Got a Kinect...interesting

[Janx]

I just setup the Kinect on my Xbox last night. An early x-mas present for the wife (I object to buying technology with a limited warranty to let it waste a month in a box under a tree before its actually opened and tested).

I had to move the couch back 3-4 more feet to make room. Luckily my living room can support that, but that's definitely a nusiance.

It came with Kinect Adventures, which to me is really a bunch of productized test/demo games. Its OK.

I also got Your Shape and The Biggest Loser. My wife wanted the Kinect for the execrise training games, so thats what we got.

I tried Your Shape last night. The gym games were short, and relatively simple. I expect the workouts to be more intense.

I was surprised to see the Kinect wasn't directly integrated with the xbox dashboard, except for a hand-wave gesture or single "Xbox Kinect" voice command to bring you to the Kinect Hub (a Kinect-centric dashboard).

I find it a little awkward to pause a game, or exit a game. Something that to me I'd like the dashboard and xbox menu fully so I can go without controllers.

I think there's a market for a Kinect Rug, so the players know where the game zone is on the floor...

Just a quick review...

 

[frankthedm]

I think there's a market for a Kinect Rug, so the players know where the game zone is on the floor

Go for it. You see the opportunity, snag it.

 

[DumbPaladin]

I agree! Just make sure it's comfy underfoot, or gives good traction.

 

[frankthedm]

Traction in the home is far better than traction in the hospital.

 

[Janx]

lol.


I don't have the resources to track down a rug maker to custom print them and sell them. Basically its not an idea I'm in a position to pursue. But I do see an opportunity for such a product.

the traction point is actually a good one, doing the exercises needs to be non-slip play area

My original thought was mainly to help the player know where the game boundary was.


I also see a need for a light rack. The lighting in my living room is stupid, i don't have any overhead light, and the only celing light is at the front door.

The result is, I'm back lit (much for the same reason the Kinect warns about sunlight). I need a light rack behind the kinect (which is against a wall, basically), so it can shed a softer yet helpful light on the players.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

The million-dollar-idea factory, giving them out for free.

 

[jonesy]

Microsoft has been warning about clutter on the floor. Would a wrong kind of rug interfere with it?

 

[Janx]

this blog entry by Scott Adams sumarises my opinion on the worth of ideas:
Scott Adams Blog: Monetizing Business Ideas 11/01/2010

As for the actual rug, I'm not sure if a pattern on the rug would intefere with the camera, otherwise I could see it having a grid and center circle to closely match what some of the games display (or at least show the center, and my half of the floor from yours)

Otherwise its simplest value is showing where th boundary is, and presumably reducing any slipping/wear on your real floor.

Also, I've guesstimated the floor space needed to being 8' by 8'.

The actual play area is 5' deep, and 8' wide, but it starts about 3' from the camera. That might vary depending on camera height. I've got mine about 4' high, on top of the TV.

I haven't tried the video chat. I'm actually curious about that, as it would possibly cheaply enable 2 site video conferencing for 2 groups of gamers. Granted the $40 chat cam they sell for the x-box could solve that...but I think one of MS's goals is to provide a device that delivers multiple functions, including chat, that is in high demand. Selling 2.1 million units is a good step to making video phones ubiquitous.


The first generation of games seem a bit weak. I find most of the menu control to be sloppy. You have to hover your hand to select a button, and some buttons don't reveal their tool-tip until you hover. I had a lot of false selects in Biggest Loser.

Your Shape and Biggest Loser are the top rated Kinect exercise gamees. Don't waster your time with the others in that category. I did find Your Shape's menu to be less sloppy, though it still had room for improvement. Work-out wise, they both read the body well.

Kinect Adventures Rally ball is the most fun.

I tried the Joy Ride demo, and found myself wishing I had a steering wheel and a gas pedal. I never could get a weapon to fire.

It took 3 game runs of the demo for the Sonic game before I figured out how to steer. Some of these games really need to do a training run with detail instructions.

Kinect Sports reviewed well, and looks like it might be a good party game. No demo for it, so I haven't tried it.

Dance Central reviews as the top dance game, so if your into those kind of games, look no further.

it doesn't sound like any other Kinect games are presently worth your time (the boxing game had a high rate of returns at the Game Stop I visited recently).

We'll have to see what subsequent games bring to the table.

One odd trivia, while playing Biggest Loser, when my dog would walk through my play space, she would show up in the game. Kinda wierd that it would do that, but I think the Kinect is modelling any object it detects in the presumably empy play space. So the dog gets filled in, instead of ignored as a non-human. It might be because BL in later stages lets you use an exercise ball, so the game tries to display any shape it sees.

 

[Morrus]

I think there's a market for a Kinect Rug, so the players know where the game zone is on the floor...

How would it differ from the millions of non-Kinect rugs already available?

 

[Janx]

How would it differ from the millions of non-Kinect rugs already available?

An excellent question.

The simplest answer would be that the package would say "designed for Kinect" and would probably having markings on it to help orient the player (like having the center marked, divided into a grid, and overlaid with a circle (for the games that the playing area is in a circle)

Otherwise, a normal 5'x8' rug would be sufficient.

Also, from my observation, the viable play-space seems to vary from game to game, contrary to my initial guesstimate of first time use. I've been yelled at by the Kinect for leaving the space, which I though was in-bounds (but then, that's why I had the rug idea in the first place).

it would also be nice to have some sort of lighting from behind the kinect, such that it lights the player/play area. My living room, though large, is poorly lit, so playing at night may be confusing the camera (and requiring me to turn on more light than I'd like).

Given that the Kinect sits on the TV, and the TV is against the wall, there's not a good place to put a lamp... One thing to avoid is direct light source being in view of the camera (hence wanting it behind the kinect).