Kitase: Kinect, Move "awkward" for RPGs

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 7 September, 2010

But motion mini-games could add "spice".

Microsoft and Sony reckon their motion control devices Kinect and Move will revolutionise the game industry, but one big hitter remains unconvinced of their relevance to that most hardcore of genres: the role-playing game.

Fitting Kinect, which enables controller free gaming, and Move, which uses a controller camera combo, into traditional RPG design is "awkward", Final Fantasy head honcho Yoshinori Kitase, who's doing the rounds promoting PSP-exclusive title The 3rd Birthday, told Eurogamer.

"Obviously this [The 3rd Birthday] is a PSP title, so we couldn't have made use of these new techniques anyway," he said.

"But it is quite awkward, particularly for example in Final Fantasy XIII, which came out last March in Europe. That kind of interface is quite difficult to be included in the RPG.

"But this is a gun shooter, and we would love to expand the franchise. In the future I think those technologies could be quite handy for us."

Using motion control add-ons during the long gameplay sessions typically experienced when playing RPGs wouldn't be appropriate, Kitase explained.

"The main difference between shooting games and RPGs – obviously there are some – but shooting games probably amount to up to 10 to 15 hours of gameplay.

"But an RPG, you have to improve your character fight and fight and fight, and then the ending, and then more to play with, that could be 40 to 50 hours.

"It's quite continuous play, even though you don't have one go, obviously.

"That kind of technique might not fit so well with a very continuous title that requires long gameplay."

Still, Kinect and Move may end up playing some part in future games in the likes of the Final Fantasy series, Kitase pondered.

"We could have a chance to introduce those techniques in a mini-game in those games, if you like, to give them additional spice."

Move's due out on 17th September. Kinect's due out on 10th November. Not long now.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (34) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • drxym #1 1 year ago

    Surely it depends on the RPG and how the motion controller is employed. Imagine Oblivion for example where movement and general tooling around used a conventional stick arrangement but when it came to combat you could use the Move as a sword / bow. That could make an awesome game. Would it get tiring? Depends, but there would be periods of rest as you walk around towns and periods of activity such as combat. Perhaps swinging the sword around would make the experience more intense.

  • Nighthawk_08 #2 1 year ago

    I really hope that they put move in fallout 3 Vegas. It's perfect fort the game. Any one else agree with me on this one ?

  • Yossarian #3 1 year ago

    I'm glad Reach is coming out so I can quit this baffling industry.

  • des #4 1 year ago

    Keep that motion control garbage out of my hardcore games...thanks

  • M_of_the_sys #5 1 year ago

    @drxym

    Maybe they should make it more tiring so that for once you can enjoy the tedious, boring conversations you have with lots of NPCs who have no effect on the course of the game.
    Edited by 1 at 07/09/10 @ 11:11

  • GamerG #6 1 year ago

    show me quotes where MS and Sony say they "reckon their motion control devices Kinect and Move will revolutionise the game industry"

  • dr.glyndwr #7 1 year ago

    I agree with @drxym, hybrid schemes are the way to go. I could imagine playing Fallout on the pad, for example, but with fiddly inventory management mapped to Kinect; or a fantasy RPG with gesture-based spellcasting perhaps. I find it odd the games industry isn't talking about using primarily pad controls with Kinect as an add-on for certain UI elements. Forza's paint editor also springs to mind as something Kinect might be able to enrich nicely.

  • TruWari3r #8 1 year ago

    actually the voice control bit of the kinect should be very handy with rpg's, for selecting dialogue trees and such in a more pleasant manner

  • RedPanda #9 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #10 1 year ago

    Apples and oranges. If an RPG is an absolute slog, it doesn't matter if it's controlled with a gamepad or body movements and voice recognition. It will still remain a boring game experience. Kinect doesn't enrich the RPG genre anymore than dozens of pointless menus, random battles and heavy handed symbolism do.

