Of course, this isn't the first time the studio has worked with animals, but was the world ready for Frontier Developments' 2003 PS2 game Dog's Life? As part of our Kinect cover feature in issue 218 (available from UK newsagents today), we sat down with the man who gave the world Elite to talk about Kinectimals' wide-ranging appeal, the importance of recognising what a controller can add rather than remove and why the device is perfect for core gamers.
Talk us through the structure of the game.
There's a lot more to the game than the E3 demo. It takes place on an island, and you get to discover new locations and there are new animals that you can meet. The idea is you're learning together and getting better at it. We tried to show that in the E3 demo but the experience feels a bit shallow because of the way it works. One of the things I think games like Kinectimals, The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon do is help rehabilitate the wider game industry. They're things we can be proud of in a context that isn't just the context of games. I can imagine that girlfriends and kids would absolutely adore this, and to be honest I adore it. What's interesting here, and I think we saw it a little bit with Nintendogs, is it's a way of appealing to more than just casual or core gamers. I'm hoping, in terms of how you play the game, that there is a lot to bring different people to the party.
We're not sure it's sensible to teach children to play with wildcats, but they're so cute
Will there be any social elements in Kinectimals?
Indeed, yes. The ambition here is to work well in a family environment, where people can play games together in a same-couch type of experience. Certainly the idea is that you have your own animal in the game, and it goes with you. So if two players are playing you each play with your own animal, and it swaps over.
How did you find developing for Kinect, as opposed to more traditional projects?
It's always interesting working with new technology because you feel a little bit you're growing up with the technology as it improves, but I still think we've not yet got to grips with the things it can offer. I'm very proud of what we're doing with Kinectimals, but I think the future is also very interesting. It was interesting during the E3 keynote how negative some of the comments online were, and how quickly they moderated their tone when they saw how their girlfriends or wives received it, and how the public received it. It reminds me of about ten to 20 years ago: I remember when the mouse came out, and people thought "that's a bit of a wodgy thing, who'd use that?" The first PC I had, the mouse was seen as a fancy, very expensive device which were going for over £100.
The fur effect is astonishing, and adds to the sense of tactility
You must have seen a lot of peripherals come and go. What's different about Kinect?
It's hard to put your finger on it, but it's the way it can be used very, very intuitively. There have been a lot of unfavourable comparisons to new technology that people pretty quickly forget when the technology succeeds. There was a lot of criticism, which I'm sure you remember, of doing GoldenEye, a firstperson shooter, on the N64 controller. By some value it wasn't as good as a mouse and keyboard. But for me the social effect of playing in your living room with a controller each, as opposed to the lean forward effect of playing on a PC, was great. In some respect you feel you lose something and that's what people bleat about, but they completely lose sight of the fact that they've gained something.