Gaming: Do we need to get Kinect-ed?

Four years ago the Nintendo Wii broadened gamers’ horizons, getting them up off the sofa and waving their arms around to interact with games with its revolutionary motion-sensitive controls.

 

Last month Microsoft took the gaming experience a step further with the release of Kinect, an add-on to the incredibly successful Xbox 360 which lets players jump into games in a way they never have before. With a combination of an conventional RGB camera and two motion-tracking sensors, Kinect scans you into the game so every move you make is reflected on screen by your character.

The system, which is compatible with all existing Xbox 360s, was released on 10 November and sold a million units worldwide in the first 10 days after launch. Microsoft is confident to have it in five million homes worldwide by the end of the year. But with so much technology already hanging around widescreen TVs across the land, do people need another device?

There’s plenty of shiny futuristic features to the technology: voice control, hand control of the menus, as well as ‘scanning’, which means that the sensor can be shown a colour, analyse it and then use it in the game, such as the colour of your car in happy-go-lucky racer Kinect Joyride (which is obviously not a copy of any Kart-based franchise on Nintendo’s consoles…).

The camera also works as a normal webcam, allowing video chats via Xbox LIVE, but with webcams as standard for most laptops and Skype facilitating video chatting it’s hardly a unique selling point.

What Microsoft have failed to realise is that it’s the strength of the games which will sell Kinect to the masses, especially their current fanbase, and unfortunately it’s a fairly mixed bag. If things had gone according to plan we might have seen Kinect-enabled Fable III as well as Gears of War 3 but alas it was not to be. Perhaps Microsoft should invest in coming up with an IP which really lends itself to showcasing the technology…?

On top of it all it’s not cheap either – despite claims originally that it would retail around the price of a standard game – Kinect currently RRPs at £129.99 on its own, though it does come with the physically challenging Kinect Adventures, or you can pay £249.99 for a bundle with the new slim Xbox 360 console included as well.

The smart thing to do though is to wait for an established franchise to take the plunge and embrace the technology to show the world what Kinect can really achieve. In the meantime relax, gaming is supposed to be recreation after all. If you want a work out though, there is a certain console from Japan which you can flail your arms at to your hearts content, if you need a clue its name rhymes with ‘money’.

Gaming: E3 Special - Microsoft Press Conference dissected

So, E3 (that's Electronic Entertainment Expo for long) has finally returned once again to bring us a week of exciting gaming announcements. Microsoft were up first at 10.30 am this morning to a slightly delayed start, but talking piece of the conference is the very sleek, slim and new Xbox 360 (that black shiny thing you're gawping at just there ->).

Before all that though, there was plenty of Xbox-related goodness to get through. If you don't fancy watching the feature-length event in full, which you can easily do online here at Gamespot.com, allow me to break down the excitement into bite-size chunks.

The event began with a immersive look at Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch's stab back after the Activision/Infinity Ward fallout debacle following Modern Warfare 2. The game looks great, with all of the series' staples in place, but you can't help feeling it's more of the same. There was a nice touch though with the news that add-ons and DLC would be coming to Xbox 360 first for the next three years.

A packed Los Angeles Convention Center, or more specifically a theatre inside it, greets Senior Vice President Don Mattrick as he tells us that this year is the 10th year of Xbox and pushed home firmly the idea of making gaming simple.

Keeping up the momentum of his opening sermon, Mattrick ushers on Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid, to talk about the new game Metal Gear Solid: Rising. which was teasered at E3 '09. The presentation was brief but showed off the snazzy visuals and distinctly Japanese fighting style which allows you to slice through anything.

Then comes the first part of the grand plan of simplification as the retail name of Microsoft's Project Natal:  Kinect - which was announced yesterday - is casually thrown in by Phil Spencer, who becomes the audiences' guide for the rest of the conference.

He also talks about games, making the bold statement that "everything you see and hear from now on is exclusive to Xbox 360", which you feel would have packed more punch right at the start, but MGS: Rising denied them.

The first 'Xbox Exclusive' to be rolled out is the hugely anticipated Gears of War 3, which Cliff Blesinski, Project Lead at Epic Games, is over-eager (as usual) to show us. Blesinski throws out the big guns, literally, showcasing the four-player coop of Delta Team - complete with female squad members - fighting off the new Lambent-mutated Locust, including a very quick and deadly Lambent Berserker which now hops around manically. Largely it's more of the same, but when the same was as good as Gears 2 and there is SO much more, you can't help but be excited.

Next is Peter Molyneux (thankfully without Milo in tow), to show off Fable III in all of it's samey-ness, though things look a little more exciting and fast-paced than before, and the prospect of ruling an Albion moulded and shaped by your choices is an intriguing prospect.

