By Jim Rossignol on January 17th, 2011 at 1:37 pm.
Almost confirming what we already thought we knew, cleverly-named Windows rumours site WinRumours states that: “Microsoft is set to unveil driver support and an SDK in the coming months and will allow third-party developers to create titles that utilize the Kinect sensor when plugged into a PC. According to sources familiar with the plans, Microsoft will distribute the drivers under the “beta” tag.” This follows Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer responding to questions about Kinect on PC by saying: “We’ll support that in a formal way in the right time.” Did he mean at the right time? Probably.
Anyway, we can totally expect a wave of PC dancing games and robot-controlling apps! An exciting future, I think you’ll agree.
Do not want.
regards
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While its use for serious gaming is, as you say, “Do not want”, I’ve been loving the crazy things people are doing with it so far and think it could end up being a great extra tool for all sorts of things. Head-tracking for fancy head motions and leaning and stuff have previously either been prohibitively expensive or required you to look like an utter tool, for example. And I think we all want to *try* minority report style window management, even if it’d really hurt.
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I don’t really feel like doing the minority report thingy in front of my 23 inch monitor.
Maybe if some game can use it like a headtracker, for exemple like a trackIR in arma 3 then why not, but right now I remain with my “do not want” tag.
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I’ve played on one and after 40 minutes was happy to lay it rest – when exactly did the world decide that consoles needed to get to you fit? The fact remains that working out is fucking boring – nothing can change that.
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Also, if you’re spending money on Kinect, or whatever the motion controller du jour is and burning away hours and hours leppin’ about on a piece of plastic in a bid to get all the achievements on Tony Hawk’s Street Hoody (or whatever), then just cut out the middle man and go outside with a real skateboard and do it for real FFS!
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The trick to working out is to distract yourself from the monotony and general unpleasantness. A nice audiobook is usually enough for me, but I could see how putting a game into it might help.
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@Harlander
Ha! That’s my trick! I discovered that since I listen to audiobooks anyway – poor sight and all. And one day I figured it might be a fun way to keep my mind occupied whilst having my body do things.
It actually really works. Still does. At least if it’s a good book.
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Frankly I can see the use of motion sensing based technologies on the PC becoming a far better option than touch screen methods. Even the most simple of options as being able to drag icons across the screen using hand motions, or zooming in on pictures, or being able to open up applications by hand, strikes me as a neat idea and a possible future scenario for PC usage.
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I can’t dance at my desk! The kinect won’t work when my face is 2 inches from the screen! This is preposterous!
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Do want.
In my experience with MS peripherals, they make solid stuff with solid drivers. I’m very excited what the PC indie crowd (as in, thinking outside the sports/pets genre) can do with this.
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With the added bandwidth on the PC, I forsee many awesome things to come of this if microsoft let it be open enough!
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Scary header picture. There’s something of Young Frankenstein’s Peter Boyle about the man. Not a good look.
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I was thinking an older Odo from Star Trek.
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I’m already dancing! It’s certainly the time and place. (The picture is a work of solid gold.)
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Here’s some uncomfortable footage of Ballmer on ‘Click’ talking Kinect and how Windows 7 is great for tablets and demonstrating that it plainly isn’t. Austin Tasseltine reports, reports reports:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9362134.stm
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Excellent, squinting at a typically 24″ or less monitor screen from at least six feet away will be amazing fun…
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You guys do seem to ignore this is a motion capture device for 150$. In fact, people are having much more fun with this in the PC rather than the 360. In another fact, I’m considering on buying one with my friend right now, so we can do some motion capture and import it into a 3D program. And yes, they’re developing software for that main purpose!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6GXmAGIzmE
That is all.
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From the header image I thought this post was going to be about a new Dejobaan game called “Dance! (in a formal way in the right time)”
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Now we must demand such a game.
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Actually i thought that they just came up with a new game for 1 2 3 drop that beat like an ugly baby, which would have been sad considering all the awesome contained in said title. But I agree, it is definitely dejobaanistic.
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Head tracking for sim games without having to wear a silly hat. That’s what I want!
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There ya go, my thoughts exactly.
Won’t be saying goodbye to my TIR just yet, but in time it might make a valid alternative.
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Check out FaceTrackNoIR. It uses FaceAPI for face/head tracking, so all you need is a regular webcam.
http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net
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Indeed, all the naysayers are rather disappointingly short sighted.
Is Kinect going to be a great way to play Quake? No.
But could it be a great way to play some games? Possibly. The mouse and keyboard are not the ultimate input device, completely unsurpassable. Just try playing a driving game for a start, or observe the bizarre controls of golf games.
In a previous thread, Tei commented how Kinect lacks the precision needed for most current RTSes. This is true, but perhaps misses the point – real commanders don’t fret about getting their troops into a precise position – they just want them to take that position, or that objective – we can design games to work with different control systems. We can find new ways of interacting, new methods of control – and some of them will be better. The modern FPS in a lot of ways introduced the M+K setup and at the same time, would probably never have existed without it.
Equally, Ravenger points out other things that can be done, to enhance your current controls, rather than replace them. Head-tracking, reacting back to you, having a “panic wave”, steering wheels or joystick replacements for driving and flying games.
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Are they going to make a special short sighted kinect for the pc? So I dont have to be 6 feet away from my screen?
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I love how the futuristic human interface predictions in Spielberg´s Minority Report are already obsolete, as is Tom Cruise.
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I’m an indie developer and I’m getting Kinect for the solely purpose of programming a motion capture software and animation editor. Seems weird but Kinect can be an amazing tool for developers (maybe even more than for gamers) as you can do a pretty good and low budget “mocap homebrew studio” with it.
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