Programming with Microsoft Kinect

Question

Does anyone know if an end user purchases the Kinect sensor, he can program using it to make own games. Or is the API only for professional game studios?

Answer 1

Link to MSFT SDK

Update:

Just in from ZD.NET "Microsoft readies hobbyist Kinect development kit; promises commercial version later" link

Prior Post

The makers/OEM of the Kinect is PrimeSense. They make both the kinect and an independent devkit. They recently released open source drivers that are compatible with both XBox's Kinect and the smaller DevKit. You might as well get the drivers straight from the source. I'm not sure what value a 3rd party library (openKinect) will offer.

Get the unified Kinect and DevKit drivers here: http://www.openni.org/ Windows and Unix support is available.

Answer 2

Given that the connection to the Kinect has been broken open, I'd say anyone can write a game that makes use of it.