E3 2011: First look at Kinect Star Wars!

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E3 2011: First look at Kinect Star Wars!

Post by darkjedi @ 03:17pm 06/06/11 | 24 Comments

Star Wars seemed to be a logical match when the teaser footage was shown during Microsoft's Kinect announcement at E3 last year. Skip forward 12 months and it looked like this title had gone the way of the Jedi... That is until now. In the flurry of announcements leading up to E3, EW.com has unveiled the first look at the previously unnamed title, now dubbed "Kinect Star Wars".

The title will have you (and a friend) take the role of several different characters during the prequel era, starting with the events of The Phantom Menace and concluding with the rise of the Empire from Episode 3.

The trailer for the game shows on foot lightsaber antics, but also hints at Pod racing, space combat and being able to control giant Rancors. What it doesn't show is how much of this will be on-rails ala Rebel Assault or what else is in store. One piece of good news though, for all the budding Star Wars kids out there:

although if you need the tactile experience of holding a laser sword, go ahead and use your toy lightsaber (we know you have one) -- it won't subvert the experience.

Trailer (including dopey kids pretending to play it) is below (or here in HD)and I suspect we'll be seeing more of this one once E3 kicks off.

Source: EW.com

e3 2011 kinect star wars

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darkjedi
Posted 03:26pm 06/6/11

It might be Rebel Assault 3.0, but this looks like it'll be quite a bit of fun. Say what you will about the choice of eras to set it in, personally I think the prequel timeline is a lot more exciting and gives them more content to work with that hasn't been done to death already. I mean honestly? We've had games doing the battle of Hoth and Death Star trench run so many times it isn't funny.

Now we just need a release date & we're sweet. Maybe to coincide with the Blu-Ray release perhaps?

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Vash
Posted 03:41pm 06/6/11

kinect is sorta gimmicky, like 3D.
Its OK for fighting games or something where you dont need to move

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Midda
Posted 03:48pm 06/6/11

If it plays like that video, count me out.

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Pinky
Posted 03:54pm 06/6/11

Kinect is gimmicky but it works and is also fun.

For this type of game though, I don't see it. See the move the guy had to pull to get the X-fighter to shoot? Haha. No.

In the way that the Kinect detects human movement surely the next logical extension is to detect a physical 'wand'. E.g., a full-size weapon held at shoulder position for war games - the Kinect could sense the position and orientation of the weapon which translates to in-game.

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trog
Posted 03:55pm 06/6/11

Why do they insist on making these games in the world of the second crappy trilogy? Why is it stupid pod racers instead of riding speeder bikes through the forest, lopping off the front of Imperial trooper-speeds with my lightsaber? Why is it carving up boring droids instead of taking out stormtroopers and fighting Darth Vader?

It's so hard to get excited when the only real reference to the fact that the first trilogy existed is an almost gratuitous inclusion of a rancor.

I mean, I know it's a Kinect so it's not exactly targeted at hardcore gamers. But ever since the Wii I've been waiting for one goddamn Star Wars game where it actually looks like it was made for people who saw the original series instead of the people that think Jar Jar is funny.

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darkjedi
Posted 03:57pm 06/6/11

The combat stuff and even Pod Racing seems like it'd work alright. Curious to see how they'll pull off the space stuff, because if it is as Pinky pointed out, then it'll be a bitch to use. Still, I'm optimistic this will turn out alright. At the very least it'll be something for me to play with my kids (as I'm getting sick of Lego Star Wars!).

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Midda
Posted 04:04pm 06/6/11

Here's footage of someone actually playing it.

Yeah... giving this a miss for sure.

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Mantra
Posted 04:06pm 06/6/11

instead of the people that think Jar Jar is funny.

Who are these people?!

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darkjedi
Posted 04:11pm 06/6/11

There doesn't seem to be a lot of lag between his swinging and the on-screen action. That's a positive thing, right? It also really does look like it plays like Rebel Assault, which I'm not convinced is a bad thing at all.

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darkjedi
Posted 04:19pm 06/6/11

I mean, I know it's a Kinect so it's not exactly targeted at hardcore gamers. But ever since the Wii I've been waiting for one goddamn Star Wars game where it actually looks like it was made for people who saw the original series instead of the people that think Jar Jar is funny.

Agree on the Wii bit. Was criminal that we never got a decent Star Wars lightsaber game on there, instead ended up with plenty of waggle and not much else. You're also right re: the intended audience, although there's quite a lot of people out there who love the original trilogy and the prequels just as much (me being one), so have no problems with the setting of this during that era.

We've had Endor, Hoth and the trench run done to death over the course of Star Wars video game history. This coupled with the amount of things that happen during the rise of the Empire period, it does seem a more logical place to base this and appeal to a wider variety of fans - Not just us old school types who grew up with the OT. Like it or not, there's a whole world of youngsters who have grown up with the prequels before moving on to the OT and embrace them much like we did.

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DM
Posted 04:43pm 06/6/11

All I can think of is videos like this when it comes to Kinect

Queue the hospital visits due to flailing around like a retard.

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Midda
Posted 04:57pm 06/6/11

There doesn't seem to be a lot of lag between his swinging and the on-screen action.

Well, he jumps and lands before the on-screen character manages to do the same. I haven't played many Kinect games, so I dunno, maybe that stuff is responsive for a Kinect game, but it seemed really laggy to me.

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Khel
Posted 05:01pm 06/6/11

We've had Endor, Hoth and the trench run done to death over the course of Star Wars video game history.

10 years ago maybe, but I can't remember anyone doing a Star Wars game with today's technology, set during the original trilogy. I think theres more than enough room for that, and tbh, I'd take Death Star trench runs, the Battle of Hoth and fighting on the moon of Endor over anything from the prequel trilogy, any day.

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Eorl
Posted 05:33pm 06/6/11

Haha that video DM. So much fail.

Having a look at that video, then this one:
Something seems off.

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Trauma
Posted 05:31pm 06/6/11

I wonder if the double fist thrust at 1:05 made him eject.

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Spook
Posted 05:58pm 06/6/11

wow, the kinect controls for that looked totally shit.

i love my wii controllers, and what the wii has taught me is most often its subtle controls that really shine

smg on the wii was probably my favourite of all the wii motion controls, worked awesomely didnt detract from game play.

jumping around like a tard detracts massively from gameplay

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Linker
Posted 06:21pm 06/6/11

Well I guess it wasn't fully on foot but you guys obviously missed the Rogue leader and rebel assault games which had speeder bike on endor and the rest of it. It's a shame factor 5 had to close business after they released lair on ps3

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darkjedi
Posted 06:42pm 06/6/11

Maybe I'm looking at this from the eyes of a Star Wars fan & a father of young kids who enjoy things like Kinect Adventures etc. I'm biased and not afraid to admit it.

Linker: Those on foot bits were the single worst part of Rebel Strike by a long shot. Which is a shame, because the rest of the game was pretty good (including the 2 player co-op version of Rogue Leader).

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