Microsoft: Kinect Competitor Would Be "Super-Challenging" To Develop

[Tom Goldman]

Microsoft: Kinect Competitor Would Be "Super-Challenging" To Develop

The technology behind Kinect is not something that Microsoft thinks anyone will easily develop a successful competitor to.

Despite the explosion in the world of motion gaming, Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sensor-Adventures-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1283880483&sr=8-1] Creative Director Kudo Tsunoda thinks Microsoft has an ace in the hole. Tsunoda recently called Kinect something that was "really hard" to develop, and said the power of Microsoft was one of the reasons it was able to come together.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Tsunoda said: "I think what we've done with [Kinect's] software is something that's really hard to pull off. We have a good advantage at Microsoft because we have groups like our Microsoft Research department that not a lot of other companies have, and we're able to solve some super-complicated technical problems in a short period of time."

Tsunoda doesn't believe that it'll be possible for any other company to replicate Kinect without Microsoft's know-how. He thinks it'll be "super-challenging for anybody else to solve those problems."

Even if someone does come up with a Kinect competitor, it might be too late. "People have been trying for a long time and we're the first company that's been able to deliver this," he says. "If people are able to figure it out ... by the time they've figured it out we're going to be off into adding more new things to the platform. But I just think that's such a hard technology challenge that it will be hard for anyone to deliver on what Kinect is." Does this mean Lenovo's Ebox [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103092-Lenovos-Ebox-Enters-the-Console-War] has no chance to compete?

One of the "things" Tsunoda hopes to add in future Kinect games is the digitization of real-world objects first shown off in Kinect's original demo-reel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99709-David-Cage-Microsoft-Falsely-Represented-Natals-Capabilities]. Kinect might seem a little fluffy right now, but its software should continue to evolve to stave off competitors, according to Tsunoda.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-07-kinects-kudo-tsunoda-interview?page=2]

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[Outlaw Torn]

How many super-companies would super-even want to super-make another super-kinect? Super-plus I don't super-think super-it's all super-that diffi-super-cult to have super-an overprice-super-d webcamera and super-wii sports.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

I laughed at the fact that he used "super-challenging". How about we take a lesson in vocabulary and improve our choice of words a little bit next time?

Seriously though, I feel the same way about the Move for the PS3 as I do about the Kinect on the Xbox. There have yet to be any redeeming qualities to either. If I want to get up and move around and jump around, I'll just go outside. That, or I'll play the Wii which has already done enough motion control mumbo jumbo to suffice.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Microsoft thinks nobody else can make a product as good as Microsoft's? OMG -_-

 

[demoman_chaos]

They are just blowing smoke out their ass, and they are forgetting about the PS2's EyeToy which does the exact same thing, but could track 4 people with 1 device (also could track peopel in long skirts and people who have clothes that blend in with the background, 2 things Kinect sturggles with).

Kinect will only be bought by die-hard 360 fanboys because everyone else already has a Wii. At least Move has some potential for regular games. You can't play anything mainstream with Kinect (Halo, Forza (yes there is a tech demo of Kinect with Forza but the person was only steering, not doing any of the otehr important racing thigns like accelerating, braking, shifting, using the handbrake, etc.), Gears, Fable, Mass Effect, etc.).

 

[Midniqht]

Everyone just has to wait and see. I think the Kinect and Move both have their potentials that won't be fully realized for a year or so. As for the Ebox in China, that's kinda in it's own realm, as it's not being made for other markets.

 

[Firoth]

Are they super-cereal?

 

[thedeathscythe]

So...Nobody from Microsoft existed in the times of the Eyetoy? It's been done, and I don't remember Sony saying it was "super-challenging DUR" when they made it.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

I laughed at the fact that he used "super-challenging". How about we take a lesson in vocabulary and improve our choice of words a little bit next time?

