Kinect 2 isn't looking great so far. After three years and an install base of 30ish million for Kinect 1, all we have is Dance Central (I'm not even sure I'd add Child of Eden there but still raises the question).
Less than 2 months out. Microsoft better be able to smoothly and easily justify to customers why they should pony up an extra $100 for their system.
http://kotaku.com/why-im-a-little-bi...ect-1381738496
After this laborious effort (which I’m assured will be streamlined before launch) Kinect Sports Rivals goes through the process of translating the information into a virtual representation of me. As it does its calculations I ask myself, ‘if this is difficult with a Microsoft representative guiding me step by step, how difficult will it be for a ten year old in the comfort of his or her own home, or parents who’ve never used a console before?
Then my avatar pops up. It looks vaguely like me. Vaguely. That’s being generous. The 3DS did a similar job of creating my Mii with a single low-resolution photograph. Was it really worth all that effort?
Yesterday I spent a fair amount of time with the Xbox One’s new Kinect, and it seemed like a significant chunk of that time was spent trying to get things to work when (two months from the launch of Xbox One) they should simply work.
I find myself asking another question: three years after the release of Kinect, how many video games have really worked well with Kinect? I come up with two names. Two. Dance Central and Child of Eden. In three years. Is it possible that Kinect just isn’t suited for video games?
But that was the 10%. During the remaining 90%, Kinect felt like it was a hindrance, forcing users to swim against the giant leaps Microsoft made with Xbox One’s user friendly UI, which looks fantastic. Sure, I can turn Kinect off — that’s my choice. But I still have to pay for it. I don’t have a choice there.
So, yes. I think there are issues there — not with the Xbox One, with Kinect specifically. Forza Motorsport looks incredible, Ryse seems to have made strides in the combat department and I walked away genuinely blown away by the scale and ambition of Dead Rising 3.
But Kinect? I’m a little bit worried about Kinect.