See, I think that the debate on the Kinect's usefulness comes from 3 angles:
1. People who are just going to complain to complain.
2. People who use and enjoy the Kinect.
3. People who aren't opposed to the Kinect, but just don't have much (if any) use for it.
I'm definitely in the third category, and I think the split between the second and third groups is mainly media consumption. I have 0 interest in the existence of Netflix or Hulu Plus, so voice control on that stuff is pointless to me. I use my desktop for general media consumption, so the Kinect isn't used for that. I know how to Spike the ball without a Kinect or a playbook ('B' button does it, and it even says it on Madden 15 under the scoreboard). There just isn't a use case for me right now. I use it to turn my console on, but mostly so I can say my Kinect gets used, and it usually takes anywhere from 2-5 attempts to get it to cooperate.
There are then those who like to do Twitch streaming with a Kinect turned on. Some watch movies and stream stuff and listen to music. Some record and share game clips. Then there are those who just play games in relative silence, unless using a mic for online multiplayer chat. In those cases, the Kinect doesn't help much. I know I turned the Madden 15 Kinect controls off because it would pick up random words and think that they were audible instructions, and it irritated the heck out of me.
1. People who are just going to complain to complain.
2. People who use and enjoy the Kinect.
3. People who aren't opposed to the Kinect, but just don't have much (if any) use for it.
I'm definitely in the third category, and I think the split between the second and third groups is mainly media consumption. I have 0 interest in the existence of Netflix or Hulu Plus, so voice control on that stuff is pointless to me. I use my desktop for general media consumption, so the Kinect isn't used for that. I know how to Spike the ball without a Kinect or a playbook ('B' button does it, and it even says it on Madden 15 under the scoreboard). There just isn't a use case for me right now. I use it to turn my console on, but mostly so I can say my Kinect gets used, and it usually takes anywhere from 2-5 attempts to get it to cooperate.
There are then those who like to do Twitch streaming with a Kinect turned on. Some watch movies and stream stuff and listen to music. Some record and share game clips. Then there are those who just play games in relative silence, unless using a mic for online multiplayer chat. In those cases, the Kinect doesn't help much. I know I turned the Madden 15 Kinect controls off because it would pick up random words and think that they were audible instructions, and it irritated the heck out of me.