110°

Kinect Opens Mass Effect and Forza To Everyone - Tsunoda (NowGamer)

Tom Hopkins writes:Kinect creative director Kudo Tsunoda believes more people will play Forza 4 and Mass Effect because of their Kinect compatibility.

"I'm a believer that if you can find ways to make games easier for people to play as far as the controller and the interface that even games like Mass Effect that people think of as a core game... but really, Mass Effect has such a great story and the character interaction is so compelling, that people who go out and maybe it's their first Xbox purchase - I do think those types of games will appeal to all different types of gamers," Tsunoda told NowGamer in an interview.

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nowgamer.com
Wizziokid4648d ago

um does it??

I'm sorry but all it does for Mass Effect 3 is give you the option to say the lines which will be slower than actually pressing the button.

stop trying to sell this crap, it's nothing special and isn't game changing

gamingdroid4648d ago

Ever fumbled with the controller (or even pausing the game) to try and control your squad?

You don't have to do that anymore with voice and Kinect. Personally, that is huge game play change for easier controls.

mac_sparrow4648d ago

the beauty of the controller scheme is that the action pauses, allowing you to strategise. Hell on Insane I used it just to locate enemies sometimes, and closed without issuing orders.

Either the voice control is immediate, in which case it's okay but is an alternative that is no better just different; or it pauses the game the same as the controller method, in which case it will be rather annoying.

TheMyst4648d ago

@Gamingdroid

Dude, if you're struggling with the controller you're either:

1. New to gaming (a lot of gamers this gen are new)

or

2. Really horrible at gaming.

I'm not trying to insult you but come on man, after playing 2-3 games, you should have the controller memorized and having played ME2 on both PS3 and 360 I can say that controlling your squad is absolutely easy and fast on both.

gamingdroid4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

It is completely seamless and is really cool. See it in action here around 1:45 min mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

The pause and cheat (strategize) technique is something I have used a few times as well. It make some things easier in a frantic pace, but for the most part is a little disruptive and one of the annoyances of ME.

I think the voice control is a game changer as that video looks awesome and has a very fluid game experience.

Is it worth a $150 if that is all you want out of Kinect? Probably not.

edit: @TheMyst

Have you played Mass Effect? Squad control is relatively complicated with many options. In a frantic combat situation, I do not remember what the meanings of each d-pad is.

We all aren't necessarily great with the controller and this is a nice welcome change. If you don't like it, the old interface is still there.

@mac_sparrow below:
I always felt it was "cheat", because it appeared to me the developer didn't intend you to play the game like that.

If they did, they would have slowed the game down and change the controls to make it work instead you are resorting to pausing the game to figure out.

I don't understand what that has to do with casting or using the "queen". You are suspending the entire game so you can survey all the enemies.

mac_sparrow4648d ago

How is using the function to examine the area cheating? I guess you think castling or even using the Queen in chess is cheating then huh? :P

Personally I found the pause function to improve the game, Mass Effect is becoming too shooter like for me, it's supposed to be an RPG.

JokesOnYou4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

-gamingdroid I never fumbled with the controller playing ME.

-mac sparrow, I think the benefit of voice control is to add to the immersion....if it works well it will add new depth to the gameplay that simply isnt possible by just pressing a button.

-Wizziokid, wow so you've never touched the game and yet you already know its crap, lol I've been waiting to try voice commands in a real core game, and fortunately ME seems to be perfectly suited for such controls, I guess you'd rather games played themselves after you press the start button, I mean that would be faster, right?

ChozenWoan4648d ago

why does the 360 need Kinect in order to do voice recognition when every xbox comes with a mic? PS2 used voice commands in Soccom so why can't ME3 with just a mic?

gamingdroid
If you watch the vid you showed again, you will notice he was wearing a mic, and half the time he was speaking the next dialog part before the options showed up. Obviously, he is not new to gaming or that part of ME3.

Although I do admit it would be nice to use voice commands, I still think that any mic should be usable.... and that the controller method is still better.

gamingdroid4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

Have you tried games/software that use the regular mic?

I tried many, and lately most notably Tom Clancy's Endwar and none of them functions as well as Kinect's voice recognition.

