Kinect more accurate now than at launch

By Fred Dutton Published 29 June, 2011

Microsoft confirms tech has advanced.

As rumoured earlier this month, Microsoft has confirmed that its Kinect peripheral is more accurate now than it was at launch.

Xbox senior product manager David Dennis told Eurogamer that some of the software shown off during its E3 show demonstrated the improvements it has made to the add-on.

"Yeah," he said. "I think like we showed at E3, like Kudo showed with Kinect Fun Labs – a lot of that tech is the advancements we've made in the accuracy, the tracking... being able to show finger tracking in the sparkles demo he did.

"You saw too with Ubisoft's gunsmith demo [for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier] he was using his hand to fire in the firing range mode. I think that's the kind of thing we're going to continue to iterate on."

Although he wouldn't offer specifics, Dennis insisted that Microsoft aims to continue to update both Kinect and the 360 itself in the coming months and years.

"That's the beauty of Xbox. We've been doing that with Xbox 360, starting three or four years ago - continuing to deploy new software updates to improve the functionality, like enabling finger tracking and voice search, and also to bring new partners like Netflix on.

"These [updates] are very deliberate and planned and programmed," he added. "There are already people working on things for next year and the year after inside our secret bunkers, and we'll continue to bring amazing stuff that consumers love."

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • riceNpea #1 11 months ago

    if you lie to yourself enough eventually you'll believe what you say.

  • RevanNL #2 11 months ago

    Yeah, we saw how accurate it was with Kinect Star 'Input Lag' Wars...

  • darkmorgado #3 11 months ago

    Not sure how it's a lie when you could see for yourself how it's improved.

  • octo #4 11 months ago

    If you could stop drip feeding David Dennis quotes that would be great. We get it. Microsoft thinks Kinect is awesome and that it's awesomeness curve is going to head up over time.

  • sfp_noodle #5 11 months ago

    Not sure how its improved when Kinect Star Wars looked so laughably laggy and poor.

  • thesonglessbird #6 11 months ago

    Lag != accuracy

  • darkmorgado #7 11 months ago

    The latest in a long line of shit star wars games is hardly indicative of an entire product, especially when the rest of the demos at E3 showed how lag-free it was and that finger-tracking 3D painting thing was particularly impressive.

  • King_Edward #8 11 months ago

    It's great that the tech's improving. Now maybe improve the games?

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #9 11 months ago

    Good job they confirmed it cos you cant tell from any of the demonstrations at E3

  • Ahskay #10 11 months ago

    Saying Kinect will take over "hardcore" gaming is as saying a lapdance is better then sex.

    It won't and it's not. No matter how much p.r. bullshit there is. Simply put, Kinect is one generation too soon and you need an extra input device so you can control the way you move.

  • riceNpea #11 11 months ago

    correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Star Wars Kinect their flagship title that is purely made for the kinect? demos don't mean much if their only purely kinect 'core' game is a laggy mess.

  • darkmorgado #12 11 months ago

    correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Star Wars Kinect their flagship title that is purely made for the kinect? demos don't mean much if their only purely kinect 'core' game is a laggy mess.

    Ryse? Steel Batallion? Fable: The Journey? All the other core games that have been announced for it?

  • Geowolf #13 11 months ago

    Yeah, yeah, Kinect, Kinect, Kinect, it's f***ing wonderful, move on!
    Edited by Geowolf at 30/06/11 @ 01:57

  • RodHull #14 11 months ago

    I wish they had people in secret bunkers making games we actually want to play. There's quite a few up in Twycross who I'm sure would love to make a new Banjo-Kazooie, Conker or Perfect Dark rather than more Kinect stuff. Unless they'reaking Kinect Blast Corps. That'd be quite acceptable.

  • darkmorgado #15 11 months ago

    Blast Corps would be awesome, but I'm pretty sure Nintendo own that ip.

  • Mister-Wario #16 11 months ago

    Okay, it's more accurate. Now, has that resulted in better games?

  • Geowolf #17 11 months ago

    @MisterWario

    Not the best question the week after Child of Eden perhaps...

