Kinect
So Microsoft had their e3 conference this evening and as expected, it’s evident that Microsoft are intent on cracking the casual market.
As entertaining as it was, I still don’t understand the industry’s fascination with getting gamers off their sofas and onto their feet. Nintendo have tried this and ultimately failed.
Ask any gamer, who owns both a wii and another console what machine they play the most, and the chances are they will say the other console.
So with most wii’s gathering dust, it astounds me that both Sony and Microsoft are so preoccupied with getting gamers to be more active.
The sad truth of the matter is, for the most part we don’t want gaming to be active. After a long day at work, the last thing I would want to do is jump around like a moron and have our photos taken whilst playing Kinect Adventures.
Don’t get me wrong, the technology on display was very impressive and I’m looking forward to seeing how the market will develop. But at the same time, you can’t blame me for being the tinniest bit apprehensive.
Take a look at the wii-motion plus. As soon as it came out, it was completely forgotten, with only several games taking full advantage of it. Not even Nintendo’s latest flagship game, Super Mario Galaxy 2 bothered.
I hope I am wrong, I really do, but judging by the fact that only 3 third party developers (Ubisoft, Harmonix and Lucasarts) were showcasing their products at the conference, I am not holding my breath.
Having said that, Harmonix’s Dance Central looks like it has a lot of potential to become a popular party game, much like Sing Star and the Rock Band series.
But other than that, nothing grabbed me. Not even the untitled Star Wars game – from the footage on display, it lacked pace and looked both cartoony, and dare I say it, a bit wii like. And I’m a big fan of Star Wars.
Come to think of it, most of the games on display looked like a high definition upgrade of the wii’s back catalogue.
There was Kinect Joy Ride, a cartoonish avatar based racing game that looked like Mario Kart. There was also Kinect Sports, an idea not inspired by Wii Sports at all and finally, something called Kinectimals – an animals game, aimed squarely at the younger audience.
To be perfectly honest, if this is the future of gaming, I’m gonna have to find myself a new hobby. It all sounds like too much physical work for me.
Mind you the idea of talking to my Xbox is oddly entertaining.
Saying “Xbox…” followed by the command, the Xbox would then perform the task. And by the time the ESPN anchors found themselves on stage, I was uttering “Xbox: skip to the end”
Kinect stuff aside, other highlights included Metal Gear Solid: Rising – which looked absolutely batshit mental, featuring footage plenty of sword based carnage and a random act of violence against a van.
Mark Lamia from Treyarch showcased a few levels from the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops. Starting off with a level set in a tunnel armed with only a revolver, the grim realities of war were still visible – blood stains, random torso’s etc. The next level on display involved the hijacking of a helicopter and flying it through a valley in the jungle, whilst bombing enemies, bridges and convoys. Looked quite promising.
Halo Reach was also demonstrated, showing just how epic games on the 360 can be. Featuring a sequence on a beach with covenant drop ships plummeting to the ground – it all looked particularly impressive.
Everyones favourite games developer Peter Molyneaux was also present, showcasing Fable III – set 5 decades after its predecessor, Molyneaux promised that the game will deliver “great British humour” and take the gamer from “revolutionary to rular”.
The team from Epic games demonstrated Gears of War 3 by running through a level in 4 player co-op – looks like it could be great online fun. They also revealed that the game will feature a new mode, called Beast.
At the end of the show, Microsoft had one more surprise in store. A new X-box 360 – smaller, wireless and the same price as the current one. When is it out? They ship this week.
The new Xbox 360
With Microsoft’s conference being a bit skewed towards the casual market, it’ll be interesting to see what Sony will be doing tomorrow.
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