Kotaku: Kinect Mendatory in next Xbox. Plus more.

http://kotaku.com/5982986/we-know-all-about-the-next-xbox-from-someone-who-says-theyve-got-one

As we reported a year ago, the new version of the Kinect motion-control sensor array will be included with every Durango sold. The unit seems far superior to the one currently found for the Xbox 360 (or the PC, for that matter).

Perhaps most importantly, this isn't an optional accessory. It's mandatory. Not only does a Kinect ship with every console, but it must be plugged in and calibrated for the console to even function.

This requirement is due to the way Kinect has been integrated with the Durango; because every console can be guaranteed of having the camera, developers can now program every game with the peripheral in mind.

It's also because the Kinect will always be watching you. The new version of the camera is able to track up to six individual "skeletons" in the same room at all times.

The camera has also been improved upon the models currently available, with the Durango's version capable of independently tracking your thumbs, determining whether your hand is open or closed, and even, it's claimed, reading your facial expression and seeing whether you're angry, sad or excited. The improved viewing angle is so wide that the new Kinect doesn't even need to nod to find the best viewing angle.Kotaku

The Durango will be able to run more than one game or app at once, according to the information shared with us. If you're, say, a computer or smartphone user, this is not exactly sending-a-man-to-the-moon level of innovation. But game consoles have long been stuck just running the system-level functions (cross-game voice-chat, Achievement alerts, etc) while a single game runs. On an Xbox 360, even an app as simple as Twitter could only be used if whatever game the user was playing was shut down first. Durango, thankfully, gets past that.

The Durango is said to also allow games to be put into "suspend" and "constrained" states, which seemingly allow users to pause a game, switch to a second game, then return to the first game without losing their place, provided game developers follow some Microsoft protocols. Again, this is no revolution for users of computers, phones, or even Nintendo and Sony handheld gaming machines, but it is one giant leap for consoles.Kotaku

The mandatory Kinnect thing sounds like BS. That alone would drive the cost of the system pretty high I would think.rragnaar

Why do you think they are going with a cheaper GPU and DDR3 RAM?

Despite the mandatory Kinect, the X720 is still packing a good amount of power and I like the fact that all of them ship with 500 GB hard drives this time around.

I can care less about it really. I have a kinect for my 360 and I hardly really use it. This will be just another thing to put on my entertainment system.

I may be alone here but the new kinect enhancements sound very futristic. I am intrigued.  Minority report is here.

F***... this is what I was really hoping would not happen. 

Also am I the only one uncomfortable with having a camera watching everything you do?

F***... this is what I was really hoping would not happen.

Also am I the only one uncomfortable with having a camera watching everything you do?

Vari3ty

No, you're not. I don't like Facetime or iChat or any other of that bullshlt -- I sure as hell don't want to have a game system that watches me all the time. This thing sounds shlttier and shlttier with each passing day. Microsoft has gone from being slightly desperate to fvcking creepy.

Why does MS feel the need to push Kinect when nobody really gives two f**** about it? Jesus...

Suspending games seems like it'd be more useful for a hand-held system than a home console. Wonder what they've got planned for that.

Why does MS feel the need to push Kinect when nobody really gives two f**** about it? Jesus...Metamania

Because it sold an absurd amount of units. It was a million in its first couple months or so, wasn't it?

I don't mind the game installs as long as they're seamless and run in the background. I'm not a fan of Kinect, though and dislike how Microsoft are relentlessly pushing it into our homes.

Doesn't sound like a problem. Misleading article titles, kinect is built in, which is what they have been saying for a long time now, a short instal of games on a 500GB harddrive isn't going to hurt anything. Nothing to complain about, unlike the rumors of blocking used games and having to be always online.Legolas_Katarn

I don't mind the Kinect itself. If it was a built-in feature and it cost them nothing to put it in the console then I'd think "sure why not".
What bugs me about it is that the inclusion of the new Kinect into their next-gen console will jack the console's price up another $50-100 for something that I don't even want. That's disappointing.

Game installs are a good thing and if the hard drive is in each and every console that means developers can utilize it to improve performance.

As it stands most games run a bit faster once you install them and it also takes the wear and tear off the disc drive.

F***... this is what I was really hoping would not happen. 

Also am I the only one uncomfortable with having a camera watching everything you do?

Vari3ty

Especially when I'm playing in my underpants..

