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Imagineering The Future Of Kinect
Kinect is out, and regardless of what you think its launch lineup, the system has the potential to offer up some unique and exciting digital experiences. Microsoft’s current slate of software was designed to get your body moving and let you party with friends and grandparents alike, but we’d like to see more games that use the Kinect technology in other creative ways. Here are a few imaginary future titles that would get us moving.
Halo: Reach Out And Touch Faith
Microsoft would be remiss if it didn’t get one of its biggest guns onto Kinect. What better way could the company convince jaded players that the Kinect can do hardcore entertainment than with a Halo title? We image that this version of Halo would play a little like a standard action game, with Spartans getting up close and physical. Players would still use a controller for basic moves, but they’d be able to steer vehicles by holding an imaginary wheel, and throw grenades or use items like energy swords with simple arm movements. Maybe players could even issue basic squad command through Kinect’s microphone.
Fight Night: Fists of Fury
Dance Central gives you a workout, but long sessions in a Kinect Fight Night title would require you to start stockpiling large quantities of protein bars. The boxing minigame in Kinect Sports gives some hint at what this title could be like, but if EA perfected the motion tracking, this kind of boxing game wouldn’t just be a blast, it could train you how to become a real fighter.
Professor Layton And The Other Side Of The Mirror
Not only would it be great to see the Professor on a big screen, but Kinect would allow players to tackle a whole slew of new motion-based puzzles, or flip through notes to solve an overarching mystery like they were Tom Cruise in the Minority Report. Plus we’d finally have the opportunity to slap Luke in the face (sorry Luke, you know we love you. It was just a joke).
Discs of Tron
We’ve seen plenty of light cycle games in the last couple decades; it’s time some of Tron’s other minigames got some love. Discs of Tron would allow you to throw neon Frisbees of death at your opponents while blocking their oncoming attacks. This sounds like the perfect movie tie-in DLG to us.
Columbo: One More Thing
The way we see it, this would be a first person adventure game, maybe similar to the Phoenix Wright titles. Players take on the role of everyone’s favorite fumbling detective as he interrogates the rich with polite questions. Really we just want to have the chance to slowly turn around with our finger in the air as we ask, “Just one more thing!” (I don’t really know. This was Joe’s idea).
PaRappa the Rapper 3: Hippity Hoppity
Honestly, we just want to see another PaRappa title. Not only would Kinect’s microphone allow players to actually rap, but its motion-tracking capabilities would let us perform some basic Kung-Fu moves just like our old pal Chop Chop Master Onion. “I gotta believe!”
Trivial Pursuit: Scream Edition
This version of Trivial Pursuit has nothing to do with pretentious horror movies; it just denotes what everyone will be doing during the game. You have a bunch of questions, each player gets to yell out their answers, and Kinect recognizes who’s talking based on their vocal print. What more do you need?
Sign Star
Whether it’s a workout program like The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout or a useful cooking tool like Personal Trainer: Cooking, lifestyle games are an ever expanding market. Given its motion-tracking capabilities, a sign language trainer would be a great use for Microsoft’s new hardware. If this worked, we’d finally be able to communicate with other people without moving our mouths. Sign language is like telepathy, only more aerobic.
Grand Theft Auto: What Are You Looking At?
This is a dream, but it’s the best kind of dream. Imagine playing Grand Theft Auto, but being able to start a bar fight by reaching over and smashing a bottle of beer against the table, or hotwire a car by playing with the wires in front of you. Rockstar is pretty creative when it comes to implementing new technology, so we’d be understandably excited if they started working with Kinect.
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