After a random trailer for Codename Kingdoms, which resembles 300 in game form, we are treated to a visit from Marcus Lehto from Bungie to show us some in-game footage from the campaign of upcoming title Halo: Reach. At first glance the game already retains the sense of scale and wonder which Bungie have kept all the way through the series and the visuals are looking highly polished - a criticism of ODST's minor upgrade.

On top of the visual changes the Elites have returned as main enemies, leading to a fan-boy resurgence as your Noble-team Spartan-III silently assassinates one from behind, prompting a short but very satisfying animation. The scene ends with you being ejected into space amid a colourful battle, perhaps suggesting some space vehicle combat?

With the "blockbuster game" demos out the way, the second act is left for Microsoft's answer to the market-dominating Wii - Kinect (already proving to be a spelling nightmare.) What follows is a fairly drawn out series of demonstrations which range from a re-hash of what we were shown last year (Milo has become an affectionate tiger now), to genuinely interesting - if a little niche - titles.

The in-house launch games are all very avatar-heavy, with names like Kinect Sports, Kinanimals and Kinect Joy Ride, and have a very thin veil over the fact that they are ripping off Nintendo's Wii Sports (& Resort), Nintendogs and Mario Kart Wii respectively.

Luckily Harmonix turn up to save Massivesoft's bacon with the groove-busting Dance Central (think Dance Hero) showing off what the hardware can do, albeit with practised professional dancers...mostly at least. The North American launch will be November 4, but the jury will remain out until one of the 'real' games developers implements Kinect into a traditional game genre.

There was a big push for the multi-media aspect of Xbox ownership during the presentation, including a deal with ESPN to show matches free to Xbox LIVE Gold members, though no news if this will make its way out of North America.

Once the executives were happy they'd pushed their new, strangely named, add-on enough, (not before fondling the inside of a virtual Ferrari a bit) they moved on to welcome back Don Mattrick to round up everything great about Xbox, before lifting the Xbox 360 which had been sitting in the middle of the stage the whole time to reveal a smaller, shinier, blacker version beneath.

Though this was expected ever since the PS3 went slim last year, it still provoked the biggest response from the audience, and as an unexpected bonus, everyone at the conference was sent one free of charge - well done for them fending off the ash clouds to turn up maybe?

The biggest surprise was how quickly the company is shipping them out, claiming they will be available to buy later this week, and the unit includes built-in Wifi, something which surely should have been corrected already.

So, there you have it, all of the big news and excitement from the Microsoft camp. The Nintendo and Sony conferences are held tomorrow so expect the news from there in the next few days, if you haven't been beaten into the ground with tweets about it before that of course.

James Michael Parry

This Is Entertainment's comprehensive E3 Summary: Part 3 - Microsoft

Here it is then, the one you've all been waiting for, at least I hope so! After watching Microsoft's mammoth E3 press conference in full I'm going to digest that down as much as I can to get you all clued up on the latest and greatest information.

You may have heard a few things blowing around on the internet, so first let's answer a few quick questions:

- What do you mean there's going to be Metal Gear Solid on Xbox 360?!
- Well the creator of MGS announced the next title: Metal Gear Solid - Rising, will be coming to 360, but there's little chance MGS4 will make it over as well, sorry about that! Don't rule out MGS1 on Xbox Live Arcade though...

- I hear Microsoft is partnering up with enough different companies to be declared serial bigamist of the year?
- That's right, well, the partnering part at least, not sure what you're going on about...MS announced partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, Sky, Last.fm AND Netflix. (more on some of these later on)

- So Xbox is trying to be some sort of all-in-one box of entertainment then really?
- That's the idea. They're pushing all possible avenues to bring gamers full 1080p HD video with instant streaming, music, social networks, everything you could possibly want bar going and getting you another beer from the fridge basically.

- Halo Reach? ODST? WHAT IS GOING ON?!
- Calm down! Yes there are now officially two Halo games in the works over at Bungie. Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) is an add-on to Halo 3 which will include 3 Halo 3 multiplayer maps and a 10+ hours campaign focusing on the ODST troops around New Mombasa, set between Halo 2 and Halo 3. Halo Reach is a "top" secret Halo project Bungie have been working on. My reliable sources tell me that from the name it would suggest it has something to do with the first Halo ring over Reach, which was destroyed in the first game and was a pivotal moment in the war. Not much official info on it exists just yet, but it's due out late 2010, for now, just check out the teaser trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqIEvH7sGQ0

- What on EARTH is this Project Natal thing?
- That's a very interesting question. In a nutshell it's some fancy new technology which lets YOU be the controller, including facial and voice recognition and full motion capture without the need for any strange suits or anything. It's essentially MS' answer to the Wii's motion capture, but done in true MS style...they had to go one better. If it really works like it claims to then it genuinely a big step forward in potential for MS, but the videos seem a little contrived to be convincing, take a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACt9R9z37U

Also, you can check out a blog post on Natal from a good friend of mine, Andy Hemphill: http://tinyurl.com/ndz9m7

Now, I think it's time we had a look at what's the most important thing about a games console, aside from the fancy deals and new technology, which is its games.

