278: Make Room for Kinect

[Ytmh]

If these projects fail to take off, Sony might just go back to making televisions and Microsoft might just stick to computers. Not to the point where video games no longer exist, but it will definitely impact the industry as a whole.

Impact in a rather great way, I'd say!

I mean, what, if there's a demand for games other companies will rise to meet that market, etc. If Sony and Microsoft failed here, I doubt they'll just leave the industry considering the huge investment they've made up to now.

But if they DO leave, who cares? Do you seriously think other companies will say "Hell screw this entire market we could be making millions in now that two of the biggest competitors just bowed out!" Yeah, right.

 

[The Random One]

BULLDOZE THE HOUSE

[Note: The author and The Escpaist do not endorse the bulldozing of homes.]

I like how this guy signed up only to give this advice.

Lots of well thought out stuff

Yeah, I know. You have a point. But as I pointed out in the comments of the Extra Credits you refer to, I'm not saying the Kinect will fail because I think it's dumb and want it to burn - I'm saying that because, as someone who can analyze the industry in an intelligent manner, I think it won't fly.

And I don't think I have any obligation to support a device that I do not like and that represents something in the industry I don't particularly care for. I will buy games and consoles solely because I think they're a step in the right direction, but I won't do this indiscriminately. If Microsoft fucked up and wasted time and money in a product that has no appeal to me and ends up having no appeal to their non-me demographic either, that's their problem. They should have foreseen it as a company. It's their job, not mine, as a costumer. It's also not my job to save the gaming industry for themselves if they screw up. They should be thinking of ways to help me, not the other way around.

If that means the gaming industry crashes, well, look at the bright side, at least there won't be ten new cover-based brown and grey gritty shooters coming out next year.

 

[zypakoi]

"[Note: The author and The Escpaist do not endorse the bulldozing of homes.]"

hah, or so they'd have you think (jk).
ok, i've got like 5 gaming systems, several with attachments and wireless this and that.. and i bet my "house" is smaller than your bedrooms, it's not so difficult, but nonetheless a well-written article =)

 

[chrisplante]

I have to agree. That would be wonderful.

 

[ishist]

My opinion of Urbanite New Yorkers is second only to the French.

Solution:

Step 1 - Bequeath your shitty little matchbox apartment to the rats
Step 2 - Move to a completely different state
Step 3 - Spend slightly less money than you were for your slumbox for a 5 bedroom palatial estate
Step 4 - (a very important step) Avoid telling your new neighbors how great New York was.
Step 5 - Slowly begin to realize that you were previously living in the Worst city on Earth.

 

[Glic2003]

I'm surprised that no one thought of using this whole "motion sensing" gimmick to resurrect the good old days of public arcades. Wouldn't it make more sense to do this kind of thing in a specially designed, carefully controlled environment?

Oh yes, I know you don't want to waggle your body and humiliate yourself in a public venue. But last I checked, dance clubs were still popular.

 

[rsvp42]

I just have a little single apartment, but the way my furniture is set up won't really allow for enough space. I've got a full bed, a futon, the TV, then my computer desk, plus some space for my bike. There really isn't anywhere to move any of it temporarily.

I like motion controls and I own a Wii, but I'm not yet convinced that Kinect will add much to the mix. Essentially, motion controls are just full or partial body replacements for button functions, with the possibility of more accuracy with certain things like aiming or the direction of a sword swipe, etc. Kinect may provide some extra motion recognition, but the games that are possible with it don't seem vastly different. That being said, I kind of hope it succeeds. I'd love it if a new generation of consoles simply incorporated motion just like analog sticks or vibration, just another option for developers when making games. Selling it as a peripheral to the main system singles it out and begs for criticism. It becomes a separate experience, asking us to adopt it when it should just be there without all the fanfare.

 

[yanipheonu]

I'm not moving my living room around for Kinect.

I don't know why Microsoft thought such a restricition was ok.

 

[Mr Waffle]

Hmmm if it's that bad for a New Yorker imagine how bad it must be in Japan...

Japanese people already live with modular furniture. Apartment rooms are often multi-purpose, with tables that fold up and go into a closet, to be replaced with a folding futon. They have a lot of empty space in them because Japanese rooms come built-in with closets for the furniture. And given that the standard size for a Japanese room will work with Kinect, they're BETTER suited, considering all the whining about having to move a coffee table some people are making...

