Microsoft Kinect November 2010

Microsoft Kinect - unveiled, named and playable after a year of speculation - is Microsoft’s answer to Nintendo’s Wii, and made its debut just before this year’s E3 games show held in Los Angeles in June, where we were able to give it a first look review.

Microsoft Kinect first look video

 

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Kinect’s unique selling point is that it turns your body into a video game controller, recognizing up to 48 key parts of the human skeleton, and tracking how they move in real time. Whereas the Wii only knows where the Wii remote and Nunchuck accessory are in the 3D space in front of your TV, Kinect knows exactly what the whole body is doing. What is more, it can track the movements of up to four players.

Microsoft Kinect 3D camera

The Kinect itself is a slim bar containing two infra-red 3D depth sensors and a more conventional digital camera, which rests on a motorized stand that allows the unit to pan and tilt as necessary to keep the players in the picture.

Kinect includes a sophisticated microphone designed to recognize human voices and filter out the ambient noise in the room. It plugs into a USB socket on the Xbox 360, though a separate power supply is needed on existing consoles. The newer ‘slim’ consoles, however, have been designed to remove the need for this additional power supply.

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Microsoft wants Kinect to be the centre of everything you do on the games machine, and you can use speech and a mixture of pointing and sweeping gestures to choose games, play films and move around the console’s interface. However, the real point is the games.

Kinect Xbox 360 games

The majority of the Kinect games we’ve played are simple mini-games of the type Wii owners will be familiar with. In Kinect Adventures, two players piloted a raft racing down a wild river by leaning and stepping left and right, then leaping into the air to make it jump. At regular intervals the Kinect took pictures of the players, and displayed them at the end of the level. These seemed to be of a very low resolution, akin to the camera of a basic mobile phone.

In another, Joy Ride, we controlled a car in races and stunt challenges by holding an imaginary steering wheel and rotating it left and right, leaning into corners for extra turning power. The control was surprising responsive, even if it did feel slightly ‘floaty’ without the weight of a controller. The addition of a second player to the game is well implemented, with Kinect recognising them as soon as they stand next to the first player.

We had the chance to sample Kinect Skiing and bowling games, and playing them feels impressively natural. There’s no need to think about the controller: simply pretend you’re skiing, or that you’re throwing an imaginary bowling ball. You don’t need to fiddle with buttons to change the ball’s direction, either. Aim and roll and the ball will go exactly where you expect, depending on your bowling skill. You can even add spin if you want.

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Kinect gives the Wii competition on other fronts. A new Ubisoft game Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, gives you a range of Tai-Chi and Yoga exercises and keep fit challenges, and you can watch a silouette of your own body running through the program as you work-out. If you’re not doing every move properly, the game drops you points or even pushes you to try harder – something Wii fit cheats might find a struggle.

Dance Central for Kinect

And while the Wii has its share of dance games, Dance Central, from the makers of Rock Band, is the first to truly watch your every move and grade you according to how well you pull it off. Considering the Wii’s ‘Just Dance’ game was a number-one seller, it’s clear there is a market for this kind of game, and of all the announced titles, this could be the biggest winner for Kinect.

One issue with the game is the number of players who can dance simultaneously. So far, only the one-player mode has been shown, without suggestion of a multiplayer mode. If this is the case, it might make the game less appealing to those looking for the party experience offered by similar games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

As a Wii rival, Kinect looks good. There’s a minimal amount of calibration required when you start a new game, and – in most respects – the system works incredibly well.

The one problem is that there’s a slight but noticeable lag between you moving and the action happening on the screen, which becomes an issue in games where fast reactions are key. This isn’t a problem for Kinect’s launch line-up of family-friendly titles, but it’s unlikely to please the Xbox 360’s audience of hardcore gamers.

Microsoft Kinect UK pricing

Microsoft has announced that the Kinect will retail for £129.99 in the UK, and will be bundled with the ‘Kinect Adventures’ game. There will also be a hardware bundle available, which includes a 4GB Xbox 360 and the Kinect, for £250. Games for the system will cost £39.99, and the Kinect will be available from November.