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Kinect creators say technology supports only two players at a time

I

Ignis Fatuus

Banned
UPDATE: We bring you lulz
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=21986491&postcount=614
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=21986960&postcount=624

Credit to imail for first bringing this to our attention in the infamous Kinect-does-not-work-while-seated thread. This one seems to have slipped under the radar. There's been a lot of interviews asking about multiplayer but every answer I've read only states that "multiple" people can be supported at a time.

There was this one interview which stated that Kinect can track up to four people--but this recent article with the creators of the tech states that while it can actually track as many people as can fit in camera sight, it can only process two at a time.

The relevant quote:

PrimeSense reps also told me that the camera can "see" any number of people on the screen -- you can fit as many people in that camera as possible, and the computer will see all of them and can even recognize them as human shapes. But it can only run calculations on two people at a time, just because the processing power required to track all of the body's locations and movements is so great. During our testing with the device, a person moving in front of the camera was able to "steal focus," but the computer can also be told through gestures to keep focus on a certain person.
Click to expand...
I've been looking for official specs from Microsoft which might state how many players are supported but so far can't find a thing. Discuss?

UPDATE: Alx wants it clarified that these people are the original tech creators who licensed it to Microsoft and that their statements do not necessarily reflect on the final product.

Alx said:
So the standard Primesense camera embeds a chip that does the processing, but is limited to 2 complete skeleton analysis, while the kinect outputs only the depth map and also the human detections (which is not limited to 2 persons according to the other statement).

It's still probable that there is a limitation on what can be processed on the 360 (like this dancing game that could only manage two players), but it put the OP in another light...
Click to expand...
UPDATE: Literally no one in the gaming press seems interested in asking questions about this yet, but not a single announced Kinect title supports more than two person multiplayer--this goes for games which support it on PS3 and Wii:
beast786 said:
I think it for sure has the 2 people limitation. Atleast for launch. For example

This is from the company itself

"Zumba instructor, the stage transforms into a high voltage party atmosphere with special effects and additional crowd dancers. Players can also grow that party at home with up to four players on Wii™ and PlayStation Move, and up to two players on Kinect for Xbox 360. "

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...-96337804.html

So 4 for PS3 and WII but only two for 360. Why only two for 360. Especially since other two have 4 players.
Click to expand...
 
K

Kadey

Mrs. Harvey
So if the person is big enough to be the only person to fit into the camera sight then that would make it support only one player?
 
M

Magnus

Member
Man, even if all these stories turn out to be debunked, this negative press can't be good for the damned thing. :lol
 
P

-PXG-

Member
Kadey said:
So if the person is big enough to be the only person to fit into the camera sight then that would make it support only one player?
Click to expand...
Kinect hates chairs and fat people :lol
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I am looking forward to how many times Kinect can become less and less of a desirable product before release.
 
A

Afrikan

Member
is everyone going to have to edit their motion pricing wars lists.

so this might not be true anymore...

Kinect
4players = $150

PSmove
4players = Gazillion dollars..
 
I

imail

Neo Member
OMG,
did I just bring info worthy of a new thread. I feel so honored

*tears of joy*. :D :D

On a serious note though, PrimeSense said that they don't own the software and it has been fully optimized by MS. Maybe what they were talking about was their initial design.

I'm not sure if that can be fixed by a mere software though. Since the problem was clearly the camera taking too much processing power.
 
M

Mo0

Member
Halycon said:
I am looking forward to how many times Kinect can become less and less of a desirable product before release.
Click to expand...
Breaking: Kinect fires needles into your eyes when you make a mistake
 
Castle Doctrine

Castle Doctrine

Member
Casuals don't care about any of this stuff. As long as they can pet animals and dance around. They'll also buy a fitness game for their new and exciting weight loss plan that'll last for a week, then Kinect will become the equivalent of an exercise machine that people hang clothes on.
 
Hellraizah

Hellraizah

Member
Didn't we see demo of 4 people playing? It was probably fake anyways....

