When Kinect was demonstrated at E3 this year, where many attendees scored a hands-on, it was noted that sitting was not quite compatible. This caused a bit of questioning regarding the option and breadth of game types Kinect will allow. Not to mention accessibility to handicapped gamers who require a wheelchair.
Given that Kinect still has some time before launch, we were optimistic this it was a key aspect they were going to fix, and it seems our optimism paid off.
A representative from Microsoft helped clear the confusion:
So basically, it is up to the game developers to include sitting as a recognized stance in the game.
“Kinect can be used while sitting when an experience is developed with sitting in mind.”
This is an obvious feature that should be enabled for navigating through the Xbox 360 dashboard, i.e. cycling through your Netflix queue, Xbox Live menus and apps like ESPN, Zune and Video Kinect. Microsoft even states these examples as “experiences where we expect people to be sitting,” ensuring you can still control Kinect enabled games and features when you want to sit.
Although Microsoft confirmed that controlling a game while sitting is possible, they pinpoint their main focus for Kinect:
This solidifies their focus to expand into the Wii-like game styles but, with knowing developers can create games with sitting in mind, we should see some creative titles come out for fans of the couch.
“[It’s going to be] natural for Kinect games to be designed to get you off the couch: dancing, running, dodging, bending and kicking.”
Kinect was announced at last year under the name Project Natal, branded at this year’s E3 with the name Kinect and will hit stores this November.
Are you looking forward to Kinect? What type of gameplay and controls are you hoping for?
Source: Joystiq
