I can't stand it when people put down other people opinions by branding them as trying to be "cool." I don't dislike Kinect because it's "cool" to dislike Kinect, thank you very much. There are reasons why I will never buy it or use Kinect.

1. I live in a house with other people. Four of us are gamers. It would get ridiculous very quickly if all of us started shouting at our games at the same time. Besides, I can't stand the sound of my own voice.

2. Me, the player, shouting at my screen is not roleplaying. Roleplaying is about the character, not the player. There are already more than enough player-skill-based, first-person shooter game mechanics in the Elder Scrolls games. I don't want to add to it by using my own voice. If there is a voice involved I want it to be my character's voice, because I am playing my character, I am not playing myself.

For those saying that it's an expensive microphone, it isn't. It has a lot more functionality than that. Don't reference Skyrim or Mass Effect 3 voice commands either; that is how the devs have chosen to implement the technology into their games. Because they've chosen to use it in that capacity shouldn't reflect poorly on the Kinect itself. Having said that, I am for one glad that it was limited to voice only in games like this. Xbox have the "hardcoe" market and they want a slice of the "casual" market that Nintendo has, can't say I blame them.

I guess it's an easy way for Bethesda to make some cash. All they did was add voice control and I bet Microsoft gave them more than Skyrim made....

Honestly? I can see voice commands being potentially useful, but Shouts? Um...hell no.

I have a certain manner of describing this sort of thing, and believe me when I tell you that actually shouting in ancient Nordic in your living room crosses the Dork Line. Many nerdy activities, or nerdtivities for short, are acceptably performed in public. I've worn a Batman T-shirt many a day. I've watched many a superhero movie. I play computer games on the 360 and PC. I used to sit and read The Lord of the Rings in school, loooong before Lord of the Rings was cool. But I always take care to keep the nerdtivities this side of the Dork Line and always will - and I can tell you that wearing a headset and Shouting at my damn television crosses the Dork Line in a way it should never be crossed.

Take care not to cross the Dork Line, ladies and gentlemen, for on the other side of the Line dwell all sorts of horrible creatures Man was not meant to lay eyes upon: barbarian Con-goers, squeezed into moth-eaten Dragonlance shirts two sizes to small, and unacquainted with the advances of civilization like "showering" and "deodorant"; cosplay girls wearing horribly size-inappropriate chainmail bikinis; writers of slash fiction with unhealthy fixations on rather unlikely encounters between Mr. Spock, Conan, Galadriel and the Seven Dwarves; and, not least, sweaty, creepy, bepimpled, quavering lumps of flesh hoping fervently that they can '"accidentally" brush against Jeri Ryan's boob while she's signing autographed photos.

Take care you never cross the Dork Line unawares, folks, LEST YOU BE EXPOSED TO THESE HORRORS AND WORSE.

I gotta say, there are very few experiences better in Skyrim than seeing a murderer in the marketplace, literally shouting "Slow Time!", and saving the day.

The Kinect add-on is worth it alone for the ability to use any shout at any time without going through the menus. The fact that you can also Quick Save and Sort by Value/Weight is just icing on the cake.

Of course it's a free market. They're free to make the games they want to sell and offer them at the price they want to sell them at - and you're entirely free to buy those games at that price or not. What the hell could be freer? Both parties are free to engage in the transaction or to decline the deal - which is as it should be.

To the bolded, I say nice! Still, I don't know if my fragile dignity could remain intact verbalising dragon shouts.

See my above post. Heed ye my warning, lest ye cross the Dork Line!

I would never use kinect for skyrim, It would be so embarrassing for someone to walk in my room while im shouting some ridiculous nonsense words at my t.v. LOL.

I only have one thing to say to this:

It'll just be an option.

I don't even play multiplayer games that require teamwork and co-operation with a mic*... so I think I'm safe.

*Much to the chagrin of my team-mates.

Just the reaction I was hoping for!

Just TALKING over the microphone wouldn't bother me at all; I do that all the time playing Halo. But shouting spells in a fictional language? No thank you. I'm not prepared to dive headfirst in the deep end of the dork pool.

I KNOW.

Honestly, I don't see the big deal. We're more than a decade after people with voice commands on their cellphones started showing up in malls, they got laughed at, and now it's pretty much a standard feature.

I don't have a 360, or any console currently, and even if I did, I wouldn't use voice commands; I prefer to play in silence unless I have an audience, and then I'm going to be using my mouth to talk to them. I don't even like using the microphone on my DS/3DS, and I hate using voice chat in MMOs. But I don't see the point of being afraid of being considered dorky for doing something in the privacy of your own home when it's convenient and a fun little gimmick.

"Dork pool" lol

you just gave the very same speech my little brother gave me when he found out I was getting Kinect

I mostly got it for the kids, you would be surprised with the physical exercise you get from playing the most basic Kinect game, the Skyrim stuff was supposed to be the icing on the cake. I agree with you that.... yes it is crossing the " nerd line " when you learn all shouts in the dragon tounge and preced to shout at your TV, but to speak in a normal tone in english is just being a nerd and I'm proud to say that yes I am a nerd
But I agree with you it does cross that unspoken line that us nerds should never cross, unless your 50 and living in your parents basemant

Hmm like what other functions? As far as I know it is extremely tiresome to use as a controller and consoles already are forced to use extremely clunky and tiresome to use controller. So what is this extra functionality kinect posesses?

++

Well, when I saw that guy in the GameJam video Shouting at his teevee, all I could think of was this:

http://youtu.be/j_ekugPKqFw

and that's just the start of the other side of the line

Oh, that's way across the Dork Line. One doesn't run into the Shameless LARPer anywhere near this side of the Line.

Well I guess there's nerds ( me ) and then there's DORKS ( them on the vid. )
What about a group that just makes REAL armor and weapons and have mock skirmishs? Would you consider that to be on the other side?

No, that's an acceptable level of nerditry that doesn't cross the Line. They're engaging in physical activity, probably learning a little about history, and so forth. If they're actually really making metal armor using old techniques, then they're definitely learning a skill, even if it's a historical and no longer practically useful skill. But even the guys just putting on plastic armor and genuinely sparring with PVC-duct-tape-and-foam weapons are at least engaging in a light-hearted martial art.