Xbox Kinect | Its time is up

After nearly 4 years of being on the market, the Xbox Ones Kinect is finally being discontinued. The writing was on the wall years ago wasn't it?

It started when the Xbox One S came out and users had to buy a bulky adapter in order to use their Kinect. Every month the new OS slowly phased out Kinect compatability with an ever changing UI that favoured controllers over voice and motion control.

Then there's the games. The Xbox 360's Kinect had some neat games, most of which could be played with a controller anyway. Games like Steel Battalion showed promise with a phenomenal presentation but being limited to motion controls only made the game damn near impossible. Damn shame...

We thought things were gonna change with the Xbox One, but it didn't. The only game of note is Kinect Sport Rivals which has some surprisingly good games packed in such as the Jet Ski racing which will forever be shackled to the Kinect.

I'm gonna be honest, I've never liked the Kinect. Don't get me wrong, as a piece of tech, i really do admire it. Recently I visited a medical exhibition where the Kinect was used to monitor the Doctors posture during their surgical training. Examples like this is why the Kinect is still utilised for a whole host of non-gaming projects that show just how good the tech is.

When it came to gaming however, it was a bit of a dog. The Quick and accurate responses required by games meant the Kinect could never really keep up and you end up just wishing you could play the damn thing with a traditional controller. I could make some tiring gesture to get something to happen which I may have to repeat a few times to work, or I could press a button? Which would I rather do?

Despite its demise the tech will live on thanks to the IPhone incorporating the technology in its front-facing camera which is doing some neat things for face recognition. Oh and Ubisoft with the next 10 years of Just Dance games.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/17/16315510/iphone-x-notch-kinect-apple-primesense-microsoft

Original Xbox Backwards Compatability | It's finally here

Original Xbox compatibility is finally here, meaning every generation of Xbox can now be played on the Xbox One.

The Original Xbox is undoubtedly my favourite console. It's the peak of western AAA output and still in an era when Japan still dominated the gaming landscape. While the first selection of backwards compatible games are a little lacking for me, the commitment and quality of the emulation is an exciting prospect.

Popping in one of the selected 13 games will prompt a download of the game file working exactly the same way as Xbox 360 emulation. Once done, you will be greeted with nostalgia overload as you see the original Xbox boot up screen in 1080p glory.

I say 1080p but the resolution is actually 960p which isn't a problem really as it doesn't mess with the games original aspect ratio. You won't notice a difference anyway as the games have cleaned up rather nicely. I've always felt the original Xbox has always aged well due to developers respecting the consoles limitations (unlike 7th gen) while still having the graphical fidelity to create believable worlds.

Not all games are available to purchase on the store which does signal some slight concerns when it comes to licensing. Cult classics like the PGR series still haven't made its way to Xbox 360 and most likely never will. Highly requested titles like Jet Set Radio a Future for example will have to overcome music licences if it's to ever see a release.

Doom and gloom aside, this is very exciting for Xbox fans. Microsoft has done a phenomenal job of emulation on such underpowered CPU's which has always  led me to believe that Xbox 360 emulation was impossible. Original Xbox emulation was always going to be possible, but I never would have thought Microsoft would have much interest going that far back.

This is the part where I would start to write a list of titles I would like to see, but I'm just too engrossed in Knights of the Old Republic. 

Original Xbox Games on Xbox One | What we know so far

Regardless of what you think of Xbox today, one thing you can't deny is their sheer commitment to backwards compatibility. It's the one major trump Xbox has over the PS4 as Sony shows clear disinterest in their past machines.

Compatibility shall be releasing Autumn this year. Here are some things you should know:

Xbox's Japanese Situation | Xbox in 2003 is eerily similar to Xbox in 2017

It's no secret Xbox has always struggled in Japan with it struggling to muster up the same types of sales as its Japanese rivals. The Xbox did admirably and Microsoft really tried with the Xbox 360, but now the Xbox One has hit a new low with a severe lack of Japanese titles coupled with laughably low sales figures.

What's astounding is that the situation Xbox was facing back in 2003 is scarily similar to the troubles Xbox has in 2017. Here's an interesting article by Games Industry Biz that highlighted the cancellation of a much anticipated Japanese Xbox exclusive:

Microsoft Japan has cancelled Xbox MMORPG True Fantasy Live Online, citing quality and development progress concerns, although Microsoft US has since

Win64e10 | The Quickly Pulled N64 Emulator Released for Xbox One

So here's an odd little story you may not have heard of. Back on the 26th of September an N64 emulator by the name of Win64e10 quietly made its way onto the Xbox Live marketplace. Initially the game was only available for Windows 10 devices through the Windows store and was the first emulator to be available officially through a console marketplace. Win64e10 cost a hefty £7.69 and quietly sneaked past Microsoft's certifications. Never the less the app was only available for roughly a day before Microsoft caught on and removed the app the following day. Luckily(?) I did manage to get wind of the news and swiftly purchased it hours before it's removal. Don't worry, you're not missing anything.