The Kinect is officially a success, having sold over 1 million units in its first 10 days, but the majority of titles out thus far have not been slanted to hardcore gamers. Sure, it is neat to jump over a barrel, but for many that have played video games all their life, petting a Kinectimal isn’t their thing. If a recent report from IGN is true, that could soon be changing.
According to a reliable but anonymous source, Microsoft is planning to debut several action titles for the Kinect at the upcoming Spike TV Video Game Awards (VGA), held on December 11. If the rumor is correct, headlining the list of new titles will be a Gears of War title. It is unknown whether that will mean that a Gears of War game will be reworked to include Kinect compatibility, or if a new title specific to the Kinect is in the works from developer Epic.
Hardcore gamers have generally been turned off by the Kinect. Part of that is just the lack of what we gamers like to call “buttons”, but there is also a lack of titles that appeal to long time gamers, for the most part. If Gears of War does find that sweet spot on the Kinect that makes the experience worthwhile, it could be the beginning of a new wave of Kinect titles.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft refused to comment. How it would work is a question we will have to wait until December 11 when (or if) Microsoft makes the announcement.