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"It became very important for us to create a new control scheme where anybody - no matter what your age or gaming ability - can just get in there can play with Xbox. No instructions, just very simple and easy to use. But at the same time we wanted to give extra fidelity for core gamers. So, simple and approachable, extra fidelity - it seems like opposite things, but those are both things we can do with Project Natal." It's almost three years now since Digital Foundry first went "hands-off" with Microsoft's seemingly magical depth camera technology, and out of all the things creative director Kudo Tsunoda said at that initial presentation, this one quote is perhaps the most interesting in pinpointing exactly what went wrong with Kinect. Seemingly devised as a device to break down barriers to gaming while at the same time improving the quality of the core game experience, it's safe to say that the fastest-selling consumer electronics launch of all time only achieved some of its goals.
At its height, Kinect produced some great new mainstream-friendly games and delighted players of all backgrounds with some key exclusive titles built around the strengths - and weaknesses - of the hardware. These were games that simply wouldn't have been as much fun with the traditional controller and, while they may not have appealed to the core gamer, they did indeed manage to expand the reach of the Xbox console. However, in the wake of this week's release of the genuinely disappointing Steel Battalion, one thing is clear: Kinect categorically does not offer "extra fidelity for core gamers" and, these days, Tsunoda would be laughed out of the room for suggesting it.
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