NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Technology

Xbox Kinect - gaming without a controller

Herald online
14 Jun, 2010 07:13 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Microsoft has finally revealed the branding - and some tricks - of its new "hands-free" motion control system for the Xbox 360 console.

At a gala event in Los Angeles featuring Cirque du Soleil, Microsoft revealed that system will be called Kinect.

It comes just a day before the game industry's E3 conference kicks off.

Previously known as "Project Natal", the bleeding-edge control system uses a camera and microphone peripheral to map players' bodies in order to interact with games and various Xbox applications.

On show at the grand event, which saw all attendees - including red carpet-crawling celebs - made to wear ponchos with Dynasty-quality 80s shoulder pads that lit up on cue - was a selection of games that showed the versatility of the new system.

A Star Wars game showed a player using body movements to control a tight third-person fight - swinging both arms saw the character slide forward and simple sword-fight movements controlled a light saber being wielded in a perfectly natural fashion.

One family-focused multiplayer game - name as yet unknown - saw players controlling a raft on a fast-moving river with platform-style rewards picked up by jumping in the air or positioning their bodies to pick up matching power-up sets.

A yoga game saw the Xbox bending its way into the yoga space, with players movements monitored on screen, showing up with green dots to show that the particular position had been achieved.

A sports combo game was a little less ground-breaking, coming off more like a Wii Sports title without truly accurate controls. It showed athletics, bowling, javelin and soccer in its line-up.

There was even a cutesy animal "game" allowing players - presumably young and female ones - to interact with a digital tiger, panther, cheetah or leopard cub on screen. This targets PlayStation's EyePet and the very popular Nintendogs.

An interesting feature was the Skype-esque "Video Chat", which hits the web-communications giant where it hurts. The Kinect camera offers a very wide angle, allowing groups of people to confab online without having to swap positions in front of a standard webcam. If this ability is coupled with a web app - to allow non-gamers to connect, maybe via Windows Live - it will be a game changer for the online communications world.

More will be revealed tomorrow as Microsoft's Xbox 360 team unveils more details - including pricing and international availability - about Kinect and its impressive range of abilities.

From what was hinted at during tonight's Cirque event, there is something for everyone and there will be tight integration with Zune HD, Netflix (regrettably not available in New Zealand) and other Xbox Live applications.


Discover more

New Zealand|education

Rural teacher's highly successful gameplan one out of the Xbox

22 Mar 03:00 PM
Opinion

Hands on: PlayStation Move

14 Jun 09:00 AM
Technology

Xbox 360 Kinect - the nuts and bolts revealed

15 Jun 02:43 AM
Technology

Core gamers not forgotten at Xbox event

15 Jun 03:29 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Technology

Premium
Technology

Spark confirms jobs will go as it outsources to AI, networking partner

16 May 04:00 AM
Premium
Technology

Kiwi startup lands TikTok as a client

16 May 02:00 AM
Premium
Business

Xero cracks $2 billion revenue for first time but subscriber growth slows

14 May 11:51 PM

Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Herald on Sunday wins top honours at awards; NZME journalists recognised
New Zealand

Herald on Sunday wins top honours at awards; NZME journalists recognised

16 May 11:00 AM
Crusaders v Waratahs: Crusaders eye bounce-back win
Super Rugby

Crusaders v Waratahs: Crusaders eye bounce-back win

16 May 09:25 AM
Roigard double lifts Hurricanes over Highlanders
Super Rugby

Roigard double lifts Hurricanes over Highlanders

16 May 09:14 AM
Ukraine and Russia set for first direct talks in three years
World

Ukraine and Russia set for first direct talks in three years

16 May 08:48 AM
'Longstanding antipathy': Man stabbed cop in the head so hard the knife broke
New Zealand

'Longstanding antipathy': Man stabbed cop in the head so hard the knife broke

16 May 08:00 AM

Latest from Technology

Premium
Spark confirms jobs will go as it outsources to AI, networking partner

Spark confirms jobs will go as it outsources to AI, networking partner

16 May 04:00 AM

Restructure comes on top of contract to outsource roles to Infosys.

Premium
Kiwi startup lands TikTok as a client

Kiwi startup lands TikTok as a client

16 May 02:00 AM
Premium
Xero cracks $2 billion revenue for first time but subscriber growth slows

Xero cracks $2 billion revenue for first time but subscriber growth slows

14 May 11:51 PM
Premium
The big lessons for NZ in Australia's under-16 social media ban

The big lessons for NZ in Australia's under-16 social media ban

14 May 05:32 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search