Sounds terrible. Kinect in your Elder Scrolls, Kinect in your Fallout. Kinect in your Halo. Hell no.

I really don't want to spend more money because the console ships with something that I don't want. JML897

Pretty much, yeah.

Every console shipping with a 500GB HDD is great news, however, as are mandatory game installs.

The only way new controls will become a standard is if they are mandatory so i am pleased MS is going ahead with that. BUT Kinect wont work in my current setup, I have no room. So it needs to be very reworked or this thing will not work in any small room or dorm room and MS cannot have that.dvader654

That is what pisses me off so much about you at times, man. It isn't your open-mindedness to new things, but your conciliatory attitude about new things that DON'T WORK.

I mean, I can understand your belief that advancement takes time, but as a consumer, why would that piss you off any less? You are spending money for a product and as such, you have a vested interest in getting the most mileage out of that investment, and with that comes an almost brutal responsibility to gorilla fvck these companies when they try something stupid that does NOT WORK on your dime.

Do you see what I mean? Seeing you actively petition for shlt that doesn't work just for the sake of discovery breaks my heart, man, because my answer is always the same: not on my fvcking dime. My message to these companies is simple: if you expect to earn my money, you had better take great pains to make it the best on the market, to make it have the best controls it can, and if you offer me inferior alternatives then I will treat you as the enemy to the industry that you are. I have seen the damage wrought by all this control bullshlt with the Wii, and how it didn't change a goddamn thing in the end, except to make a vibrant industry weaker. 

The only way new controls will become a standard is if they are mandatory so i am pleased MS is going ahead with that. BUT Kinect wont work in my current setup, I have no room. So it needs to be very reworked or this thing will not work in any small room or dorm room and MS cannot have that.dvader654

That is what pisses me off so much about you at times, man. It isn't your open-mindedness to new things, but your conciliatory attitude about new things that DON'T WORK.

I mean, I can understand your belief that advancement takes time, but as a consumer, why would that piss you off any less? You are spending money for a product and as such, you have a vested interest in getting the most mileage out of that investment, and with that comes an almost brutal responsibility to gorilla fvck these companies when they try something stupid that does NOT WORK on your dime.

Do you see what I mean? Seeing you actively petition for shlt that doesn't work just for the sake of discovery breaks my heart, man, because my answer is always the same: not on my fvcking dime. My message to these companies is simple: if you expect to earn my money, you had better take great pains to make it the best on the market, to make it have the best controls it can, and if you offer me inferior alternatives then I will treat you as the enemy to the industry that you are. I have seen the damage wrought by all this control bullshlt with the Wii, and how it didn't change a goddamn thing in the end, except to make a vibrant industry weaker. 

Shame-usBlackley

Our only hope now is that Kinect works now (watch any video of Kinect game and it'll be assuredly busted in a thousand different ways) and that developers will understand how to use it effectively (that is, not shoehorning it in). That's how it's gotta be if they're gonna be forcing it upon us. Can't very well justify it otherwise. (Well, they could, but I can't imagine they would be able to keep finding success out of a wonky device forever.)

Our only hope now is that Kinect works now (watch any video of Kinect game and it'll be assuredly busted in a thousand different ways) and that developers will understand how to use it effectively (that is, not shoehorning it in). That's how it's gotta be if they're gonna be forcing it upon us. Can't very well justify it otherwise. (Well, they could, but I can't imagine they would be able to keep finding success out of a wonky device forever.)

c_rake

Yeah that's kind of my point. What space world is Microsoft living on where a sequel to Kinect is even justified? It has been out several years and it's done jackshlt for changing how games are played in any meaningful way, so really, what's the point? 

I just don't understand how a successful company like Microsoft can greenlight such a pile of shlt and then insist that POS2.0 gets made. If developers wanted to make games on a device like Kinect, they would have. There were enough of them sold to justify it, or so they say. But yeah, that's what I keep getting hung up on:

The device sucked. The people who bought it don't buy games for it. And the developers haven't exactly been a fount of creativity with it anyway. So why the fvck are we being forced to watch the same shltty movie again when we know the ending sucks balls?

[QUOTE="c_rake"]

Our only hope now is that Kinect works now (watch any video of Kinect game and it'll be assuredly busted in a thousand different ways) and that developers will understand how to use it effectively (that is, not shoehorning it in). That's how it's gotta be if they're gonna be forcing it upon us. Can't very well justify it otherwise. (Well, they could, but I can't imagine they would be able to keep finding success out of a wonky device forever.)

