The video game division at software giant Microsoft is apparently keen on making the Kinect motion tracking system the central element for all the video games that it will develop in the coming years, making it part of all the titles that will be launched in the coming years.
Phil Spencer, who is the leader of the
Microsoft Game Studios, has told GameSpot that, “It's not a mandate that everything we do in first-party has to support Kinect right now. But I will say, specifically with voice, that there are some things that just seem to make navigating and playing games so much easier, that I would guess the answer will be yes in the end, that you'll see all first-party games using some form of Kinect functionality.”
He added, “Whether it's voice in Forza or head-tracking in Forza, which you wouldn't say is somehow turning the Forza gameplay experience on it's head. Rather, it's just using the advantages of what Kinect brings to make the experience better. So I think there's some specific examples where Kinect makes everything better.”
The statement comes after a Microsoft press conference at the E3 2011 trade show that was focused on motion tracking and that revealed a big number of titles that will use Kinect.
It seems that Kinect will not be imposed on third party developers who plan to launch their game on the Xbox 360, but a number of high-profile studios have already chosen to make it part of the experience, like BioWare with the upcoming Mass Effect 3.
Kinect has performed very well for
Microsoft, selling more than 10 million units since it was launched in November 2010 and managing to get gamers to buy an equal number of video games.
Microsoft plans to get out more Kinect-powered experiences in the future, but it remains to be seen whether the company will persuade the hardcore gaming crowd to use it for their experiences.
Find us on Google+
