I dunno, there were a lot of improvements between Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3 (and, okay, some de-evolution as well). Rocksmith 2014 is dramatically improved upon the original Rocksmith. It's not like the only changes are just the lists of songs.

I know, I know. I just think that the types of improvements between releases could just be rolled into game updates for a single title. I realize I'm over-simplifying it in my head, but with every game getting a mandatory install, online updates coming regularly, and controllers with goddamn firmware updates, I think the need for Rock Band 4, 5, and 6 during this generation would be overkill. Give us one good game and improve on it over and over. They could release periodic disc-based releases for the major updates (which would include the main game, all major updates to story and main DLC tracks, but not the individual DLC tracks you can buy on their own), I guess, but keep it as the same single game title. It can be done, but it requires some forward-thinking and planning.

I have 3 or 4 of the Guitar Hero games (yeah, I bought into the wrong franchise...), and I rarely played any of them after a few weeks because I wanted to play ALL of them. I think RB had the better system for all of this, but like I said... releasing 3 or 4 new games in the generation is unnecessary. There's more money to be had in going with the long-haul approach, IMO.

In case anyone was concerned, I saw a couple copies of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at Best Buy. So it looks like they finally got their shit worked out for the disc version.

The fact Kinect can hear commands from another audio source like a podcast or MP matches and not from someone in the room... yeah, horseshit. If it truly read lips they could restrict the "Xbox on/off" commands to reading lips as a confirmation

Is it six months, really? It's going on four years as a whole with Kinect as a product. Assuming there was a Power Glove 2 three years after the first, would people still be hoping beyond hope that some magical killer app was coming six months later?

Motion gaming has been exhausted until the tech is much further along.

I'd argue the complete opposite. Six months is too long to wait for a killer Kinect app. There should've been one available at launch...possibly even provided as a pack-in.

It's a similar problem with the Wii U gamepad. Nintendo had very little at launch (and still doesn't, a year and a half later) to take meaningful advantage of the gamepad. That's the key differentiator in the hardware, it added a heckuva lot to the console's pricetag, and it's on the brink of being pointless. The Kinect is the key differentiator in the Xbox One's hardware, it added a heckuva lot to the console's pricetag, and it's arguably even more pointless than the Wii U's underutilized gamepad.

Has Microsoft actually said they read lips? All i've seen is that they locate where your mouth is to isolate where sound is coming from, which is a far different thing.



That's a good point, although I think there's a difference between 4 years of Kinect as an optional add on versus 6 months of it being mandatory for consumers. Maybe a year or a year and a half in the hands of actual developers. But like I said, I got the feeling that Microsoft feels that voice control is as much of a killer app as a game putting it to use.

Don't get me wrong, I hate motion gaming anyway and realized that awhile ago with the Wii. I don't care how much the tech improves, there just aren't that many practical ways that me standing up and moving enhances my immersion in a game except for silly party games.

I might have said lip reading. If I did, I was wrong.
edit: Nope. I said lip-tracking in my post, which is what you're saying. I think Someone else might have said lip-reading though.

Then why the f*ck are you posting here? Go post in the "2015 Trips to England" thread.

Everyone is aware we can say fuck on here, right?

There's a big barrier to that. It's called Kinect on the 360, currently sitting in the closet with the Wii in most of Joe Sixpack gamer homes.

profanity is funnier when censored. See Southpark on TV vs. Southpark on Hulu, for example.

I'm trying to curb my swearing.

Do you have to use so many cuss words?

What the fuck is a cuss word?

I agree with everything you said here except for that last bolded part. The sales numbers for PS4 and XB1 indicate that plenty of average consumers were ready and excited to grab the new consoles.

Microsoft offering pro-rata refunds for Xbox Live Gold once paywall comes down

Damn, Microsoft going all out...

So only for apps, but if I want the MP experience in games I'd still need to be a subscriber. Is that how I'm reading this?

Yes, you still need Gold to play online.

You a little jealous???

Maybe cause someone had asked how many were going to follow up on the "if they drop the kinect I'll buy one" statements.

I'm stating the reason I'm not currently buying one even after dropping the kinect.

Could not possibly disagree more. I bet the Kinect attach rate going forward is less than 10%. Nobody that buys the $399 bundle is gonna shell out another $75 or $100 for that thing. I literally dis-Kinected the thing from my unit the second or third day and it has been sitting on a shelf ever since.

FWIW I am totally jealous. Always wanted to visit England.

So far I've kept mine attached, but sitting in my media closet where it can't see or hear me (but can reach with the included power cord). I've used it exactly twice -- for scanning in the Day One Achievement and scanning in the Forza 5 LE DLC. So that's $50 per scan. .
I bet Joe Sixpack can't wait to experience that awesomeness!