Since Kinect motion sensor connects to Xbox 360 using conventional USB cable, it was quickly hacked to work on PCs with unofficial open-source drivers. Examples of experiments of Kinect usage with a PC can be found all around the Internet, but up until now no one has attempted to use Kinect in a mass commercial application. South Korean game developer called GamePrix this week announced plans to support Kinect in its PC-only Divine Soul title in future.

The forthcoming version of Divine Soul MMORPG promises to "resemble console games" by featuring a combat mode similar to that seen in Tekken will support Kinect as an input controller, the developer told IncGamers web-site. This will be the first application designed for the masses that will use Microsoft Kinect motion sensor that its developer designed exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game system.

"The game's support of gamepads makes it resemble console games even more, and is scheduled to support Kinect, a new control system of Xbox360. [...] Kinect will soon be available as a new controller so it might be supported like joy pad mode in the future," said Jason Lim, an official for GamePrix, told IncGamers.

It is noteworthy that Microsoft Kinect features a number of protection mechanisms that prevent its plug-and-play work on Windows-based personal computers. Microsoft is unlikely to remove such techniques from Kinect as the device helps to sell Xbox 360 game console and therefore software, which is why the device should remain an exclusive feature of the platform. As a result, GamePrix will have to distribute its game with generally illegal driver for Kinect.

"Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products. With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant," an official statement by Microsoft reads.

Tags: Microsoft, Kinect, GamePrix, Xbox