Former creative director for Kinect Kudo Tsunoda has departed from the Xbox group and is now working with the Windows App Studio to further the development of apps across the company’s different devices and services (including HoloLens and Microsoft Edge).

An unnamed Microsoft rep told GameSpot that, “On the heels of the successful release of the November update for Windows 10 and the New Xbox One Experience, Microsoft added two new members to the Windows and Devices Group Leadership Team.

“Kudo Tsunoda [joins] as CVP Windows Apps Studio and Chuck Friedman as CVP Windows Shell Program Management. These changes will help Microsoft continue to deliver great experiences on Windows 10 and devices, including Xbox, Surface and HoloLens.”

It should be interesting to see what this means, especially considering the company’s de-emphasis on Kinect, so stay tuned for more information and in the meantime, let us know what you think in the comments below.

Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda has never been one to mince words. This was the case when he was creative director for Kinect and as corporate VP, he’s since been hyping up HoloLens and Rare’s upcoming Sea of Thieves. In conversation with GamesRadar, Tsunoda talked about the challenges the Xbox One has overcome and how it will look to grow in the next six months to a year. Unsurprisingly, the console’s excellent Holiday line-up is a major contributing factor to that.

“You can see that what we’re focused on is just delivering high value for our gaming fans – and I think a big part of that is just listening to fan feedback, which we’ll always continue to do. I think it’s amazing, and this is just a job that you can see us doing in things evolving here at E3; the amount of big, blockbuster, exclusive titles that you can get this holiday on Xbox is just stunning. I mean, it’s really amazing – I think if you look at our competition there’s no way that people can really stack up with our exclusive content, and that’s an amazing part of what we’re doing at Xbox.

“And then stuff that I’m just super-excited about is the variety of content. Backward compatibility obviously is huge value for people, and we’ve got our blockbusters, but then you also see titles that really have a different look and feel to them – like Gigantic, a very different-looking game but super fun; ReCore; our awesome ID@Xbox games such as Cuphead. I think our exclusive content, the variety of gameplay that we’re able to provide people on Xbox, and then of course, the high value that comes with enabling things like backward compatibility and listening to our fans – I just think that’s where Xbox really shines.”

The PS4 still continues to dominate in terms of console sales worldwide but there’s no denying that there are some great games arriving for the Xbox One this year. What do you think of Tsunoda’s views? Let us know in the comments.

The Xbox One has a lot of momentum going right now and thanks to recently revealed features like backwards compatibility, the upcoming Windows 10 update and cross-platform play between the console and PC, there’s quite a bit to look forward to. Speaking to Games Industry International, Xbox executive feels that the console is doing things that can’t be achieved on any other console.

“For a long time we’ve had PC gamers and console gamers who weren’t really able to play together. That’s why cross-play is still such a powerful idea. You should be able to play what you love, and play together, regardless of what device you’re playing on. It’s about connecting people.

“It’s a really unique value that only we can offer. You still need very gamer-focused values, but there’s lots of things you can do with our technology. We’ve really got a lot more going on [than our competitors]. We’re doing things that can’t be done on any other console.”

There’s still plenty of work to be done however as Tsunoda and Microsoft are aiming to allow players to play “wherever they want, on whatever device they choose, and making that easy” on Xbox in the future.

Backwards compatibility, on the other hand, was about delivering something that fans have been requesting for a while. “With backwards compatibility, it isn’t something that we just think gamers might want. We know. We’re looking for and soliciting that feedback. It was the number one most requested feature for Xbox One by far.”

Thoughts on Tsunoda’s statements? Let us know below.

Rare’s Sea of Thieves will be the first real AAA title from the developer in years and that too one that doesn’t feature Kinect in any shape or form. We received a brief look at the game at E3 2015 and for now, it seems to be a shared world action adventure title.

But does it have the potential to be best game that Rare has ever created? Apparently so, according to Microsoft corporate VP Kudo Tsunoda. Speaking OXM (via Gamespresso), Rare will be enabling quite the range of experiences with Sea of Thieves.

“I think what you’re gonna see in Sea of Thieves as we go forward and start talking more about the game is how Rare is enabling that kind of player-generated emotional and memory-driven stories that can happen within a game to happen within Sea of Thieves. And I think that’s what Rare does well. That’s what we’re going to keep having them doing in the future. And Sea of Thieves is gonna be the best game that Rare has ever made.”

The developer is releasing the Rare Replay on August 4th which collects 30 of their top games and Perfect Dark Zero together. Can Sea of Thieves possibly surpass them all? We’ll find out in the coming months.

Enjoyed Microsoft’s presentation of HoloLens at E3 2015 but with the slightest bit of skepticism? Microsoft executive Kudo Tsunoda recently spoke to Giant Bomb and revealed that the field of view isn’t quite final yet.

“The hardware isn’t final so none of the things are completely done. I think you’re never going to get to full peripheral field of view, but certainly the hardware we have the field of view isn’t exactly final. But I wouldn’t say it’s going to be hugely noticeably different either.”

It’s likely that HoloLens manages to strike gold despite these limitations, much like Kinect did. However, Microsoft had a tough time repeating Kinect’s success later when it updated the hardware. If HoloLens indeed sees an upgrade, will it face the same problems?

Regardless, developers like Cliff Bleszinski still think HoloLens “is damned cool” but “Wish the fov was just a wee bit bigger.” What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft’s HoloLens stands out in an age of VR headsets, bringing augmented reality and a new way to experience games to the Xbox One, and according to Kinect creative director Kudo Tsunoda it has the potential for all kinds of experiences.

Speaking to Game Informer in its latest issue, Tsunoda said, “The thing that HoloLens does is allow you to blend your digital world with your real world. Bringing of those two things together unlocks all kinds of different experiences.

“None of that stuff is things you could do with VR. It’s nothing against VR; I think VR is great tech. But it’s the ‘blending of the worlds’ part about HoloLens that makes it unique. From a gameplay perspective, it’s being able to make your real world environment an integral part of the experience. That’s really different than what you would get from a VR experience.”

Tsunoda also believes that HoloLens will have uses in teaching. One example is drawing holograms in the world visible to a HoloLens users which is a “compelling thing for being able to teach people skills, and allowing them to collaborate in ways they couldn’t do before.”

Thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.

We’ve heard about Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda, one of the creators for Kinect, and the new project he’s working on. However, a recent job listing for a Senior Software Engineer suggests that Microsoft’s Kinect creators could be working on some new technology.

The job listing states that the candidate will need to “build magical, delightful and disruptive consumer experiences for the next generation of technology (from the creators of the Kinect: Alex Kipman and Kudo Tsunoda)” and that they are “looking to make significant contributions to the early stages of a project with huge growth potential.”

While the “next generation of technology” could be referring to the Xbox One itself (rather than something brand new), one of the key responsibilities requires the candidate to, “Drive the planning, estimation, implementation, execution and measurement of technologies.” In a way it could be something brand new or at least a small addition to the current Xbox One experience.

It must be noted that this piece of information should be taken with a grain of salt, but what are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below.