Microsoft has made a lot of promises with regard to Kinect - none of which held more promise than the ability to scan objects and insert them into your game. Since the initial skateboard scanning demonstration, Microsoft has remained mute about games that utilize this function.

However, that looks to change with the upcoming title, Kinect Joy Ride.

This week at Tokyo Game Show, a brief glimpse was given as to how developers might be able to use object scanning. Joy Ride, the kart racing game that allows Xbox Live subscribers to use their avatars as drivers has made some really interesting improvements - ever since Microsoft reneged on it's promise that the game would be free to play.

While it might not seem like much just yet, using the Kinect camera, players will be able to scan any object in order to borrow the object’s color-scheme for use on their racer. Being able to scan an object’s color is not something altogether new but if the Kinect technology makes it possible to more accurately recreate the colors of certain objects - then it could offer developers some interesting implementations.

On paper, Kinect Joy Ride does not seem like a particularly interesting offering from Microsoft and developer Big Park, but the customization of racers might just be the small little design addition that fuels developers creative spark. Unfortunately, with the amount of buzz Little Big Planet 2 is receiving, Microsoft is going to be hard pressed to sell a game that only takes on a small portion of what LBP can do.

As the peripheral continues to develop, imagine if the character customization screens allowed gamers a myriad of color choices at their fingertips. Just recently, in Halo: Reach’s Spartan creation menu, I was extremely underwhelmed by the amount of color options available to me. If object scanning opened up my options, I would have allowed me to create a Spartan even better suited to my tastes.

The end result of an implementation like this is not going to sell gamers on the peripheral but will certainly open developers up to the creative potential of Kinect.

What do you think of Kinect's object scanning as it pertains to Joy Ride Ranters? Interested in the possibilities or want something that more closely resembles Milo? Let us know in the comments below.

Kinect Joy Ride is set for release on November 4th alongside Microsoft's Kinect.

Source: Joystiq