Despite early worries by some gamers the Microsoft Kinect has proved to be a hugely successful product, and continues to evolve with the device now available for Windows PCs. Meanwhile Sony came up with the PlayStation Move, which is being outsold by the Kinect by a considerable margin. According to a report on PlayStation lifestyle are looking to their own version that can track movements as well as depth.

A recently published patent has revealed that Sony has started work on a new 3D camera, which has the potential of coming with the next PlayStation. The patent was originally filed back in October last year, which is around a year after the Microsoft Kinect smashed records regarding sales. Sony has said before that they had looked into 3D camera technology before the Kinect was launched, but decided on the PlayStation Move instead.

The patent has been published by Dr Richard Marks who was responsible for the creation of the PS Move and the PS Eye, and hints that the company is again looking at a system along the lines of the Kinect. In the description for the paten it lists an invention that offers a “real-time” 3D environment that uses a device that senses depth.

Similar to the Kinect the patent says the camera will use infrared to determine the depth. Sony producing a Kinect like system for the next PlayStaion makes sense, as Microsoft is thought to be bringing a new Kinect system with the next Xbox console.

Sony will have to be careful to offer something different to the Kinect though as it will be accused of copying Microsoft. The next gen hardware from both companies will hopefully bring some innovative ideas and technology to the table, which will only benefit the gamer. Would you like to see a Kinect type system on the PlayStation?

The game has seen a lengthy delay and may have finally been given a release date, but not via the standard route. UK retailer Argos has just launched its new spring/summer catalogue, and according to a report on MCV the game is listed for an April release.

Designed exclusively for the Xbox 360 Kinect motion controller, the game has been praised and criticized for its game play during its development. It has to be remembered though that this listing could be wrong, but the Microsoft Game Studios had previously said the game would finally launch this spring, so it may be accurate.

The retailer normally brings out two new catalogues each year and could have easily guessed at the release date. When Microsoft were contacted regarding the date the spring time frame was confirmed, and that the company will have more news to reveal soon.

It also makes you wonder if the game could find its way onto Windows with the release of the Kinect device for the platform fast approaching. Meanwhile strangely Amazon has the game listed for a December 31st 2012 shipping date.

Will you be getting Kinect Star Wars?

During Microsoft’s keynote presentation at CES 2012, it was finally confirmed that Kinect would be available for Windows next month. Users will then be able to control their PCs using motion gestures without the need of a mouse. According to a report on Techradar it will also allow your PC to know broader motions such as leaving your position sitting in front of it.

For instance if you get up and leave your PC for any reason the Kinect will recognize this and put the PC to sleep, and when you return automatically turn itself back on. Currently Microsoft hasn’t revealed how this would look in practice, but considering the company’s recent push to unify everything across its devices; it could be similar to what is experienced with the Xbox.

This keynote presentation by Microsoft was to be the last one in the near future at the CES event, and saw CEO Steve Ballmer taking to the stage. He again repeated how the company is focusing on Windows and the Metro design in the coming year and despite rumors didn’t say anything about the next Xbox.

Ballmer did reveal that Microsoft has sold an impressive eighteen million Kinect units so far, and considering there is more than 66 million Xbox 360 users this is set to grow even further. Will you get Kinect for your Windows PC?

Sources are now claiming that the company are looking to get the Kinect technology into as many homes as possible, and sees the integration into TVs as an ideal way to do this. According to an article on Cnet Sony and Vizio are allegedly in talks with the company about the idea.

This is where these rumors start to lose credibility though as why would Sony want to give a leg up to one of its fiercest rivals? Sony has its own PlayStation Move controllers that may be a slightly different concept, but would they really want Microsoft technology in their TV sets? Its TV arm may not be doing great at the moment but it would be surprising if Sony felt this would be a good idea to change the situation.

Having Kinect built into TVs is a good idea though as besides gesture controls it could recognize who is in front of it. It could also remember what each user watches and settings for the TV as well. Microsoft and TV manufacturers alike may be getting worried with what Apple are planning, as rumors continue to circulate that the company will be bringing its own TVs out to the market at some point.

It could be an interesting addition though to the TV sets we have in our homes in the future. Would you like to see TVs with built-in Kinect?

According to Ubergizmo the company is designing hardware that is specially designed to connect with PCs that are running the Windows operating system. The current Kinect could be used with a PC, but the new models will be better designed with new hardware components and firmware so it will work better with PCs.

There will also be new upgrades to the Windows SDK and run time, and the new equipment is set to contain features and functionality that developers have been requesting. Back in the summer Microsoft released a Beta for developers to build applications for the Kinect on Windows.

