The Kinect Source

by The Plan8 Podcast

An Astounding Gaming Experience ? Let’s Play!

The Seventh Generation of Sony’s gaming extravaganza would be annulled, had the substantive XBOX 360 console not been enlisted on Microsoft’s exquisite family of gaming delight. In May 2005, XBOX 360 games stormed the world market, unleashing a package of sheer breathtaking technology and with games such as Call of Duty, FIFA Street and Fight Night, the whole world yearned for more. But, the crux of playing a game is simply in sharing and competing. And, with XBOX 360 console, an unbeatable connect & play package – the XBOX live, brings free demos, trailers and even a host of add-ons to the gamers doorstep. Moreover, XBOX live allows the user to create an account, where, he/she is updated with gaming activities of friends. Through XBOX live, one can even challenge others for a play off. Wow! XBOX live connects a gamer to his/her friends and family members, by allowing access to all leading social networking websites.

In 2009, XBOX 360 games saw the inclusion of ‘Project Natal’, popularly known as ‘Kinect’. Used on the XBOX 360 console, Kinect revolutionizes the way gaming is approached. With ‘touch free’ gaming, Kinect allows the gamer to use gestures and verbal commandments instead of conventional controllers and joysticks. Imagine using ones own body parts to knock over an opponent in the ‘UFC Undisputed’ fighting match. Physically, Kinect looks like a webcam, and is used as a peripheral device, but, its software is built by Microsoft Games Studios and inherits ‘range camera technology’. Kinect can recognize 6 players and 20 joints per player. This enables most of the XBOX 360 games to incorporate body movements and it assists players with motion analysis. These extraordinary and unmatchable features make gaming captivating and addicting. Everything from monochrome sensors to hardware configuration, Kinect adds a new dimension to the new generation gaming.

The XBOX 360 console presents vivid retail packages which draws huge world market proportion towards itself. Models such as ELITE, PRO, CORE, ARCADE, and SUPER ELITE have different storage capacities, add-ons and exclusive features, all priced on the demand factor prevailing in the market. Few of XBOX 360 games sold account to 8.5 million copies in 2008 within the first 6 months of their introduction. Microsoft Corporation leads the gaming market by a considerable margin. The ‘NXE’ or ‘New XBOX Experience’ introduced with XBOX live gave gamers a new Graphical User Interface, named the Twist UI. The multimedia even supports high definition wmv format and the XBOX 360 console is now being prepared to run on Windows 8 operating system as well. Gaming is no more a leisure activity; it has become passion for some and obsession for most. The cutting edge pixel definition, mammoth storage options, lightning fast processor starting from 3.2 GHz and peripheral add-ons like Kinect makes XBOX 360, a priced possession. Next edition of XBOX would have sports 360 design which is expected to help the gamers get that extra bit of satisfaction from an astounding gaming experience.