Kinect priced at $150, includes Kinect Adventures

@Bowcaster
I think you have it backward. People are not upset at the number (150), they are saying $150 is too much for what you get. Doesn't matter if MS makes or loses money, that's their problem not ours. We as consumers get to decide if we want to buy something. MS is not a charity, we should not hand over money for something we think is not WORTH it. You think it's worth it, then go buy it. But you asking people to "support" it is ridiculous.

Kinect is obviously not for "Hard Core" gamers like myself. I'm a classic gamer. I like guns, blood, guts, explosions and epic stories. Kinect gamers are about flowers and happy times where no one gets hurt and no one loses. I bet Kinect Adventures has a pretty epic story.

My point is: Buy Kinect if it's for you; don't if it's not.

@xreadmore: Kinect is obviously not for hardcore gamers yet, but it could be in the future. If you looked at a time line you could see the games do get better according to their release dates. At launch you have bad games(Adventures, Joy Ride, Sports, etc), but later you get Adrenalin Misfits which is a step in the right direction even though it is still softcore-y, but then come the good games, Child of Eden, fable 3, and Forza 4(or whatever they are going to call it).

I'd say its worth it to give it a try. Really as I said above it is not that expensive. $300 for XBox, Natal, and up to (hopefully) 4 players. While the Wii with 2 WiiMotes and 2 nunchucks would be $ 270 (not including a second motion plus) and not as fun. In fact it is cheeper than when the wii first came out($250 + $50 second wiimote + however much a second nunchuck cost back then). I would say for that price it is definitely worth it, because like I said the good games will come.

@Bowcaster

The cool thing about move for me is I already have the camera and plenty of dual shock 3's (functions as nav) so I only need to spend $50 on the wand and then buy the games. Natal doesn't have any ala carte configurability. It's all or nothing for $150. No options for more than two players.

@Bowcaster
Maybe it's cheaper then a Wii (or Move) maybe it isn't, but that's not the point. If I'm not in the market for a Wii or a Move or a Kinect, then why the hell would I buy one over the other. The point is that I don't want it. Do not want. It's nothing I need. And while voice control in movies is neat-o, one hundred and fifty dollars is not an appealing price to pay to get voice commands in movies.

My level of "Wow I need to get that!" has not reached the 150 mark yet.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell:

I understand that, but the problem with the Move is right in the name of what most people call it. The Play Station WiiMote. It's just a rerun. this has already been done before. Sure it maybe a little fancier, but it is basically just an upgrade, Natal is new, never done before, completely different.

@xreadmore:

From that viewpoint I completely understand, oldschool gamers are not interested and will never be, and that is completely fine with me. What I get irritated by are people who say the Move/Wii is better, or that the price is too high.

@Bowcaster
Kinect something new? never done before? hahaha is call eye toy!
if you call move an upgrade to wii than kinect is an upgrade to eye toy!

@Mustang Fanboy:

are you really that stupid. Of course I have heard of eye toy. What is it, 7 years old? It is a camera. Is Natal a camera? Look it up on Wikipedia or something because you have no idea what you are talking about.

@Mustang Fanboy:

Don't know what happened to my last comment, it seemed to have disappeared so I will repeat it.

Go to Wikipedia. You will be enlighted (or your stupid).

eye toy = camera

Kinect = a lot more. Just look it up on Wikipedia, I am getting tired of repeating all of its features to people like you.

@Mustang Fanboy:

sorry, seems like my first comment is back now...

@Bowcaster
Dude is the truth kinect is an upgrade to the eye toy. And are you butt hurt because is $150?
From what I have seen from videos is just like the eye toy with more things. And no don't look at milo that's fake.

@Bowcaster

" Kinect is obviously not for hardcore gamers yet, but it could be in the future."


Where was this kind of thinking when Wii was announced??

Hypocrites...

@Mustang Fanboy: What do you mean, "with more things"? Its in a completely different league. Have you looked at the Wikipedia article? The EyeToy is just a webcam, people get confused by the camera on Kinect, that is not what it uses in the games, that is just for facial recognition(like with EyeToy). The real part of Kinect is the Infrared scanner. That is how it is able to map out the entire body in 3D and display it 1:1 on screen. Also the multi-directional array microphones allow it to recognize, locate the speaker, and isolate him from the environment. This means that I my speakers pumping, be in party chat and no one would hear a thing but me speaking. Can EyeToy do that? Plus Kinect is simply cooler. I would rather have a regular controller, or no controller, rather than wraggling with the new WiiMote. Seamless interaction, that what Move doesn't have.

@Co

I don't understand, are you calling me a hypocrite? I am not saying that the Wii is for carebears. I own a Wii, and it is fun in its own way, as it has games you can't get anywhere else (Mario, Zelda). What I am saying is that Kinect is like the Wii. Sadly they are both marketed towards a younger crowd, but they can both be fun for the hardcore crowd(at least Kinect will be once it has good games. Did the Wii have good games at launch? no.).

@xreadmore

Take your own advice. If you don't like it don't buy it and stop sitting on an internet blog complaining about it "not being worth the price".

@Bowcaster ok just to knock you down a few notches..

http://kotaku.com/5565777/xbox-kinect-does-not-play-well-with-couch-potatoes

http://kotaku.com/5587823/kinect-kind-of-compatible-with-push+ups

"...The top half of my stick figure self had lowered itself to the floor. But my legs and its legs did not match. My legs were behind me, extended for a push-up. The stick figure's legs dangled below the stick figure's torso, as if fallen through a hole in the floor."

"I don't know what to make of the leg-dangling thing and wonder if that is a hint to the Kinect's limitations. Can the Kinect not read body parts that recede into depth, away from where they started in the standing position? Or can it just not understand a full body whose joints are not stacked more or less in the vertical order of a standing person."

Do you understand the limitations of Kinect ? Its actually absolutely useless outside of its intended scope at least with the eyetoy / PS3 Eye you have no skeletal modelling limitations..

Its patently obvious the Kinect will not work anywhere near as good as it should when it cant see you properly.. There has been all sorts such as girls wearing long skirts not being detected properly.. Any blocking of a body part and the system loses track.. I am so glad Kotaku have actually run these little tests on the system.. Its a very flawed product, you can believe all the hype you want but you stand sidewards where it cant see both legs the system will not work right you dont give it enough space it will not work right etc etc..

Also FYI the hands free gaming controller-less gaming idea has already been done by Sony.. While true this adds z axis mapping (poorly) it doesnt do much more that what the PS eye already does and what the eyetoy did before.. The ps eye has always had a multi array microphone and a much faster rgb camera than kinect will have.. Considering Sony are Audio / Visual Kings I would only have to guess the mic array on the ps eye will be much better than the mic array coming for the kinect.. The rgb camera is already better on the ps eye - it runs at 60hz at 640x480 and 120hz at 320x240 which is twice/four times as responsive as the rgb cam on the kinect..

All of this skeletal tracking nonsense / gimmick the kinect does on top seems pretty flawed and pretty rubbish to be honest, for what it adds compared to the eyetoy which is not much it introduces a whole host of new problems and limitations and it still doesn't have buttons which puts the final nail in its coffin.. I am sure people like you will be all excited about it and buy all of the marketing nonsense and I bet after a few games on kinect adventures it will be sitting in a corner gathering dust when you realise just how lame the system actually is..

Ultimately have fun with it enjoy it, but expect it to be as useful as the already defunct xbox 360 hd-dvd player ...