The official answer:

"Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson says BioWare is bringing voice commands to Kinect and Xbox 360 because Microsoft's sound and motion-sensing controller is doing the hard work of voice recognition. Kinect's internal *hardware* is what makes it possible—or at least much easier to get voice commands working—not just its microphones."

http://kotaku.com/5810138/m...

Even big software packages (like Dragon Naturally speaking) has to be trained in order to even get a good recognition rate and they have been around for what seems like two decades.

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Machioto4648d ago

I think it could have been something special but Microsoft either over promised with thier vision of kinect or knew jack squat about it and just hyped it to say "we can be innovative".

Bigpappy4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

He does oversell the option in those games. Kinect does NOT open those games to everyone. Buy for those who do have Kinect, it does add some very cool elements to the gameplay which, I believe, adds that much more to the fun.

@mac_sparrow: Well I can still pause and do all of that if I wish. Or, I could just tell my Krogan "flank right", "charge" and "use Shotgun" to blow the SOB's head off. You don't have that choice. Oh and voice is realtime.

mac_sparrow4648d ago

true, but given the pausing of the action, wouldn't your solution actually take longer in terms of seconds in the game world?

mac_sparrow4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

@gamingdroid
My point was it's an inherent part of the game, it does not require any modifications to the base, in this case the code. It is simply using all available options to their fullest potential. It is not glitching, nor is it cheating.

Edit: Typing correction

-LUKE_SKYWALKER-4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

@Wizz - Give your mom or someone who has not played video games since the NES days the controller to play Uncharted or Gears and let me know how far the got and ask them why the quit playing.

The 360 and PS3 controller is scary to some people who arent use to gaming so by commmading your squad with your voice it makes it easier for those people to play.

ChozenWoan4648d ago

Actually it makes it more complicated. Not only do they have to remember the controller layout. Now they have to remember a list of voice commands that are only going to be used for this one game.

Now for experienced gamers, it can enrich their experience, but for new players... just the opposite.

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NukaCola4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

The camera system will not make my mother or my daughter want to or even be able to play Mass or Forza. And now I have to pay $150 to get the full experience? I guess I fail to see what Mr. I-Wear-Lady-GaGa-Sunglasses-In doors is trying to prove here.

TheMyst4648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

That's one of the issues I have. MS loves singling out it's Kinect games as 360 exclusives but the fact is, they're not. They are Kinect exclusives and if you didn't dish out 150 to pay for Kinect, you're excluded. That just sucks!

Yea, we asked for more core games but we want them on 360 not on Kinect. Let Kinect please the casual crowd and give us the good games.

KMCROC4648d ago

I have kinect, will use it for all games that require it & allow it as an option.

Jdrm034648d ago (Edited 4648d ago )

I am tired of this "everyone" attitude that gained so much popularity this gen.

Instead of making games easier, how about making better games and having people do something I like to call LEARNING to play the game....

accessibility is going to ruin the industry.

mac_sparrow4648d ago

Indeed, my girlfriend started gaming this gen, thanks to my influence. She really struggled at first, now she's loving it. She's finished MGS3 and 4, DMC4, almost done heavenly Sword, both Ratchet and Clank retails, Assassins Creed 1 and 2 and now on Brotherhood, God of War 3 and so on.

With each of these games she started out struggling, but then persevered and acclimitised. She has had a lot of enjoyment from her gaming, yet many would have simply sat her in front of simple games.

mcstorm4648d ago

I can't believe there is still so much hate for kinect. At the end of the day its your choice if you decide to use kinect or not with your game. Just like with the ps move. But I like what is being done with kinect to add extra into games like forza and ME3. Voice control could become a big part of some games like FIFA NHL by saying line change or Change formation. Or head tracking I'm a f1 game or even nfs shift. Ok its not adding massive amount of changes to the games but its extras that could make a game more life like or on the fly changes.

Kinect is not for everyone just like ps move or Wii. But if you don't like something fine but just because you don't like it dose not mean that everyone else dose not like it. Kinect is new technology to the games market and will need abit of time for developers to digger out what they can use it for in there games. Some games will not work well with kinect but that's the same with move or a controller. People need to stop thinking in one dimensional terms and start thinking out side the box for once.

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