  • Geowolf #18 11 months ago

    "That's the beauty of Xbox. We've been doing that with Xbox 360, starting three or four years ago - continuing to deploy new software updates to improve the functionality, like enabling finger tracking and voice search, and also to bring new partners like Netflix on.

    "These [updates] are very deliberate and planned and programmed," he added. "There are already people working on things for next year and the year after inside our secret bunkers, and we'll continue to bring amazing stuff that consumers love."

    That's true. Why only last year I finally got an xbox 360 that hasn't red ringed after the fiasco of my launch model and successor...

    On second thoughts that should be hasn't red ringed yet. (Knock on wood). Let's not tempt fate.

  • coolbritannia #19 11 months ago

    That Ghost Recon demo looked pretty accurate to me. I guess some people only see what they want to see.

  • The-Jack-Burton #20 11 months ago

    And it's way hardcore now, Fuck Yeah! Let's go frag some suckers! Oh wait . . .

  • Vyggo #21 11 months ago

    I bet people that are saying the Kinect isn't accurate haven't played Child of Eden.

  • ronuds #22 11 months ago

    Is it possible the Star Wars demo was staged? The golf one had to be.

  • eviroboy #23 11 months ago

    Funny you should mention Child of Eden, cos it's actually better controlled with *drum roll* a controller

  • Spunkweazle #24 11 months ago

    thats great news, all kinect needs now is some kind tangible physical presence, something i can hold in my hands, something with buttons on, and a couple of joysticks, oh and some triggers.

    Do that and i am all over it

  • Xardan #25 11 months ago

    You know im really getting sick of all the trolling and hate in comments.

    If you have nothing worth saying then please shut the fuck up.

  • StooMonster #26 11 months ago

    Now this is playing Kinect Dance Central
    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQiP0pRXCg
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LQiP0pRXCg
    [/link]

    But my question is, if the input has been improved in the OS will it be improved for older titles too? Or is the Kinect support baked into the games themselves? If so is it possible to recompile games with the new 'accurate' SDK?

  • Reckless99 #27 11 months ago

    Throw Kinect down the well....

  • DarthMartious #28 11 months ago

    "Yeah," he said. "I think like we showed at E3, like Kudo showed with Kinect Fun Labs – a lot of that tech is the advancements we've made in the accuracy, the tracking... being able to show finger tracking in the sparkles demo he did.

    "You saw too with Ubisoft's gunsmith demo [for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier] he was using his hand to fire in the firing range mode. I think that's the kind of thing we're going to continue to iterate on."

    English, motherfucker, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!

  • krisskross2 #29 11 months ago

    I love kinect WHEN I use it but it's pissing me off as an owner how poor and spaced out the selection of good games for it is! like Mass effect looked great, so did Ghost recon but without being nasty I still don't understand the concept of Child of Eden so i'm not ready to sink £40 into it at a gamble and apart from those fuckall decent is coming out for it! :(

  • The-Jack-Burton #30 11 months ago

    And the most insecure and hypersensitive fanboys of all are the Kinect Fanboys. You're a pathetic bunch, and don't assume that those bashing Kinect don't own one.

  • darkmorgado #31 11 months ago

    Do you? If so, you won't mind giving your gamertag to prove it.

  • gnrlstuart #32 11 months ago

    not very much goes on in those 'secret' bunkers then i gather.

  • Vyggo #33 11 months ago

    "Funny you should mention Child of Eden, cos it's actually better controlled with *drum roll* a controller "

    We are talking about how accurate Kinect is, not how you prefer to play it with a controller. I assume because you can't refute that fact. Playing it with a controller is a totally different experience and I, and as far as I've seen a lot of others prefered to play it with Kinect. Admittedly it wasn't really my type of game either way but playing it with Kinect definately made it more enjoyable for me.

  • orangpelupa #34 11 months ago

    CoE is easier to be played with Kinect than with gamepad..
    but maybe that because i always bad at moving cursor using analog stick... or maybe because i accustomed to mouse...

    the only problem playing CoE with kinect is sore arms.
    play 3 archive straight and i got sore arms for 2 days

  • cjs #35 11 months ago

    <em>It's probably because there isn't a single worthwhile Move-exclusive game worth buying...</em>

    That's something of an exaggeration. Just off the top of my head, Sports Champions, Big Gun Shooting and Tumble are all well worthwhile titles that simply wouldn't work with a regular controller. For other games, such as Ruse and Funky Lab rat, the Move is a definite improvement over the standard controller.

