14 DAY TRIAL // Mass Effect 3 will have support for the Kinect sensor on the Xbox 360 as Electronic Arts, its publisher, and BioWare, its developer, want to attract new players to the popular franchise by making its gameplay less intimidating.
Mass Effect 3 is set to end the trilogy of role-playing games made by BioWare next year, when it sees the saga of Commander Shepard end in a big way.
At last week's E3 2011 conference, we saw that the game's Xbox 360 version will have support for the Kinect sensor, as it will use its microphone and speech detection systems to allow an easier access to the dialog options in the game, as well as help with the tactical aspects of combat.
According to EA Games label boss Frank Gibeau, this support also makes the game more attractive and accessible to players that have yet to experience the previous iterations in the series.
"Mass Effect has a fairly complicated combat system," Gibeau told Eurogamer. "You've got story and choice. For some fans that don't buy 12 games a year and maybe buy two or three, some of those things can be intimidating. We wanted to open up the accessibility without hurting the depth or the quality. Kinect is a fantastic technology that allows us to do that."
Kinect isn't just aimed at making Mass Effect 3 easier for new players, as Gibeau explains that it works both for dedicated fans of the series, as well as for those that are just now jumping into the role-playing franchise.
"For core gamers, they just liked the fact they could even be more powerful with it. With new gamers they felt they could get into it much easier."
This balance between appealing to the hardcore gamers while making things accessible to newer types of players is essential, according to Gibeau, as games need to sell over a million copies in this day and age if they want to be profitable and see new iterations.