With the release of Microsoft's new Kinect gaming peripheral only a few weeks away, I wonder whether Microsoft has done enough to create hype among the masses and hardcore gamers alike.
Today, Microsoft announced it's line up of games available on the November 4th release date. From titles like Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, and Harry Potter, it's very clear what market Microsoft is trying to attract with this new approach and I don't blame them.Nintendo's Wii has been the clear leader in worldwide console sales totaling almost 75 million. At the time of release the Wii's infrared motion tracking peripheral was a clear evolution in the way users interface with games, but it still wasn't enough to get hardcore console gamers, who value their controllers, joysticks, and state of the art graphics, to jump ship.
Instead, the Wii has attracted a new market and created a new category of gamers that may not have purchased a gaming console before. While Sony's Move system simply copies what the Wii has created while maintaining it's market leading HD graphics, I believe Microsoft's new creation, the Kinect, could be the next big thing in the evolution of gaming.
The key difference between Nintendo and Sony's approach and Microsoft's is the need for a controller. With the Wii and Move, you interface with the console using a "wand" of sorts as a controller, tracking your movements through the manipulation of that object. With Kinect however, the amazing thing is that the only controller is you.
Kinect uses a combination of sensors and cameras to essentially create a virtual 3D map of the room and it's inhabitants. It uses real-time data from these components to track you and your friends as you move and reflects those changes on the screen. You can even cycle through menus in the soon to come Xbox Dashboard update a la Minority Report style. Pretty amazing stuff, really.
It will be interesting to see how the games and developer support changes over time with the aging of the new Kinect peripheral. I would like to see an active attempt to appeal to more hardcore console gamers like myself who value action/adventure and shooter games and have made the Xbox what it is today. Unfortunately, only time will tell.
