Angry Birds coming to Xbox Live with Kinect Support?

Rovio, the developer behind the iPhone and Android game phenomenon Angry Birds, have unveiled via Twitter not only that Angry Birds will be heading to the Wii and 3DS later in the year, but that the upcoming Xbox 360 version of the game might well feature Kinect Support.

Confirmation that the game is coming to Xbox Live Arcade, as well as Sony's Playstation Network was given at last years Social Games Summit by Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka. Late last week, replying to a plea from a Twitter user asking for Kinect Support, Rovio replied that "You might just get what you ask for..."

This would be the second Xbox Live Arcade game announced to feature Kinect after Twisted Pixel's The Gunstringer was unveiled last week. Hopefully there are many more to come!

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GameFly lists Kinect shooter Heavy Fire: Afghanistan

A listing has shown up on GameFly for a shooter called 'Heavy Fire: Afghanistan' which, judging by the cover art, requires Kinect. The synopsis on the official site of little-known publisher Mastiff Games doesn't give much away, reading like virtually any other modern shooter.

"Fly in helicopters.  Ride in tanks and trucks.  Take it to the ground and get up close and personal with the enemy.  Your objective is simple:  Grab the biggest gun you can find, then knock out the enemy with your Heavy Fire!"

Given the publishers catalog of games, and the complete lack of media, our expectations aren't high for what could be Kinect's first traditional shooter. It's currently unknown how Kinect will be utilized and, although it is required on the Xbox 360, the game will be hitting "all major consoles and mobile platforms".

We won't have long to find out, the game launches April 30th.

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Conduit Developer Making Title for Kinect

High Voltage, the developer behind The Conduit, is creating a new Kinect-enabled game for 2K Games. Details are currently sparse but we can expect an announcement "around GDC". Being Kinect-enabled, Kinect support will not be mandatory, with traditional controls an option.

"This game works well with or without the Kinect," says Eric Nofsinger, chief creative officer at High Voltage. "It's supported as a device, so if you have the device it works very well, but I don't think it's this brilliant, genius idea It works really well because it's a 360 game. I don't think it necessarily works really well because it's a Kinect game."

High Voltage are not new to motion gaming, having created the Wii first person shooter, The Conduit, and its upcoming sequel. They remain cagey about their Kinect project, which is due this year.

"It's a licensed game. That's our bread and butter as a developer" Nofsinger added. "That's how we've stayed in business for almost 18 years. We don't develop for just one hardware. We don't develop for just one genre of game. We don't develop with just one publisher. We've diversified all the way through."

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Michael Phelps: Push The Limit Unveiled for Kinect

Olympic record breaking swimmer Michael Phelps has teamed up with 505 Games to create Push The Limit, a swimming game exclusive to Kinect. The game, due out in June, will see the player standing upright, working their arms through a variety of swimming stroke motions in order to advance to the championships.

"The better stroke technique you have, the faster you go," Phelps says. "It's extremely realistic. If you had asked me five years ago if I ever thought I would have a video game coming out with swimming in it, I'm not sure what I would have said. I would never ever have thought it would be like it is. It is cool and fun."

The game will see Phelps, whose techniques and strokes were specially captured for the game, mentor the player through the various components of swimming, leading up to the ultimate challenge -- beating Phelps himself.

Diving see's the player literally bending to touch their toes, with their speed in reaching a standing pose determining the velocity at which the character in the game dives. They then literally do a swimming motion which Phelps says is a workout in itself. To keeps things looking fresh, the game will take place in a variety of environments from skyscraper rooftops to glass pyramids and a Japanese dojo.

"We couldn't have done it on any other platform," says Pete Matisse of 505 Games. "This is a situation where we have the right guy in terms of history of the sport, we have the right technology with Kinect, and we think we have the right game-play mechanic to really deliver on that competitive swimming experience."

See the full trailer for the game below.

Source: USA Today

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Twisted Pixel's 'The Gunstringer' announced for Kinect

Twisted Pixel, creators of hit Xbox Live Arcade titles 'Splosion Man and Comic Jumper, have announced their newest title, The Gunstringer.

The game, which looks to be controlled entirely via Kinect, see's the player seemingly puppeteer a skeleton cowboy with one hand, using the other to gesture shots amongst other things. The game looks to both 3D shooting sections and 2D platforming gameplay.

It is unknown whether the game is to be a full retail title, or an XBLA downloadable. The latter would be keeping with the developers previous releases, and it would be a first for Kinect!

Check out the official site and the trailer below.

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Assassins Creed Kinect? Splinter Cell Kinect? Ubisoft proposing Kinect version of ALL franchises!

Ubisoft have told MCV that they are considering Kinect versions for all of their brands.

"We will be bringing some of the industry’s most innovative offerings to Kinect soon,” said chief marketing and sales officer Geoffroy Sardin.

“I think we can propose Kinect versions of all the brands that we’ve got, but it is down to the production team. I can’t announce anything, but we will have something for everyone, that I can assure you.”

Ubisoft have already had huge success with Kinect. They are the most successful third party publisher on Kinect, with over 20% market share with their trio of launch games Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Motion Sports and Fighters Uncaged. Their next announced game, Michael Jackson: The Experience, launches in April.

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EA Prototyping Fight Night Kinect

 

The producer of the upcoming Fight Night Champion, Mike Mahan, has told Eurogamer that they are currently prototyping a future iteration of the franchise compatible with Kinect. He is, however, wary of creating a literal Fight Night game for Kinect, uncertain that players could actively fight for long periods, so it could lead to something new altogether.

"It's an interesting proposition," he said. "Undeniably at some point we're going to want to integrate motion controls into our game somehow, whether that's in a mini-game or a separate game I don't know. 

"Right now the best simulation experience we can give users is through a conventional controller. I also think that most of our users don't want to, and can't, punch for 10 rounds! I just don't think people are capable of it! If you're going to make a full fighting game it might be a different experience than a Fight Night or an MMA...

"It's definitely something we're looking at," he added. "We've done some pretty cool prototyping. It could perhaps be a mini-game embedded in. Then again with how precise and how robust the movement and motion controls are now, I think we'd be doing them a disservice if we simply said that our version of a motion control game is a mini-game within Fight Night.

"I think we'd best serve the community, if we're going to do anything ever, with a totally different game. That's the speculation on my part."

Fight Night Champion, due out next month, does not support Kinect or Sony's Move controller.

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