When we first heard of Kinect, many ideas ran through the collective consciousness of the TSA Team (we have hive mind, much like the Borg). Sports games were the obvious application for the motion controller but we imagined football, volleyball, bowling – at no point did anyone think ‘Hey, what I really want to do is pretend to swim. In the air.’
505 Games, the team behind Naughty Bear, have just announced ‘Michael Phelps: Push the Limit’, the first Kinect swimming game. They have described the game as “one of the most realistic and intense sports simulation video games ever” and “the first controller-free swimming experience to capture your true movements and translate them into accurate gameplay”.
Mr. Phelps has been motion captured for the game and has said,
I’m really excited to help bring a one-of-a-kind swimming video game to the market that is reflective of my competitive nature and passion for swimming. This definitely isn’t your typical video game; much like my training in the pool, Push the Limit is about improving and mastering every race element – from controlling your adrenaline on the block to perfectly timing your finish.
In my world, it takes a lifetime of dedication to get one-hundredth of a second ahead and I believe Push the Limit offers players a unique journey inside swimming that will challenge themselves as much as their in-game competitors.”
I’m a bit speechless to be honest. It could be fantastic but I just can’t get my head round the idea of swimming – presumably fully clothed and standing up – in the comfort of your home.
Foxhound_Solid
hahahaha.
Wait, this is serious?
asparagushunter
What’s the betting on some official Kinect armbands?
JesseDeya
Push the Limit alright…
…of our disbelief!
I hear there is a mini-game in this where toke on a bong and stumble around your living room… Kinect assesses how embarrassed you are compared to the real Phelps.
hazelam
funny how they showed everything but how you actually play the game, i wonder why.
xdarkmagician
I don’t get it, I’ve read the article but all I’m reading is “505 Games planning to go bankrupt in the near future”.
Maybe the SE edition will come with a couple of those floaty lane markers for split-screen action.
Tuffcub
505 games are doing rather well. I read a report on them a while back and even though Naughty Bear got panned and sold in numbers that would be considered a failure, because 505 games have such a small development team, indeed a small headcount in total (I think it was around 40 people), they only need to sell a fraction of the games say, EA does when they have 200+ people working on Dead Space.
505 are actually rather clever in what they release, they picked up the license for Grease which I beleive sold well. They’re relasing a MMA game as well, but with no licenses from any MMA organsation which will save them a fortune – and lets face it, in fighting games you’re just paying for the names a faces, might as well be anyone.
If I were to make a comparison I would say they are the Mastertronic of the blu-ray age – it may seem like they are releasing odd games, but if they sell enough to keep the company in rude health, what do they care?
xdarkmagician
Good points, I didn’t take in account for the smaller cost only their unusually sorces of inspiration.
sesameseed
How the heck do you start a race? Dive off the sofa onto the floor before you start writhing around? Sounds like a recipe for carpet burns to me, and I can think of far better ways to get carpet burns than pretend swimming ^^