278: Make Room for Kinect

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zypakoi

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Nov 2, 2010
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"[Note: The author and The Escpaist do not endorse the bulldozing of homes.]"

hah, or so they'd have you think (jk).
ok, i've got like 5 gaming systems, several with attachments and wireless this and that.. and i bet my "house" is smaller than your bedrooms, it's not so difficult, but nonetheless a well-written article =)
 

ishist

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Jul 6, 2010
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My opinion of Urbanite New Yorkers is second only to the French.

Solution:

Step 1 - Bequeath your shitty little matchbox apartment to the rats
Step 2 - Move to a completely different state
Step 3 - Spend slightly less money than you were for your slumbox for a 5 bedroom palatial estate
Step 4 - (a very important step) Avoid telling your new neighbors how great New York was.
Step 5 - Slowly begin to realize that you were previously living in the Worst city on Earth.
 

Glic2003

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Dec 24, 2008
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I'm surprised that no one thought of using this whole "motion sensing" gimmick to resurrect the good old days of public arcades. Wouldn't it make more sense to do this kind of thing in a specially designed, carefully controlled environment?

Oh yes, I know you don't want to waggle your body and humiliate yourself in a public venue. But last I checked, dance clubs were still popular. :)
 

rsvp42

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Jan 15, 2010
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I just have a little single apartment, but the way my furniture is set up won't really allow for enough space. I've got a full bed, a futon, the TV, then my computer desk, plus some space for my bike. There really isn't anywhere to move any of it temporarily.

I like motion controls and I own a Wii, but I'm not yet convinced that Kinect will add much to the mix. Essentially, motion controls are just full or partial body replacements for button functions, with the possibility of more accuracy with certain things like aiming or the direction of a sword swipe, etc. Kinect may provide some extra motion recognition, but the games that are possible with it don't seem vastly different. That being said, I kind of hope it succeeds. I'd love it if a new generation of consoles simply incorporated motion just like analog sticks or vibration, just another option for developers when making games. Selling it as a peripheral to the main system singles it out and begs for criticism. It becomes a separate experience, asking us to adopt it when it should just be there without all the fanfare.
 

yanipheonu

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Jan 27, 2010
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I'm not moving my living room around for Kinect.

I don't know why Microsoft thought such a restricition was ok.
 

Mr Waffle

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Mar 18, 2010
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tselski said:
Hmmm if it's that bad for a New Yorker imagine how bad it must be in Japan...
Japanese people already live with modular furniture. Apartment rooms are often multi-purpose, with tables that fold up and go into a closet, to be replaced with a folding futon. They have a lot of empty space in them because Japanese rooms come built-in with closets for the furniture. And given that the standard size for a Japanese room will work with Kinect, they're BETTER suited, considering all the whining about having to move a coffee table some people are making...

tselski said:
The space limitations of the kinect are making it only available to a niche market, yet they are trying to sell it to casual gamers...
What niche market? People with houses? The people who own houses usually have families. Families are full of casual gamers. Hence, Kinect is perfect for the average casual gamer. I'd be willing to bet there are far more 'core' gamers (eg single males in their 20s) living in shoebox apartments than there are families with lots of disposable income and kids who want the newest toy (aka half of the Wii's playerbase).

A quick googling shows that almost 70% of the USA lives in houses. Hardly a "niche".
 

tce11

Turtle Who Lives in the Clouds
Apr 17, 2008
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Mr Waffle said:
tselski said:
Hmmm if it's that bad for a New Yorker imagine how bad it must be in Japan...
Japanese people already live with modular furniture. Apartment rooms are often multi-purpose, with tables that fold up and go into a closet, to be replaced with a folding futon. They have a lot of empty space in them because Japanese rooms come built-in with closets for the furniture. And given that the standard size for a Japanese room will work with Kinect, they're BETTER suited, considering all the whining about having to move a coffee table some people are making...

tselski said:
The space limitations of the kinect are making it only available to a niche market, yet they are trying to sell it to casual gamers...
What niche market? People with houses? The people who own houses usually have families. Families are full of casual gamers. Hence, Kinect is perfect for the average casual gamer. I'd be willing to bet there are far more 'core' gamers (eg single males in their 20s) living in shoebox apartments than there are families with lots of disposable income and kids who want the newest toy (aka half of the Wii's playerbase).

A quick googling shows that almost 70% of the USA lives in houses. Hardly a "niche".
Well maybe niche wasn't quite the proper word, but they're definitely limiting their market. I know for me to get Kinect to work I'd have to have my T.V. in my closet and put my computer desk on my bed. In my current living situation even if I wanted a kinect I'd be unable to buy one and use it properly, and there are plenty of people in similar situations, so to me it seems like they're losing sales, and not because of lack of interest but because of the way they designed it.
 

Sparcrypt

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Oct 17, 2007
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Amazes me that people will live in places like that. I'm lived in cramped placed and I just won't do it anymore. I live in the small Aussie state of Tasmania and I love it. I own a three bedroom house which I have to myself, I'm a 5 minute drive from the CBD and I don't really find any major city has anything I care about.. and if I do? These days you can fly to Melbourne for under a $100 return! Most of the time though, if I can't buy it local I just buy it online and it shows up a few days later.