In my opinion, this is less of a deal compared to the "not being able to play while seated". They were showing people playing car games while seated a couple of months ago and now it doesn't work.

Anyways, Natal/Kinect was doomed to be shit since the beginning, I can't see how people have somehow thought that it could decent, I mean, there's so many situations where it could go wrong while "playing" with Kinect..... what if you cat comes around, for example.
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
Night_Trekker said:
So that video of the family of four having fun was a lie?
Click to expand...
i distinctly remember four people holding their hands out like buzzers in a game show-like setting... oh boy... i guess that's what happens when you do concept videos with no real tech...
 
LQX

LQX

Member
There not even that many games that uses a controller that supports 4 players. And come on, 4 people dancing in front of a TV? There is not even that much screen space unless you have a monster TV.
 
P

Penguin

Member
Wario64 said:
Dance Central
Click to expand...

I thought the Giant Bomb people said that the game only recognized the main dancer. People join in for fun, but aren't really picked up by the console.

I could be wrong.
 
O

Owzers

Member
During that Dance Central demo at the e3 conference, i was wondering if the back-up dancers were actually being tracked or if they were just dancing along for fun.
 
C

Cynar

Member
The Faceless Master said:
i distinctly remember four people holding their hands out like buzzers in a game show-like setting... oh boy... i guess that's what happens when you do concept videos with no real tech...
Click to expand...

yup there was that and then there were the three kids playing dance central, this will be interesting
 
I

imail

Neo Member
Can someone send a tweet to Greenberg about this. He seems like a nice person.

And a buddy of mine told me that there was a live demo of "Dance Central" that featured 3 players split screen. I can't look for it since I'm at work. Can someone look for it in YouTube.
 
H

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
LQX said:
There not even that many games that uses a controller that supports 4 players. And come on, 4 people dancing in front of a TV? There is not even that much screen space unless you have a monster TV.
Click to expand...
Worked for Wii Sport.

Like.

Out of the box.

I started playing tennis with some guests waving around my hands like idiots shortly after teaching them how to press 1 + 2 at the same time.
 
F

Firewire

Banned
The Faceless Master said:
i distinctly remember four people holding their hands out like buzzers in a game show-like setting... oh boy... i guess that's what happens when you do concept videos with no real tech...
Click to expand...
Maybe it was faked and its on the list of things to be fixed.
 
D

Dante

Member
MattPeters said:
I thought Joyride was 4 player spitscreen.

Obviously, I was grossly mistaken.


This isnt good news.
Click to expand...


They also had videos of people using it while sitting.

and scanning in virtual skateboards

and...

Don't expect this to bite them in the ass for quite awhile, those free slims bought them a lot of positive press it seems.
 
The Faceless Master

The Faceless Master

Member
Cynar said:
yup there was that and then there were the three kids playing dance central, this will be interesting
Click to expand...
no, i was pointing out that video was just a staged concept video and how it might not have been representative of the final product. plus, i thought only the nerdy guy was playing Dance Central and the others were just dancing along...
 
NYR

NYR

Member
Just a general comment. Hardcore gamers (e.g. - GAF) are finding so much wrong with Kinect but what they keep failing to realize is they are not the target market for this product, not even close. Of course a traditional gamer is going to find something wrong with something that is not a traditional way of playing games, that is exactly what Kinect is.

Further, gamers seem to talk as if this so called "bad press" even gets to the actual target market - it likely doesn't because they don't care as much as we do. I was chatting to a co-worker about Kinect, and she was hyped, had no clue about the sitting down stuff. Even with that, she still wanted to try it, as she had put in her time with the Wii and was ready for the next thing.

You can list 100 things "wrong" with the Wii - doesn't change the fact it is kicking the ass of the PS3 and 360 in sales. The Wii, just like Kinect, appeals to the morning show and talk show crowd - once they see it on the Today Show or Oprah, they all want to play it - even if they can only play two at a time.
 
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