The first game to take the floor was Tony Hawk Ride, which uses a skateboard controller to track the gamers motion and movements on the skateboard, and let them have more control than the plethora of Tony Hawk titles of years gone by. The man himself was there to show it off, just the first of MS' star guests of E3, but despite the 'bigging up' it still could be an excellent and innovative game.

Next up was a biggie: Modern Warfare 2. So major it made the cover of the latest OXM, the game is the sequel to the phenomenally successful Game of the Year that was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The trailer, which you really should have seen by now (but here it is if not), was impressive enough, but the gameplay shown was the most interesting element. It sees a new recruit, codename 'Roach', following COD4 hero 'Soap' McTavish in a snowy blizzard through which the player must claim an icy rock face to the next encounter. The weather plays a massive part, marking the shift between stealth, as you sneak around stealthily before the blizzard clears and colossal frantic fire-fight takes place. The game looks outstanding and the single player was a personal high point so it's good to see that Infinity Ward haven't relied on the predecessors ridiculous success on Live.

Joyride, a FREE XBLA game, will be the first racing title to use your avatars for some funky Mario Kart-esque action. The game certainly gives a decent platform for UGC, and while you do have to pay to get the best tracks and cars, only one of you're friends has to have bought them to play them with you, which is a neat idea.

Teaser trailers for Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction mark the emphasis of MS' focus on 'Only on Xbox' titles this E3, and admittedly come of impressively for it. Conviction in particular looks to break free a little from the traditional Splinter Cell format, as Fischer takes off his tri-goggles and dons a distinctly Bruce-Willis-in-Die-Hard attitude as he tries to find out who killed his daughter. A couple of slick design features make this release stand out, namely super-imposing credits and objectives on the landscape of the levels, immersing you in the world while keeping the real-time narrative going, and a refreshingly tasteful use of slow-mo.

Not to be left out, Epic Games, the kings of Gears of War, demoed their old-school 2.5D side-scrolling platformer, which showed a nice level of depth, ironically, for the genre through Xbox Live Arcade.

Halo was always going to get some hype, and the play-through of ODST delivered everything fans of the series have been waiting for, complete with ill-fated TV show Firefly voice actors, which is always a plus.

Natal proved to top off what was near to being a continuous round of applause for most of the press briefing, but where can I hear all this news for myself I hear you ask? Just head over to Gamespot to check out their full press conference video, but be sure you have two hours to kill!

The year looks set to be a good one, and if MS delivers on what it has promised then it will certainly give Nintendo some sales figures to contend with by the time the Christmas spending spree begins.

Xbox LIVE: The Past, the Present and the Future

Online gaming is no longer just a novelty, it's a phenomenon, and in the console world if there's one platform that shines brighter than all others it's Microsoft's Xbox Live.

The service launched back in 2002 and had amassed 10 million users by February last year, but will its 'golden age' last? What makes it so successful? Where will Live go from here?

It's difficult to work out exactly how many people log on, since Microsoft keeps such information pretty close to the chest, but since it reported a rise from eight to 10 million users in only a few months, it's clear there’s potential for further success.

But what about the other side? There have been hacking issues, deleted accounts, glitches and cheaters who upset the online status quo for their own personal gains.

Totally360.com spoke to Gary Shaw, the Managing Director of unofficial troubleshooting site Xbox Live the Guide, who believes cheating is a serious issue:

“Cheating has been around since games were invented and it will never go away. I’m firmly from the ‘you’re only cheating yourself’ camp. If it’s not a genuine win when playing PES [Pro Evolution Soccer] or ‘winning’ COD [Call of Duty] with a rapid-fire mod... well... have you really won anything?”

The effect of cheating is that is creates more cheaters, since more people exploit the glitches in games that they see others doing. Colin Miller, a professional Games Journalist, believes that if cheating is allowed to continue it can cause other issues: “The main problem is that it leads to more ‘rage quitting’. I have quit quite a few games of COD: World at War myself after seeing cheaters shooting other players whilst hovering in thin air. It's annoying for players when you spend all that time waiting to join a decent match and then that happens.”

The introduction of the ‘New Xbox Experience’, or NXE, in November last year led to an increased focus on the social side of gaming, allowing gamers to form ‘parties’ and jump from game to game together.

These benefits were generally well-received, with some even going as far as saying it felt like playing a brand new console, but according to Helene Wilson, EMEA Xbox MVP and webmistress of Xboxliveaddicts.co.uk, there is a down side to relying on ‘party’ based gaming:

“Although [it’s] great to have it so we can chat whilst all playing different games and from wherever we are, it’s taking away to a certain extent the ability to make new friends. If you are in a Party Chat and someone comes into a lobby, how are you meant to hear them?

