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Microsoft: "hybrid" Kinect/controller games in the works

N

Neuromancer

Member
kinect.jpg


Via 1Up:

"We love controller-free games, we love Kinect experiences and we'll continue to grow our set of those as well. What we haven't really talked about, but exist, are hybrid games," [Kinect developer Alex] Kipmen explained to GamesIndustry.biz. "Games that are using the controller, which we know and love, and pieces, if not all, of the Kinect experiences to again make those experiences more immersive, more fun and more emotionally connected."
Click to expand...
"This is where I look at the world, and I know it's easier to look at the world and talk about 'or,' but I look at the world and I talk about 'and,'" Kipmen continued. "It's about how we take all of these things and fuse all of them together to create unique experiences...It doesn't always mean using the same colors, the same paintbrushes -- the stories you tell are about using the appropriate combinations of all of the colors and brushes to create something meaningful."
Click to expand...
I don't know where he was going with that last part, but all I can say is, that's a relief. Still, I don't know how you'd do a FPS with Kinect, even with a controller for movement, without being able to read fingers.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Interfectum said:
Halo 4: Waggle shoulders to throw grenades. Stick your tongue out to recharge your shields.
Click to expand...
...

is this a parody of the trolling or actual trolling? i can't tell anymore.
 
D

DidntKnowJack

Member
teepo said:
which is obviously what steel battalion is going to be.
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Actually, my guess is SB is going to be a ton of on-screen prompts that you "touch" to operate. I can't see a game as complicated as Steel Battalion using a standard controller, even in league with Kinect.
 
V

VGChampion

Member
At first I thought they were going to make a whole new controller. That would have been stupid.

I'm really hoping some good games are made for it someday because I do like motion controls, Eye Toy, Move, etc... but there just isn't anything that makes me remotely want it yet which is a shame.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
DidntKnowJack said:
Actually, my guess is SB is going to be a ton of on screen prompts that you "touch" to operate. I can't see a game as complicated as Steel Battalion using a standard controller, even in league with Kinect.
Click to expand...

the problem is that to select on-screen things with kinect you've got to "hold" your hand in place for a few seconds. otherwise it can't distinguish between having your hand mouse over a prompt and having your hand select the prompt.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
badcrumble said:
Head tracking for dynamic perspective plz.
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Atomski said:
Give me a fps with the option to peak around corners by leaning slightly left or right.
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Yes this is what I'm hoping for.

Also, crouching in real life to crouch in a game, just to piss off Garnett Lee. :lol
 
N

neorej

ERMYGERD!
We remove the controller from the control-scheme!

Here's a controller to enhance your game-experience.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Interfectum said:
Won't kinect usage effect game performance as it uses some of the 360's cpu power?
Click to expand...
A little bit yeah but there are some who say most games don't use all of the systems performance anyway, so who knows.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Interfectum said:
Won't kinect usage effect game performance as it uses some of the 360's cpu power?
Click to expand...
Kinect CPU Usage Down To Single-Digits Percentage
Way back in January of this year, Microsoft was quoted as saying that Kinect used 10 to 15 percent of the Xbox 360’s processing power to do its magic. The originator of that figure, Microsoft’s Director of Incubation Alex Kipman, recently told GI.biz that the number has dropped down into the single digits.

"That figure of 10 or 15 per cent, we're actually in single digits, but the philosophy is correct," said Kipman. "It's a trade-off... That trade off is easy, it's about the affordability of the device. From the perspective of bringing to market this amazing deal, £129.99 with Kinect Adventures, it's a very interesting customer value proposition.”

Another father of Kinect, Kudo Tsunoda, confirmed last month that not only did Kinect have a lower resolution camera than previously stated, but the internal processor of the original prototype was stripped out, leaving the peripheral to use the system's processing power. Tsunoda previously said that even the most graphically intensive 360 titles were leaving enough CPU cycles for Kinect use.

"The answer is, as much as we like to talk about bits and percentages, you take a game like, I don't know, Call of Duty: Black Ops - there's a significant amount of processing, be it CPU or GPU, that still remains on the table," Kipman concurred. "So after that, when we came to this revelation about games, and future games that would be coming to Xbox, we looked at it and we said - 'is it worth the trade-off to put on-board processing on the device when we think we can create magical, unique, deep, thorough experiences without it?'"

"We can create games which are as rich and thorough and as deep as the games which we have on our platform today and which we will have tomorrow. Then the conversation becomes simple: you start moving into a world which says, why keep something complicated when you can make it simple? We decided to have our cake and eat it too."

Kipman also explaind that Kinect functions are modular and not all functions need be used by developers in every title.

"Not all features are created equal, you can totally imagine a game that's using practically the entire of the Xbox 360 and still uses identity recognition. You can have a game that uses a small vocabulary of voice recognition that will still have pretty much 100 per cent of the processing,” he said. "You can shop, in a way, in the platform by menu, and you can choose the paint colours and paintbrushes you have. This is no different than saying, 'what physics engine, what AI engine, what graphics engine' you're going to be using.”
Click to expand...
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Interfectum said:
Won't kinect usage effect game performance as it uses some of the 360's cpu power?
Click to expand...
yes. but how much it effects a game is dependant on how many of it's features you are using. if you're doing voice+skeletal tracking+identity recognition then it's going to be a lot more than if you're just tracking an arm, or just doing voice.

head tracking using the vga camera in it, wouldn't require any more cpu power than head tracking in gt5, for example.
 
robor

robor

Member
I'm wondering if Project Draco will fall under the hybrid list, along with Steel Battalion.
 
