Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Games Studios, recently confirmed Kinect support for the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary edition. (Which begs the question: Did anyone, anywhere, ever, call the original Halo, "Halo: Combat Evolved?") Cue all of the rousing support and "Hurrahs" which hardcore gamers are known for! The Halo Waypoint forums erupted in jovial adulation. Everyone loves the Kinect, right?
Wrong. Judging from the comments, not only do people not like absolutely hate the Kinect, they think using it will do something horrible, like give them cooties. I actually have one of Microsoft's diabolical Kinect contraptions in my own home and I've remained relatively cootie-free. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. Halo fans were doing their best digital version of gathering their pitchforks and torches when a 343 Industries voice came down from on high:
Just to let everybody know, the Kinect features we're exploring with Halo: Anniversary are optional and won't affect your core gameplay experience. Our mission, from day one, has been to deliver a faithful recreation of the original game, and we remain dedicated to seeing that through to completion.
That settles that. Cootie disaster averted. It should also be noted that there has been no announcement as to what the Kinect support will entail. Halo: CEA will launch on November 15 on the Xbox 360. It supports 2 player local co-op and 4 player online co-op.
How about you folks? Does the option to have motion controls bother you?