How Sony Screwed Things Up w/ Kinect

[blzr409]

I really hadn't thought about this much before until I saw this video showing off the PS4's Playroom:

The PlayRoom I PS4 Trailer - YouTube

Apparently this game is coming preloaded on all PS4s. I had heard that the PS4 controller also has all of the move functionality built in. Both the game and the extra controller functionality are completely worthless unless you buy Sony's camera add-on (for $60).

It has become more and more obvious as time goes on that Sony ditched the camera fairly recently with the sole purpose being to launch at a lower price point than the Xbox One with Kinect included. The other side of this, which I didn't think about until now, is the way it impacts 3rd party game development in the next generation. I think pretty much everyone has realized that one of the big problems with the first Kinect is that developers were kind of reluctant to build titles around it when only a small percentage of users had one. Having the Kinect included with the One should combat this problem. The issue now, though, is that the vast majority of PS4 gamers are not going to have anything resembling similar functionality. This again would leave third party developers in a position where they see little incentive to spend a significant amount of time implementing this functionality into third party games when around 50% of the market will have no ability to make use of them. Had the PS4 shipped with their camera system built in, even if it is a lesser technology, developers on multi-platform titles would only have to make minor tweaks between the Kinect elements and the PS4 Eye camera.

I almost wonder if the move was even a bit more devious than just undercutting the price of the One. Maybe they realized that their system was far enough behind the Kinect that they didn't want multi-platform titles featuring functionality that makes it very apparent? Either way it's an annoying move by Sony that probably ends up hurting the Kinect far more than it does Sony.

 

[TheJoester09]

This pretty much summarizes the entire problem between Microsoft and the media/consumers. Microsoft tries to push for innovation and is completely up front about EVERYTHING, and they get slammed by the media and consumers until they're forced to backtrack. Sony, on the other hand, conveniently omits these details to thunderous applause, and things like this go unnoticed by anyone because most people's minds are already made up.

Another example of this is Windows Phone 7.8. The 7.8 upgrade is no different than Apple upgrading older hardware to the newest iOS version but ommitting features, but no one notices because they emphatically announce that "ALL EXISTING DEVICES WILL RECEIVE THE UPGRADE!!!!!!!" Microsoft always gets punished for their transparency, and it's starting to get ridiculous.

 

[martinmc78]

Here's a couple of sentences I live by.

Don't worry about things that you cannot control.
Make every decision the correct one for you.

Apply those two in virtually any situation and all the stuff that goes on around you doesn't matter much anymore.
The media circus that swells around every bit of info from MS is just that - a circus. I cant control it so I ignore it. Ive made my decision to buy an xbox one and its the correct decision for me no matter what anyone else says or thinks.

Xbox one will get better exclusives because of the functionality that the Kinect brings - dead rising 3 is a prime example - the multiplatform games that we get maybe wont have any Kinect features to begin with - but stuff can be added in post launch via patches to enhance our experience

 

[HeyCori]

I was also disappointed to see that Sony wasn't shipping the Eye with each system. It's going to fade into obscurity like every single Eye before it. Developers will not utilize a peripheral unless they know consumers own it. The Eye will have to sell like Kinect 1.0 to get any support. Judging from previous sales, that just isn't going to happen.

 

[Keith Wallace]

I think pretty much everyone has realized that one of the big problems with the first Kinect is that developers were kind of reluctant to build titles around it when only a small percentage of users had one.

I maintain that the sheer lack of quality in the initial Kinect had as much to do with lack of developer interest and user base. That thing had awful input lag, so any complex games would have failed at using it.

 

[Keith Wallace]

This pretty much summarizes the entire problem between Microsoft and the media/consumers. Microsoft tries to push for innovation and is completely up front about EVERYTHING, and they get slammed by the media and consumers until they're forced to backtrack. Sony, on the other hand, conveniently omits these details to thunderous applause, and things like this go unnoticed by anyone because most people's minds are already made up.

Another example of this is Windows Phone 7.8. The 7.8 upgrade is no different than Apple upgrading older hardware to the newest iOS version but ommitting features, but no one notices because they emphatically announce that "ALL EXISTING DEVICES WILL RECEIVE THE UPGRADE!!!!!!!" Microsoft always gets punished for their transparency, and it's starting to get ridiculous.

I must have missed the transparency. They didn't discuss the DRM upon its announcement in full. They didn't explain the sharing features in an up-front manner. They didn't explain why the Kinect HAD to be plugged in (and sold as a bundle). They didn't explain why they couldn't allow for backwards-compatibly with headsets, and even controllers. They didn't explain why they couldn't have game backwards compatibility (considering the CPU architecture change from the Xbox to the Xbox 360 didn't stop them). They didn't explain much of ANYTHING from a transparent point of view.

As for the Windows Phone comparison, it's not even close to the same. Don't get me wrong, I hate Apple's products. However, they don't suffer from the issues with older devices that pre-WP8 devices do. They lack a number of applications because of the way the OS works, which Apple's devices don't have such an issue with (at least, not to the same extent). I get WHY it happened with Microsoft's platform, but it's still not a reasonable comparison.

 

[sinime]

I think MS made the right move including Kinect... Without it, 90% of the TV stuff would be worthless and I an looking forward to the TV functionality more and more as time goes by... Give us a release date for crying out loud!

 

[TonyDedrick]

I'm not losing any sleep over it if that is the case. However, I'm with Keith in that it a lacking product also contributed to the lack of development for the Kinect. I mean, its not like it didn't sell decently for a peripheral

 

[bilzkh]

If I were Microsoft I'd push to market a $199 Xbox One Arcade (with Kinect), maybe this way we'll have 75% of the total gaming market on Kinect.

 

[Robert Carpenter]

If I were Microsoft I'd push to market a $199 Xbox One Arcade (with Kinect), maybe this way we'll have 75% of the total gaming market on Kinect.

And if you were Microsoft, you'd be bankrupt lol

Lamborghini should just sell their cars for $30,000 so they sell more cars right? Who needs profit anyways?

 

[bilzkh]

And if you were Microsoft, you'd be bankrupt lol

Lamborghini should just sell their cars for $30,000 so they sell more cars right? Who needs profit anyways?

Exactly, all the more reason to ensure as many people are exposed to Bing, Skype, etc. to make up for losses.

Though seriously, IMHO the value of Kinect is in it enabling users to deeply immerse themselves within the X1 OS, e.g. through gestures and voice-commands, one can breeze through app such as IE, Skype, etc. This alone will be of huge importance if and when we start seeing some key Windows 8/RT apps hit X1, even if they're limited to big-name official apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Flipboard, etc.

But this is just the beginning. The real strength of Kinect shines through when it is able to observe end-users as they play X1, and in turn, help Microsoft develop actionable computing tasks in Bing. For example, if your household is one where you're frequently discussing groceries, then one of these days the X1 will record a list for you (on OneNote) while you sound off the things you need to your spouse/kids/parents/roommate. Alternatively, if you're talking about visiting the mall, X1 may send an alert notifying you that the mall is closing early, etc.

In essence, Kinect is basically the eyes and ears of a Star Trek-like A.I Microsoft is probably hoping to develop to take on Google Now.