U

U2NUMB

Member
Interfectum said:
Won't kinect usage effect game performance as it uses some of the 360's cpu power?
Click to expand...


I suppose its possible to limit what Kinect does in certain situations. Because its software I can see the turning off perhaps movement but keeping voice and so forth on.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Interfectum said:
Won't kinect usage effect game performance as it uses some of the 360's cpu power?
Click to expand...

It uses both CPU and GPU cycles, so yes, you're going to get gimped graphics out of the bargain.

Completely useless without a split controller setup. Kinect should have shipped with one out of the box, its been clear since day 1 that the standard 60 controller is an awful fit.
 
D

Diablohead

Member
BattleMonkey said:
Controller in hand, kinect tracking.... hybrid already exists, whats the point of this?
Click to expand...
Microsoft are the only ones without some kind of pointer controller, so expect that for gun games or something.
 
A

Apath

Member
Steel Battalion: obnoxiously awesome over-the-top controller + pedals or bust. Motion controls just wouldn't be the same.

EDIT: Wait, is Steel Battalion for next-gen consoles confirmed?
 
X

X26

Banned
hybrid games actually sound like a really great idea, other than head tracking there is a lot of great posibilities. Take a game like Force unleased - Throw hand out for a force blast, hold it other there for force lightning, etc.
 
A

Apath

Member
X26 said:
hybrid games actually sound like a really great idea, other than head tracking there is a lot of great posibilities. Take a game like Force unleased - Throw hand out for a force blast, hold it other there for force lightning, etc.
Click to expand...
Isn't this what people have been speculating would happen since Kinect's reveal? I figured everyone was expecting games like this by now.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Kenak said:
Steel Battalion: obnoxiously awesome over-the-top controller + pedals or bust. Motion controls just wouldn't be the same.

EDIT: Wait, is Steel Battalion for next-gen consoles confirmed?
Click to expand...
Steel Battalion for Kinect has been confirmed for some time now.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Diablohead said:
Microsoft are the only ones without some kind of pointer controller, so expect that for gun games or something.
Click to expand...

I can see pointer thing, but yikes, accessories for accessories, to play a game.
 
A

Apath

Member
Neuromancer said:
Steel Battalion for Kinect has been confirmed for some time now.
Click to expand...
I never knew. I guess it's nothing to get excited over until they actually announce how we'll be controlling it.
 
G

ghst

thanks for the laugh
X26 said:
hybrid games actually sound like a really great idea, other than head tracking there is a lot of great posibilities. Take a game like Force unleased - Throw hand out for a force blast, hold it other there for force lightning, etc.
Click to expand...
this post is brought to you by 2007.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
brain_stew said:
Completely useless without a split controller setup. Kinect should have shipped with one out of the box, its been clear since day 1 that the standard 60 controller is an awful fit.
Click to expand...

Split controller should be standard with all consoles from now on - the Wii Remote/Nunchuk was nearly right, the Move controller is an improvement and the next-gen version should be perfect.
 
I

InaudibleWhispa

Member
Still hoping they release a Wii nunchuck style device for basic trigger/analogue button pressing, since the 360 controller glues both hands to one spot and/or is clunky when held in one hand and wouldn't feel comfortable to swing around. A nunchuck in each hand plus Kinect to control an Avatar/Matrix style mech would be awesome. The nunchuck wouldn't need any motion tech inside, so they could probably get away with bundling one for free and I don't think it would do much damage to their "You are the controller" slogan which is more for casual marketing and the message will be clear by this time next year.
 
F

Firewire

Banned
If its some specialty controller I guess it won't be less than $99.

Anyways controller free gaming doesn't seem like it will be around very long. :lol
 
B

brain_stew

Member
X26 said:
hybrid games actually sound like a really great idea, other than head tracking there is a lot of great posibilities. Take a game like Force unleased - Throw hand out for a force blast, hold it other there for force lightning, etc.
Click to expand...

And drop the controller in the process?

Motion controls simply do not work with a dual handed controller design, the Wii and Move don't use a split design by accident.
 
A

Apath

Member
brain_stew said:
An drop the controller in the process?

Motion controls simply do not work with a dual handed controller design, the Wii and Move don't use a split design by accident.
Click to expand...
It could work for quick gestures, it just wouldn't be ideal nor fitting for a consistent motion control method.
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
You are the controller.

*But not all the time, conditions apply. See pack for details.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
Firewire said:
Anyways controller free gaming doesn't seem like it will be around very long. :lol
Click to expand...

Well, it was always going to be limited - there's only so much you can do in terms of interface control without some kind of direct input device.

I wonder if it might have been useful for Microsoft to even have just shipped Kinect with something like a wireless device you wear on your thumb/s. Pop a single button on it, and you can tap it with your index finger - bang goes the issue with having to "hover" over a menu item to select it, along with a host of other instances when having a basic direct input would be useful.

Of course, you're mixing your message about "controller-free" gaming then...

Kenak said:
It could work for quick gestures, it just wouldn't be ideal nor fitting for a consistent motion control method.
Click to expand...

Not really - hold something in two hands and try doing the kind of "reload flick" you do with the nunchuk and you'll see how much more of an awkward thing it is to do.
 
A

Apath

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Not really - hold something in two hands and try doing the kind of "reload flick" you do with the nunchuk and you'll see how much more of an awkward thing it is to do.
Click to expand...
I haven't played a FPS on the Wii since Red Steel, so I'm not sure what the "reload flick" is, but holding my 360 controller, it's pretty simple to lift off one hand for a second, do a quick gesture, and put it back.

It isn't ideal, but it's workable.
 
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