Hail all,

Category: Games.

So - we're back to gaming on Xbox 360. Yes, that's right. A friend lent me his Xbox 360 so I could play the Halo: Reach campaign. And what a campaign! I feel very privaleged to have played it, and I enjoyed it immensly. I'd forgotten how good Halo games could be - I certainly feel I had missed out not having played it. The amount of content on the disc for single players alone is staggering - but considering just how much multiplayer content is on offer, and how popular the game is - you could theoretically be playing the game for years. I know that people are still playing Halo 2. And Halo: Reach is infinitely better - more content, modes, and more ways to play.

But we're getting off track here. Having an Xbox 360 in the house has led me back to playing some old Xbox 360 titles I had lying around, which - for some reason or another, I was never willing or able to get rid of once I got rid of the console. So - it was something of a joy to get back into some of them. At the moment, the game that is taking up the most of my time is the incredibly addictive and charming Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.

But this blog isn't about that game either. In fact, its not about any particular game, just some ideas I've had since playing some of the games I own.

I should mention that I love the idea of Kinect. It's a great accessory which I can only hope will become a standard for every Xbox 360 owner. I've played it completely for about 24 hours now, and have played 6 different games. I wrote my feelings for 3 (Kinect Adventures, Kinectimals and Dance Central) of the games already in the forum (which can be found here) but I've since played a few more of the games.

I've since played Your Shape: Fitness, Kinect Joy Ride and Kinect Sports. If I was to rate them, Id give them a 7, 7 and 7. Each seems to be well tuned into Kinect, especially Your Shape: Fitness, and each seems to require a bit more content. Kinect Sports actually has 10 events, which is more than I expected, but not as much as I'd like.

Anyway, after playing a friends Xbox 360 for the better part of a week and being jealous enough to highly consider purchasing my own, I thought about the games I have been playing and how they would work with Kinect. Here's some ideas I've thought about for some of the games I've been playing.

Pure.

It's a ATV off-road racing game, which puts particular emphasis on making tricks in the air in order to receive boosts. Simply if the game could allow a Kinect mode where the player could hold their arms out at a certain angle which could be replicated by the onscreen character, or they could gesture their arms at certain points which would allow some suitably amazing feat of trickery. A simple idea, I know - but it all starts with an idea.

Forza Motorsport.

Better than GT in every way - and using Kinect could make it even better. How about an idea where you could freely walk around your car, inspecting it from every angle. You could polish it in a certain place, or find the best angle and take a photo. And later manipulate it. Or it could take a photo of yourself, turn it into a sticker and plaster it onto the car. Or you could have it photoshop you into the picture of your car - which you then turn into a wallpaper. Or you could walk around the car, and pressing inforation points on different sections will give a small encyclopedic entry on what that certain car part could do. Or even, you could walk around the car with a pain can and actually manually create your own paint livery. Those are just some of the ideas I have, and Turn 10 Studios hasn't let me down yet.

Viva Pinata.

Almost the same idea as Forza - you could angle your self perfectly, walk around your garden, or pinata - and take photos or place stickers etc. But maybe you could also make a shovel action and actually shovel a hole for the seeds, or create a new pond. Or you could just play catch with your Pinata, tickle them, give them a manicure, brush their fur. I love the franchise and a Kinect version sounds like something they could do to bring back the franchise.

Crash of the Titans.

Ok - this is a little wacky. I like this game and it's good fun. But how about bringing the games essence - it's Titans, and mixing it up with a little RTS? Maybe you could actually fight, or claw your way onto the Titan (something like Shadow of the Collusus), and once on top, actually hold onto the ears and make the creature do your bidding (something like what Remy does in the Disney Pixar film Ratoutille). Maybe you could then use the titan to do your villagers biddings - something like what happened in Black and White. And MS needn't worry about following the formula for that game to much - they own the developer and the licence to that now too.

These are just some of the ideas I have from just a few of the games Ive played. The thing about Kinect though is that there is no limits. And this is already seen by some of the games announced - like Child of Eden and Project Draco. I'm excited about the possibilities that Kinect offers and cant wait to see where it leads.

Cheers,

Saga.