KINECT LAUNCH GUIDE INTERVIEW: KUDO TSUNODA, MICROSOFT
Next of Kin
Kinect is ready for launch. But the device sets up host console 360 for a new wave of experiences undreamed of, Michael French discovers when he meets the mind behind the device, Kudo Tsunoda
AT FIRST glance Kudo
Tsunoda looks like an aloof gaming rockstar. The hair. Those
sunglasses. Expensive casual dress that belies his senior role at Microsoft. A career softography littered with hits
like Fight Nightand Gears of War. He’s even graced the cover of Wired. Yet appearances can be deceiving. No one knows it better than Tsunoda, who is masterminding the introduction of Kinect. Yes, it’s ‘just’ a clever camera peripheral. But the potential is huge. And when MCV meets Tsunoda there is no rockstar attitude. He’s not even wearing his trademark glasses. He’s just a passionate, friendly and funny game developer and producer – with a keen desire to herald a fresh era for Xbox using 360’s new eye in the living room.
THE VISION
Kinect represents a new phase for Microsoft’s game console. That’s a point Tsunoda – and anyone you speak to at Microsoft in fact – is keen to make about the device. It rolls out globally in November,
Wednesday 10th for the UK specifically. The peripheral arrives with as big a complement of launch games as most consoles. While the first wave of titles boast a mix of genres new to Xbox (if not actually new to all of games), beyond launch the aim is to deliver experiences unlike no other, which bring players closer to each other and their entertainment. “It’s easy at first glance to pigeonhole what Kinect is or what it’s experiences are, but for us it’s a device full of opportunity,” says Tsunoda when we ask him to go beyond the buzzwords and tell us what Kinect is really about. “It’s easy and approachable but there’s scope, given Kinect’s
22 October 29th 2010
detailed body-tracking and advanced functions, to offer games that have deeper skill and variety. “The experiences we have on offer for launch are the tip of the iceberg. They are accessible but full of ‘the more you play, the better you get’ potential. Seeing other people playing live has something special to it too – that’s something we were very aware of when designing Kinect. It’s rewarding to be a participant, in that sense.”
This works on numerous levels, he adds. Kinect pushes performance off the screen and towards players. At trade shows that makes the device, often shown off in glass domes, a compelling spectacle – you’ve probably already seen videos or watched someone play it live. Most importantly in the home,
says Tsunoda, Kinect makes gaming experiences inclusive and sticky. Removing a controller has removed barriers both physical and psychological, he says. “Even if you aren’t the primary
player, in a room of ten people when two people are playing, everyone feels part of it. It allows people to express personality. That inherently lends itself to demos and makes it engaging to all, rather than leaving people just waiting for their turn.”
WAVING NOT DROWNING But Kinect’s focus has so far been narrower than the top-line vision first unveiled at E3 in 2009. The line-up of games at launch are uber- casual. The bundled game, Kinect Adventures, comes straight from the Wii Sportsplaybook. Dance Centralis tipped to be the key launch game, just months after Just Dance. And a huge chunk of that first wave aren’t really games as such, but fitness titles. Tsunoda acknowledges the comparisons, but doesn’t really buy it – he says that first clutch of titles
It's not just that what Kinect offers is new to games – it's that what we are doing is not being done in any other entertainment medium full stop.
“ Kudo Tsunoda, Xbox
2008 20
The year Microsoft decided to start
investigating alternative game controllers
The number of joints in the human body Kinect can simultaneously detect and track
$500m
How much Microsoft is purportedly spending on marketing Kinect’s global launch next month
out next month are just a stepping stone to deeper interaction with games. The initial wave of games, yes, can all-too-easily be written off by doubters – but tough luck. Microsoft had to start somewhere. Plus, Tsunoda is certain Kinect’s early titles offer both subtle and explicit improvements to anything you compare them to.
“It’s easy to sum these up as something that’s been done before – but they really are something different and something new. “Take Kinectimals. The voice and human recognition is so unique. “We actually built that
technology originally so you could just stand in front of your Xbox and tell it what to do. But what we’ve found is that it gives deeper emotional integration.”
That’s not just another classic Microsoft Made-for-PowerPoint™ Soundbite, either, he insists. In two or three years, Kinect games could be, amongst other things, emphasising ‘real world
www.mcvuk.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112