Kinect Message Board

The second iteration of Kinect for Windows revealed by Microsoft this week features a few changes. While it looks nearly identical to the motion-sensitive camera for Xbox One, its glowing Xbox logo power indicator has been replaced by a simple dot, plus the word "Kinect" is now on the hardware's top panel.

Additionally, the second version of Kinect for Windows requires both a hub and separate power supply to operate. The hub includes ports to connect to the sensor, power supply unit and USB 3.0 output to the user's PC. While the power supply will vary by region, it supports voltages that range in 100-240 volts. Microsoft didn't offer a release date for the new version of the PC Kinect hardware. [Image: Microsoft]

Today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will be out in Japan in September 2014. That's almost a year after it was released in North America and parts of Europe. But, really, why bother?Read more...

Microsoft discontinued its subsidized $99 Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle in July 2013, the console manufacturer confirmed with the Wall Street Journal. The low-cost console was introduced in May 2012 and required a two-year Xbox Live commitment of buyers at a rate of $14.99 per month. The bundle worked out to be roughly $60 more than the closest option, a $299 4GB Xbox 360 console paired with two years of Xbox Live Gold as separate purchases.

"This program was intended to be a pilot experiment from the start, and Microsoft routinely adjusts the mix of offers available to its customers and this change was simply standard business practice," Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said. He added that the subsidized Xbox 360 option was for "squeezing the last 10 to 15 percent out of the potential market." [Image: Microsoft]

Korean researchers have developed a stroke recovery program that uses Kinect. As you can see in the above video (via tipster Sang), the software even features a space shooter as part of the therapy.Read more...

Classified documents published by The Guardian reveal that British surveillance agency GCHQ surreptitiously gathered webcam images from more than a million Yahoo user accounts, while also evaluating the surveillance potential of the Xbox 360's Kinect peripheral.

"In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery - including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications - from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally," the Guardian reports, before noting that this operation (codenamed "Optic Nerve") was only one of the agency's attempts at biometric recognition via consumer camera technology.

A separate GCHQ project explored the possibility of gathering images from the Kinect peripheral. "[O]ne presentation discusses with interest the potential and capabilities of the Xbox 360's Kinect camera, saying it generated 'fairly normal webcam traffic' and was being evaluated as part of a wider program." It's unclear if GCHQ ever attempted to intercept Kinect data on a large scale, but as The Guardian points out, the idea isn't entirely novel. Earlier documents published by the paper detail similar exploratory efforts by the American NSA. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]

So far I’ve taken about as much interest in Kinect as I have the sleeping patterns of Moldavian snails. Every now and then I’ve seen maybe an interesting proof of concept, but it really does seem to come down to other people pretending to dance while I sit in a corner wishing I were at home. But no more! Fru is a game, created by Mattia Traverso and chums, as part of last weekend’s Global Game Jam (theme: “We don’t see things as they are but as we are”), and I would very much like to play it. A twin-world platformer, where the portal to the other dimension… is you.

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Fru is two platformers in one game, with one layer of the world shown clearly on the screen, and another layer uncovered within the silhouette of a player's body as it moves in front of the Kinect camera, in real-time. The silhouette world offers new platforms, enabling players to reach the exit door in each level (with a little hopping, ducking and contortion).

Fru comes from a collection of indies during Global Game Jam 2014, which prompted developers to create games with the theme "We don't see things as they are, but as we are." The team had 48 hours to create the game, and Fru ended up winning the judge and audience awards in the NHTV Breda Global Game Jam competition. If you have a Kinect hooked up to your PC, you can download Fru right here.

Game Designer Mattia Traverso - who is also working on the crowdfunded documentary game, Riot - tells Joystiq that he hopes Microsoft notices Fru so the team can expand on the idea.

"We definitely have plans to bring this to the next level," Traverso says. "We are starting to work on it to make it an actual, full game and I am contacting Microsoft right now to see what we can do .... Right now we are trying to give it some visibility, to show the big M that this project is actually something interesting that people like."

