Is Kinect Worth It?

[Games Retrospect]

My questions are simple really. I have a chance to get a Kinect for the 360 and I was wondering if that particular piece of hardware is worth it or not. I remember years ago going to a friend's house and playing a bunch of minigames, but I didn't spend enough time playing to make a purchase decision. Also, how much would you pay for it? I don't want to spend too much money on a thing I don't see myself playing all the time. I know some games are cool, like Kinect Sports or Dance Central, but other than that nothing comes to mind. Are some of the "better with Kinect" labeled games any good, like Skyrim or Forza? Or is it just a dumb gimmick? I did some research online, but there are barely any video reviews out there. Finally, can you control the console using voice to turn on/off, launch games and apps and other things? I assume you can, but I don't know if it's responsive or just old tech that sometimes works and it's kind of cool but that's it. Thanks in advance!

[Flojomojo]

It’s fun if you have school age kids to play with — we really like Just Dance and Kinect Party. There are some cheesy stinkers too, like Kinect Star Wars which are still kinda fun for what they are. It works OK but don’t expect miracles. It’s not perfect but sometimes it’s surprisingly cool. 

There are a few “real” games like Child of Eden which are better with it.  The mainstream stuff you mention like Skyrim or Forza don’t do much with it, unless you really get off on yelling dragon spells from the couch. 

You shouldn’t need to spend more than twenty or thirty bucks for this, and not much extra if it’s in a system bundle. 

You are VERY late to the party so I’m not surprised you can’t find much about it. Just like how there aren’t many reviews for licensed kid games on Wii or DS. I expect VR games will be like this in the future. I think Kinect is more compelling. 

Short version: It’s OK on the 360, and a total loss on the One. 

[boxpressed]

There were a couple of 360 Kinects at my local thrift for $6 apiece. You can buy them with a 360 Slim on Shopgoodwill for $40 before shipping all day long. I'm going to hook mine up later and play some Fruit Ninja with the kid.

[Swami]

8 minutes ago, boxpressed said:

There were a couple of 360 Kinects at my local thrift for $6 apiece. You can buy them with a 360 Slim on Shopgoodwill for $40 before shipping all day long. I'm going to hook mine up later and play some Fruit Ninja with the kid.

More like Tennis Elbow Ninja??

[Swami]

46 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Short version: It’s OK on the 360, and a total loss on the One. 

Apparently, Fru is quite good on the XBone, but I have yet to find out.

[Flojomojo]

OK, near-total loss on the One. I haven’t played Fru either. 

[CPUWIZ]

The Kinect is good for some shit.

 

https://hackaday.com/2019/06/13/well-built-sentry-gun-addresses-the-menace-of-indoor-micro-uavs/

[socrates63]

If you can pick one up for $10 or less then go for it. I think it’s worth it at that point to give it a try. Fruit Ninja was great with the Kinect. 

[Swami]

So many 3rd party games for the Kinect where the time wasn't put in to make the controls mirror the player well. Check out reviews for the Wipeout games or Deca Sports Freedom or Cabella's Kinect games. I think that was the death of it. Some games are though, as mentioned.

[boxpressed]

I forgot to add that the Nyko Zoom snap-on lens is a nice addition to the Kinect if you are limited by space in your room. It allows you to be as close as 4 feet from the Kinect.

 

Also, there's a seller selling Fruit Ninja codes on eBay for about $4. Totally worth it. 

[rubeon]

I thought it was kind of neat playing Mass Effect 3 and Binary Domain with the Kinect, but after a while I found I had stopped giving voice commands in both. Still, it was fun while it lasted.

 

Kinect Adventures is pretty cool, too, and probably worth the <$10 novelty price of getting a Kinect. There are some fun games in there that will have you jumping around and waving your arms like a muppet.

 

 

[Swami]

Just Dance 2020, still for the Xbone. Haven't recognized any songs on 2019 or 2020, though.

[BydoEmpire]

I tried getting the Kinect to recognize either me or my 11 year old several times, for whatever reason we can't get past the setup.  Maybe our living room is too dark?  Too bad as I have a pile of games my kid might like.  Some day I'll try again, but time is short and it's a frustrating experience for my kid.

[Gamemoose]

On 2/1/2020 at 8:29 PM, BydoEmpire said:

I tried getting the Kinect to recognize either me or my 11 year old several times, for whatever reason we can't get past the setup.  Maybe our living room is too dark?  Too bad as I have a pile of games my kid might like.  Some day I'll try again, but time is short and it's a frustrating experience for my kid.

Where is your light source positioned: in front of you or behind you when gaming. It's best when it's more in front of you.

 

In my past life, the lighting was more behind but I had just enough of it for the Kinect to work. Sometimes it would lose the person to its left as that side had more shadows. If I got a 360 and Kinect in my new life (I've seen two Kinects recently for cheap-I think I'm being baited), the current living room would suck as there's only one light source for evening gaming and that's to the side.

 

On top of that, my kids would probably stomp themselves through to the basement after a round of "Kinect Party".

[BydoEmpire]

1 hour ago, Gamemoose said:

Where is your light source positioned: in front of you or behind you when gaming. It's best when it's more in front of you.

 

Yeah, it's behind us, you can see in the window that the image its picking up is quite dark. Not much I can (or want to) do about that.

[ti99iuc]

On 6/23/2019 at 6:22 PM, boxpressed said:

I forgot to add that the Nyko Zoom snap-on lens is a nice addition to the Kinect if you are limited by space in your room. It allows you to be as close as 4 feet from the Kinect.

 

Also, there's a seller selling Fruit Ninja codes on eBay for about $4. Totally worth it. 

but have you tried it?
 I purchased months ago on Amazon a Zoom but never worked  maybe it is not an original Nyko but a clone, i should try to purchase an original Nyko at least if it really works for somebody.

 

this is mine:
      

[Video]

The original nyko(?) Zoom didn't work that well either, unfortunately. It's just a set of plastic lenses that snap over the Kinect and (in theory) let's it work in a smaller area. When it worked, it indeed worked well, but it's more sensitive to ambient light I think, so often it would quit working sporadically, when it worked at all.