Shame-usBlackley

Yeah that's kind of my point. What space world is Microsoft living on where a sequel to Kinect is even justified? It has been out several years and it's done jackshlt for changing how games are played in any meaningful way, so really, what's the point? 

I just don't understand how a successful company like Microsoft can greenlight such a pile of shlt and then insist that POS2.0 gets made. If developers wanted to make games on a device like Kinect, they would have. There were enough of them sold to justify it, or so they say. But yeah, that's what I keep getting hung up on:

The device sucked. The people who bought it don't buy games for it. And the developers haven't exactly been a fount of creativity with it anyway. So why the fvck are we being forced to watch the same shltty movie again when we know the ending sucks balls?

Well this IS Kotaku. So it may not be true. 

Well this IS Kotaku. So it may not be true. 

S0lidSnake

Nope, it's coming from too many sources now. The damage being done between this and the used game blocking thing coupled with Microsoft's silence tells me these rumors are very accurate. Microsoft would be all, "Wat, no wai!" if none of this was true. 

Yeah that's kind of my point. What space world is Microsoft living on where a sequel to Kinect is even justified? It has been out several years and it's done jackshlt for changing how games are played in any meaningful way, so really, what's the point? 

I just don't understand how a successful company like Microsoft can greenlight such a pile of shlt and then insist that POS2.0 gets made. If developers wanted to make games on a device like Kinect, they would have. There were enough of them sold to justify it, or so they say. But yeah, that's what I keep getting hung up on:

The device sucked. The people who bought it don't buy games for it. And the developers haven't exactly been a fount of creativity with it anyway. So why the fvck are we being forced to watch the same shltty movie again when we know the ending sucks balls?

Shame-usBlackley

I assume its use outside of gaming made it worth iterating on. (They released a SDK for recrational and professional use in ways not related to gaming after a million different kinect hacks started cropping up.) Bundling it with the Xbox is likely just a consequence of its success. Even if it barely functioned, the fact remains that it was a hit with the casual games market, since minigames are about the only thing it reliably works with. Microsoft probably still wants to keep it around as a means of attempting to keep that corner of the market on-hand despite its short-term nature.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

Well this IS Kotaku. So it may not be true. 

Shame-usBlackley

Nope, it's coming from too many sources now. The damage being done between this and the used game blocking thing coupled with Microsoft's silence tells me these rumors are very accurate. Microsoft would be all, "Wat, no wai!" if none of this was true. 

I wouldn't really be against Kinect being a large part the next Xbox if it is much improved over it's 360 version, and games like Halo still have mostly standard controller support. 

[QUOTE="Shame-usBlackley"]

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

Well this IS Kotaku. So it may not be true. 

rragnaar

Nope, it's coming from too many sources now. The damage being done between this and the used game blocking thing coupled with Microsoft's silence tells me these rumors are very accurate. Microsoft would be all, "Wat, no wai!" if none of this was true. 

If they made those type of statements then many would jump up and say that the rumor are true.

Microsoft saying nothing does not mean the rumors are true or false. The number of sources about a rumor also does not matter since these is new gen rumor time.

If they made those type of statements then many would jump up and say that the rumor are true.wiouds

No. Never does anyone say "Yep, those rumors are true." They always decline to comment instead.

[QUOTE="wiouds"]If they made those type of statements then many would jump up and say that the rumor are true.c_rake

No. Never does anyone say "Yep, those rumors are true." They always decline to comment instead.

...'no comment' or a 'we don't comment on rumors or speculation', let alone an outright denial, ...rragnaar

I was saying if Micosoft said any statements like the one in the above quote then many would jump to the rumors are true.

They were saying in line with "since Micosoft is saying nothing then the rumors are likely true" and I was pointing out that many would say the rumors are true if Micosoft release a statement.

The Durango setup will probably be different than the final setup for consumers because kinect. To make it mandatory to use that is not a good idea because every consumer's gaming space is different. Some can use kinect and there is not enough room for others. To force it on them is a bad idea.

So to recap these rumors: 

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

So to recap these rumors: 

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

Vari3ty

HDMI In. Cable Box in your console!

Joking aside, games. It's going to have lots of them. And awesome ones too. 

