detect finger movement you’ll never be able to detect whether somebody is pointing at something or grabbing it, or when they want to let go.
most of the interaction we do with the world is done through our hands and fingers, apart from walking of course but kinect will have a hard time with that too, you could run on the spot like in the sports game, but how would you turn a corner? if you can’t use your hands there’s not much you can do, just try doing even the simplest task with your hands balled into fists, you can’t do it can you.
for as long as that’s how you interact with anything through kinect the possibilities will always be very limited.
even a couple of buttons can make a world of difference
cc_star
Depends on the experience
Something like Shaun White on the Wii (which is an absolutel blast compared to the PS3/360 version) would be possible on Kinect and thats great fun. Also, Child Of Eden (one of the highlights of E3) looks great, and Kinect looks to be the platform of choice.
It’s all about designing a gaming experience to suit the medium. The Xbox 360 is already really well service for FPS, 3rd Person adventure titles, Sandbox games and any other core gaming experience you can throw at it.
Kinect is a complete contrast to that, things will be interesting once the glut of dance & fitness titles out the way and devs really get to grips with new experiences like the previously mentioned Child Of Eden
Smoutefretter_BE
All those little beautiful worlds from MS.
All we want to see is something really impressive!
No games that where possible a few years ago on PS2!
SHOW US IMPRESSIVE THINGS!
mrfodder
If it’s truly so impressive, they must have some tech demos which so this. Why aren’t they showing them to drum up hardcore interest?
tonycawley
At this stage in proceedings we don’t want to see more tech demos, we want to see the technology implemented into real games which are actually going to be released. Show us how it works in a game, not something crappy, show us something amazing if that’s what it is.
ibu
To be honest other than HD graphics, Kinect doesn’t really seem to have moved on much further than the original Eye-Toy. The video’s seem out of sync with the action, often completing random movements that haven’t even been acted out.
The whole Kinect thing seems pretty rushed to compete with Move, first the reduction in resolution of the camera and now the recent statements in the media of Kinect not even reading sign language.
If you are going to tout a technology at a ‘Premium price-point’, do not actually mimic what has come before and done it just as well on restricted hardware at a lesser cost. It degrades any ‘value’, your model has.
Like the other posters have said above, less of these tech demo’s and fancy placeholders with miming actors. We, the consumer, want to see a valid product, valid software utilising this product and at a valid price-point.
I do not intend to come across as a fan-boy, but for all the PR nous and Marketing skills M$ have, they haven’t managed to mis-lead most of the public, who will instead plump for the ‘Move’, even if it is just essentially enabling Wii-alike games in HD.
And using Liondhead as a corporate fan-boy to shout of its pluses seems like a misguided attempt, no matter how much I have liked Lionheads previous games (though I still harbour a deep-rooted sorror for the BC cancellation)
Your move Microsoft.
Foxhound_Solid
You have pretty much hit the nail on the head there…..
Radboud
Only thing is, people who do not own any console right now, really are impressed about Kinect.
You don’t even have to hold anything in your hand is what they say, that is all they think and have no glue as to what kind of games can be played..
You can game without anything in your hand, people think that that is cool!
cc_star
Pricing: Xbox 360S + Kinect = PS3Slim, having worked in GAME at Christmas a few years ago I know exactly what the freakishly long queues will be waiting for. Unless it goes a bit Wii Fit and it can take months to get hold of one
Quinlank
Low pre order numbers and the general apathy of the public suggested by countless polls to date and the overwhelming negativity apparent on any internet forum(The likes of which I have honestly never seen a Microsoft Xbox product receive) would seem to suggest a more grim future for Kinect.
We’ll see of course, but once the “fanboy rush” is passed, I honestly have no idea how they’re going to suddenly make people interested.
Also, as an aside, banking on the latest HDD free Xbox to somehow HELP Kinect? Clearly Microsoft weren’t taking notes when no one cared about the last couple of models they tried thatmove with.
spek
Yes xbox with kinect will sell well just like Wii did but these poor soles dont realise that they will have to pay extra for gold membership a new hard drive after a few months because 4GB is not enough! And then there is a 33% chance that they will have to buy another xbox.
Quinlank
“Kinect and the technology behind it is truly amazing and it definitely can be used to push any experience including the combat in a game like Fable.”
Which is why you decided to NOT implement Kinect support in Fable 3 after your boss telling us all about how big a “barrier to gaming” controllers are. Also, even the most basic of logic can be utilised to see that in an action RPG like Fable, Kinect is simply too limited in it’s possibilities for control implementation to make that statement seem anything approaching believable.
These people can keep harping on about Kinect potential all they like, but once you get sick of the dancing, exercising and Nintendogs/Eyepet wahtever the hell it is, it seems you’re basically left with a 130 quid way to look like an idiot by talking to your video game console.