Rare, one of the premier game developers in a generation past has now been relegated to making Avatar fluff and motion-controlled sport games, but at least in the future, those sport games will be better – because the Kinect that comes with the Xbox One is 10 times more powerful than the current one that’s busy gathering dust atop your TV.
According to Rare’s Nick Burton, New Technology Development Lead, Xbox One’s Kinect sensor has ten times the power of its predecessor. Rare would know, as they made Kinect Sports and its sequel, and is currently busy with Kinect Sports Rivals – which ditches the silly avatars – for the Xbox One.
According to Rare and Microsoft, the new Kinect “can register a fingertip from three meters away, a feat that was impossible last generation, and its wider field of tracking means it can register more players and at closer distances.”
Apparently, how hard you rev your imaginary jet-ski’s handlebars will determine how fast the thing goes, and could actually deliver on the promises made when Kinect was revealed in 2009. that said, I just can;t get excited about motion control, no matter how accurate it is. Without any feedback, haptic or otherwise, no matter how closely you’re simulating an action, it’ll never feel right.
There has still not been a single instance, not a single core game that isn’t dance (Dance Central 4 is really, really good!) or exercise related where Kinect has made a videogame fundamentally any better for me versus traditional controls. I really hope that this new iteration changes that; that somehow, it’s precision can make it “click” and we get meaningful motion-controlled experiences – but I’m not holding my breath.
Last Updated: July 24, 2013
Trevor Davies
July 24, 2013 at 14:35
What happens during a long gaming session if you’re playing a game with full motion control. Waving your arms around for 15 minutes will make you tired. No wonder they’re talking about making games shorter.
I read somewhere else a while back that the Oculus Rift is also not great for extended gaming sessions, because testers started getting headaches after an hour.
Admiral Chief Groot Wors
July 24, 2013 at 14:35
Really? Interesting
Ultimo_Cleric N7
July 24, 2013 at 14:38
Are you really suprised. Eyes are really sensitive organs, using the Oculus for that amount of time MUST be a bit unhealthy
Trevor Davies
July 24, 2013 at 14:50
Not really. After all, it took me years of pixel hunting to condition my eyes into the finely tuned gaming machines that can go for longer than the energiser bunny that they are today. 😀
LordCaptainAwesomeness
July 24, 2013 at 14:42
Headaches after an Hour… Now combine that with a Pint or 2 while playing…. and you are in for one hell of a ride..
LordCaptainAwesomeness
July 24, 2013 at 14:42
Headaches after an Hour… Now combine that with a Pint or 2 while playing…. and you are in for one hell of a ride..
RinceWind
July 24, 2013 at 14:45
Agreed. It’s bad enough playing alongside OVG when in Dead Space 3 and drinking loads of beer, imagine that with Kinetic? #disaster #murder #manslaughter
Admiral Chief Groot Wors
July 24, 2013 at 14:35
Scary indeed.
Kyratic
July 24, 2013 at 14:52
All the better to Spy you with.
TiMsTeR1033
July 24, 2013 at 14:43
I for one look forward to the new wave of kinect games, see what they can do with this new technology which is 10 x more powerful. but sadly I prob wont get to experience it as I will have a ps4. but if something really good happens with the xbone then maybe i shall give kinect 2 a chance.
I mean face it there is one cool thing yet to be properly done with kinect. A fighting game that literally you can do whatever your hearts desires are and it does that in the game! make you a better fighter at the same time too 🙂
RinceWind
July 24, 2013 at 14:43
With you on this Geoff. I cannot muster even an iota of excitement for this thing. Really, I’d rather have a controller in my hands anyday.
RinceWind
July 24, 2013 at 14:43
With you on this Geoff. I cannot muster even an iota of excitement for this thing. Really, I’d rather have a controller in my hands anyday.
FoxOneZA - X-Therminator
July 24, 2013 at 14:47
It’s the “Wii” generation that likes this kinda things. You know, those people that no nothing about games.
RinceWind
July 24, 2013 at 14:49
BURN!