So to recap these rumors: 

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

Vari3ty

The online-always things is bullcrap; feel free to quote me on that. There's no way MS (or any other company for that matter) is going to severely limit the potential consumer base by making broadband access (which is still not available everywhere) the only way to play games on a console. Even here in the states this would be a dangerous business move and internationally the issue of broadband access (or lack thereof) becomes even more compounded.

And I also don't believe that physical copies of games will be forever tied to one system. This same rumor was floating around back when the XB360/PS3 were in development so this particular rumor is actually a bit stale. I don't see MS doing this unless Sony follows suit because it would be a huge demarcation between the consoles that would inevitably be a PR nightmare for MS.

The Kinnect thing could be true and while annoying it is hardly a deal breaker assuming they don't predicate their entire strategy on motion control.

The rumors are flying loose and free and frankly, I'm not taking any of it seriously until we get a true look at these new consoles for ourselves.

[QUOTE="Vari3ty"]

So to recap these rumors:

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

Grammaton-Cleric

The online-always things is bullcrap; feel free to quote me on that. There's no way MS (or any other company for that matter) is going to severely limit the potential consumer base by making broadband access (which is still not available everywhere) the only way to play games on a console. Even here in the states this would be a dangerous business move and internationally the issue of broadband access (or lack thereof) becomes even more compounded.

And I also don't believe that physical copies of games will be forever tied to one system. This same rumor was floating around back when the XB360/PS3 were in development so this particular rumor is actually a bit stale. I don't see MS doing this unless Sony follows suit because it would be a huge demarcation between the consoles that would inevitably be a PR nightmare for MS.

The Kinnect thing could be true and while annoying it is hardly a deal breaker assuming they don't predicate their entire strategy on motion control.

The rumors are flying loose and free and frankly, I'm not taking any of it seriously until we get a true look at these new consoles for ourselves.

Yeah, its hard to believe that the X720 will be the collection of core alienating features rumor makes it out to be. Even if it is at this second, its quite possible public reaction will lead them to reconsider. It might be to late to change the hardware, but its certainly not too late to change the OS.

Suspending games seems like it'd be more useful for a hand-held system than a home console. Wonder what they've got planned for that.

[QUOTE="Metamania"]Why does MS feel the need to push Kinect when nobody really gives two f**** about it? Jesus...c_rake

Because it sold an absurd amount of units. It was a million in its first couple months or so, wasn't it?

Just because it "sold an absurd amount of units" doesn't mean it's a good product at all. You need to realize that.

[QUOTE="c_rake"]

Suspending games seems like it'd be more useful for a hand-held system than a home console. Wonder what they've got planned for that.

[QUOTE="Metamania"]Why does MS feel the need to push Kinect when nobody really gives two f**** about it? Jesus...Metamania

Because it sold an absurd amount of units. It was a million in its first couple months or so, wasn't it?

Just because it "sold an absurd amount of units" doesn't mean it's a good product at all. You need to realize that.

Sales aren't a barometer of quality (I think Serenity is a billion times better than the new Star Wars movies) but its perfectly reasonable for profit seeking companies to look at sales before they decide what they want to invest in. Saleswise, the Kinect has been a phenomena, so it would be very strange if MS as a company wasn't enthusiastic about it, even though its perfectly reasonable that hardcore gamers aren't (casual money spends just as well as hardcore money).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-12-xbox-360-worldwide-sales-top-76-million

Sales of Kinect have topped 24 million worldwide - more than Nintendo's GameCube (21.7 million) and equal to the original Xbox - according to the latest stats released by Microsoft.

Microsoft also says it has now shifted 76 million Xbox 360 consoles - suggesting an attach rate of nearly one Kinect to every three Xbox 360s.

[QUOTE="Vari3ty"]

So to recap these rumors: 

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

S0lidSnake

HDMI In. Cable Box in your console!

Joking aside, games. It's going to have lots of them. And awesome ones too. 

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

[QUOTE="Vari3ty"]

So to recap these rumors: 

-No used games

-Always-online connection required

-Mandatory Kinect

Has there been a single good rumor regarding this console yet?

Black_Knight_00

HDMI In. Cable Box in your console!

Joking aside, games. It's going to have lots of them. And awesome ones too. 

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"][QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

HDMI In. Cable Box in your console!

Joking aside, games. It's going to have lots of them. And awesome ones too. 

OctaBech