Posts Tagged ‘Kinect’
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
While I was at PAX East , I got to take a look at Twisted Pixel’s newest title, Gunstringer for the Kinect, which has a lot of unique gameplay mechanics. I interviewed Jay Stuckwisch, one of producers showcasing the game.
Jay Stuckwisch (JS): So, we’ve got Gunstringer here.
Tyler Thomas (TT): And that’s a Kinect title, correct?
JS: That’s right.
TT: So, what’s the backstory behind this marionette here?
JS: So, you control an undead marionette cowboy–you’re actually the puppeteer controlling him–in a play. We set up the beginning to show you everybody coming to see you. We actually added a lot of live-action sequences–people responding to how you do as you play the game. You run around the game–it’s a shooter-on-rails, and basically you paint over the enemies with your right hand, and with a recoil gesture over your solider, you hit all of the targets. With your left hand you control his left-to-right movement and move your hand up to jump. It takes a bit of coordination but…you pick it up really quick. (more…)
Tags: Gunstringer, Kinect, PAX, PAX East 2011, Twisted Pixel, Tyler Thomas, Xbox 360
Posted in Interview, Tyler Thomas, Video Games | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
Another year has passed, and what do we all remember from the gaming world? It’s pretty tough to put a finger on one defining moment this year for two reasons. One, there weren’t any jaw-dropping ZOMG!1!! headlines. Secondly, there were A LOT of very solid, polished, titles to choose from this year. I don’t believe there was anything in particular that revolutionized the industry, but there were plenty of juicy, new titles to pick and choose from. Here are a few of the major happenings of 2010:
Infinity Ward and Activision Fallout
Activision and Infinity Ward had quite the playground brawl this year. According to G4TV, a lawsuit of thirty-eight people from Infinity Ward was filed to sue Activision for not paying royalties. The suit was filed from anywhere between 75-500 million dollars. Activision spokesman Dan Amrich stated that employees who stay with Activision will have a bigger bonus due to the departure of these employees. The fallout may have been frightening to CoD fans, but I don’t believe there is anything to worry about. As far as Activision holding money as ransom, it almost appears they were acting as financial terrorists, bribing employees to stay for a bigger bonus. So much for integrity. (more…)
Tags: 2010, 2011, Activision, Alan Wake, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, black ops, Cataclysm, COD, Donkey Kong Country, Fable III, God of War, God of War 3, GoldenEye, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, Infinity Ward, Josh, Josh Thompson, Kinect, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Metroid, Move, NBA Jam, nintendo, nostalgia, PS3, Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy, Thompson, Xbox 360
Posted in Editorial, Josh Thompson, News, Video Games, Writers | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Wait, which way do I turn to teabag again?
If your gaming sessions have yet to incorporate a style of game play that’s beyond the standard pad of buttons and thumb sticks, you’re in the minority. High definition graphics and accessible online play for consoles aren’t the only things the current console generation has graced us with; there’s also waggle, games based around movement being tracked by a camera, and brand new ways to destroy the valuables within your living room. While new control schemes have been around since the birth of gaming, never have they become more prevalent than within the current console generation. These control schemes have been so successful that, at times, the focus seems to be on how we’re playing the game rather than the game itself. This motion controller movement has been so successful that many gamers believe it will be the demise of their favorite hobby as they know it. Is the new wave of attention brought to the gaming industry a revenue-yielding godsend, or is the newfound accessibility of our favorite pastime watering down the essence of gaming?
Despite it being the industry’s favorite downfall to bemoan, the success of controls beyond a gamepad is not our pastime’s fiery demise. There is absolute truth to the complaint that motion-controlled gaming has dimmed the spotlights on many of the traditional gameplay mechanics and games, but to suggest that they’ll be replaced entirely is overzealous. There are hundreds of mechanics within gaming that are impossible to duplicate with the current products on the market. Explain to me how you’re going to pull off that eighteen hit combo in Super Street Fighter IV using Microsoft’s Kinect? How about the fantastically responsive plastic instruments used with Rock Band 3? Will players punch or strum a patch of air to earn their respective awards? (more…)
Tags: 3D, controllers, Kinect, Schulenberg, Tom, Tom Schulenberg, wireless controls
Posted in Editorial, Tom Schulenberg, Video Games, Writers | 3 Comments »
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
I’ve been reading articles left and right about Kinect’s “shortcomings.†While I feel that it has shortcomings I’m not going to harp on it because I see it for what it was meant to be: a gimmick to top that of the Wii, or in other words a business plan to increase sales. The life-cyle of the Xbox 360 is on the decline and this is an attempt to bring in a bigger audience and garner fresh sales. Now all the buzz it got only a year ago has turned to skepticism: It only supports 2 players, it showed some lag on Jimmy Kimmel, and now a report that analyzes all of the shortcomings before the product even hits shelves and predicts it flopping.
None of these new motion control systems are without fault. In fact the ones we have now aren’t all that great. What we will have by the end of 2010 is a gimmick war that doesn’t show a whole lot of promise for the game industry.
The Wii- It’s far from new, but it deserves mention first because it birthed this whole notion of needing some kind of motion controller to play games. The Wii’s controls were under-utilized though. How many games have you played for the Wii that really seemed to utilize the control method effectively? One of the best examples I can think of is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and it worked brilliantly in that. Then it gradually turned into an exercise machine and it seemed like motion controls were just turned into a point and click deal.
(more…)
Tags: control, controller, gimmick, Kinect, microsoft, motion, Move, nintendo, Playstation, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360
Posted in Editorial | 3 Comments »
