As part of Microsoft's Gamefest this week in Seattle, Gamasutra has
obtained exclusive new details on the launch of the Xbox Live Vision
video camera accessory for the Xbox 360, including confirmation of a
gesture-based game that is set to be included for free with the
hardware.
Microsoft's Jeff Stone revealed the new information on the Xbox 360-exclusive game in question,
TotemBall, which was first announced in May of this year. It is being developed by UK-based
Strange Flavour and
Freeverse, both of whom are mainly known for their Macintosh titles.
TotemBall is controlled almost entirely through gestures; that
is, the game tracks a player's arm movements to control a rickety,
wheeled totem pole tower around each level, collecting items and trying
to reach the exit within a time limit. Gesture-based gameplay is not
foreign to Freeverse, who previously developed
ToySight for the Macintosh, compatible with Apple's iSight camera.
The title shows that Microsoft is willing to compete with the
gesture-based gameplay control concepts also utilized by Sony's EyeToy
for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Though no further
gestural-controlled game concepts using the Xbox Live Vision camera
have yet been officially announced, more gestural games are in early
development, according to Stone.
In addition, the peripheral is compatible with selected Xbox Live Arcade games such as
Uno, to allow video chat while gameplay is in progress, and with a facemapping feature for Activision's
World Series of Poker, another new announcement.
The Xbox Live Vision camera is apparently set to ship alongside
TotemBall
in September, at a thus far unannounced pricing point - U.S. retailer
GameStop currently has the camera listed for $39.99 with a September
19th release date, but neither of these specifics have been officially
confirmed. Gamasutra will have additional details on the software in
development for Live Vision in an upcoming feature.
Frank Cifaldi
August 15, 2006
Source:
Gamasutra