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Lifestyle Games&Technology
Phat controller
Could the Xbox’s new computer interface, Kinect, beat the Wii at its own game? Henry Northmore finds out
W hile Nintendo have their Wii and Move has just launched for the PlayStation 3, Xbox want to take things to the next level with Kinect. ‘It’s the next stage in computer controllers – or more accurately no controller. It mixes a video camera with something that senses depth in the room – it sees you in 3D,’ explains Rare Studio’s Nick Burton, Executive Producer of Technology and Communications at Xbox. ‘You literally are the controller.’
The List got a hands-on playtest of the system at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival. You just set up the Kinect under your TV, where the camera and mic read all your body movements and voice commands, then step into the game world. You can kick through the air at a virtual football or throw an imaginary bowling bowl and every single movement will be picked up
by Kinect; when you raise your right leg your avatar does the same, if you do a little dance it copies you on screen, and as you go in to bowl it moves into first person perspective so as you look around the screen moves accordingly. As a result, the game environment feels genuinely immersive. ‘The barrier to entry is practically gone – no manual, no training required,’ adds Burton. The first raft of games hint at how good the system could be for playing a first person shooter such as Halo. Because Kinect registers where you are in relation to the TV screen, it makes it possible to look around the gaming landscape as if you are within the virtual world. ‘It’s a tool for designers. Of course at the start
you’ll see sports and dance games that make sense straightaway how they tie to the camera, but you’ll also see a lot of magic experiences that you never even thought about,’ explains Jerry Johnson, General Manager at Xbox LIVE Studios Europe. There will be plenty on offer for the hardcore gamer in the future, with titles like Steel Battalion and Rise of Nightmares. All this before mentioning Kinetic’s voice recognition and the other possibilities for communication that the camera and mic bring into your living room, such as video calling and interaction with your Xbox itself. ‘If you’re watching a video you’ll be able to say “stop”, “pause”, “play”. You are removing the controller, all remote controls, based on things you already intuitively know,’ adds Johnson.
The hype is justified – the Kinect offers a new way to communicate and play. ‘This feels like the next level on making it even easier for people to interact,’ says Burton, ‘but in a very deep way.’
Kinect launches for Xbox 360 on Wed 10 Nov.
GAMES REVIEWS Henry Northmore checks out some of the latest horror titles for Hallowe’en
Dead Rising 2 Xbox 360/PS3/PC (Capcom) ●●●●● Zombie action as Dead Rising makes a welcome return. A tongue-in-cheek take on Dawn of the Dead, ex-motocross champ Chuck Greene battles through the shopping malls and casinos of Fortune City. Slicker than the first installment, with added combo weapon fun as you dispatch the undead in an assortment of outlandish ways.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Xbox 360/PS3 (Konami) ●●●●● Another member of the Belmont clan (this time voiced by Robert Carlyle) takes on the forces of darkness waging war on vampires, werewolves and trolls in this fantasy epic. It might crib from other superior games (most notably God of War and Shadow of the Colossus) but it’s a solid action title and the graphics are simply stunning. Dead Space: Ignition Xbox 360/PS3 (EA) ●●●●● DLC before the release of Dead Space 2. A motion comic prequel showing the Necromorph outbreak on ‘The Sprawl’ space station with three types of hacking mini games. Annoyingly the animation is rudimentary while the games are more frustrating than fun, but you do unlock a new suit for Isaac for use in the game in January.
21 Oct–4 Nov 2010 THE LIST 27