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Kinect's Launch Lineup Misses An Opportunity

I was trying like hell to play Kinect at E3, but with my already busy schedule at the convention I just couldn't see it. That's a real shame. While I'm not going to try and pretend I know what Kinect feels like to play, one thing I'm disappointed about regarding the system is the lineup of games that Microsoft showcased for the peripheral.

When the then-Project Natal was introduced at last year's E3, Microsoft talked about how already released games could be retro-fitted with the technology. Burnout Paradise was one of the games demoed at the time showing off this feature, and everyone who played it raved about it.

Since then, Microsoft has said that because of the technology required for Kinect, that it was no longer possible to retro-fit games with the tech. What happened? One minute Burnout Paradise is up and running with Natal and the next it's not possible? Maybe there was a technical reason for that which I wouldn't understand since I'm not a developer, but whatever the situation it's too bad.

I have no doubt that there will be good games that come out for Kinect. But the lack of backwards compatibility at launch is a missed opportunity to come out of the gate with a strong software lineup. Frankly, I'm not seeing that with the games that were touted at E3. Think of how much built-in momentum the peripheral could get if backwards compatibility was still possible.

If this were the case, even if you didn't see something you liked in the launch lineup you could at least point to a couple of titles you already own that would at least give you a taste of the experience – even if you had to bide your time before something really juicy came along. That's what Sony is doing by retro-fitting Move into games like Heavy Rain, Tiger Woods 11, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, and Toy Story 3.

I know some gamers who aren't convinced by Kinect and its games so far, but it didn't have to be this way.

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Comments
  • I agree, that is a huge hit that Microsoft will be taking. It would help Kinect a lot if in fact it came backwards compatible.

  • That does seem like a problem.  Backwards compatibility could have been a key selling point.

  • I'm even less enthusiastic for Kinect then I was before.

  • I am totally indifferent towards Kinect. Based off what I've seen, there is nothing to be excited about. I think it's another Microsoft product that will vanish in a year to six months after launch (what was that Microsoft phone...Kin or something? Yeah, it was discontinued. KINect will go the way of the dodo).

  • I have hopes for Kinect. That Star Wars game and Fitness Evolved or whatever it's called from Ubisfot both looked promising.  Other than that, nothing they showed at E3 looked very compelling.  Hopefully, whatever they release post-launch will be somewhat better, and maybe a future update will be able to intergrate backwards compatability.

  • I, Kato, am one of those gamers not convinced by Kinect. Nor really PS Move either. Sorcery is the only motion-based game at E3 that impressed me, although not enough to warrant a purchase of any motion-controller. I wish these companies had looked for more ways to innovate or focus on creating ground-breaking titles. That would have been a good E3

  • Imagine, that if it was Backwards compatible,What the Games like Halo, Call of duty, and Gears of war would do to it. My guess that it would turn out like the Movie 'Gamer' (But without real deaths.) Where each game would require separate servers other then Xbox Live. Sure it'd make billions, but how could it if the thing freezes constantly for trying to load every little detail? Those games have too much data in it, for which I think the Kinect won't handle it.

  • You're exactly right, plus charging 60 bucks for each game while the competition is only charging 40 won't get them anywhere either.

  • Kinect will run into the same problems that the PS3 did early in this console generation- impressive hardware with almost nothing in the way of SOFTWARE to back it up.  

    Now the tables seem to be turning with Sony and Microsoft.   Microsoft's Kinect is more innovative than Sony's Move, but Move is more affordable and has more quality titles available from from Day 1, whereas Microsoft seems to be marketing Kinect almost solely on the value of the device itself.   Except in the case of the Wii, the overarching trend in the market is that superior software always trumps quality hardware.  

  • Yeah, I agree : the Kinect's launch titles are all crap-wrapped crap.

    With the Kinect it seems like MS is trying to target a broader audience, while totally ignoring the vast majority of the installed base by giving them nothing even resembling the types of games that have been successful on 360.
  • agreed ive never really liked motion game playing execpt for the wii. i never had to stand up and really do anything to hit a home run or to get a Turkey in bowling. What they've accomplished is something incredible, but nothing new.

  • I've said it before, I'm much more optimistic about Sony's Move than Kinect, and I'm not even getting THAT.  And now suddenly Burnout is no longer going to be compatible with Kinect?  Shame...

  • The Kinect really hasn't tried to get the hardcore crowd.