kinect

LOS ANGELES--One of the most common questions you hear from nongamers as they watch someone playing a game is some variation on, "Hey, can you go over there?" Usually, that refers to being able to open a door in a building, get in a car on the street, or walk down a winding mountain path going off into infinity. For gamers familiar with the visual language of interactive entertainment, it's a silly question, there are simply places you're meant to go, and places you're not. For a casual observer not as familiar with the limitations of virtual game worlds, it seems like a matter of common sense; if there's a shop in the middle of the street, why can't I open the door and walk in? If there's a car next to me, why can't I drive away in it?

For example, the recent game L.A. Noire addresses the issue with a bit of visual shorthand that makes perfect sense to gamers, but is honestly ridiculous if you stop to think about it: only doors with golden doorknobs can be opened. Everything else is shut tight, essentially facades painted on wooden fronts, like a video game version of a Potemkin village.

Few games dare to deal with the demands of creating a truly open sandbox-style world, which surprises me in a way, as the few times it has been done, it has been done to great success and critical acclaim. The best example is Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series, the latest of which, Skyrim, is on display at E3 this week. Like its predecessors, Oblivion (2005) and Morrowind (2002), Skyrim takes on the considerable challenge of letting players inhabit a virtual world so complete that nearly every door can be opened and every computer-controlled character spoken with--a level of interaction many times greater than sandbox-lite games such as Grand Theft Auto (or the previously mentioned L.A. Noire). Perhaps the closest cousin is online games such as Second Life, where the basic rules and building blocks are laid out, and it's up to participants to decide how to use them. … Read more

LOS ANGELES--John Carmack is known to PC gamers as the lead programmer behind classics such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. His latest project is Rage, a post-apocalyptic action game coming to PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 later this year. An iOS prequel, called Rage HD, was released last year, redefining what the iPad and iPhone were graphically capable of.

I spoke to Carmack during E3, and here's what he had to say about some of the most pressing current issues for game makers, including the state of PC hardware, the growth of mobile, casual, and social games, and … Read more

LOS ANGELES--The biggest single story from E3 2011 is easily Nintendo's Wii U, the sequel to the best-selling Wii console, with Sony's PlayStation Vita a close second. Both devices were broadly hinted at before (with the Vita previewed earlier under the codename NGP), but this week counts as the official coming out party for both hardware devices.

Both the Wii U and Vita boast impressive features. In fact, both have touch screens, dual analog sticks, and some form of TV-to-portable-screen functionality. But, both are also going against the conventional wisdom of recent tech hardware, adding layers of complexity … Read more

LOS ANGELES--At Sony's E3 press conference, the company doubled down on 3D video game content, handing out passive 3D glasses to the audience for use in several demos, and revealing a new 3D display bundle. The $499 bundle includes a pair of active 3D glasses, a copy of Uncharted 3, an HDMI cable, and a 24-inch Sony display. We got a chance to get hands-on with the display and test one of its notable features.

The still-unnamed display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080, and a pair of HDMI inputs, along with one set each of component … Read more

LOS ANGELES--A year after introducing Kinect, Microsoft used this year's E3 press conference to show how it's integrating its motion-capture console add-on to Xbox Live and games, and pump up the non-gaming entertainment experience.

EA Sports, EA Games, and Ubisoft announced baked-in support for Kinect in their 2011 Xbox 360 games. Tiger Woods, Madden, FIFA, Mass Effect 3, and Ghost Recon Future Soldier will support the Kinect. Forza 4, Microsoft's racing simulator, will also support Kinect. All Tom Clancy titles from now on will be integrated with Kinect, according to Ubisoft.

We saw demonstrations of how Kinect integration will work, including players taking the reins of a horse-drawn carriage, and firing guns and reloading ammo in games using only body and hand motions and no controller. Voice integration will also be woven into many games, including Madden to call plays. A demonstration of Star Wars with Kinect showed how a player can say "lightsaber on," and then using motions, swing away with the lightsaber.

Microsoft cleaned up the look of the dashboard, and is bringing a host of new features for Xbox Live. … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft began its press conference with some gameplay demos of Modern Warfare 3, Tomb Raider, and Mass Effect 3. Though these titles certainly impressed, they'll be available on multiple consoles.

But at E3, it's exclusives that count, and Microsoft finally showcased a number of titles that will only be available on Xbox 360 and Kinect:

Xbox 360:

As we suspected, an intense Gears of War 3 demo delighted the crowd with Marcus Fenix battling a skyscraper-size alien. The game will be out in September.

Next we saw a teaser-trailer for the ancient Rome inspired Ryse that looks to feature Kinect implementation. There wasn't too much information here--just that it's being developed by the team behind the Crysis franchise, Crytek.… Read more

LOS ANGELES--Kids and games. When Tim Schafer of Double Fine stepped onstage to demo his Sesame Street-branded Kinect game today, he explained how he had his 3-year-old daughter in mind when he developed the idea.

Sesame Street, Disneyland, and more: It looks like younger and younger kids are being targeted for gaming. Both Disneyland Adventures and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster are Microsoft exclusives for the Kinect. Add in Kinect Fun Labs, a series of interactive toys and camera-based art apps on a single disc, and you have a clear-cut strategy for attracting the toddler crowd.

Call it the iPad Effect, or whatever you'd like, but the hands-free gaming that Kinect represents looks like Microsoft's new fertile ground for the youngest gaming set. The question is, will parents want their kids to play? … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft's E3 press conference was packed with new software and services, from Kinect-enabled games to the promise of live TV. But, at the same time, some Xbox staples were missing in action, as were some hoped-for hardware announcements.

The biggest omission was the lack of a new Halo game coming this year. After Halo 3, Halo ODST, and Halo Reach, there has been a new Halo game each of the past three years. However, Microsoft couldn't go cold turkey. Instead we get Halo: Combat Evolved: 10th Anniversary Edition, a remade version of the original Halo game with … Read more

LOS ANGELES--While last year's Microsoft E3 briefing focused on the Kinect as debut hardware, this year seems to be about integrating the Kinect more deeply into mainstream games.

EA Sports, EA Games, and Ubisoft are among the first to formally announce baked-in support for Kinect in their 2011 Xbox 360 games. Tiger Woods, Madden, FIFA, Mass Effect 3, and Ghost Recon Future Soldier--along with, according to developers, many more--will support the Kinect in unspecified ways. Forza 4, the latest iteration of Microsoft's racing simulator, will also support Kinect.

It looks like there will still be standalone Kinect games, … Read more