Fri, Aug 27, 2010 | 10:50 BST

Tsunoda: Kinect supports more then two people, limitations are developer choices

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Kinect chief Kudo Tsunoda has told Videogamer that the motion tech can support more then two people, saying limitations on launch titles are down to developer choice and not the hardware.

“I think that it all depends on the kind of experience that you want to build,” said Tsunoda.

“Certainly if you look at a game, go down on the floor, Dance Central is already incorporating a lot more than two players. So you know it’s not necessarily any kind of limitation as much as it is developers just trying to customise the experiences around what they think is the best way to play.”

Sit down. Stand up.

Tsunoda told VG247 in Cologne last week that, contrary to previous reports, the motion camera will support those who sit down and stand up and “everything in between”.

He also told us in Germany the tech will evolve “over the length of the entire Xbox platform”.

“Certainly if you look at a game, go down on the floor, Dance Central is already incorporating a lot more than two players. So you know it’s not necessarily any kind of limitation as much as it is developers just trying to customise the experiences around what they think is the best way to play,” said Tsunoda.

“I think that, just as you see that with Xbox Live, that’s something you’re going to see with Kinect as well.”

Kinect launches for £130 on November 10 in Europe and the UK, with a November 4 launch in the US.

21 comment-trail-alt Posted in: Hot, Kinect, Microsoft, Xbox 360, gamescom 2010
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21 comments

#1

DrDamn
27/08/10, 11:15 am

Play.com specs …

Skeletal Tracking System
Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players
Tracks 20 joints per active player
Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars

Surely they get this sort of thing from MS PR. Sort out the message. We could do with a bit of clarity here. Are the more than two players in Dance Central active players?

#2

Blerk
27/08/10, 11:23 am

I’m guessing it can track two people with full skeletal tracking and if you want to track more you’d have to only do partial tracking. Something like that.

#3

justiceblob
27/08/10, 11:26 am

Its a shame that Dance Central doesnt actually ever have 2 active players, MAJOR pitfall IMO.

#4

Tonka
27/08/10, 11:28 am

(Mark) -Is one enough?
(Anthony) -No.
(Mark) -More then?
(Two people) -Limitations are developer choices!
(Anthony) _Who were they?
(Mark) -Never mind.
(Anthony) -OK, whatever. But yeah, one is not enough, neither is two.
(Mark) -So you want more than two then?
(Anthony) -When?

#5

Syrok
27/08/10, 12:11 pm

I like how you used the same quote twice. :p

#6

get2sammyb
27/08/10, 12:13 pm

More and more I get the feeling that Microsoft’s not entirely sure what it can and can’t do. There seem to be so many conflicting reports around this thing.

#7

OrphanageExplosion
27/08/10, 12:18 pm

Kinect is a conduit for data. What developers do with the data is all down to their own ingenuity. In this sense Kudo’s not saying anything that isn’t true.

However, what he isn’t saying is that the Microsoft supplied libraries as they stand right now do indeed have plenty of limitations – as evidenced in the games he himself has produced.

#8

Gheritt White
27/08/10, 12:31 pm

#9

Dannybuoy
27/08/10, 12:48 pm

But as Kinect is a software solution and not a devoted chipset, won’t more than a few people being tracked rinse the processor?

#10

freedoms_stain
27/08/10, 1:08 pm

There’s a then/than spelling error in there Mr Cullen.

#11

Gadzooks!
27/08/10, 2:08 pm

“Kinect is a conduit for data. What developers do with the data is all down to their own ingenuity.”

This is the long and short of it.

Libraries are there to provide easy functionality but at the end of the day custom libraries can easily be written, and the one and only limitation of the device is it’s IR camera resolution.

#12

DrDamn
27/08/10, 2:16 pm

@11
That bit which they made one quarter of the resolution it was originally intended to be :/.

Why has the camera still got a motor in it when they seem intent on cutting everything else back?

#13

itsucks
27/08/10, 2:24 pm

Hi “Dr”Mark, still terrified of móve being outsold 2:1 this holiday?, ha ha

#14

Gheritt White
27/08/10, 2:25 pm

Why have we not banned itsuks yet?

#15

Gadzooks!
27/08/10, 2:27 pm

@12

“That bit which they made one quarter of the resolution it was originally intended to be :/. “

Yes, terrible isnt it? Its not as if there is a precedent for reducing hardware specs prior to launch is it?

*CoughDualHDMI120fpsCough*

As long as the device works I couldnt care less about the resolution. Maybe the standard camera image can be used to augment the IR depth maps?

“Why has the camera still got a motor in it when they seem intent on cutting everything else back?”

Dunno, perhaps keeping the players in frame and not having them lose control is more important than being able to read fingers?

#16

Gadzooks!
27/08/10, 2:30 pm

@14

VG moderators dont seem to give a crap that the community side of this site is circling the drain.

#17

Gheritt White
27/08/10, 2:42 pm

@16: people started saying that in Nov. ’08. So long as we have Blerk, we’ll be alright.

#18

Blerk
27/08/10, 2:44 pm

I win too many prizes to quit!

#19

DrDamn
27/08/10, 2:44 pm

@15
“As long as the device works I couldnt care less about the resolution. Maybe the standard camera image can be used to augment the IR depth maps?”

Possibly. Maybe the reduction really doesn’t matter that much. I’m just not confident yet that the reality of this will match up to what they have shown. Certainly the flexibility is a good thing.

As for precedence – sure, but that is very Sony – over promise, under deliver. MS have impressed me so far largely been the opposite of that this gen. That’s why this sticks out even more. Maybe I’m too pessimistic and it will all come good – I’m not the target audience for it yet anyway.

#20

DrDamn
27/08/10, 2:53 pm

This is an interesting read and has given me a bit more confidence …
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-27-rare-on-kinect-sports-interview

#21

Gadzooks!
27/08/10, 3:09 pm

@19

“I’m just not confident yet that the reality of this will match up to what they have shown”

Can I ask what you have seen demo’d that you think wont be possible on the release spec Kinect device?

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