After watching the Microsoft E3 2010 press conference, it wasn’t too much of a shock at what exactly was shown off over the course of the keynote. Games like Halo: Reach, Fable III and Gears of War 3 were all titles anyone would have expected to see, it seems the main attraction was Project Natal, recently renamed Kinect, is what without a doubt stole the show. While many gamers are certainly frustrated, if not fed up with the amount of motion controls that are being forced down their throats by the big three console producers, it is difficult to avoid the cold hard fact that by dramatically improving on the basic technology, it is standing to improve the overall medium. Despite a prevalent divide that may consistently exist between those who are for or against motion controls – it’s a tough argument to dismiss that it isn’t here to stay. The hope of increased interactivity and immersion is going to continue to drive the desire for the seamless integration of voice and motion, which could potentially expand into even greater technologies as time goes on and progress is made. Thus, it is clear to see why Microsoft is investing in Kinect and hoping to sell us all on motion control better than Nintendo has for the last several years.
Seamless integration is what everyone wants when it comes to their technology, whether it’s home entertainment, personal activities or just plain business. Films like Minority Report and Iron Man have professed a world where gadgets make accomplishing anything digital as easy as breathing. Kinect takes it a step further and allows Xbox 360s to not only allow players to get things done with as little as a wave or two, but a word or two. From the dashboard, a simple wave of the hand allows players to access just about everything from games to the Zune Marketplace, Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook. Every voice command starts simple with “Xbox” and before you know it, you’re telling your console what exactly you want it to do for it. Not the most gaming related bit of news Microsoft could deliver into the laps of gamers, but more welcome than a scalding cup of coffee. Where the Wii is merely a device capable of playing motion controlled games, the Xbox 360 is attempting to obtain the status of a complete media powerhouse combined with the abilities bestowed on people who don’t want to waggle a controller around in their hand and still play games and watch movies alike.
Speaking of watching movies, the sheer fact that players will now be able to simply select what movie they wish to watch with the wave of their hand definitely sets Kinect leaps and bounds above the same old media controller I’ve been using with my Xbox 360 for the last four years. To add icing on top of this already delicious cake would be the ability to go to any section of a movie with just the wave of your hand. Again, not the most gaming relevant bit of trivia, but still an exceptional step in the war to make the lives of gamers and consumers alike as easy as possible. But that doesn’t mean that Microsoft completely forgot about the games. The first game shown off was Kinectimals, which was a virtual pet simulator of the highest, incredibly awesome order. Many of you in the audience won’t care that a pet tiger cub is just one of forty animals that you can play with in thirty different activities, but for those of you who find this absolutely outstanding, please stick around. A pre-teen girl not only played fetch with the pixilated animal along with had it jump rope, but was also able to hide from the animal, which proceeded to wander about the screen aimlessly, searching for its owner in a brief haphazard manner that would’ve made anyone with a heart mutter an “awwww”.
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This feature editorial continues on the next page, please click below to see our final words on the Microsoft Kinect from E3 2010.
