Developer Cliff “Cliffy B” Bleszinski thinks Kinect still has some maturing to do.
In a recent interview , Cliffy B was quoted by Gamestm.co.uk as saying, “There are not a lot of things that wound up in there. There’s one thing actually that you just reminded me of though, is that we are not supporting Kinect in Gears Judgment. I like Kinect, I’ve been a fan of it, but I don’t think it has been fully realised as far as the potential of the device. Dance Central 3 looks great and all, but I’m curious how the ‘core’ games will work out.”
The evolution of Kinect has certainly been interesting to watch. When it was first announced as Project Natal, Microsoft used a whole lot of lofty marketing language to describe it as the most revolutionary thing in gaming history.
And then, for the first year in its existence, Kinect was used as little more than just another version of the Wii Remote, with mini-games and corny gesture controls dominating the peripheral’s scope.
Now, though, Kinect seems to finally be coming into its prime. Although it is a bit different than Microsoft’s initial vision of controller-free gaming, the device is finding its place in hardcore games.
Instead of no-controller gameplay, Kinect seems to be making its biggest splash as a voice recognition peripheral, with blockbuster franchises taking advantage of the technology. Kinect is an accessory, not a brand new platform, and once developers started realizing that, things began to change. Perhaps Bleszinski will take note of that soon.
