What is Kinect?

Kinect is a sensor gadget for Xbox 360.

1) The RGB camera takes pictures and sends via USB to the computer.
2) The Depth sensors are used to measure the 3rd dimension that is the Depth of the object from the camera.
2) The Microphones are used to take the Audio input to the computer via USB.
4) The Motor and Tilt mechanism is used in the case some object in front of the camera is to be tracked in its motion.

It seems like buying just the sensor new and alone is just a European thing, but you can get the 250GB console with the sensor for $399.99 or the 4GB for $299.99 on gamestop.com. Well, that’s if you want them new, you can always get the sensor only at gamestop.com from $99.99 and up.

The Kinect sensor doesn’t take a lot of space and you don’t need to hide it as you just can place the sensor on the top or in front of your TV. The design is somewhat smooth and neutral and probably won’t have any problem of sliding unnoticed into your living room. The installation of the sensor is pretty easy, especially if you have the Xbox 360 Slim. Don’t worry if you have an older console as everything you need to make it work normally follows.

It’s really cool that the sensor can detect you as soon as you are in front of it, even if you’re sitting down. Another cool feature is the face recognition software that allows you to connect your face to your gamertag. If you have done that step, you will be logged in as soon as you step in front of the sensor, but only if you’re playing a Kinect game. This feature also makes it easier if you want to play together with a friend, as he/she just have to step in front with you and his/her gamertag will be signed in (if there have been set up a face recognition) without using any controls.

The sensor starts up simultaneously as you power up your Xbox 360. To get started with the Kinect hub, just wave your hand and you will have full control over your Xbox without any hand held controller, just you. In some areas, voice recognition and voice control is also activated.

So playing a Kinect game will be free of any hand held controls, only you as the major control. This is a neat feature, but it also means that you have to make a clear space as you’re supposed to swing your arms, move to the sides/back and forward and so on. The only negative experience I’ve come across is that the sensor registers your moves a little slow, which means that your moves in some games might be a 0.5 sec slower than you.

When the Kinect released I thought that this is an interesting development in the gaming franchise, and it is. My thoughts about the games they launched with the Kinect were that, this is more for the kids and average gamer rather than for the hardcore player. At least that was the impression I had. But now you see more and more upcoming games that also will suit the hardcore gamer as well, and more games are compatible with the sensor, such as Forza Motorsport 4.

What I didn’t realize was how much your body got beaten by just playing a game such as Adventures, and that is only at the basic. Now, I’m not going to say that I’m in the best shape, because I’m not. In fact, I’m a little overweight and my body probably wouldn’t miss those pounds if they got lost J. So I got the Kinect here the other day and got to feel it on my body the first day with Adventures, after just 10 minutes my sweat started to pore and I got to feel how bad shape I’m in at the moment.

I started to investigate how many calories I burn in an hour, and the result actually blew me away. You burn about 400 to 600 calories in an hour playing Adventures on just the basic alone, and that’s a great workout especially since you’re having fun and just play a game instead of just training.

So if you’re one of those who don’t like to go to the gym and see all that skinny folks training and make you feel bad, this is the thing for you. I have to say though, not every game gives your body a workout like that, even though that it seems like that is the main game field since the Kinect released.

I have to say, I also like the features of how you interact with your console without any hand held controller, even if it takes a little longer to navigate. I think it’s a cool and interesting path Microsoft have started walking on.

I do like to believe this is just the start of a new gaming era.

Pros:

A cool and fun new way to play video games.

Great for the entire family.

Great workout experience.

Small and neat design.

Cons:

It registers your movements a little slow.

Just as everyone know, Kinect are set to be released Nov.10th this year and with some games.

For those of you who still don’t know what Kinect are should know that this is a new gadget for the Xbox 360.

This gadget introduce a new way to play with your 360 as you have to use your body to steer the whole thing, completely without another gadget that you need to hold in your hands. Kinect have motion sensors, sound sensors with voice recognition and camera with face recognition, this features is the reason that you can interact with your console without any other gadgets. (At least for the programs that are programmed for this gadget like Zune).

Unfortunately this will most likely be more of an family gadget than anything else, at least with the kind of games they release with Kinect in the first round. I know that Microsoft and Lucasart are working on a new Star Wars game based on this new motion system, but we have to see how this works and see if the other game makers are willing to adjust their future games to this specific for the 360. We can only hope for this or else I think this might flop, due to the majority that plays 360 are hardcore FPS gamers and they need something adapted to that. Microsoft has promised that it will be released some new hardcore games to Kinect within 18 months, I really hope so and that they can make them good enough for the hardcore player.

Anyway, the games that will be released with the Kinect are as followed:

When you are playing online war games you have probably come up head to head with your enemy and he killed you unbelievable fast and you’re thinking “No …. Way, that dude is cheating”. Well you’re kind of right, he might use a modded controller that gives him more rapid fire bursts. Now you’re probably thinking “How is this possible? How can you modd the controller?”, well there are several ways to do this but I’m not going too far into it as for now. There are some online stores that sell that kind of modds plus others. I only trust one though as I know they delivers the true stuff and don’t just rip you off, and that store is Evil Controllers with shipping world wide.  At this store you can buy already modded controllers or you can modd your own from scratch and improve your gaming 3 times better. Some of the modds you can have is faster reload with 1-2 seconds, rapid fire that gives you more rapid fire power +++