Major Kinect Patch Eventually Allowed Players to Sit

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Major Kinect Patch Eventually Allowed Players to Sit



Microsoft's Kinect used to have issues with sitting players, but a studio has specifically revealed why that's no longer the case.

One of the big questions surrounding Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287260694&sr=8-1] that was sparked by developer criticism was whether players could sit down or not while using it. Considering that the act of sitting is a common mix with videogames, it mattered not only to gamers but to the device's future. Sneak King studio Blitz Games has confirmed that yes, you can sit as you play Kinect, but only as of a few months ago.

Blitz explained to Eurogamer that Kinect's skeletal modeling system would at one time get confused when players would take a load off. However, an update "a few months ago" made significant changes to Kinect's software that apparently fixed the problem.

In the update, Kinect's human "base node" was moved from the bottom of the spine to the back of the neck, which Blitz Games co-founder Andrew Oliver says enabled Kinect's confusion of people's lower halves with sofas to not matter as they could still waggle around their arms. Oliver reveals: "A few months ago [Microsoft] changed stuff around. A lot of developers were like, 'Oh my God! Everything's broken,' because all the nodes were moved."

"But then it was like, 'Oh, actually, this is more logical,'" he adds. Until the update, developers like Blitz were stuck re-writing Kinect's software themselves because it didn't allow players to sit or lay down. Oliver continues: "We were talking to [Microsoft] last February saying, 'Are you ever going to fix the libraries so it will work on the floor?' And they went, 'Oh come on, that's lying on the floor. That's so rare. We've got other issues we're dealing with."

Blitz says games in the future "won't have a problem" with sitting or lying down, say for a sit-up or push-up game, but there may not be too many titles that include the ability to read anything but standing players at launch. The more I hear about Kinect, the more exhausted I get. I really do want to see Kinect improve the way we play somehow, but the combination of a controller and a bean-bag chair will be hard to beat.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-15-kinects-sitting-down-woes-finally-over]

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Vie

New member
Nov 18, 2009
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They didn't think people would sit down to play a game...

..my that inspires confidence in there competence.
 

Catalyst6

Dapper Fellow
Apr 21, 2010
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"moved from the bottom of the spine to the back of the neck"

What, are we "jacking in" to the Kinect now?
 

Upbeat Zombie

New member
Jun 29, 2010
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Really I won't be interested until they show games that are more than just sport or motion gimmicks.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
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Catalyst6 said:
"moved from the bottom of the spine to the back of the neck"

What, are we "jacking in" to the Kinect now?
Remember, if you get shot and killed there you die in real life!

OT: Wow, sitting and gaming have always complemented each other. I think it is kind of funny that this was a fairly last minute change.
 

khaimera

Perfect Strangers
Jun 23, 2009
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Its official, I'm done feeling excited for Kinect. Between the awful looking launch titles and this piece of news confirming that Kinect is rushed and will be subpar like all early microsoft products. Oh well, I really wanted to like it. I'll probably wait a year, and then buy it.
 

theblackmonk90

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Sep 28, 2010
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Kinect is a gimmick. I firmly believe Yatzhee was right on this one. Most gamers want to play games sprawled on the couch with malteasers crammed in their mouths.
 

Keava

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Mar 1, 2010
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HG131 said:
You know what I think they need to do? Come out with an actual workout game that counts your pushups/situps/everything else and stuff. It would be a good use of the tech.
Why need tech for that? Just join the army and listen to endless yelling of your sergeant "One! One! One! One!" as you try to make a proper pushup and there is always something wrong with it.

Also im waiting for someone good with basic animatornics to construct a special 'pad' that controls a mannequin you could just put in front of kinect and do all the stuff with it while sitting on a coach.
 

spartan1077

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Aug 24, 2010
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ianrocks6495 said:
Very misleading title.
I couldn't agree more.

OT:I don't really care either way what microsoft thinks anyways. I'm not getting the kinect since I don't really have room for it.
 

Dioxide20

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Aug 11, 2009
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That's good, but I don't know if it will change anyone's mind on whether or not to get Kinect.

On the other hand, I like it when they give these explanations, I find them interesting.
 

skitskat

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Apr 14, 2009
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all i can say is that god no ones making motion control for meh pc :p i dont have consoles anymore, because they're gay :D

(dont tell blizzard i said that, they're probably going to crack down on people telling other people that they dont like stuff soon!)
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
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theblackmonk90 said:
Kinect is a gimmick. I firmly believe Yatzhee was right on this one. Most gamers want to play games sprawled on the couch with malteasers crammed in their mouths.
You just described my entire weakened, except for the malteasers.
 

Woodsey

New member
Aug 9, 2009
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Well, my interest in it has just raised by...

Nothing at all.

MUST TRY HARDER.
 

ImprovizoR

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Dec 6, 2009
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It's not an issue anymore because they don't know how to sell something as useless as Kinect. But if you're gonna sit anyway, why the fuck do you need Kinect? I predict a massive fail. I want it to fail. Why? Because I'm a heartless bastard and I don't like Microsoft.
 

Danzaivar

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Jul 13, 2004
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Stuff like this is really off putting. Will be nice when this damn thing is actually out so we can see how it's going to work for ourselves.GAAAHHH
 

BrunDeign

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Feb 14, 2008
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Even if you can sit, almost all of the stuff I've seen so far requires you to stand. The fighting game requires you to use your feet in a way that would be hard to do while sitting, Kinect Adventures has the raft game where you have to physically jump and Dance Central requires you to... well... dance.