HiGame

When Microsoft first launched Project Natal — later known as Kinect — it declared that the device would usher in a bold new world of gaming where our bodies would be controllers. Today, the last vestiges of that dream have finally died.

According to Fastcodesign, Microsoft has finally ceased manufacturing the camera after selling more than 35 million of them over the past seven years. Retailers may still have some in stock, but the company won’t be building any more. It’s a little odd to think about, but Kinect may well be the best-selling gaming peripheral that had virtually no long-term impact on gaming. Kinect had an impact in non-gaming research and versions of its sensor are integrated into HoloLens, but the hardware never really caught on. Microsoft’s attempts to patent some decidedly Big Brother functionality right as the Snowden leaks hit was cataclysmically bad branding.

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