Some of the changes will include a shorter USB cable and a dongle that will enhance coexistence with other USB equipment. The new firmware will also allow the camera to view objects as near as 50cm without losing any accuracy or precision. This is called the “Near Mode” and is thought will bring a variety of new close up applications to the device, which could be used in a range of different places besides the living room.

Will you get the Kinect for your Windows PC?

According to FIFA’s lead producer David Rutter this year’s FIFA 12 features the biggest change in gameplay code since switching to the Xbox 360 and PS3. He says that FIFA 13 will not have such a dramatic change ‘as far as technology is concerned.’ Nothing as far as details have been disclosed about FIFA 13 yet though there has been one feature confirmed and that is the use of the Xbox 360 Kinect.

The company has been experimenting with what they could integrate for the use of the Kinect and what would work ever since the device was released. As Rutter explained in the article at VideoGamer, whenever they were asked whether they would be including Kinect support, they would always say ‘not until we can get something cool and makes sense working.’ It seems that the experimenting has finally paid off and next year we will see what the cool thing they’ve got working is.

EA are always considering their future with the development of their games so as to not rest on their laurels and continue to have improved success. We recently brought you news that they announced that games like FIFA will soon be available as a download directly to the console. This is something they are looking into as they believe the future of gaming will become more digitally orientated.

Are you looking forward to seeing what EA do with FIFA 13 now the Kinect is involved?

We already know that Microsoft will have lots of new titles supporting the Kinect motion controller. And now it seems if Microsoft will continue to push the device as the family based device, with a new partnership with Disney, according to an article by Eddie Makuch on Gamespot.

Sources have managed to find domain names that have been registered by Microsoft for Kinect Disney World, Kinect Disneyland, Disneyland Kinect, Disneyland Adventures, and Kinect Magic Kingdom. At the moment there is no information about what the domain names mean, and we will just have to wait for the Microsoft press event which kicks off later today.

If they are for some new Kinect titles, gamers could find themselves wandering around a virtual Disney World meeting Mickey and his friends. You may even get to ride some of the amazing Disney attractions in the virtual world.

Do you like the idea of a Kinect and Disney tie up?

According to James Newton over on the kinectaku.com website, the Winter Stars game – which will be published by Deep Silver – is due to arrive sometime later this year, and will be available for the Kinect for Xbox 360, the PlayStation Move for PS3 and the Nintendo Wii / Balance Board.

The game features 11 different sporting disciplines including curling, paraskiing, snowmobile, figure skating, biathlon, freeride skiing, snowboard cross, short-track, bobsled, downhill skiing and ski flying. The Winter Stars game provides players with a choice of both single player and multiplayer modes.

It also comes with a unique ‘Family Mode,’ which enables each participant to choose their own individual difficulty level. Meanwhile, the Winter Stars single-player story mode offers gamers a campaign full of variety, which enables them to experience all areas of an athlete’s career.

Players can use their earned experience points to either improve their skills or buy new equipment. Although we don’t have a specific release date at this stage, we do know that the Winter Stars game will be arriving sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

Does the Winter Stars game sound like a title you would go and buy?

According to a recent article by Clemens over on the 123kinect.com website, the new DLC contains a total of three brand new tracks for the Kinect game including “Lapdance” by N.E.R.D. (featuring Vita and Lee Harvey), “Informer” by Snow and “Fergalicious” by Fergie featuring Will.i.am.

Each song will cost you 240 Microsoft Points. For those of you that don’t already know, the Fergalicious song is the second single from Fergie’s 2006 solo album The Dutchess. Meanwhile, Informer is the 1992 song from Canadian reggae musician Snow’s debut album, 12 Inches of Snow.

Informer reached No. 2 in the UK charts, and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. Finally, Lapdance is from N.E.R.D.’s 2001 album In Search Of. The Lapdance song was ranked in VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. We’ve embedded a trailer for the DLC below this post.

Are you a Dance Central fan? If you are, will you be buying the new DLC?

Credit for the hack goes to Shantanu Goel, as he has provided a video which shows the PS3′s XMB being controlled solely by Kinect. The code for the hack is in pre-alpha status at the moment, but the video clearly shows what is possible with the new trick.

The video even shows Killzone 3 operating on Kinect motion controls too – how impressive is that folks? You can see that a variety of hand gestures allows the user to navigate through the menus of Killzone 3, for example a scrolling motion to browse through the options and so on. The in-game motion tracking isn’t as impressive, but we’re sure that this will be fine tuned in a later build.

It’s pretty wacky stuff. Who would have thought that Microsoft’s Kinect would work on a piece of Sony hardware? Check out the video below and let us know your thoughts on it. Does the PS3 really do everything?!