Thursday, January 27, 2011

Kinect Audio Not Working Correctly

Several of my friends are GameStop store managers, and Microsoft and GameStop have given all Store Managers a free Kinect, at least in the USA.
One major issue they have been having problems with is volume control. Apparently the Kinect takes a few moments to evaluate the level of volume in your voice and then adjusts.
One of my friends is soft spoken. When he starts to speak he speaks very softly so it is difficult to hear him with his first few words, and then BAM,Kinect automatically takes him from a soft volume, to a volume that makes him sound like he is talking way too loud.
Several of his friends in MP games have asked him to turn it down, so he tried by talking medium to loud to get the Kinect to adjust down, but it doesn't work.
He has re-worked it in the Set-Up but keeps getting the same problem. Several others I know have the same issues.



I am curious, those of you who have Kinect, when you play or talk online, does any of your friends complain about the Volume jumping up, or you being too loud? Even when you adjust it or redo the Set-Up, does it still happen?
Frosty
The 6 GameStop Store Managers who have it, have told me to wait and not even consider buying it till they get the Kinks all worked out with the actual hardware. They said that Microsoft will more then likely release a 2.0 Kinect in the future.
All 6 Have checked out all the games for Kinect, and they all said, that none of them are worthy of a purchase at this time. All the movement in them are very forgiving. The Fitness games they say are very inaccurate at this time. The only one they like is "Dance Central", more so for the fun it creates with a group. They say it is more fun, to watch people, but those dancing get good excercize, but that the game is highly inaccurate.
So with lackluster software and buggy hardware, I wouldn't buy one right now. If you have the extra cash to buy Kinect 1.0 and then can afford to buy Kinect 2.0 when it comes out, and your SUPER bored with everything right now...well I still couldn't recommend it. All my friends who have the Kinect, get that new Kinect High, and then 2 weeks later their back to their regular console gaming and the Kinect is collecting dust. Several are back to using Headsets and not even using the Kinect for in-voice MP gaming.
All roads point to a "wait and see" for me anyway. I am anxious to see what they "can" do with it. So if you buy one now, it would be more like buying and seeing what will happen with it. So I don't
Second thumbs up here for YourShape: Fitness Evolved.
I spent quite a while debating whether to go with EA Sports Active 2 as it has a more customisable workout regime, but am glad I went with YourShape now.
Motion detection is full body 1:1 tracking, lag-fee and amazingly robust and accurate. Compared to most of the other Kinect titles the body tracking is in another league. I especially like that your on-screen representation is a real-time you, not an avatar.
The thing that really works well for me is the cardio boxing section. It's a punishing workout at higher levels. Most important for me is that as well as the punches it includes lots of footwork, stance work and kicks, as these really help a lot with my Kungfu training.
If you are getting Kinect you should definitely investigate Kinect Sports. It's an absolute blast to play and very very slick and polished. It's gone down a storm with my regular Friday night gaming crew
There's a lot of fud out there about Kinect. People seem to have an irrational fear of the device for no good reason. Fact of the matter is the hardware works very well.
Some of the software for it does not work very well though, because the devs have done a sloppy job on interpreting motion. Same as Wii, same as Move. There is no hardware revision necessary, but software for it will improve over time as motion interpretation improves and updated SDK's are released.

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