Microsoft's new super duper 3D environments for XBox 720

[Neil]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...-environments/ The possibilities for the combined technologies are unlike anything seen before in interactive entertainment. Players could feasibly fill their rooms with full 360-degree displays, interact with a game world not just on their TV but across the walls around them, and observe 3D holograms within the room through the Kinect Glasses. The combined devices will, in theory, will provide the most sophisticated tracking data on where the player is standing and looking. I'm slightly skeptical if only because every time I've seen a Kinect in action I've been very unimpressed!

[Mr. Clean]

I'm with you on this one Neil....I don't believe technology is there yet.

[EvilNed]

Nor I, but hell, in ten years? I'll be up for buying a console when this thing is eventually ready.

[krakenslayer]

I can't help think Microsoft engineers have modelled this whole thing around their own limited experience of the "living room", i.e. the minimalist, airy-white, tennis field-sized living spaces in their own Silicon Valley condos. My living room, on the other hand, is about the size of their garage, has a corner sofa that takes up pretty much all of two walls, a bay window that takes up another wall, the remaining wall has a bookcase and a TV against it, and there are pictures hanging, too. There is not enough floor space for running around blasting bad guys, and certainly not enough free wall space to project an immersive world on to. Bearing in mind that British homes tend to be smaller and have less integrated storage space (hence more furniture required to contain stuff) than American homes, I wonder what effect this will have on the uptake of the technology this side of the pond.

[MinionZombie]

I can't help think Microsoft engineers have modelled this whole thing around their own limited experience of the "living room", i.e. the minimalist, airy-white, tennis field-sized living spaces in their own Silicon Valley condos. My living room, on the other hand, is about the size of their garage, has a corner sofa that takes up pretty much all of two walls, a bay window that takes up another wall, the remaining wall has a bookcase and a TV against it, and there are pictures hanging, too. There is not enough floor space for running around blasting bad guys, and certainly not enough free wall space to project an immersive world on to. Bearing in mind that British homes tend to be smaller and have less integrated storage space (hence more furniture required to contain stuff) than American homes, I wonder what effect this will have on the uptake of the technology this side of the pond. Indeed, small rooms, furniture all over the place, pictures on the wall etc - how on earth is this rubbish supposed to work? Also, I get annoyed by all this tech that wants the player to stand up and jump around - when I play a game I specifically want to be sat on my arse, thank you very much.

[krakenslayer]

Also, I get annoyed by all this tech that wants the player to stand up and jump around - when I play a game I specifically want to be sat on my arse, thank you very much. Exactly. And how often, when you play games, are there other people, non-participants, in the room. As it is, I sit and play Skyrim quietly on the PC in the corner, while the OH sits and does her studying or whatever on the laptop. Not sure she'd appreciate frost trolls bursting through the walls and me leaping over the sofa yelling FUS-RO-DAH! instead.

[MinionZombie]

Exactly. And how often, when you play games, are there other people, non-participants, in the room. As it is, I sit and play Skyrim quietly on the PC in the corner, while the OH sits and does her studying or whatever on the laptop. Not sure she'd appreciate frost trolls bursting through the walls and me leaping over the sofa yelling FUS-RO-DAH! instead.

[Neil]

Surely a far easier way to achieve this would be just with really good, high quality 3D goggles? You could project what ever you want around the individual (with an LCD screen for each eye), even allowing to look at their own body/arms (computerised) via Kinect type methods.

[bassman]

Like others, I don't believe the technology is there yet. If this turns out to be true, I certainly won't be using it. I have no interest in Kinect, let alone a more advanced version that takes up the entire room. As others have said, how the hell will it work in a room with pictures on the wall, decorations, large windows, etc? I'll sit my happy ass on the couch to enjoy my games(with the exception of Wii Sports), thank you very much.

[MinionZombie]

Like others, I don't believe the technology is there yet. If this turns out to be true, I certainly won't be using it. I have no interest in Kinect, let alone a more advanced version that takes up the entire room. As others have said, how the hell will it work in a room with pictures on the wall, decorations, large windows, etc? I'll sit my happy ass on the couch to enjoy my games(with the exception of Wii Sports), thank you very much. I'm with you on Kinect - I have zero interest in that gimmick. NO INTEREST. Seeing supposed specs for the next Xbox, with Kinect forced upon you, I just groaned with derision. I want no part of Kinect or any of that arm-waving malarky.