Xbox Kinect was good. There I said it.

Rip Kinect Source: Windows Key | Jez Corden

I've been on a weight-loss kick in the past yr (losing 100 pounds using Microsoft Excel!), and exercise is a natural component of such an endeavor. Recently, my girlfriend said to me, "We should play Xbox Fitness," activating a core retention.

Sadly, I had to inform her that Xbox Fitness is in fact dead. For those who don't remember, Xbox Fitness was a unique app that gamified fitness workouts using Microsoft's ill-fated Kinect peripheral. Microsoft's positioning of Kinect in 2022 ultimately led to its decease, but I couldn't help but experience a twinge of sadness when I recalled the missed potential.

For those who are unaware, Kinect is a motion-tracking camera that uses AI to analyze movements, detect voice commands, and much more. There was a point in history where Kinect was the fastest-selling video game accessory of all fourth dimension, back in the Xbox 360 era. And that version was rather horrible, with inaccurate tracking and poor microphones. The 2022 Xbox 1 "V2" Kinect was far more powerful, simply the way Microsoft presented it to gamers ensured its untimely death and eventual relegation to business-just use cases. You can still buy and use Kinect on Xbox One consoles, simply yous probably shouldn't. Nonetheless notwithstanding, I experience like there's nonetheless something of a missed opportunity here.

Here's a homage to Kinect, an accessory that could've survived in some other timeline, equally a supplementary experience, rather than a forced one.

They shouldn't have forced it ...

Kinect Source: Windows Central

The biggest issue with Kinect V2 is that it was essentially forced upon the community. Microsoft's 2022 Xbox I strategy was something of a disaster for a variety of reasons. The Xbox One was noticeably less powerful than the competing PlayStation 4, while also being $100 more than expensive. The blame for that toll tag was the forced bundling of Kinect.

Kinect became a focus of various genuine, and overblown concerns. People who played up fears of big tech spying on you through the Kinect's cameras and microphones would later on be the proud owners of Amazon Echo speakers and Ring cameras. Microsoft could've circumnavigated these complaints if it just hadn't forced Kinect upon users, inflating the price of the Xbox One in the process.

Microsoft's Kinect peripheral was vastly ahead of the curve, and in some means, still is. Even today, TVs endeavor to emulate some of Kinect's features, such every bit Telly voice controls and fifty-fifty embedded cameras. None are equally skilful as Kinect was, given its defended hardware, and voice recognition expertise. HDMI-CEC combined with the Amazon Echo has merely just recently started to bring some of Kinect's IR-blaster features for external device command, something Kinect was doing all the way back in 2022. There was something and so cool about getting home from work and saying, "Xbox On," and seeing my entire amusement center light upwardly.

... but it was really really fun to use

Kinect Adventures Source: Microsoft

Indeed, Kinect was just fun to use. Even before we go to the games, Kinect integrated seamlessly with nearly IR-based devices assuasive it to deed as a remote controller for a large range of entertainment equipment. Voice control your Tv set's volume, or fifty-fifty channel surf with the integrated Xbox OneGuide TV listings database. Adjust your sound organization, without having to accomplish for (and find) that pesky remote.

Beyond smart dwelling house features, Kinect actually worked pretty damned well for games. Games like Fruit Ninja were undeniably fun to play, and represented some adequately intense exercise opportunities if you're as out of shape equally I am. Kinect's IR sensors were even powerful enough to decide your heart rate via the camera alone, giving yous authentic calorie-burning statistics in much the same mode smartwatches do today.

Blue Estate Gameplay Source: HE SAWBlue Estate by HE SAW was probably the near "mature" Kinect experience out there.

Outside of fun political party games and novelty experiences, Kinect really had some decent applications in core games. Yelling "FUS RO DAH!" at the TV while playing Skyrim to activate abilities was an interesting accept. Being able to command your teammates in Dragon Age: Inquisition was also pretty clever, since it substantially gave you lot an extra pair of easily for micromanaging the game'south tactical combat. The violent on-runway shooter Blue Estate was a nostalgic arcade-style game that let you use Kinect to shoot finger bullets, and it was a surprisingly great experience.

Kinect was quite honestly fun and novel to use occasionally, both for controlling your smart home and for playing casual games. Alas, 'twas not meant to exist.

RIP, Kinect

Kinect Source: Windows Primal

It's hard not to wonder what could've go of Kinect in a gaming context. The technology has found its way into HoloLens (now also reportedly dead), alongside Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets (besides probably dead). Ghost hunters are fifty-fifty using Kinect to track chilling apparitions (plainly). More seriously though, with companies like Steam, Facebook, and Sony exploring VR and motion-controlled games, it feels like there'south probably a timeline where Kinect not only survives but thrives on Xbox, every bit an optional and supplementary experience.

The options for fitness games on Xbox now are woeful, restricted to Just Dance, and its limited smartphone gyroscope tracking. For casual experiences, especially for smaller kids, Kinect could've been a peachy thing. Mayhap V3 would've been accurate and powerful enough to give ascension to a renaissance of calorie-free gun games, leading to Xbox accessories like the Super Nintendo Super Telescopic. Perhaps Kinect could've powered a VR play for Xbox, leading to ports of pop virtual reality titles like Half-Life: Alyx.

It's fun to wonder nigh possibilities in hindsight, simply for at present, we tin only reminisce: Kinect was pretty good.

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