E3 2011: Microsoft Press Conference

This year's E3 yielded no major surprises from Microsoft's Xbox 360 conference. The company followed up on the previous year's Kinect-centered press briefing with more of the same, expanding its list of Kinect titles and incorporating the voice recognition and motion sensing technology in to Xbox Live.

After opening the presentation with a live demo of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment's Don Mattrick stated, "This is an incredible time of growth and innovation." The presentation then continued with Xbox's lineup of sports, action and shooter titles. Microsoft's main focus of the conference however was on Kinect and the ways its voice recognition and motion control features would be used in the majority of titles for the Xbox 360.

Following this, Bioware's co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka announced that the Xbox 360 version of the much-anticipated Mass Effect 3 will utilize Kinect's voice recognition in the game in two ways. The player can speak the dialog choices he or she would like for their character to use in the conversations that guide the events and story in the game. Giving verbal commands to other characters in the player's party will also be possible in combat situations. For example, instructing a specific character by name to move up to a farther point on the battlefield.

Continuing the Kinect showcase, Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Solider also will use body tracking and voice recognition, which was demonstrated in the customizing of weapons in a system Ubisoft refers to as Gunsmith. Using voice commands and gestures, the presenters customized a gun for various combat styles like ranged and close-combat. They then tested the creation in the Gunsmith virtual shooting-range using gestures. However no live in-game combat using Kinect was shown in the demonstration.

Xbox Live's Marc Whitten then introduced voice recognition to navigate the dashboard and search for and play games, music, and movies. Youtube and Microsoft's search engine Bing will be added to Xbox Live along with the launch of Xbox Live TV. This feature would allow news, sports and local channels to be played live and paused via Xbox Live. It is expected to arrive this fall. "This is our vision for the future of television. Effortless. Approachable. Because TV is more amazing when you are the controller," Whitten said.

A live demo of Gears of War 3 was also showcased. The Gears of War franchise is the biggest Xbox 360 exclusive aside from perhaps Halo. Design director of Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski and rapper, actor and voice of the game's character Griffin, Ice-T played a scene from the campaign demonstrating the co-op gameplay. Other Xbox 360 exclusives presented include Ryse, Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary, Forza Motorsport 4, and Fable: The Journey.

With Kinect for the Xbox 360, Microsoft is actively pursuing new audiences: families with small children and casual gamers. The introduction of several kid-friendly titles -- Disneyland Adventures, Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster, and Kinect Sports Season Two-- was followed by the presentation of Kinect Fun Labs by Kinect creative director, Kudo Tsunoda. The presentation demonstrated the capabilities of Kinect for body tracking, facial and body capture, finger tracking, and object scanning and animations. Kinect Fun Labs, a collection of mini games, is available via Xbox Live with additional updates expected in July.

The closer of the Xbox 360 conference was the official "announcement" of Halo 4 which was proclaimed by Mattick to be part of a new Halo trilogy. Unfortunately, this announcement was old news by the time of the press conference since it was posted on Xbox.com just an hour before the start of the conference.

With Microsoft's Disney partnership, Live TV and Kinect Fun Labs, the company seems to be focused more than ever on encouraging families and casual gamers to join the millions of other Xbox 360 owners. The child-friendly titles are great for families with small children, but potentially could only appeal to those who already have an Xbox 360. Those households would only need to purchase the Kinect and the games. It may not be a viable way to sell more consoles based on the price factor. Also, the households who would be most interested in this direction of gaming are likely to have already purchased a Wii. Microsoft will certainly need to find a way to convince parents that getting an Xbox 360 with Kinect is worth the cost (Bundles range from $300 to $400.)

There is definite potential with Kinect's features for enhanced gameplay in action and shooter games that appeal to core gamers. The use of voice commands in Mass Effect 3 stand out as an example of this. Being able to control teammates in the game so easily could make combat in the sci-fi action game more fluid and tactical. However, the ability of Kinect to function with the precision and accuracy that most core gamers expect has yet to be seen. In addition, questions have been raised as to how long players would want to stand in front of their televisions punching, kicking or shooting the air while playing games that solely use motion controls. There also needs to be a balance in just how much the Kinect is utilized and this balance would of course have to vary by title. Using full motion control in a game like Dance Central 2 makes perfect sense whereas using it for Halo or Tomb Raider probably wouldn't work at all.

The use of gestures and voice recognition for controlling the Xbox Live dashboard, however is very intriguing. If it can function as smoothly as the presentation would have us believe, it could be a streamlined way to navigate through the various media and entertainment choices that the Xbox 360 provides.

While Xbox 360's central focus placed on the Kinect at this year's E3 may be a push for the casual and family-friendly gaming markets, it also opens up doors for enhancing the gaming experiences of action-based titles that appeal to Xbox's core gamers. As the incorporation of Kinect in more Xbox 360 titles moves forward, an intelligent balance of how to use the features of the technology and its impact on gameplay will need to be reached by the company and it's third-party developers. If Microsoft can prove the accuracy and sensitivity of the Kinect, and appropriately consider its uses in the right games, Kinect can be a great addition to video game experiences for all gamers.