GameLight - Short Rant on Microsoft Kinect

News about the Kinect has been going on for the past few days and many people are having problems with input lag, inaccurate controls, and body recognition.  Microsoft is doing their best to spread the news about the Kinect, but I have to wonder how well it will hold up without the support of salable software.  At the moment, the only game I'm really interested in trying out (besides Dance Central) is Sonic Free Riders:



Source: Youtube Channel TheRiderssonic123

I have to admit, I'll probably look silly playing it with my arms flailing about.  The thing that interests me is that Microsoft is trying something new with the technology and may prove to be innovative in future games.  The first one to create an innovation may not particularly get it right the first time.  I have seen countless products from Sharper Image where I thought it was creative and interesting, but much too expensive.  Another company comes along and creates the same product with a much lower price and possibly being more durable.  Nintendo tried motion sensing games a long time ago with the NES, but it did not sell.  They did it once more just recently and became the best selling console in the market.  So perhaps, somewhere along the path of Kinect, a really good game or new, better peripheral might come out of it.

On the Kinect from Gamasutra

The Kinect is new and so developers may struggle with optimization and ideas on how it should be used.  Similar to how "Red Steel" had quirky controls on the Wii when it first released and then Nintendo proved the controls can be versatile and intuitive for First-Person Perspective games with the release of Metroid Prime 3 Corruption.  I respect the endeavors the team that worked on the Kinect tried to deliver since it was something new.  No offense to Sony, but trying to follow up the Nintendo Wii years later with a device that has awkward ergonomic design and faulty motion sensing isn't exactly the best way to bring in more sales (yes, I tried out the Sony Move).  I have yet to try out the Kinect and am intrigued by it at the moment.  Kinect is expected to sell well this winter with Christmas coming up and Black Friday before it.  We'll see how things go down this holiday season.