I can understand why game developers working on next-gen games might be psyched to play around with voice commands. They represent an interesting and relatively new way to let players interact with games. But there's at least one next-gen voice command I can happily do without.Read more...

A company called Shapify is, through the magic of Kinect and 3D printing, allowing Microsoft's peripheral to serve as your gateway to tiny narcissistic action figures.Read more...

A spurious image has been making the rounds and implying that you can use the Xbox One's developer tool menus to make the Xbox One play Xbox 360 games. Problem is, the image is dead wrong and you could brick your Xbox One. Don't do that.Read more...

To access the voice-control functionality on an Xbox One, you say, "Xbox." To access it on PlayStation 4, you say, "PlayStation." But those greetings aren't very fun or sexy, are they?Read more...

If you'd like to take revenge on the Xbox One for watching you move and listening to everything you say, you can now get inside its brain and see a whole bunch of developer settings you probably shouldn't be looking at.Read more...

It's dangerous to shop alone, so take this - our regularly updated mega-post on the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals: The time of preparation is at hand. As globs of turkey, stuffing and aunt Brandine's weird ambrosia salad battle for dominance in your stomach, you must plan your Black Friday attack. Welcome to Joystiq's Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals roundup post, where we've cataloged all the game-related savings we could dig up.

Remember that these summaries don't include every last detail of every retailer's deals. We recommend judicious clicking and further scrutiny of your preferred outlets based on personal preference, weather conditions and geographical proximity. You'll find sales for four of the major retailers below, with plenty of other deals after the break.

Be frugal, be safe and remember to watch out for aunt Brandine. She stops for no one.

• Best Buy: New games and accessories for $35 or less, monster Xbox 360 bundle for $190
• GameStop: Game discounts, Battlefield 4 (current-gen) for $25, limited edition Zelda 3DS
• Target: Bonus gift cards, $190 4GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle, $25 Splinter Cell: Blacklist
• Walmart: $100 2DS, $40 Skylanders and Call of Duty: Ghosts, $35 AC4: Black Flag and GTA 5

We've seen what's inside an Xbox One. What about the Kinect it comes bundled with? That part of the hardware has bits and circuits in it, too! Read more...

Microsoft is heavily discounting 52 Xbox 360 games and add-ons this week on Xbox Live. The games on sale separate out into three categories, a full list of which can be found after the break. The week-long deals, which run from today through December 2, include both Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Tomb Raider for half-off as well as Sleeping Dogs (38 percent off) and Mark of the Ninja (66 percent off).

Xbox Live will feature two separate one-day sales as well, with games like WWE 2K14 and Diablo 3 being discounted by 33 percent as well as Rayman Legends and the Halo 4 Champions Bundle by 50 percent on November 29 only. Among the games on sale for Cyber Monday (December 2) only are Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls and The Witcher 2 for 75 percent off each and Battleblock Theater for 67 percent off. We suggest you clear some space on your Xbox 360 hard drive, pronto.

The Xbox One's voice commands, while generally excellent, have a problem. OK, two problems. The smaller one is they don't always work. The bigger one is that you need to memorise a chart like this just to be able to use them properly.Read more...

Israeli company PrimeSense, who did a lot of the heavy lifting in the design of the original Kinect, have been bought out. Not by Microsoft, but by Apple.Read more...

The Xbox One is a testament to Microsoft's towering ambition. It represents their desire not only to occupy a place in your home entertainment center, but to lumber straight into the center of it. It is a black plastic tank, a hard-edged chunk of corners meant to conquer everything in its path. But for all its imposing physicality, it has a surprising number of weak spots.Read more...

Apple is currently in talks to purchase PrimeSense, the original suppliers of Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing technology, according to All Things D. The acquisition was first reported by Isreali publication Calcalist, which indicated that the purchase will amount to $345 million.

Founded in 2005, PrimeSense contributed its 3D sensing technology to the Xbox 360 version of Kinect. Microsoft since went with in-house developers for the latest iteration of the Kinect for Xbox One, the company's latest console set to launch this Friday. Apple may be allegedly targeting PrimeSense for the company's Capri technology, a newer form of its 3D sensing tech used in mobile devices such as Google and Samsung's Nexus 10 tablets.

