Potable_Toe said:
Hapimeses said:
I found the section that touched on this in the interview between Geoff Keighley and Don Mattrick on GTTV revealing. Watch the video here (the relevant section is between 2.45 and 3.02, but there is other good stuff in there). In short, Don makes it pretty clear that a mic could do the job just as well (which, obviously, it could).
So, Microsoft, in their drive to promote Kinect, are presumably limiting the function to Kinect only (I kinda still hope this isn't the case). Which, if true, is a shame as it would be awesome if a broader base of 360 players could also use the function, but understandable as Microsoft want to sell more Kinects. In short, it seems Microsoft are stinging their own Kinect-free customers here, who already all have mics, and I think that's a bit shitty. It's just voice control, after all. It's not that big or that clever. If SingStar can do it, I can't see any reason why any game shouldn't be able to employ it.
That aside, the function itself appears to be one of the least useful I could imagine for ME (which is one of my favourite games, by the way). For example: pressing a button is quicker and easier than saying something like, 'Make the sexxors with me.' Talking is slower and unintuitive (especially when those onscreen don't repeat what you've just uttered). I'm pretty sure I'll never use it (just like I don't use voice control in SingStar, even though it works really well).
Voice commands for combat are potentially more useful, but completely lack fine control, and could potentially be useless in practice (how could I command Miranda to Warp the 2nd heavy weapon guy on the right on the gantry at the other side of the battlefield? It's too complex a target). There are simply better games to integrate this sort of tech. Here it feels tagged on and gimmicky, only employed to allow Microsoft to add the BEST WITH KINECT banner.
My Kinect is highly unlikely to be used for this. Give me decent integration of Kinect's capabilities, please, not gimmicks.
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... aim at them?
I have said it before, and will likely say it again, that even if it is only a small integration like this it is still increased incentive. And if in the end you see that there are dozens or even hundred of games that play better or even require Kinect that interest you then you are more likely to buy it... ofcourse when I say 'you' I am using it objectively. This is pretty much the philosophy Microsoft are following.
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Which means you're not aiming at other people you might want to be killing with Shep. It's a big limiter, and very slow in terms of comparing it to the button pressing alternative. When using buttons, I can be shooting at one guy while I'm telling Miranda to warp the guy at the back. I can't do that with voice commands. Or, at least, I can't think of a way it can be done easily. As I mentioned before, perhaps I'll be surprised when the product is finalised, but I doubt it.
However, this is all quite beside the point, really. The thing that bugs me most about this isn't that it exists (more toys are rarely ever a bad thing), but that it seems to exist on Kinect only, which means all other 360 players can't use the functionality, which is a crying shame as it is simple voice recognition tech, and all that is needed for that is a mic. Lots of games have done it. It isn't that hard (in the greater scheme of things). In short: it seems Microsoft are stinging their own customers in an attempt to sell more Kinects, they're not just stinging customers on other platforms, and that sucks.
