Trash-Talking Sony Engineer Blasts Kinect Lightsaber Game

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Trash-Talking Sony Engineer Blasts Kinect Lightsaber Game

There's no way Kinect can do lightsabers, says one of the chief architects behind the PlayStation Move, unless Microsoft starts busting out sticks.

Move [http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Move-Starter-Bundle-3/dp/B002I0J4NE/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1290716989&sr=1-1] engineer Anton Mikhailov thinks that the Force is most definitely not with Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sensor-Adventures-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1290716965&sr=1-1]. Based on an E3 trailer showing a tiny snippet of a motion controlled Star Wars game on the 360, he's convinced there's nothing that Kinect could do with a lightsaber that Move couldn't do better.

Mikhailov said that Kinect wouldn't be able to track a player's hands and wrists accurately enough to make a lightsaber game really work. The best way around this, he said, was to give the sensor an actual object to track, like a stick. He didn't think that Microsoft would actually do that though, as it rather put a damper on its claims that you didn't need anything else to play a Kinect game other than your own limbs. He didn't know if Sony had a Star Wars game lined up for Move, but that if it did, it would be "damn better than Kinect could ever do."

If there's anyone - bar Microsoft employees - who have a really good idea of what Kinect is and isn't capable of, it's Mikhailov. One of things that he helped investigate for Sony before it settled on its glowing ball on a stick was a 3D camera similar to the tech that Kinect uses.

He's likely correct that Move would be the best fit for a lightsaber combat game, but it doesn't automatically follow that the Kinect game will be bad. He's bound to be a little biased towards Move, he helped invent it after all, but even so, for him to dismiss the game based on so little information is ridiculous. I think Master Yoda summed up Mikhailov's screed best when he said, "Much anger there is in him. Too much pride in his powers."

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-11-25-kinect-cant-do-a-good-lightsaber-game]



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mjc0961

YOU'RE a pie chart.
Nov 30, 2009
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Well it's a Star Wars game, so it's most likely a Lucas Arts game, which means it's most likely going to suck no matter what controller it uses.

Hell if I was Microsoft I'd probably try to stop them from making it, because they're bound to make Kinect look bad.
 

Celtic_Kerr

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May 21, 2010
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For your quote of Master Yoda, I salute you!

He sounds a little TOO cocky, but we'll have to see how it works...
 

JourneyThroughHell

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Sep 21, 2009
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There's a guy named Anton Mikhailov working for Sony? Cool.

Anyways - eh, I'm not for console wars, but, yeah, he's right. Not that having something substituting for a lightsaber in your hand is particularly necessary, but, it's welcome. Also, have you seen that game's trailer, Logan? He can judge it however he wants now, in my opinion.
 

Ren3004

In an unsuspicious cabin
Jul 22, 2009
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The fact that a Star Wars game failed to interest me speaks volumes about its quality.

And I personally think that holding something in your hand is half the fun of pretending to hold a lightsaber.
[sub]Come on, I'm waiting for the jokes...[/sub]
 

manythings

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Nov 7, 2009
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Well I would think any lightsabre game would be a problem. How would you actively fight with no beam-to-beam resistance?


mjc0961 said:
Well it's a Star Wars game, so it's most likely a Lucas Arts game, which means it's most likely going to suck no matter what controller it uses.

Hell if I was Microsoft I'd probably try to stop them from making it, because they're bound to make Kinect look bad.
Kiinect looks good?
 

HK_01

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Jun 1, 2009
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Why is it news-worthy when someone from one company bashes the other? It happens so often and it's not in the least objective.

He's probably right though.
 

The Wykydtron

"Emotions are very important!"
Sep 23, 2010
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Ah George Lucas will you ever stop milking the Star Wars franchise?

On topic: it makes sense that the Move controller would track better than Kinect due to the presence of a controller.

Off topic (again) I FUCKING HATE MOTION CONTROLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

comadorcrack

The Master of Speilingz
Mar 19, 2009
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I've always said it. In technical terms yes Move is a more accurately technology, but in terms on retardedness both micosoft on sony are equal
 

StriderShinryu

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Dec 8, 2009
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Move might be better at the lightsaber part, but I would guess that Kinect could be better at the force powers part. Though, as others have said, the chance of the game actually being good no matter what system it's on is fairly minimal.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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Both the Wii motion plus and the Move will both be better for a lightsaber since you have something to physically HOLD.

The best Kinect will be able to do is force you to hold your arms like you are HOLDING something. While it could track the persons body while you attempt to jump like a Jedi (and break your hip), you will still have trouble trying to hold a lightsaber without a lightsaber.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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Sep 6, 2009
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Ok, so the Move has lightsaber games. The Kinect has... every other game? Its hard to tell, big firm PR speakers tend to have trouble speaking around their own feet.

A lightsaber peripheral would be fun, I envision many broken vases in my future. I will need to buy some vases first.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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Well judging by the trailer, which made the game look like an on-rails lightsaber game. I don't know how they'tr going to incorparate moving from one side of the screen to the other without interference. Especially with force powers being in the mix. The game itself doesn't even look all that good to begin with.

Plus the guy is an engineer, so he knows what he's talking about. He's not some PR guy.
 

cairocat

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Oct 9, 2009
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Makes total sense, you don't need a computer engineer to tell you why Move would work better for it (Hell, and I'm an Xbox fanboy)
 

Dexiro

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Dec 23, 2009
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How well Kinect can do lightsabers is questionable, but Move could definitely do it better. I mean it already looks like a stubby lightsaber as it is :p