Tag Archives | Microsoft Kinect

More than a year old, “Milo” is still Kinect for Xbox 360’s most impressive tech demo. Sadly, Kotaku’s unnamed sources say the project has been cancelled.

The sources say the technology behind Milo will be put to use in another game based on Fable, a series of role-playing games developed by the same studio that put Milo together. But Milo himself is, reportedly, no more.

Milo debuted during E3 2009, when Kinect was introduced under the codename Project Natal. In a video, shown at Microsoft’s press conference, a young boy on the screen interacted with an older girl in real life.  Milo referred to the girl by name, responded to what she said and how she said it, and could even recognize a drawing that the girl showed to Kinect’s motion-detecting camera.

With Kinect due to launch in November, supported mostly by simple, casual games, Milo remains fresh in the mind. It’s a sign of Kinect’s potential even as Microsoft sees fit to mimic the Wii’s stable of sports, exercise and racing games out of the gate.

I’d love to see more than just mini-games from a device that can recognize movement, facial expressions and speech. Hopefully, the supposed Fable tie-in game will do great things, but I’m sad that such a powerful and simple concept — hanging out with an avatar — isn’t coming to Kinect any time soon, even if it’s a little bit creepy.

Microsoft has cleared up a couple of rumors about a new Xbox 360 model and the Kinect motion-sensing camera, revealing prices and details for both.

The Kinect camera, bundled with one game, will cost $150, the same price Microsoft posted as a “an estimate only” to its online store a month ago. The game is “Kinect Adventures,” a collection of minigames that includes jumping and ducking to avoid obstacles on a moving platform, and moving back and forth in a raft to navigate through rapids.

Microsoft also has a new Xbox 360 model coming August 3, priced at $200 without Kinect. Like the one spotted on Amazon Germany last week, the basic Xbox 360 has a 4 GB flash drive and built-in 802.11 n Wi-Fi. Later this year, the console will be bundled with Kinect and Kinect Adventures for $300. No word on whether the 250 GB console model will get a Kinect bundle.

I’m glad Microsoft went with Kinect Adventures for the console bundle. I tried it at E3, and though it’s not a shining example of what Kinect could be, it’s a better tech demo than Kinect Sports, another minigame collection that just seems too much like Wii Sports. (For that matter, running in place for the hurdles minigame was too much like the Power Pad.)

Microsoft is promising more than 15 games at launch, including Dance Central, arguably the best use of the technology yet. The game is like Guitar Hero for dance, prompting the player to perform full-body dance routines and scoring for accuracy. In another strike at the Wii, Dance Central will cost $50, not $60 like most Xbox 360 games.

Kinect is coming in November, with pre-orders available now. I’m interested in theory, but still waiting to be wowed by the software. That didn’t happen at E3.

Microsoft let E3 come and go without a word on the price of Kinect for Xbox 360, but now the Microsoft Store lists a tentative price of $150 for the motion-sensing camera.

“Official pricing has not been announced,” warns the site. “$149.99 is an estimate only and subject to change.” MSNBC cites a Microsoft representative who said that price is based on retailer estimates. Last week, Gamestop started selling Kinect for pre-order, also for $150.

As PC World’s Matt Peckham speculates, Microsoft wants to start selling these things ASAP, and it’s better to offer a worst-case price and drop it before launch if necessary.

Still, why hold off on an official price during the big show? I can guess at a few reasons:

• Microsoft really hasn’t figured out pricing yet, or thinks it can bring the cost down between now and November 4.
• Microsoft is still figuring out bundles — both with Xbox 360 hardware and with Kinect games — and doesn’t want to make a big announcement on pricing until everything’s squared away.
• The general attitude in the press is that $150 is too expensive for Kinect (I beg to differ). Announcing a price at E3 could’ve derailed the product’s flashy debut.
• A tentative price lets Microsoft see how many people are interested by the E3 buzz alone.

I imagine the answer is a combination of all those factors, but its kind of silly to sell something at a placeholder price in any case. I hope Kinect’s real price stops being a mystery in a week or so.