C'mon dude, he's like, totally serious here.

anc[is]Microsoft thinks nobody else can make a product as good as Microsoft's? OMG -_-

Hard to imagine coming from the company that boasted the Zune.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I have an answer for people who keep saying, "if I wanna run around, i'll go outside instead of doing it in a room for my games".

Can you beat people up without going to jail?

Can you cast spells with the flick of a wand?

Granted some games I would rather do IRL, like golfing.

Games are made for escapism people. I would've thought people on a site called, "The Escapist" would understand that.

 

[8bitmaster]

apparenly no one told microsoft that its been done before. I wonder who is losing a bet at microsoft when they find out about the eyetoy from, what is it now? 5? 10 years ago?

 

[Icehearted]

Oh, Oh the arrogance. Just like their craptastic Xbox Live service, I fully believe that if a competitor were allowed to do so, MS would definitely be getting a run for it's money. In this case Logitech instantly come to mind. They can get away with saying this only because if anyone else does build a cheaper Kinect doodad that's as good or better MS would just firmware it out like they did those memory packs.

Are they super-cereal?

LOL

I swear the first thing I thought when I read that line was they should have ended it with ",I'm super-cereal!"

Now I just can't take what they say very cereal.

 

[The Lunatic]

Yes. Let's ignore that elephant in the room.

Because, Kinect totally isn't a reponse to the Wii or anything, is it?

 

[demoman_chaos]

(yes there is a tech demo of Kinect with Forza but the person was only steering, not doing any of the otehr important racing thigns like accelerating, braking, shifting, using the handbrake, etc.

That was a tech demo of Forza 4, dude...

Tis what I said, it is a tech demo with Forza (I didn't know which Forza exactly). The guy is holding his arms out (which would get uncomfortable quickly) and turning them like turning a wheel to turn his car. That bit worked, but I am wondering how you could do anything besides just turning. How would you accelerate, brake, shift, use the handbrake, look behind you (if you turn your head, you can't see the TV), change camera angle, etc. with just Kinect? You can't.
How can you play Call of Duty or Halo with just Kinect? You can't.
What about Fable, can you play Fable with just Kinect? Nope, that won't work either.

So the point I am getting at is that no games outside the casual market could work with just Kinect. The PS2 Eyetoy didn't do well because very few games could work with just the Eyetoy. Kinect is basically another Eyetoy.
Kinect could be used to augment the controller, but not as the controller itself. In a shooter, you could a controller and Kinect. Kinect could track your head movements, turn slightly to look a bit to the left and right for a quick scan of the area without moving your crosshairs away from your target (though GT5 will have the same sort of thing, only it uses the PS3 Eye to allow you to look around your car's interior).

 

[Richard Allen]

Yes. Let's ignore that elephant in the room.

Because, Kinect totally isn't a reponse to the Wii or anything, is it?

I'm picking cingal's post here but this goes for a few others. The kinect while being a toy right now is clearly microsoft's step in the motion controlled computers and technology in general. Yes right now it's being used for dumb games that many of us don't want to play but they are building it as a platform for computers in general. I can guarantee that you will see this in the next version of windows, the windows phone 7 (albeit this option might have to wait a bit for more powerful phones), and other MS products. If you have read the technical details of this platform you should see that it's not the same thing as the eye toy and has the ability recognize complicated gestures and actions that could be useful for most, and absolutely revolutionary for those with disabilities. Does this mean that MS can't royally fuck it up, no they proven a good track record with that already but MS does have some amazing products as much as people like to bash them and this could be the next evolution to multi-touch and getting rid of peripherals. The xbox is microsoft's safety net to test this out on a massive audience before they release it into their real money the pc while having the potential to make some money off of casual gamers. If they make a damn cool game like the jedi demo that's just a plus for me.

 

[Tales of Golden Sun]

Of course that would be super-challenging. Developing something that already EXISTS is pretty damn hard. Lawsuits, patents, etc.

Did they forget that they're competing with the Wii and Move? Don't think Kinect is in a different realm altogether, Microsoft. It's still only motion control.