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Does Kinect Only Support Two Players?
Are all of those promotional shots of families enjoying Kinect a lie? Maybe. If recent technical specifications for Kinect are accurate, the motion-sensing peripheral will only truly support two players at once.
According to a listing from UK online retailer Play.com, Microsoft’s device can track “2 active players” simultaneously, even though it can apparently recognize up to six people in the camera’s view. Check out the Skeletal Tracking details under the system's technical details pulled directly from the site:
If these specs reflect the final product, it would put Kinect at a disadvantage when compared to Sony’s Move and Nintendo’s Wii, both of which support four players at once. Some multiplatform titles, like Majesco’s Zumba Fitness, add credence to the apparent player discrepancy. According to a press release, that title supports “up to four players on Wii and PlayStation Move, and up to two players on Kinect for Xbox 360.”
Kinect releases this November, so we hope Microsoft clarifies the issue before then.
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