Kinect suffers from the same problem that all motion controls do: the technology isn't there to make it really precise and low latency, and that's a big problem for people who have been playing games for a long time and who have come to expect that precision, even for casual games.
It doesn't matter if the games are casual or not - the games aren't fun to me if I feel like I have to devote even a modicum of thought to compensating for the control scheme, or if I feel like there's even a little bit of "luck" involved. It's like how people complain that Mario Party isn't fun because you don't really feel like your skill has much of a bearing on what's going on - I doubt that most people care about being masters of Mario Party, but with even a little bit of luck, it invalidates the experience. It's not about being competitive, it's about the satisfaction of improving and applying a skill. Sure, if I'm drunk and just waving my arms around and my avatar is doing the same, of course it's fun, but without that precision, it's not a "game," it's a "toy." Toys are fine, but I prefer games.
It's crazy to think that we've got these awesome ideas for motion controls and some fairly impressive implementations that were unimaginable even a few years ago, but no way to make them even as close as precise as the control pads, buttons and joysticks that we've had for decades simply by virtue of the fact that they rely on simple digital technology.
EDIT/ADD: What I'm excited for is when the year-long honeymoon period is over and developers start moving beyond the obvious applications. I want to see stuff like two player games where one player has a controller and the other is using their arms to tilt the playfield or control something else, or a game where you have to stand in front of the camera with a controller in your left and and use your body and the stick at the same time.
It doesn't matter if the games are casual or not - the games aren't fun to me if I feel like I have to devote even a modicum of thought to compensating for the control scheme, or if I feel like there's even a little bit of "luck" involved. It's like how people complain that Mario Party isn't fun because you don't really feel like your skill has much of a bearing on what's going on - I doubt that most people care about being masters of Mario Party, but with even a little bit of luck, it invalidates the experience. It's not about being competitive, it's about the satisfaction of improving and applying a skill. Sure, if I'm drunk and just waving my arms around and my avatar is doing the same, of course it's fun, but without that precision, it's not a "game," it's a "toy." Toys are fine, but I prefer games.
It's crazy to think that we've got these awesome ideas for motion controls and some fairly impressive implementations that were unimaginable even a few years ago, but no way to make them even as close as precise as the control pads, buttons and joysticks that we've had for decades simply by virtue of the fact that they rely on simple digital technology.
EDIT/ADD: What I'm excited for is when the year-long honeymoon period is over and developers start moving beyond the obvious applications. I want to see stuff like two player games where one player has a controller and the other is using their arms to tilt the playfield or control something else, or a game where you have to stand in front of the camera with a controller in your left and and use your body and the stick at the same time.