“It's a great feature for people who love to be in a small group, but not so good for new people to Xbox Live who may be looking to make friends.”

Despite this, Xbox Live remains significantly more developed than it’s equivalents on other consoles. The Playstation 3’s ‘Playstation Network’ (PSN) recently announced over 20million members, a significant amount in the two and a half years it’s been up and running.

The key difference between their successes is money. A silver subscription to Xbox Live is free to Xbox owners, but it requires a monthly fee of £4.99 in order to upgrade to a gold membership and access its best features, particularly multiplayer, while Sony’s PSN remains entirely free.

Talking to Edge magazine about the financial worth of Live in 2007, Aaron Greenberg, the group product manager for Xbox and Xbox Live, said “You’re creating your friends list, messaging…. instant messaging, you get a good 80% of the Live experience for free…we feel our multiplayer offering is good value at 50 bucks (£39.99) a year.”

The content of Xbox Live isn’t just limited to games though. Video on demand and other digital distribution has been increasingly utilised in the past year, with film studio Pathé being the latest to sign up only a few weeks ago. The studio, responsible for Oscar triumph Slumdog Millionaire, joins Universal Studios, MGM and Paramount, who are all already providing films for Live.

Video downloads still have some way to go to reach the popularity of DVDs, which had sold over a billion units in the UK by 2007, but Shaw believes attitudes differ between America and Europe: “I think if you live in the states it’s been great. Outside of the US though seems to have been forgotten about. Sure we’ve got a line up of movies but it’s not to the same extent as our cousins over the pond.”

Another major part of the success of Xbox Live is downloadable content (DLC) for games. Almost every week there are reports of download records being broken, the latest being for Xbox exclusive downloadable episode 'The Lost and the Damned' for Grand Theft Auto IV, which became the fastest opening day money-maker on Live, retailing at 1600 Microsoft points (around £14).

There have been numerous controversies and problems with DLC in the past, such as the infamous horse armour for Oblivion, which caused an uproar on release when developer Bethesda charged 200 Microsoft points (about £1) for something which most gamers agreed would have been an unlockable secret in days gone by.

This begs the question of what qualifies as ‘good’ downloadable content, just as ‘The Lost and the Damned’ made us wonder if there should be a limit on how much developers can charge for DLC.

Andrew Hemphill, a Freelance Entertainment Journalist and Sub Editor, believes the quality of DLC can often depend on the individual game: “It’s a very mixed bag, while some of it is priced correctly, there are far too many developers placing a massive tag on their DLC- I shouldn't have to pay £10 to download three maps for COD 4 for example- that's extortionate. It should be capped.”

Some would like to see DLC pushed even further though, Wilson said: “I would like to see in the future all games being downloadable to the hard drive or to some kind of server for consoles, the way they do for P.C. Not only does this eradicate the stack of boxes and reduce the need for storage, but it would also get rid of scratched discs and be much easier to find the game you are wanting to play.”

Another issue which had left the gaming community throwing their pads across the room is ‘pay-to-unlock’ content. This is content which is included on the retail disc and is merely unlocked by paying the Microsoft points.

A chief example of this comes from EA games who publish both Burnout Paradise and Skate 2, both of which have downloadable codes to unlock all the secrets in the game. For some gamers this has already started alarm bells ringing, since players are being offered a choice to pay for little more than a cheat code.

Recently action horror hit Resident Evil 5 released its Versus mode amid a wave of allegations due to the download’s filesize being a meagre 1.5megabytes (about half a song’s worth of music), since it was widely claimed the content was already on the disc. Capcom responded stating that the structure of the mode wasn’t on disc already, but brought together content from all over the disc and bundled it up with only a bit of new code.

The fact of the matter is that Xbox Live works, and with new releases on the horizon, both retail and DLC, there’s plenty of scope for the service to increase in popularity, but what else will change?

Miller believes Live will embrace the social element: “with the fact you can access your account from any computer, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a bit more of a social network, like a gaming version of facebook.”

Hemphill sees it taking advantage of advances in web technology: “As high-speed internet connections become more popular, I can see an expansion in video and game downloads being forthcoming and possibly entire games being downloadable over the service.”

Wilson envisions a virtual world in your living room: “Touch, speech and movement sensitive controls and I would like to see an Xbox Live radio, web browser and perhaps a place to see how many lobbies are open on a game without having to put your disc in.”

Shaw thinks of the economics of the service: “People ask why Xbox Live isn’t free. I think it would ruin the service. It needs money to make sure it evolves. Although I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to reduce the subscription price a bit or at least offer some sort of discount for gamer families who have to fork out a gold subscription for every child/parent in the house.”

The future economic and global success of Live will depend on the continued communication with its members and responding to their requests for their service, since without them, Live could not exist.

This piece can also be seen on Totally360.com here.