Granted our internet speeds could do with some work, bring on the NBN (which I'll have in the next 12-18 months). But after living in Sydney and Perth during my life I can absolutely say that big cities with cramped real estate are just not worth it.
 

vxicepickxv

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Sep 28, 2008
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With two roommates that supposedly pay rent, and a pet that does less than nothing useful, I'd have to invest into a lot more than just the add on to be able to play it. In order to get the 6 to 8 feet needed, I'd have to get a TV set that's large enough for me to be able to see it at 8 feet away.

I also don't know if I'll be moving out of state next year, and where I may have to be moving, or what the living conditions are for where I'll be living, or anything like that. It just seems to me to be too much of a hassle to try to change my life this much for something that might or might not be any good at all.
 

JUMBO PALACE

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Jun 17, 2009
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Honestly, having to do that much work to play a damn game is ridiculous. I guess I'll be passing on Kinect until at least the summer when I'm out of my dorm room.
 

SinisterGehe

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May 19, 2009
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Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
Well, I'm not gonna even enter the damn aisle in BestBuy where they're being sold, but I did have a nice laugh at this. Apparently, the family room in my house is bigger than some people's apartment. >.>
The apartment my family lives in got bigger sauna than my room, I can go sit the middle of my room with my office chair and reach all the important things... And my bed and Table cover about 2/5th of my rooms space.

back on topic, Not going to get it, for I don't even have XBOX, adn don't have money to buy one, and Kinect games will be horrible anyway, I bet at least... (5euros bet anyone?)
 

dex-dex

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Oct 20, 2009
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yeah no

when i play video games i want to be sitting on my ass. with a bag doritos next to me with some juice.

Also i don't own a 360
 

Electrogecko

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Apr 15, 2010
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I don't plan on getting Kinect, but as someone with little money that's looking to buy an apartment in the next few years, I still found this article useful. I honestly couldn't care less about the size of my living space as long as I have enough room to sleep, game, store necessities, and cook without burning the place down.
 

omega247

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Apr 12, 2010
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This seems like far too much hassle for what it's worth. I'm too busy to become an interior designer just to fit in the Kinect.

I won't be buying
 

Brotherofwill

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Jan 25, 2009
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Gralian said:
No, i didn't misread the message Extra Credits was trying to say. I don't think you understood their point. The point was that whether we're yay or nay for the motion control craze, it's too late now. Time and money has been poured into the project and if it sinks, it will hit the industry bad. That's not good when the industry itself is weak, just look at how second hand games sales, piracy and a myriad of other problems such as controversy (see the November bill) are and will be causing a lot of problems for the industry. If these projects fail to take off, Sony might just go back to making televisions and Microsoft might just stick to computers. Not to the point where video games no longer exist, but it will definitely impact the industry as a whole. What Extra Credits said was that we shouldn't actively fight back against kinect. No, we don't have to like it, but we should welcome the audience that kinect is marketed to, because it's that supposed untapped audience that will keep the industry afloat and develop. The whole idea of the debate on kinect, and arguably this article, is to say "well i understand kinect isn't for me, but i'm not going to grab a torch and pitchfork and kick up a stink about it. I'm going to acknowledge it's a part of my culture now, whether it's for me or not, and not try to boycott / start a revolution / be a hero whenever it's mentioned". Because every time you go "MOTION CONTROL LOLWUT" it scares off a casual or someone else who might have been interested in the product. No-one wants to be part of a community that are full of foul-mouthed offensive 'hardcore, yo' trolls. Video games are meant to bring people together, after all. The idea of being more welcoming and open to kinect isn't about kinect itself. It's about being welcoming and open to the people that it brings with it. The new community.
I disagree. Actually I strongly disagree.

I get what Extra Credits and you mean, but I think it's a bunch of shit. So what if millions of dollars were spent and they fail? Then the industry will suffer a setback, but it will be better for it. If anything I want the videogame industry to finally crash and burn so that all this bloated AAA samey game bullshit stops. You know, like where actual well proportioned games are made and not just 10+ hour games that try to capture a winning formula. I'd rather have multiple 5m $ projects made than 10 50m $ projects a year. That isn't even really a problem that has to do with Kinect, but even so I think a 'crash' of the industry could benefit it.

As for welcoming the new motion technologies: No.
You're a consumer. You like certain things in the industry which you promote through your wallet. If I don't want motion controls in the industry that I like I won't touch them and I'll also tell everyone I can what I think of it. You can shape the industry you want to be a part of, if you don't want motion controls, then rebel against them. If you calmly welcome all changes, then you might aswell abandon all hope of finding what you like in an industry.

As for welcoming the new people:
I'll welcome them with a loaded shotgun and a growling *get off my lawn*. Tell me one 'community' that isn't foul mouthed and concerned about newcomers?

Anyway, I don't particularly care about motion controls and used them here more as an example of how you could force change and shape something that you're invested in into what you want. I don't care if more families start waggling, actually any effort to introduce video games to kids without using M rated games is good. What I won't swallow however is that whole "sit tight, don't complain' attitude for 'the benefit' of what you like. If you like somehting, get involved and shape it to what you want it to be.
 

VondeVon

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Dec 30, 2009
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Cousin_IT said:
So instead of making kinect fit around my life, I have to fit my life around Kinect? That's immersion right there.
That's Microsoft right there. :p

Sometimes I'm frightened by how much power that company has over my life... :S
 

beema

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Aug 19, 2009
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solution: don't buy a kinect, you f'ing toolbag

most apartments don't have enough space to even use a Wii properly, let alone this abomination. FFS, you can't even have a coffee table anymore since you have to stand up and flail around like a moron.