    On the other hand, for first person shooters, Move hasn't quite done it for me, at least not yet. I even have the Sharp Shooter attachement, but while it makes certain things in Killzone 3 easier, it makes others harder.

  • saburwulf #36 11 months ago

    of course its improve, is it 100% better? no ! but is it 20-40% better hell yes and the gunsmith in ghost recon is awsome

  • gamerindia #37 11 months ago

    Proof????

  • Bibbo #38 11 months ago

    I done alot better on Child of Eden [Kinect] score attacking than I did with the controller.

  • handsonhips101 #39 11 months ago

    I don't own a kinect. But I have had experience with it. Shit. I'll say it.

    You can defend it to the hills but its an expensive gimmick, a flawed one at that.

  • handsonhips101 #40 11 months ago

    Oh and before I'm accused of being bias. Move is also shit. As is the Wii. Don't. Pad/keyboard/mouse ftw.

  • IronGiant #41 11 months ago

    Who cares? The few people I know that bothered getting a kinect have now relegated it to the cupboard along with the wii. Something to drag out at Xmas or on the rare occassion they have bored kids in the house. Accuracy means nothing if the games are shovelware shite, all this minority report style gesture control is garbage, waving your arms about or talking to the console is a gimmick that adds nothing.

  • Tryhard #42 11 months ago

    It will be even more accurate when we wipe the dust off of it.

  • oupe #43 11 months ago

    Yes. Now make kinetic work so I can play CoE from my chair instead of standing up.

  • kinky_mong #44 11 months ago

    "You saw too with Ubisoft's gunsmith demo [for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier] he was using his hand to fire in the firing range mode. I think that's the kind of thing we're going to continue to iterate on."

    Cool, I want all my shooting to be controlled by jazz hands in the future. War has never been so fabulous!

  • Subdominator #45 11 months ago

    I don't care how accurate Kinect translates my movements half a second after I made them.

  • Skooch #46 11 months ago

    Why do people feel the need to slate Kinect in every comments thread? I don't think very much of Move but I don't jump on every Move article bashing it. Kinect provides some really great gaming experiences (getting my mother-in-law really into the bowling was hilarious, she really loved it).

    Me thinks the Kinect-haters doth protest too much.

  • Ryze #47 11 months ago

    Oh well. It's a shame that the 360's USB bus supports nowhere near the 480Mbit/s that Kinect could do with utilizing, eh?

    I guess it has to be shared out, and has bandwidth reserved for flash drives and control pads.

    USB3 for the next Xbox hopefully, and a faster, 720p Kinect.

  • obihobson #48 11 months ago

    The weird thing is I agree with every single comment made on this thread!!
    Kinnect = innovation
    Kinnect = interaction
    Kinnect = broken
    Kinnect = I ve hardly ever used it
    Kinnect = although i did get it out for COE which was pretty good
    Sony Fanboys = Divs
    Kinect Fanboys = Idiots
    This thread = everyones bang on the money

  • Retro_ #49 11 months ago

    great, so it's slightly less garbage than before.

  • Beano #50 11 months ago

    "That Ghost Recon demo looked pretty accurate to me. I guess some people only see what they want to see. "

    The demo where they used a hand gesture to fire the gun... which did not register?

    Geesh!

  • Xardan #51 11 months ago

    Kinect fanboys?! Are you serious? There are few enough 360 fanboys around, let alone bloody Kinect ones.

  • RodHull #52 11 months ago

    "Blast Corps would be awesome, but I'm pretty sure Nintendo own that ip."

    Nope, Rare retained the IP for all the original games they created, including Banjo Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark and Conker. The fact they seem to have forgotten this is upsetting, although it's more likely that Microsoft wiped their brains using mind rubbers.

  • Rens11 #53 11 months ago

    All I want is new games! Don't need Facebook netflix sky bollocks!

  • Purist #54 11 months ago

    kinect is going the same way as their HD drive ... on Ebay and then into the bin.