NeoGAF

Ignis Fatuus · 01:01 AM

UPDATE: We bring you lulz
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=614
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&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:

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.

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.

Originally Posted by Alx:

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...

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:

Originally Posted by beast786:

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.

Kadey · (06-20-2010, 05:25 AM)

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?

Magnus · (06-20-2010, 05:26 AM)

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

-PXG- · (06-20-2010, 05:27 AM)

Originally Posted by Kadey:

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?

Kinect hates chairs and fat people :lol

Firewire · (06-20-2010, 05:27 AM)

Some how I'm not surprised.

Haly · (06-20-2010, 05:27 AM)

I am looking forward to how many times Kinect can become less and less of a desirable product before release.

ShockingAlberto · (06-20-2010, 05:28 AM)

This seems like it could be easily proven or disproven.

How many people simultaneously can play Joyride?

beast786 · (06-20-2010, 05:29 AM)

Originally Posted by ShockingAlberto:

This seems like it could be easily proven or disproven.

How many people simultaneously can play Joyride?

2

Afrikan · (06-20-2010, 05:29 AM)

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..

ShockingAlberto · (06-20-2010, 05:30 AM)

Originally Posted by beast786:

2

...uh oh.

Night_Trekker · (06-20-2010, 05:30 AM)

So that video of the family of four having fun was a lie?

Trickster · (06-20-2010, 05:31 AM)

Kinect cannot catch a break right now :lol

Dead Man · (06-20-2010, 05:32 AM)

Kinect may have a lot of people talking, but not for the right reasons.

DMeisterJ · (06-20-2010, 05:32 AM)

Wow if true.

imail · (06-20-2010, 05:32 AM)

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.

Mo0 · (06-20-2010, 05:33 AM)

Originally Posted by Halycon:

I am looking forward to how many times Kinect can become less and less of a desirable product before release.

Breaking: Kinect fires needles into your eyes when you make a mistake

Penguin · (06-20-2010, 05:33 AM)

Originally Posted by Night_Trekker:

So that video of the family of four having fun was a lie?

I thought that video only had 2 of them playing at a time while the other 2 watched on the couch?

fna84 · (06-20-2010, 05:33 AM)

You will need 2 Kinect cameras for 4 players.

Castle Doctrine · (06-20-2010, 05:33 AM)

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.

MattPeters · (06-20-2010, 05:34 AM)

I thought Joyride was 4 player spitscreen.

Obviously, I was grossly mistaken.

This isnt good news.

Firewire · (06-20-2010, 05:34 AM)

Can't wait for the tech filled answer by MS that neither confirms or denies the existence of Kinect.

Kaako · (06-20-2010, 05:34 AM)

Ok, now you're just fucking with me.

troushers · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

Please, elephant painting, let you be real.

Thetallywacker · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

It could support 4 midgets. Provided that two can sit on the shoulders of the other two. So the camera doesn't assume there sitting down.

Night_Trekker · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

Originally Posted by Penguin:

I thought that video only had 2 of them playing at a time while the other 2 watched on the couch?

I swear I saw a gif around here with the mom, dad and two kids all "playing" at once...

Wario64 · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

Originally Posted by Penguin:

I thought that video only had 2 of them playing at a time while the other 2 watched on the couch?

Dance Central

charlesthefirst · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

There goes my hope of the Thriller dance being in Dance Central.

CadetMahoney · (06-20-2010, 05:35 AM)

I'm just wondering how many negative claims have been debunked so far?

Hellraizah · (06-20-2010, 05:36 AM)

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 · (06-20-2010, 05:36 AM)

Originally Posted by Night_Trekker:

So that video of the family of four having fun was a lie?

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...

DogWelder · (06-20-2010, 05:37 AM)

I'm pretty sure we knew this last year.

LQX · (06-20-2010, 05:37 AM)

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.

The Faceless Master · (06-20-2010, 05:38 AM)

Originally Posted by fna84:

You will need 2 Kinect cameras for 4 players.

and 2 Xbox 360's.

BobTheFork · (06-20-2010, 05:39 AM)

Jesus Pete this thing is getting the worst press since the ps3 launch.

Penguin · (06-20-2010, 05:39 AM)

Originally Posted by Wario64:

Dance Central

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.

DogWelder · (06-20-2010, 05:39 AM)

Originally Posted by The Faceless Master:

and 2 Xbox 360's.

And two TVs. And a giant living room.

sillymonkey321 · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

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.

echoshifting · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

Again? :lol

freddy · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

Was this confirmed as actually playing Kinect?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4h2sbhJM5s

Cynar · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

Originally Posted by The Faceless Master:

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...

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

The Faceless Master · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

Originally Posted by esc:

And two TVs. And a giant living room.

well, you could use 1 TV if it supports PBP...

beast786 · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qlH...eature=related

@ 2:52

imail · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

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.

Haly · (06-20-2010, 05:40 AM)

Originally Posted by LQX:

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.

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.

Firewire · (06-20-2010, 05:41 AM)

Originally Posted by The Faceless Master:

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...

Maybe it was faked and its on the list of things to be fixed.

Dante · (06-20-2010, 05:41 AM)

Originally Posted by MattPeters:

I thought Joyride was 4 player spitscreen.

Obviously, I was grossly mistaken.

This isnt good news.

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.

Ignis Fatuus · (06-20-2010, 05:41 AM)

Originally Posted by beast786:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qlH...eature=related

@ 2:52

We know that video is bullshot because they're sitting down.

The Faceless Master · (06-20-2010, 05:42 AM)

Originally Posted by Cynar:

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

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...

freddy · (06-20-2010, 05:43 AM)

Originally Posted by beast786:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qlH...eature=related

@ 2:52

That video also contains item scanning and sitting down though

NYR · (06-20-2010, 05:43 AM)

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.