This could be game-changing.
If the Xbox becomes the all-in-one living room box of the future, this is the kind of stuff that would suddenly become possible. Kids could actually interact with their educational programming and say things like “A” “6″ or “biplane” to their TV and be congratulated for the correct answer. They could point to the number 8 and be told if they’re wrong, tell Elmo when they see a triangle, square, or circle, or wave their hands around to fly into a Toucan’s nest. This is interactive TV.
Have you ever watched Dora the Explorer? Doesn’t it annoy you when Dora says, “You see Swiper the fox? Where?” and you start screaming at the TV while pointing directly at him, and she’s all like, “I don’t see him” and then whatever cool thing she has gets swiped by the fox? No matter how red your face gets from screaming she doesn’t seem to notice.
Or what about Blue’s Clues. You know how Steve (urr, Joe, ugh) sometimes walks past a clue without noticing? Once again, you can scream as loud as you want and point right at it but he doesn’t seem to notice until the kids in the TV say “a clue a clue!”
You get the idea. More instant gratification for this kind of stuff would suddenly become possible, and kids would prefer watching these shows on Kinect than on the regular TV where nobody seems to be listening. This kind of stuff will get parents to buy an Xbox, and once they start using it for their own games and as a DVR, they’re not turning back.