I'm finding when I bring up Kinect 2 people generally just haven't thought through the potential that kind of resolution accompanied by algorithms and programming that can take advantage of it will bring to the table.
Hand movement is utterly intuitive, very fast, extremely accurate and capable of nearly infinite expression. As a controller mechanism it will have an intuitive speed, accuracy and range of subtle depth and breadth no mechanical controller can hope to approach. All that is needed is a mechanism that can READ those hand movements with sufficient resolution, provide sufficient processing power to reduce the lag to near imperceptibility and the programming to make it work on screen. Microsoft with current technology can do the first two and just needs a good start on the third.
The beauty of the Kinect 2 is it will continue to bear fruit far into the future as programmers continue to tap into what is an all but limitless potential.
A child can become a character, be utterly immersed, in a way not possible with mechanical controllers. A character than can mirror every movement and subtle gesture, every facial expression. An art creation program that will allow a child infinite expression to create and manipulate in three dimensional screen space using their own hands and body. Learning to play musical 'air' instruments so accurately it can translate into actual physical instruments. Playing an infinitely variable spatially massive 'Theremin' with their fingers, hands, arms, torso and legs. It's a vast horizon of potential. My imaginative musings have gone far beyond what my words can easily convey.
'Hard core' gamers will be able to aim, move, switch gear, access and select from standardized menus with an intuitive speed and accuracy keyboard and mouse players won't be able to match. Granted the younger set will have a notable kinesthetic advantage, able to learn and accurately use such a system far faster than the older will. The full potential won't be available across the boards immediately, the programming challenge will be steep, but it will evolve over time to become so available.
Standardized menus because it seems logical Microsoft will standardize a set of hand, arm and body movements and spoken commands across games. A defined set of gestures and voice commands to open and interact with menus, pause games, move characters on a screen, change weapons and so on to provide a much needed continuity in such an unlimited landscape.
That is the demonstrated potential I think Nintendo with it's Wii U will find itself contending with in June or so of next year. This is why I think the press, tech and mainstream, will be utterly blown away when they see what the Kinect 2 will be bringing to the table and talk of the Kinect 2 will dominate the conversation thru the holiday season. When people are able to actually SEE the potential of Kinect 2 in action, it will pique imaginations and launch endless fevered speculation.
If Microsoft is far enough along with it's algorithms and programming to convincingly demonstrate a Kinect 2 player dominating a keyboard mouse player in a twitch shooter - well that's just game over. Lord knows what Sony can bring to the table to stay competitive.
So it is I see a very real potential of Wii U sales falling off a cliff by July of 2013 and Nintendo looking at console Armageddon and a river of red ink into the foreseeable future if it tries to stay in the console space.
That is why I see Nintendo out of console hardware by 2015 and a very real potential of Sony, with it's already fairly dire and steadily worsening financial situation, following suit, leaving Microsoft and Valve as the two gorillas in the console space.
But hey, playing Nintendo and Sony first party games on Kinect 2 or SteamBox would be a blast!
ps. for the 'Uh ... the Kinect SUCKS so Kinect 2 will SUCK too!' types out there, and from my experience to date there are a lot of you, hey, feel free to reactively generalize based on your 'gut' feeling. After all, where would the profiteer's need for military cannon fodder be without you?
Hand movement is utterly intuitive, very fast, extremely accurate and capable of nearly infinite expression. As a controller mechanism it will have an intuitive speed, accuracy and range of subtle depth and breadth no mechanical controller can hope to approach. All that is needed is a mechanism that can READ those hand movements with sufficient resolution, provide sufficient processing power to reduce the lag to near imperceptibility and the programming to make it work on screen. Microsoft with current technology can do the first two and just needs a good start on the third.
The beauty of the Kinect 2 is it will continue to bear fruit far into the future as programmers continue to tap into what is an all but limitless potential.
A child can become a character, be utterly immersed, in a way not possible with mechanical controllers. A character than can mirror every movement and subtle gesture, every facial expression. An art creation program that will allow a child infinite expression to create and manipulate in three dimensional screen space using their own hands and body. Learning to play musical 'air' instruments so accurately it can translate into actual physical instruments. Playing an infinitely variable spatially massive 'Theremin' with their fingers, hands, arms, torso and legs. It's a vast horizon of potential. My imaginative musings have gone far beyond what my words can easily convey.
'Hard core' gamers will be able to aim, move, switch gear, access and select from standardized menus with an intuitive speed and accuracy keyboard and mouse players won't be able to match. Granted the younger set will have a notable kinesthetic advantage, able to learn and accurately use such a system far faster than the older will. The full potential won't be available across the boards immediately, the programming challenge will be steep, but it will evolve over time to become so available.
Standardized menus because it seems logical Microsoft will standardize a set of hand, arm and body movements and spoken commands across games. A defined set of gestures and voice commands to open and interact with menus, pause games, move characters on a screen, change weapons and so on to provide a much needed continuity in such an unlimited landscape.
That is the demonstrated potential I think Nintendo with it's Wii U will find itself contending with in June or so of next year. This is why I think the press, tech and mainstream, will be utterly blown away when they see what the Kinect 2 will be bringing to the table and talk of the Kinect 2 will dominate the conversation thru the holiday season. When people are able to actually SEE the potential of Kinect 2 in action, it will pique imaginations and launch endless fevered speculation.
If Microsoft is far enough along with it's algorithms and programming to convincingly demonstrate a Kinect 2 player dominating a keyboard mouse player in a twitch shooter - well that's just game over. Lord knows what Sony can bring to the table to stay competitive.
So it is I see a very real potential of Wii U sales falling off a cliff by July of 2013 and Nintendo looking at console Armageddon and a river of red ink into the foreseeable future if it tries to stay in the console space.
That is why I see Nintendo out of console hardware by 2015 and a very real potential of Sony, with it's already fairly dire and steadily worsening financial situation, following suit, leaving Microsoft and Valve as the two gorillas in the console space.
But hey, playing Nintendo and Sony first party games on Kinect 2 or SteamBox would be a blast!
ps. for the 'Uh ... the Kinect SUCKS so Kinect 2 will SUCK too!' types out there, and from my experience to date there are a lot of you, hey, feel free to reactively generalize based on your 'gut' feeling. After all, where would the profiteer's need for military cannon fodder be without you?
Last edited: