Kinect, Microsoft’s controller-free Xbox 360 motion and voice sensor, is entrancing gamers with its circa-2006 Wii-style magic spell, but not everyone is impressed.

Stephen at Kotaku is intrigued with its possibilities but feels it falls short in several ways. He offers up five suggestions for Microsoft and Xbox 360 game publishers to make the device more effective.

His tips:

*Expand gesture controls across the Xbox 360 interface, including apps such as Netflix and Facebook.

*Provide an option to sense just one user’s voice rather than everyone’s.

*Make games that use voice commands as more than just a throwaway gimmick.

*Create more universal gestures that let you do more than just pause the game, such as skip cut scenes.

*Before games start, show the boundaries of how much living room space we’ve got to work with.

I’ve also been playing around with the Kinect and agree with all of Stephen’s points. I’d also like to be able to turn the Xbox 360 on and off with voice commands. A time rewinding/TV repair function would also be nice.

What improvements would you like to see in the Kinect?

5 Things Microsoft Needs To Do To Improve Kinect [Kotaku]

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