User blog comment:Kacj321/Kinect Support Coming to Skyrim/@comment-1532410-20120416234432

Per the following sources, this is NOT an April Fool's Joke (Julian, or otherwise):

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Skyrim-on-Xbox-360-Gets-Kinect-Support-264333.shtml

http://www.itworld.com/virtualization/267214/kinect-support-comes-skyrim

Now to put my own "two cents" in; I think the idea of Kinect integration is good for many reasons.

1) I have never had any major issues with interacting with Kinect since the day I got it because I followed the instructions and calibrated it during the initial setup process.

a) Try to keep the "play area" as clutter-free and brightly lit as possible. Also, run the Kinect ID a few times under differing light conditions (like it suggests) and it'll read body movements with greater accuracy each time it is run.

b) During initial setup it checks for ambient noise to help compensate, but the quieter the room during gameplay, the better. As time goes by though it "learns" your speech patterns and begins to compensate (think of how auto-complete works while texting. The more you use it, the better it can guess what you want).

2) Kinect was never meant to REPLACE controllers, but to enhance the overall gaming experience. Has it been succesfull? Maybe not "Home Run" sussesfull, at least a solid "Base Hit". It's still in its early stages and developers and finding ways to use it. IMHO, Dragon Shouts seem like a no-brainer (as for memorizing, you'd be surprised what the brain can remember when your list starts small and then slowly grows during gameplay).

3) Face it: Haters will always hate. Regardless of the banality of the topic. If Kinect is "not your thing" don't get it. If your self esteem is so low that you're afraid you'll "look stupid" screaming at your TV then I can guarantee you don't have a Kinect, a Wii, A Move, or even play games with any level of seriousness. By a show of "virtual hands" how many people have found themselves leaning their entire body slightly to one side hoping to see around a corner in an FPS, subconconsciously jerk the controller upwards during a particularly tricky jump in the hopes that it'll give you just a tiny bit more air so you can make it, or even saying the AI is "a cheater" while playing a solo game because you just can't get past a certain enemy?

4) "It needs to be mic access" is a possible FUTURE option, but the amount of voice recognition necessary to understand such a diverse group is ALREADY BUILT IN to the Kinect and would need to be coded from scratch otherwise, hence why Kinect is "firsties".

5) "PS3 is getting screwed because ..." is an invalid argument. As much as we all enjoy gaming as a hobby we sometimes forget it is a business, first and formost, and let's face it "money talks". PS3 has gotten as many "exclusives" as Xbox, but EVENTUALLY the opposite console will get it too because a company wants to make as much money as possible (albeit Voice Integration will be difficult on PS 3, but I'm sure sorting, quicksaves, and possibly Move Support. BTW: My "shudder" is in regards to torn shoulders and tennis elbows, not the hardware).

6) Wouldn't it be awesome to have a creation kit for consoles? Heck yes, but the interaction/accessibility with consoles differs greatly with PC and, let's face it, the PCs strength is in its "mod-ability".

I could go on, but I feel my "rant" is beginning to wane. Bottom line is: If it appeals to YOU, awesome. If you don't have a Kinect (or don't use it regularly) then you're not really "missing out". The DLC will get here when it gets here. Bethesda has more then a half dozen people working there so I'm sure the "DLC Creation" team was not even affected by the "Kinect Integration" team, nor is the "Bug Fixer" team slowed down from ITS appointed task.