Microsoft Kinect: Revolution, or an Activator for 2010?
Posted by Sunil Sharma at Fri, Aug 27 2010 09:44:44 CDT 2571 views
Microsoft set out to change the way we play games; will the Redmond based giant succeed?
With retailers reporting record breaking preorders for Microsoft's upcoming motion sensor, the question arises whether early adopters, the hardcore gamers, will have much to rejoice over its casual gaming experience.
A quick call to any games retailer will reveal that demand is set to outstrip supply. Imagine the XBOX 360 launch all over again; queues of people who didn't preorder flaming it out of spite, those who did making a small fortune on eBay.
I recall standing outside a flagship store during Christmas 2006; Nintendo's Wii had surprisingly rocketed to success with no units available until the New Year. Regardless, this did little to stop the hype machine as they set up a display window for shoppers to give it a go. Amidst the general buzz that "Wii is fresh" stood a few hardcore gamers that felt it was a gimmick.
If only Nintendo listened to these veterans could we have been spared countless Wii Sports clones that have triggered a monthly decline in hardware sales since the 2nd quarter of 2009.
Present day: As Nintendo work on adding another dimension to gaming, Sony and Microsoft eye the prize - total control of the casual gaming market!
With Kinect tours running up until Christmas; I managed to attend one at the Alton Towers Resort in Staffordshire UK to have a go with the device.
Going in with an open mind: I appreciated there could be technical issues from the beta kits being used.
The buzz inside the Kinect gallery was electric. As the Microsoft reps welcomed attendees with a brief welcome note, the first chap to demonstrate its power was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog - a sort of ambassador for the theme park.
As our spiky friend entered the stage, he waved his hand at sensor bar and the Xbox 360 immediately recognized him and signed into his profile - albeit a custom avatar designed for Alton Towers.
The presentation ensued as they appealed to car enthusiasts by showcasing a rolling demo of Forza Motorsport, talking through the benefits of head tracking and steering without a controller. Those who watched the E3 press event such as yours truly got a case of déjà vu.
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1 comments so far (post your own)The differences between those systems in the past and now is our thirst for technology and the fact that video games are for adults and apart of mainstream media.
Technology didn't grow by leaps and bounds back then...games for consoles were made longer and a lot of companies continued to support older consoles even though they had newer consoles on the market. But now technology is ever changing. You buy a cell phone that just came out and in under a month a new one takes it place as the new kid on the block.
In terms of video games maturing and becoming mainstream, the answer to that is easy. The same kids who played Nintendo and Sega 8-bit systems and the same ones that played Street Fighter 2 in arcades are all grown up now. The people that remember those systems are least in their mid 20s and if they were pre-teens or teens during the arcade explosion in the '80s they are well into their 30s, 40s, and maybe even 50s.
Because those were the hardcore gamers back then, when playstations and dreamcasts, and N64s came out they got them for their kids, and passed it on to the next generation.
Posted by Julian Delphiki on Sat, Aug 28 2010 06:16:15 CDT | #1