E3 Expo 2010: Microsoft Debuts a Kinect-ed Version of Forza Motorsport 3 [w/Video]
If there’s one thing Forza Motorsport 3 does really well (aside from racing action, car customization, online play…) , it’s presenting the gorgeous car models in gorgeous fashion. The painstakingly-rendered machines feature gobsmackingly-realistic detailing everywhere you look, be it the lights, the interior or, on some of the old race cars, the rivets on the body. But while you can rotate and zoom in on the cars while in the garage, you can’t really recreate the sensation of walking around them, looking at them up close and, most of all, opening the doors and hopping in.
However, with the advent of the Xbox360’s new motion-based control system, Kinect (nee “Project Natal”), Microsoft’s flagship racing franchise has loads of new avenues for innovation open and ready to be taken. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, you’ll be able to walk around cars, explore their features, and even “sit inside” them and look around. But that’s not all…
As Mr. Giese demonstrated with a digital Ferrari 458 Italia, you’ll also be able to use Kinect to drive your virtual rides, wire- and controller-free. Will it take a while to get the hang of it? Probably. Will you look at least a bit dorky? Definitely. But think about what this kind of technology represents. The video game industry is chipping away at and punching holes in the metaphorical wall that is the television screen, the wall that separates the real world from the virtual world. And once that wall comes down, oh man…
As for the Kinect-compatible Forza shown in the vid, details were scant. Will it be a patch for Forza 3? Will it be a new game? All we know is we’ll know more next year, if not a little sooner. Maybe around November 4 (the day Kinect hits stores)?
Source: Turn 10 Studios | YouTube