Microsoft is hiring for a new Entertainment Division team to take what you know about Kinect, ball it up and throw it out the window. Sirs, madams - I like the cut of your hyperbole.
"A new team is forming in Microsoft's entertainment division with a specific purpose: to push the envelope of today's and tomorrow's technology as we explore new ideas from the ground floor. " reads an ad for a software development engineer. "It begins with veterans from Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and Kinect. But we're growing as quickly as our imaginations can be translated into code.
Failure = success. Welcome to motivational corporate-speak 101, est. 2003.
"If you want a comfortable, standard-role job at Microsoft with no ambiguity or risk, please don't apply," it continues. "But if you're passionate about the potential for Kinect to continue to revolutionize entertainment and are a seasoned software engineer with the skills to prototype and build the future of premium Kinect-powered experiences, we have a growing team of talented people who want to take entertainment into the future.
"In this role your technical skills and creativity will be pushed to their limits as you weave together disparate technologies to tell the story of what the future of entertainment will look like. You'll learn more than you even knew existed about machine vision, data mining, AI, voice recognition, and embedded systems.
"You'll become an expert in one or more of those areas. You will work on a truly agile team to build and iterate on prototypes to evolve and demonstrate our creative vision."
CAN YOU DIG IT, etc. In what's probably related news, Rare announced vacancies for a cloud-based Kinect game in November. Microsoft has also revealed that it's looking into the field of 3D imaging, corroborating a leaked Xbox 720 design brief which outlines a new, improved Kinect with two motion sensors, positioned to either side of your TV.
On a less reverent note, here are six TV shows we'd ruin using Kinect TV. Make that shizzle happen, blue sky dreamers.
4 comments so far...
msbhvn on 12 Dec '12 said:
What they should have done was not to put crappy cheap components in Kinect at the last minute, and then it might actually work! Kinect is a great idea, completely ruined by the fact that the technology isn't up to scratch. The longer they spend releasing Wii knock-offs that are about as responsive as a housebrick, the less likely people will embrace Kinect when there's some power behind it. Just draw a line under Kinect and relaunch it with the next Xbox.
Vegetunks9000 on 12 Dec '12 said:
have to agree dude. I love using my Kinect for the Speech recognition. But the tracking is pretty bad at times. It's time to focus on the Kinect 2.0
Pompey78 on 12 Dec '12 said:
Got rid of my Kinect after being a fool and buying in to the hype although I did wait a good 6months after it was launched to waste £100 on it
Agree that as they changed out various components just prior to launching it they have adversely effected the product. While I'm looking forward to seeing the next gen Xbox I have zero interest in kinect or it's successor unless it:
1) can show in the real world that it works as it's supposed too
2) that it works in UK sized living rooms and not just 45ft american sized rooms. I only have about 5-6ft between the sofa and the TV, so less when you stand up to 'play' a kinect game.
3) that AAA games actually make use of Kinect rather than being an after thought or small side show.
4) no lag
The only real use I got from Kinect in the 6 months I had it was playing ME3 although it was just as quick to press a button on the controller as it was to speak a command. Oh and my 5yr old liked a couple of the Kinect childrens games.
I have to say since trading it in for a couple of games I haven't missed Kinect at all. Which says something about the impact it's had on me as a gamer.
Captain_Chao5 on 13 Dec '12 said:
I too got carried away by the Kinect Hype and DID fork out £129 for a release day delivery. <MUG>
It promised so much and delivered little. Yes there are some good games, but if you rule out dancing and exercise the rest are pretty sub-standard wii rip offs. I don't want my console to become an 'entertainment centre' so I don't use voice control to activate films, etc so it sits there gathering dust.
I will be very wary about Kinect 2 and wait to see if it actually justifies the hype this time.