The patent seems to cover many different ways of shooting, not just the thumb trigger.

That sounds like a very disjointed strategy ...

Kinect and a 3D eye-toy are essentially the same idea, smart-glass has more in common with PS-Vita/PS3 connectivity than it does with the Wii U tablet, the PS4 and XBox 720 are likely going to retain conventional controllers for "core" games, Sony and Microsoft are likely going to continue focusing on online gameplay and ignoring local multiplayer, and both systems will likely be more powerful and more expensive than the Wii U. Essentially two companies executing the exact same strategy against another company that has a different vision.

I have a feeling the Japanese will put this instrument to good use...

This new camera has a lot of potential, but it depends on whether the new camera can be used properly. I'm curious to see if this camera will recognize several other finger motions/gestures. The augmented reality tech and PS Move will benefit greatly with this camera thanks to higher resolution and depth perception.

It is a disjointed strategy but it makes sense from the perspective of a western business manager trying to be more inclusive of different market segments with the same product. You have the premium product (Elite/250GB console) the bait and switch product (original Xbox Core) the core product (Premium) the value added product (Live) the loyalty inducements (achievements/non standards compliant network + subsidy with Xbox Live) and the differentiator (Kinect) all coming from the one company. I'm not making a judgement about the validity, I'm agreeing that it is disjointed. It does however make sense to be disjointed in some ways however so this isn't necessarily terrible.

I think your opinion of what Microsoft have been doing is wrong. Microsoft has not ignored local multiplayer given the fact that all their headline/big titles have included it such as the 3 big shooters; Call of Duty, Halo and Gears of War all have it as well as their racing games, their RPGs and their 'casual offerings' all offer it as well. Sony has been the one whom hasn't really thought about the metrics like latency, local play etc. Microsoft's multiplayer is infact the most casual friendly given the fact that they include a universal match making system which means that people aren't likely to get hammered in every game they play because skill is measured and ranked overall and people are matched against like players.

Edit: In regards to Kinect 2.0. I believe it will be a good product because it has the opportunity to allow the console to do things which other consoles cannot do which are valuable on their own to enough people to be worthwhile. Whilst it looks very similar to Eyetoy the scope of the product and the potential which can only really be unlocked by putting a lot of time/effort/money is an order of magnitude in difference. They can leverage it as a tool for communication, video with avatar, teleconferencing, education, clothes shopping, multi media integration, augmented reality, voice recognition and motion gaming. It is 'good enough' to match or beat the Wii mote for the big genres which utilised motion; sports, dance, fitness etc without compromising the core functionality of the consoles controller. The Wii mote is a much much larger compromise than Kinect + controller is which is why Nintendo moved away from it.

The majority of the patent is about holding a gun like object and tracking that. They merely included hand tracking to express an alternative embodiment.

So when Microsoft and Nintendo do something it's garbage, but when Sony Copies it's revolutionary?

Seems Legit

All I can is say is that E3 2013 can't come soon enough.

Didn't Kevin Butler say this was third grade? I wonder what he thinks now.

Well said man. Its no wonder sony are falling behind. Yeah you can say eye toy but kinect actually has more interesting features in it then the simple thing sony came up with.

Its like sony is seeing what works for everyone else and following them. But the others do well because they are being original. Also sony don't really have any true mascot. Microsoft has master chief and nintendo has mario. To me sony are just doing all these 'new ips' they are being praised for just because they haven't found something that sells on the scale of gran turismo and a car doesn't really cut it for the face of your system. Sony are pretty much turning into their own worst enemy.