Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Those long lazy days spent on the couch playing games may be a thing of the past for gamers looking to get into the Kinect experience, with reports coming out of E3 that it only works if you play standing up.

Here's the deal according to an IGN article covering a number of concerns about Kinect.

According to Microsoft, you can play some Kinect games sitting down. It "varies" by experience. However, several developers giving us demos have said the exact opposite. Sometimes the contradiction comes from the same person -- one day telling us you have to be standing and then the next saying everything can be done while sitting.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has Tweeted on the matter, saying "Yes you can sit or stand with Kinect, depends on the game or experience," though this doesn't really clear up anything, because he could just be talking about Kinect's voice commands which obviously can be used when sitting down, and doesn't dismiss the theory that Kinect can't correctly read the player when seated.

To be fair, most of the Kinect games on display at E3 require the player to be standing in any case, so it's difficult to know exactly where the limitations lie. We'll obviously be keeping a close watch on all things Kinect as we approach its November launch (with SA's release date still to be announced), and we'll be following this issue closely.