So, e3 is here again and Microsoft has given us a bit more information on Project Natal, now known as Kinect. And, as expected with a motion sensor technology, it’s going for sporty games, games that involve moving your body completely, etc, and so most people are crying “copycat”. And I don’t blame them. I also don’t blame them for feeling a little frustrated, after all the Wii was an enormous let down and I rarely find a gamer who enjoyed playing on the Wii for more than a few hours. So why is Microsoft going down the same route?

I’ve often held the opinion that Microsoft isn’t actually in the gaming industry to make great games, but to develop great technology. I doubt the Kinect will inspire too many fantastic games, from what we saw from the Wii, no one could really be bothered to make anything that really used the technology AND make it fun and inspiring for the players and the Kinect could quite easily go down the same route. However, the technology that Microsoft are creating (if it actually works as well as they say it does, and it’s not completely faked) is more likely to be used in a work enviroment. Not necessarly an office cubicle position, but an enviroment such as a designer, where using a mouse or tablet is less intuitive than using your hands to drag, or your voice to give commands.

Realistically though, it’s likely that Microsoft will end up rushing the project, so we end up with slow, unresponsive or confused feedback. This would ruin the development of a technology that could save a lot of people a lot of time and energy. But hey, maybe another company will come along, get inspired off the Kinnect and make their own version, and do it properly.