Kinect clinches gaming hardware award at CES 2011

(AFP PHOTO / Robyn Beck)

Microsoft's hands-free Kinect for Xbox 360 has taken a CES 2011 Innovation Award in the Electronic Gaming Hardware category, beating off competition from the PlayStation Move controller, OnLive MicroConsole, Sefteo's Cubits, and a plethora of top peripherals.

The Kinect sensor launched in November 2010 along with a range of family-friendly games and, before long, had been co-opted by programming and tech enthusiasts to run on PCs, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

Microsoft had hinted at future official support for Kinect on PC, as other companies were already using CES 2011 to tout equivalents for consumer-level computer users.

Among them, the Wavi Xtion emerged as an alternative motion detection camera just prior to the start of the show, Optrima announced a motion control video conferencing project in partnership with Nuvixia, and fellow motion tech firm Omek Interactive showcased some of their bespoke software.

The other contenders in the Electronic Gaming Harware category were Logitech's G930 and F540 headsets and G700 gaming mouse, Astro's Mixamp 5.8, Coltron's SR5108 5.1 Dolby Digital headphones, and Thrustmaster's HOTAS Warthog flight stick and throttle control.

A full list of honorees in this and other categories can be seen at http://www.cesweb.org/Awards/InnovationAwards/2011honorees.htm.