: Eh. I'm skeptical that motion controls of any kind will have any sort of
: practical, utilitarian value that advances gaming forward. I mean, the
: industry has been trying motion controls at least as far back as the NES
: era with "innovations" like the Power Glove (it's so bad!) and
: U-Force. They just now got them to actually be viable in this generation
: with the Wiimote, PS Move, and Kinect. However, they're still little more
: than a gimmick, and never really did anything to advance the frontiers of
: gaming. Even when they're done well, like they were in Super Mario Galaxy,
: it would have been much better to just have plain old button presses. SMG
: would have controlled just as well if it had supported the Classic
: Controller. As for camera-based controls like Kinect, I see even less
: value for them. What possible mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting, totally
: indispensable "better-than-a-button-push" new thing could they
: add to a game like Halo? I imagine a select few developers can come up
: with something useful, but I'm not expecting anything that will come
: anywhere close to revolutionizing gaming. We've been waiting 25 years for
: something really awesome to come from motion controls, yet here we are,
: still waiting, and I don't think including Kinect with every XBO will
: encourage devs to eventually unlock its true potential (if it has any) any
: more than the Wiimote being the Wii's primary controller encouraged devs
: to do anything truly revolutionary with waggle-based controls. So, forgive
: me for thinking that the Kinect will still fail to catch on as the
: "Next Big Thing." Motion controls can never replace traditional
: gamepads. They're just not cut out for it because they're far too limited.
: They're at best supplementary, yet still entirely unnecessary outside of
: more casual party games.

Yeah... I'm still wary of it, but I think I'd have to agree, generally speaking. I think Kinect can be successful today, but as you say it really is more of a gimmick than a revolutionary control.

I think, really, that it's because of where we play games. I think, ultimately, a screen in the living has optimal control in handheld controllers. Kinect can be used, and it be used well, but it's more of an in-between to... I dunno, some other kind of interfeace; like, add another 'dimension' of sorts to where/how we play games, where the controller isn't enough, and the Kinect (full body motion control that is) will find its natural place... in so many words.

ie, holodeck? :P
The problem is, I think, there'd need to be some kind of paradigm shift to get the average, and the mainstream, game-playing people away from a strictly screen-based gaming. It's easy, it's quick, it's casual, it's convenient. Anything else takes much more investment, becoming a niche demographic. I don't think there will be any kind of fundamental shift in gaming context for quite some time... Kinect/motion control may be doomed to niche/gimmick market. Minority Report was cool, but remember that was in the context of very special application in a highly trained and secure environment. Very, very niche. :P