This is called a Dynamic Shape Display. MIT built it, and it uses a Kinect sensor. In one of its applications, instead of a user in real life manipulating something on a TV, it puts the user on a TV, manipulating something in real life. See for yourself.Read more...

Microsoft's Larry Hryb has posted a short clip showcasing how long it takes an Xbox One to boot up from a Kinect voice command.Read more...

Privacy and player data on Xbox One have been big concerns ever since Microsoft revealed its next console. If Microsoft's latest changes regarding Kinect and privacy haven't quieted your worries, you can read through their privacy statement in full over here. Be sure to click on the learn more links to expand each category. If anything jumps out at you, post it into the comments for discussion.Read more...

Not that the Xbox One will be spying on you, that's always sounded a little overly-dramatic to me, but if you're the type to assume the worst - but still, um, buy the console regardless - then this is the peripheral for you.Read more...

IndieCade isn't just a huge celebration of independent game development, it's also a street festival designed to appeal to all types of people, not just those who enjoy traditional video games. Enter Night Games, a special IndieCade event featuring lots of big, physical games designed to be played in the dark. That includes everything from the rhythmic, Kinect-powered Soundodger Live to The Hearst Collection, a life-sized recreation of a museum art heist, complete with laser security grid.

Head past the break for a video rundown of our favorite Night Games, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the entire IndieCade festival.

At-home motion capture. Heart rate detection. Compatibility with smaller spaces. Microsoft has been promising impressive things about the new iteration of Kinect, which they kind of have to do seeing as how they’ve made it a mandatory part of buying an Xbox One. Now they’re trying to show you how the motion-sensing sensor will be worth the trouble. Read more...

Crimson Dragon was originally scheduled to be an Xbox 360 downloadable game. But as fortune and Mike Fahey's prayers would have it, it is now an Xbox One launch title.Read more...

Microsoft has been awarded $15 million in damages by a jury following a patent infringement lawsuit first filed by Motorola in 2010. Motorola spokesman William Moss said in a statement (via the Seattle Times) that the company was "disappointed" but is looking forward "to an appeal of the novel legal issues raised in this case."

Motorola Mobility claimed Microsoft had infringed upon five different patents in the original lawsuit, though four were eventually dismissed over the years. The fifth patent, which deals with peer-to-peer communication between two wireless devices, then became the focus of the case over the last few years.

The last year saw the most developments in the case, with ITC Judge David Shaw ruling in favor of Motorola in April of last year. Shaw then pushed for an Xbox import ban in the US the following month, only to have the ITC remand his decision and push it back to an administrative law judge for a second look. The suit then went through the process again, though Shaw ruled in Microsoft's favor the second time around.

Illumiroom isn't on its way to stores, bundled with Xbox One or otherwise, for fear the price tag would topple the shelves, Microsoft planning lead for Xbox One Albert Penello said at Gamescom, reported by Aus Gamers.

Illumiroom, an initiative from Microsoft Research, looks like a nifty piece of technology - it connects to a console, ideally an Xbox One, and projects over a player's room, surrounding the TV and expanding game effects on top of real-world objects. "I wouldn't expect you'll see that," Penello said. "It's very, very cool tech but it's, like, for a consumer, it requires projectors and things. It's really super-neat if you're in the lab and you've got Microsoft money and you could totally set up this awesome lab, but... we looked at it, but for an average customer it's, like, thousands of dollars."

When it was first revealed in January, Illumiroom was labeled "proof-of-concept." In April, Microsoft Research said Illumiroom was still in the prototype stage.

The newest realm in Xbox One's Fantasia: Music Evolved is a wintry wonderland called The Haven, and it features songs from Kimbra, Fun and Vivaldi, along with two remixes of each track. Players will awake a singing yeti and explore dark caves, all in the name of conducting music.

The Xbox 360 Kinect camera may have been intended for use with video games, but many of its most interesting uses were unlocked once the device was hacked. Suddenly, people had access to a cheap, relatively easy to use motion capture device. Nice!Read more...