Kinect Hacked to Work With PS3

[John Funk]

Kinect Hacked to Work With PS3

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In a terrifying technological version of Frankenstein, Microsoft's Kinect peripheral for Xbox 360 has been hacked to function with Sony's PS3.

How wretched are we, the technologists of the world? O, we did but rejoice in our newfound might to very wills [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108597-Kinect-Helps-Surgeons-Save-Valuable-Time], but in our hubris we delved too deep and twisted too far. Now, we have created naught but abomination! We have undone ourselves by the power of that which we once beheld as a tool!

All melodrama aside, there's something kind of unsettling about watching the Xbox 360's Kinect operate on Sony's PS3. I use the term "operate" very loosely, of course - this is still pre-alpha software, which one might kindly describe as "somewhat functional." Nevertheless, if creator Shantanugoel [http://twitter.com/shantanugoel] is telling the truth - and he doesn't have a friend with a Dual Shock 3 sitting to the side off-camera - it is, in fact, Kinect working on PS3.

Microsoft has been fairly tolerant of the growing Kinect hacking community, even claiming that it is working on an official Software Development Kit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106992-Rumor-Microsoft-Working-on-Official-Kinect-Drivers-and-SDK] to make it easier for the burgeoning mod community to do its stuff.

One can only surmise that the House of Gates would be somewhat less pleased to see its technology working on the hardware of its biggest rival, but what can Microsoft really do about it?

(Via G4TV [www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/711160/kinect-modded-to-work-with-the-ps3-it-really-does-do-everything/])

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[mireko]

Mind = Blown.

 

[Smeagol150]

This is going to spawn a Balrog, they have hacked too greedily and too deep.

 

[RanD00M]

How long do you think it will take Microsoft to sue him? All kidding aside that is a rather amazing feat.

 

[Shycte]

It would suck to see MicroSoft striking down on the mod community because of this. Not that I really think that it's a real risk, I can imagine small time mods like this getting big enough to affect MicroSoft.

But who knows, maybe I'm stupid.

 

[bladester1]

Microsoft really cannot do anything about it, but I would not doubt that if this gets up and running Sony will come in and ban/block it.

 

[Aeshi]

Eh, MS can keep their stupid Gimmickinect as far as I'm concerned.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

How long do you think it will take Microsoft to sue him? All kidding aside that is a rather amazing feat.

I was thinking the exact same thing except with Sony.

 

[RanD00M]

How long do you think it will take Microsoft to sue him? All kidding aside that is a rather amazing feat.

I was thinking the exact same thing except with Sony.

I think Sony would be more likely to hire him to make some kind of software for them that would give them the possibility of making the Kinect 2.0, just with a different name to avoid lawsuits.

 

[Snork Maiden]

How long do you think it will take Microsoft to sue him? All kidding aside that is a rather amazing feat.

I was thinking the exact same thing except with Sony.

Given Sony's recent horrible record it'll be interesting to see if they bother trying to close this down. I'm not sure they will, but you never know.

I don't know if Microsoft actually has anything to lose here.

How long do you think it will take Microsoft to sue him? All kidding aside that is a rather amazing feat.

I was thinking the exact same thing except with Sony.

I think Sony would be more likely to hire him to make some kind of software for them that would give them the possibility of making the Kinect 2.0, just with a different name to avoid lawsuits.

Except that developing software to work with stuff in ways that wasn't originally intended =/= being super good at making really novel hardware. Plus I seriously doubt that not having the staff is what's holding Sony back there - if they wanted to make a "Sony Kinect" they probably could, but it'd be effectively admitting the Move was a failure.

 

[Jonluw]

[HEADING=3]What hath science wrought!?[/HEADING]
In all seriousness, I think it's kind of funky. You may choose to describe it with words that make it seem like an act of horrifying mutilation, but you could also describe it with words that would make it seem like a gracious dance; a sacred bond between two opposites. Electronic parts sliding in and out of one another in a coalition of love for technology. Mechanical fluid spilling out from the crevices in the sleek devices...
*nosebleed*

 

[Shirokurou]

I don't see a demand for this.
I own a PS3 and a Kinect is the last thing on my mind (you too Move).

 

[pulse2]

This is quite humourous, though Microsoft won't make a move on it unless it gets out of hand, most likely Sony is more likely to pounce if it starts getting distributed. Microsoft would be hypocrites if they turned around and told people they can't do it. If anything, if I was a staff member at microsoft, I'd find it all rather funny, people would rather use kinect on your console then move on ours, in a way, thats like silently insulting Sony's move.

 

[Jesus Phish]

Why would MS sue him or try put a stop to this? They'd still be shipping Kinect units if people wanted to use them on their PS3, which they'd probably be doing for Homebrew stuff.

Sony are more likely to have a problem with it incase it gets off the ground with homebrew and people stop buying their move and buy their rivals gear instead.

 

[nitetrain8]

I can't see microsoft getting upset about this. This is the best thing that could happen for microsoft in their rivalry against sony, if you can call it that. The kinect is a superior technology for just about everything, whereas the sony thing is just a cheap rip off of the nintendo wii. If microsoft kinect can be used for ps3 games, it greatly reduces the incentive for sony customers to actually buy the dual shock (or whatever the sony motion control is), while incentivizing customers to buy the kinect, microsoft's product, to play a ps3 they already had.

 

[Denamic]

It's not actually 'working with the PS3'.
It's emulating a generic USB controller.
Probably works on a PC as well.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

"I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man...I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?"

There is something just inherently wrong with this. I can't quite put my finger on it, it just feels off. I can't really see any use for it other than the standard "nah, nah Microsoft we bogarted your tech".

 

[Muco5681]

i give this a week then sony sues this poor guy as well

 

[mjc0961]

One can only surmise that the House of Gates would be somewhat less pleased to see its technology working on the hardware of its biggest rival, but what can Microsoft really do about it?

I don't think it's Microsoft that the guy has to worry about. It's Sony, and how hard they are going to sue him for whatever custom firmware or whatever he did to get the PS3 to support Kinect.

Pretty cool stuff he did, though. But I'll stick with my move for Killzone 3.

 

[jawakiller]

Who wasted all their time to hack it?! Haha, only barely half kidding. I still don't get why anybody likes Kinect. I guess I will forever be in the dark.