Japanese developers had their first taste of Microsoft's Kinect peripheral at the 2010 Game Tools and Middleware Forum last week, and the response seems positive - perhaps politely so.
According to 1UP, a large number of game creators were worried about Kinect's precision and lag times. Upon using it however, they found that the device was "more responsive than they previously imagined." One of the words used to describe the peripheral was "immersion," calling on the need to use the whole body for interaction.
While there was relief that Kinect wasn't a laggy piece of scrap, developers did note that players would need a "very specific effective distance" for gameplay, and that fact alone might be difficult for the Japanese consumer to accept, given that the average domestic home is much smaller than those in the West. The report states that nine feet of space was needed for Kinect to work properly - attendees expressed concern about this.
Regardless of the device itself, the games demonstrated at the industry-only event proved to be a hit, with Kinect Adventures being one of the major titles showcased. We wonder if this experience will spur any Japanese publishers and developers to build games for the peripheral when it launches in the country.
According to 1UP, a large number of game creators were worried about Kinect's precision and lag times. Upon using it however, they found that the device was "more responsive than they previously imagined." One of the words used to describe the peripheral was "immersion," calling on the need to use the whole body for interaction.
While there was relief that Kinect wasn't a laggy piece of scrap, developers did note that players would need a "very specific effective distance" for gameplay, and that fact alone might be difficult for the Japanese consumer to accept, given that the average domestic home is much smaller than those in the West. The report states that nine feet of space was needed for Kinect to work properly - attendees expressed concern about this.
Regardless of the device itself, the games demonstrated at the industry-only event proved to be a hit, with Kinect Adventures being one of the major titles showcased. We wonder if this experience will spur any Japanese publishers and developers to build games for the peripheral when it launches in the country.
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