The space limitations of the kinect are making it only available to a niche market, yet they are trying to sell it to casual gamers...

What niche market? People with houses? The people who own houses usually have families. Families are full of casual gamers. Hence, Kinect is perfect for the average casual gamer. I'd be willing to bet there are far more 'core' gamers (eg single males in their 20s) living in shoebox apartments than there are families with lots of disposable income and kids who want the newest toy (aka half of the Wii's playerbase).

A quick googling shows that almost 70% of the USA lives in houses. Hardly a "niche".

 

[tce11]

Hmmm if it's that bad for a New Yorker imagine how bad it must be in Japan...

Japanese people already live with modular furniture. Apartment rooms are often multi-purpose, with tables that fold up and go into a closet, to be replaced with a folding futon. They have a lot of empty space in them because Japanese rooms come built-in with closets for the furniture. And given that the standard size for a Japanese room will work with Kinect, they're BETTER suited, considering all the whining about having to move a coffee table some people are making...

The space limitations of the kinect are making it only available to a niche market, yet they are trying to sell it to casual gamers...

What niche market? People with houses? The people who own houses usually have families. Families are full of casual gamers. Hence, Kinect is perfect for the average casual gamer. I'd be willing to bet there are far more 'core' gamers (eg single males in their 20s) living in shoebox apartments than there are families with lots of disposable income and kids who want the newest toy (aka half of the Wii's playerbase).

A quick googling shows that almost 70% of the USA lives in houses. Hardly a "niche".

Well maybe niche wasn't quite the proper word, but they're definitely limiting their market. I know for me to get Kinect to work I'd have to have my T.V. in my closet and put my computer desk on my bed. In my current living situation even if I wanted a kinect I'd be unable to buy one and use it properly, and there are plenty of people in similar situations, so to me it seems like they're losing sales, and not because of lack of interest but because of the way they designed it.

 

[Sparcrypt]

Amazes me that people will live in places like that. I'm lived in cramped placed and I just won't do it anymore. I live in the small Aussie state of Tasmania and I love it. I own a three bedroom house which I have to myself, I'm a 5 minute drive from the CBD and I don't really find any major city has anything I care about.. and if I do? These days you can fly to Melbourne for under a $100 return! Most of the time though, if I can't buy it local I just buy it online and it shows up a few days later.

Granted our internet speeds could do with some work, bring on the NBN (which I'll have in the next 12-18 months). But after living in Sydney and Perth during my life I can absolutely say that big cities with cramped real estate are just not worth it.

 

[vxicepickxv]

With two roommates that supposedly pay rent, and a pet that does less than nothing useful, I'd have to invest into a lot more than just the add on to be able to play it. In order to get the 6 to 8 feet needed, I'd have to get a TV set that's large enough for me to be able to see it at 8 feet away.

I also don't know if I'll be moving out of state next year, and where I may have to be moving, or what the living conditions are for where I'll be living, or anything like that. It just seems to me to be too much of a hassle to try to change my life this much for something that might or might not be any good at all.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Honestly, having to do that much work to play a damn game is ridiculous. I guess I'll be passing on Kinect until at least the summer when I'm out of my dorm room.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Or you can, you know, not bother buying Kinect.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Well, I'm not gonna even enter the damn aisle in BestBuy where they're being sold, but I did have a nice laugh at this. Apparently, the family room in my house is bigger than some people's apartment. >.>

The apartment my family lives in got bigger sauna than my room, I can go sit the middle of my room with my office chair and reach all the important things... And my bed and Table cover about 2/5th of my rooms space.

back on topic, Not going to get it, for I don't even have XBOX, adn don't have money to buy one, and Kinect games will be horrible anyway, I bet at least... (5euros bet anyone?)

 

[dex-dex]

yeah no

when i play video games i want to be sitting on my ass. with a bag doritos next to me with some juice.

Also i don't own a 360

 

[Electrogecko]

I don't plan on getting Kinect, but as someone with little money that's looking to buy an apartment in the next few years, I still found this article useful. I honestly couldn't care less about the size of my living space as long as I have enough room to sleep, game, store necessities, and cook without burning the place down.

 

[omega247]

This seems like far too much hassle for what it's worth. I'm too busy to become an interior designer just to fit in the Kinect.

I won't be buying