What will Rare be showing at E3 this year?

by Paul on May 23rd, 2011

So E3 is nearly with us and we’ll soon be learning about the latest Rare game. No, not Kinect Sports 2 … sure we’re excited to see what is coming up in that sequel, but there’s this other top secret game they’re working on for Kinect, remember? The one that is a new IP and not based on any existing franchises. The one that is, fingers crossed, going to show all the doubters that Rare really still are a developer at the top of their game, both technically and creatively. But, what on earth can we expect to be revealed in June? Seeing as we’ve heard diddly squat from Rare over the last few months it’s hard to say. They haven’t even officially confirmed the existence of Kinect Sports 2 yet, let alone divulged any info about this secret project. But, let’s wildly hypothesise about this new game anyway and see what we can predict in the Rare Gamer crystal ball?

We know that ever since Rare got their hands on Kinect dev kits they’ve had a lot of ideas for potential games, some which have gone pretty far into development, but none of them have made it past Microsoft’s approval process except for Kinect Sports. The news that another game has finally been green-lit and isn’t Sports-related is very pleasing to see, but the fact that it is not based on any of Rare’s existing characters or franchises tells us a lot. Whatever this idea is they obviously couldn’t find a way of getting any of their old characters to fit with this game and let’s hope that Rare have learn’t a lesson from B-K: Nuts & Bolts. For those who don’t know what I mean, general consensus is that one of the Rare teams had the vehicle building idea but couldn’t think of a way of stringing a whole game out of it with some kind of narrative thread. Another team were working on the next game in the Banjo-Kazooie series and after several false starts they had failed to find a way to make our favourite bear and bird relevant in this day and age with something new to bring to the 3D platforming genre. Some bright spark said that the two games should be brought together and B-K: Nuts & Bolts is what happens when you try to add existing characters to a new idea. I have always maintained that I think B-K: N&B is a very good game, but I feel that Rare should have been a bit braver and had a bit more faith in the vehicle building elements, which are excellent and extremely well implemented, and to let them stand up on their own merits without having Banjo and Kazooie shoe-horned in there in the hope it would help it sell more. Imagine the same game but with different all-new characters in a new game world and the game is still just as good because the main focus is all about the vehicles; it didn’t need Banjo and Kazooie in there. I think Rare can look back with the benefit of hindsight and go along with this reasoning, even though they’ll never publicly admit it, and that is why I am pleased to see that there are no old franchises returning to Kinect just yet. When you consider that the main bulk of them are 3D platformers, it is very hard to think of how any characters can be integrated into a Kinect-based title.

So, what could this new title be then? One thing for sure is that it will not be sports-related. Rare have that covered with their Kinect Sports franchise and I would extend this to cover things explored in titles like Nintendo’s Wii-Fit. If Microsoft want to go after that particular market, I can see that being an element of Kinect Sports 2. For Rare to announce that as well as a Wii-Fit clone is going to be a real disappointment, only because we know that Rare can achieve so much more than this. I’m also going to rule out a first person shooter. For titles on Kinect, user ease of use is key and Rare will not want players to be holding up their arms as if holding an imaginary gun for extended periods. I think this rules out a driving game for the same reason. So, what else is there then?

As I see it we have two likely candidates; a puzzle game (picture something in a similar vein to ‘It’s Mr. Pants’ with us directing pieces on screen like Tom Cruise in Minority Report) or a game that uses the Rare-designed Avatars which plays out like something similar to ‘The Sims’ or the service offered in Playstation Home. Think about it; a puzzle game of that type would be ideally suited to Kinect and an Avatar-based Playstation Home-style game is the logical next step for Xbox Live and member interaction. I could be completely wrong but it’s something to consider and I’d love to see what you think. Please let me know below in the comments.

Of course, all of this is on the assumption that we’ll only need the Kinect to play with no controller required. There’s nothing stopping Rare from using a combination of both to enhance the game play experience and that opens up so many possibilities. An open-world adventure game played with the controller but utilising Kinect to act out various motions? Imagine being a wizard who can cast spells by waving your arms around like the Sorceror’s Apprentice? Ever met one of those people who moves the controller around and jolts from side to side as if they are really driving when playing racing games? Well with Kinect these people suddenly have the advantage, their shifting bodies helping to aid their steering. Imagine a game like Wave Race 64 where you can lean left and right, and tilting forward and back to influence the position of your jet ski on the water?

One thing I can guarantee is that when E3 arrives we will all be surprised. June cannot come quick enough!

Categories: Staff Notices