Just finished reading Digital Foundry's latest analysis of Kinect and thought I'd post it up as I didn't see a thread on it.

I thought it was an interesting read and revealed a lot about Kinect as it will launch, where it might excel and where its weaker, as well as giving a good view on the realities facing developers using the device.

The final comment regarding Move I found interesting, probably because to be honest it confirms my own views on the two devices from what we can glean so far.

Have a read if you're interested in the device or motion devices in general.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-the-case-for-kinect-article

The first two pages were just information most people probably already know, but I think page three was indeed interesting. I didn't know Kinect's depth sensor has only 320x240 resolution.

What I found quite ironic by the way was this:

"and giving us enough technical info to banish the somewhat unkind "EyeToy HD" talk that has dogged the internet since E3: Kinect is a state-of-the-art consumer-level piece of motion capture equipment with voice recognition and biometric ID capabilities and Microsoft wants you to know that."

What really sets Kinect apart from the EyeToy-camera is the depth sensor, and the depth sensor is not even used or necessary for voice regognition or biometric ID capabilities. These two could be done with an EyeToy-camera just as well. That's just a matter of software, so using those for proving that Kinect is not just an improved EyeToy is really quite stupid. That's like saying "PS3 is not at all like the 360, because it's got HD graphics!"...

very interesting article but it doesn't make kinect's future seem to rosey.  the point about the skeletal system being heavily tied to avatars is interesting.  after seeing how developers were not willing to exeriment much with the wii mote i don't see many developers "going it alone" as the article said.  no fingers movements is also very limiting.  and i'm not sure what to make of the sitting down part...it seems to me you either have an open space to play kinect in or have a couch.  the depth range isn't huge so i'm not sure about having room to play and a couch in range of kinect.

anyhoo, i look forward to the bickering that is undoubtedly about to happen.

Yes the third page is the most interesting, the first two just give the background detail on the tech.

I'd focused more on the Kinect tech than the software and the SDK so I was most interested to find out about the skeletal system being so tightly coupled to Avatar's and how most titles not using them were in fact writing their own routines for processing the input.

For some reason the article really made me consider how dependant (probably) Kinect is going to be on developers thinking outside the box and specific to the device itself.  I get the feeling MS are in some ways putting more effort into titles for Kinect than they have so far for the 360, which got plenty of titles without much effort from MS themselves.  And if it's going to succeed they're clearly going to have to do so.  Kinect simply isn't going to pick up easy titles the way it looks like Move will judging by the Tiger Woods title.

I have gone from being interested in Kinect to a less interested as the specs have changed and the focus has switched to the titles it has, but the feeling I got was the tech does work within it's own limitations and that so long as developers produce decent code (or design their titles to align to MS SDK) then it should deliver well enough for the titles that suit it - and in fact that's going to be the key to Kinect.  Not providing a better version of the Wiimote (which is really what Move is) nor an alternative approach to existing genres, but something different.

But it's clearly more limited than initially implied, particularly before they dropped the specs, losing a lot of fine guesture sensing capabilities as a result.

If Kinect does find an audience though, then I suspect we'll see Kinect 2 aiming for the specs promised this time round, hooked up to whatever console MS deliver after the 360.

It all comes down to software -- and that is where the problem is ... there does not seem to be a lot of new and interesting things out there right now using Kinect.  And it shows that third-parties may not be so quick to adopt it for core games since it requires avatar use.

Also, related to the last comments, has anyone seen the data to show how the Move stacks up against the WM-Plus?  

Mike from Morgantown

great read. I also loved the move video.

What's great is that I really saw the niche opportunities that people would really be into. Dancing and fitness etc for kinect, and the move video that is linked to is ridiculous. Some high quality professional software possible in there. 3D manipulation and so forth.

Great thread, thanks for the read.

Te text I highlighted above  is a really good point. Since some third-parties have done a pretty good job on the Wii and some cannot even properly tell when you are moving the Wii Remote.  It could end up being the same on Kinect -- and the casuals quickly learn what works and what does not.

Mike from Morgantown

The more I read on Kinect the more I think we'll be waiting for Kinect 2 before the tech is fully realised.

Exactly.

I think now its limited to exercise and dance games and how many of them can you get?

"However, in the longer term, it's the system's basic demand for innovation from developers that may well be the making of it.'

That's what I've been saying all along.  The industry NEEDS to innovate, or it will stagnate and regress.