Martin du preez
July 24, 2013 at 14:50
I’m not holding my breath either.
I heard they busted MILO selling Heroin for Peter Moleneux behind Taco Bell the other day.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
July 24, 2013 at 14:53
Of course, 10 x 0 is still ZERO!!
Melasco
July 24, 2013 at 14:54
I don’t care if they make it 1000 times more powerfull…. I still don’t want it..
Spathi
July 24, 2013 at 14:55
Success!
Gustav Minnie
July 24, 2013 at 15:01
Eish… PS fan boys just love a XBox thread.
Any news on the PS4 Eye? Mmmm… yeah… zip.
TiMsTeR1033
July 24, 2013 at 15:03
I wish we heard more, coz apparently noone gives a crap about kinect here…. except I like the idea of using it for fighting games but alass noone listens to me
LordCaptainAwesomeness
July 24, 2013 at 15:21
It is not about being a fanboy or not…
Fact is, they are forcing you into a Kinect when you purchase the XBONE…. Telling us how nice it is supposed to be blah blah does not detract from the fact, that you WILL get a Kinect and you WILL like it….
On the other hand, If you want a PS EYE, then you buy one. If not, then you don’t…
TiMsTeR1033
July 24, 2013 at 15:35
But if the kinect doesnt spy on people and they make games that use it well all of use will think twice before insulting the whole kinect thing. Sure I dont like the idea of it spying on us, but if its offline and adds to games could be great for future titles. Ps eye also looked great with the play room but not a word is spoken about games for it.
Gustav Minnie
July 24, 2013 at 16:23
The thing is now that MS included the Kinect with the XBOne their audience will be wider spread which means more critics. No longer the “fun” audience but hardcore gamers will add their opinion. There will be huge pressure on MS to deliver this time around. Time will tell.
Regarding the PS Eye, you do know that Sony pulled it at the 11th hour to make their price more appealing to us. Now do you think Sony will not try and shove that thing down your throat when the time is right? Get ready for those “Games will be better with and extra Eye etc etc” campaigns. That is if their don’t fck it up like they did with the Move. Also if the Kinect 2.0 is a hit then we could see some “fireworks”.
The standard controller has a new ally/enemy.
OVG
July 24, 2013 at 15:10
I play to immerse myself out of the real world. Like the majority of gamers.
The only way to fully immerse is to do as little as possible when it comes to physical input from the real world.
A simple button push is all we need until we use brain impulse in the future.
Sure I understand why people get even more immersed in FORZA with full on car seats and feed back steering wheels. It is a physical sport.
But I just do not see the sport games like Dance and stroking animals or whatever being a consistent investment.
Like 3D and the Wii, the casuals get bored fast.
OVG
July 24, 2013 at 15:12
In other words, FUCK OFF KINECT
TiMsTeR1033
July 24, 2013 at 15:20
forza rocks with decent steering wheel, but cmon you telling me if you had an xbox one and it had no issues from past ect and a fighting game came out like really decent where it made you feel like you could do anything, and you could play against friends online. you wouldnt then wanna play that?
OVG
July 24, 2013 at 15:25
I would jump up and down like a striking South African.
TiMsTeR1033
July 24, 2013 at 15:33
and play it or protest?
OVG
July 24, 2013 at 15:36
play it until I can upload a YOUTUBE video of me accidentally smashing a kid in the face, or falling over and breaking my leg along with the coffee table, or breaking the flat screen after bricking the ONE because the Kinect 2 fell on its ass from the top of the TV…
I feel tired thinking about it now.
BacchusZA
July 24, 2013 at 21:18
This doesn’t really excite me in the context of my – very limited – console gaming. For my PC though, coupled with an Occulus Rift? Oh my merry soul……
A lot of what I do is flight simming, the stuff like the DCS series which have clickable cockpits & so on, where you can flip all the switches, turn all the dials & so on. Being able to reach out & “touch” the controls in the sim, even without something like haptic feedback, is going to be a *huge* game-changer for that kind of thing, especially if you’re using an OR & can’t see your keyboard to input key commands.