The Best Kinect (for Xbox) Videos I’ve Seen So Far
Kinect is a new accessory for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, which involves a special infrared light emitter and a pair of cameras that can see you in 3D and use the movements of your body (arms, hands, feet, everything) to control the game, instead of actual game controllers with buttons. There’s been a lot of mixed feelings about how good of a product it actually is and considering it’s a first-generation product of Microsoft there’s probably good reason to be very cautious and skeptical. I own a PlayStation, a Wii and have avoided getting an Xbox over the years for multiple reasons, the largest concern being the quality of the hardware (red ring of death, anybody?). I’ve yet to see a video demonstrating Kinect that actually causes to want to buy one; call me old fashioned?
Today I came across a video that someone made with a separate video camera to record themselves while they played a game called GEL Ride; a kids racing game like Mario Kart. He did this so you could see how the Kinect reacts to body movement. All I can say is… this is NOT the game that will convince me to get a Kinect and Xbox. See for yourself… and yes, this video is real and it is hilarious.
On the non-gaming side of things you might be interested to learn that the protocol used by the Kinect to communicate with the Xbox has been hacked, and people have been using their Kinects to do things no one anticipated. It’s suspected Microsoft intentionally left the protocol open to being so easily reverse engineered and the suspected motive of leaving the protocol wide open might be that it’s just one more way to sell Kinects to non-Xbox users like me. Hell of a Plan B if you ask me; Kudos to them. Here’s one of the COOLEST things I’ve seen anybody do with it so far (it gets really cool about 30 seconds in):
Sunday, November 21st, 2010