14 DAY TRIAL // Controlling the Xbox 360 with the help of the Kinect and your own voice can become an integral part of the gaming experience, at least according to the manager of studio Rare, the developer of the recent Kinect Sports title.
Microsoft's Kinect motion sensor, which has an array of cameras as well as a built-in microphone, has been selling a huge amount of copies these days, with the Guinness Book of World Records saying that it is the fastest selling electronics device ever released.
While we've already seen its impressive abilities be put to work with a variety of games up until now, as well as through some homebrew projects made for the PC by enthusiasts, we have barely used 10 percent of the Kinect's power.
That's at least according to Rare studio manager Scott Henson, who revealed to MCV that one area where the Kinect can really grow is in terms of voice controls, which, currently, cover just basic commands like pause or stop.
"We're going to make using your voice much more front and centre - we've just scratched the surface on that," he said. "The ability to say 'Xbox Pause' and it pauses is just the beginning. It's magic, but it should be just like having a conversation moving forward. We'll continue to advance and continue to make it better for both your body and your voice. I would say we've only scratched 10 percent of the possibilities of what we can do with Kinect."
While the Kinect has been criticized by rivals like Sony, which also launched its PlayStation Move motion control system, you can't deny that, with the right tools, great things can arrive with its help.
Microsoft is also confident in this, and has promised to release a full software development kit for the PC platform, so that enthusiasts and independent developers can really tinker with its systems and produce unique projects, which will showcase the Kinect in all its glory.
In the meantime, the North American company has promised that it will help get even more games released for it, in order to please those who already bought the Kinect or convince those who are still on the fence about getting one.