Any idea how much of a simulation this is rather than a fun little time-killer?
Also - I'm guessing the screenshot is not what a successful landing should look like. Success means slow and boring and precise.
Nasa has launched a free game for Kinect owners which sees players guide the Mars Rover through its landing sequence. The game - a joint venture with Smoking Gun Interactive - puts players through the "seven minutes of terror" landing procedure, which makes use of Nasa's as-yet-untested system for reducing the vehicle's speed …
...and a reply from the resident Microserf? I should have guessed.
When I see anybody I know, at all, who has a Kinect, I might take you even semi-seriously. This thing would probably garner more attention as a ROM available for DS R4 carts, as it will as Kinect software.
Not saying I don't want a go but.. Kinect? Really?
"The game - a joint venture with Smoking Gun Interactive - puts players through the "seven minutes of terror" landing procedure"
Better than the "several years of tedium" second stage of the game, as players have to painstakingly collect and catalogue rock samples while avoiding difficult terrain, Martian storms and system malfunctions, I guess.
I was involved in a high school robotics competition this past year, as a mentor. Teams were given free Kinects to use for controlling these machines, which were competing in a sort-of-basketball game. A lot of beautiful software, loads of lovely hardware, many terrific implementations that would shame not a few professional builders but nary a Kinect to be seen controlling any robot, not in our division which included about 200 teams.
Kinect is largely useless for this type of work. The screenshot is not at all surprising.