  • Nuronv #11 1 year ago

    I see his point....with final fantasy games. But lets face it they seemed to have a problem with FF13 as it was, its feels more like something like streets of rage than a traditional Final Fantasy game.

    I can see Move being integrated with a lot of Action RPGs without any problems, Menu based ones like FF however don't really call for it.

  • Mkwone #12 1 year ago

    Why do people presume motion can't do proper game? Yes the wii's full of shovelware but there's some good core games that use it's tech.

    Move's lucking good with RUSE, Resi 5, Heavy Rain, LBP2 etc etc

    And kinects got... well...hmmm

    so theres a good few hardcore games that use motion control.

  • altitude2k #13 1 year ago

    I can't think of a genre better suited for Kinect given the work of an imaginitive dev.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #14 1 year ago

    I dunno, I could see Kinect being useful in Mass Effect. Voice commands in conversation, replacing the Paragon/Renegade button press, your posture while sitting determining whether you're angry or not, scanning planets, moving a 3D map... Everything apart from the running and gunning, basically.

  • Arwin #15 1 year ago

    What a dumbass. Move isn't awkward for RPGs ...

  • altitude2k #16 1 year ago

    @Britesparc

    That's exactly how I vision in being used. Running and gunning should never be left to motion control. That's not to say you can't integrate it in other ways.
    Edited by 1 at 07/09/10 @ 12:03

  • geeza2020 #17 1 year ago

    The thing is, does anyone want to spend around £120 just to add a bit of spice to their games? I dont. It needs to be implemented in a revolutionary way to support the price IMO.

  • reverandglass #18 1 year ago

    I could easily see motion control being implemented well into an rpg. Even menu heavy jrpgs could use motion for moving around the world map or (in a more lame way) use gestures to fire off special moves like FF's limit breaks.

  • andywilkie35 #19 1 year ago

    The day they put waggle in RPGs is the day I officially stop buying anymore "games" and just play through the ones I already have.

  • alcides #20 1 year ago

    what's akward is Japan's downfall and their shying away from innovation. When you feel everything is out of place, it migh be just you...

  • spekkeh #21 1 year ago

    But an RPG, you have to improve your character fight and fight and fight, and then the ending, and then more to play with, that could be 40 to 50 hours.

    This is a good summary of FFXIII, and also why I hated it.

    I can already see Kitase sweating "oh noes, I have to innovate, but my twenty year old template still sells, curse you world, curse youuu".

  • Rack #22 1 year ago

    RPGs are one of the few genres which could tolerate the low fidelity of Kinect but the tech wasn't popular in 1982 so it's little surprise an FF developer wants nothing to do with it.

  • GiarcYekrub #23 1 year ago

    I really see Kinect working well in japan with their acres of extra space compared to the uk

  • erp #24 1 year ago

    Zelda says Hi.

    (I'm thinking more Skyward than Twilight, even though it's obviously unproven... but it has promise.)

  • bratmandu #25 1 year ago

    "Spice", meaning 'shoehorned-in-game-ruining-shite'.

  • Deckard1 #26 1 year ago

    Kinect, Move "awkward" for games.

  • Gaol #27 1 year ago

    I agree that Move would be fine in an RPG like Fallout. Would make selecting stuff in VATs much easier anyway :p

  • des #28 1 year ago

    "Zelda says Hi."

    We all saw how that "worked" at E3.

  • erp #29 1 year ago

    "We all saw how that "worked" at E3."

    It takes the most dedicated of cynics to claim that was anything other than technical difficulties with the demonstration setup, whatever those difficulties might've been.

  • Bigglesworth #30 1 year ago

    Before you write off Kitase's comments, consider the context in which he speaks: Japanese RPGs in general; Final Fantasy in particular. Motion controllers are by nature most suited to first person interaction and manipulation. Most JRPGs, certainly the FF series, distance the player to the role of an observer/overseer. Naturally, motion controls aren't going to suit a game of that type.

  • Pwnsweet #31 1 year ago

    Kinect lol

  • dsmx #32 1 year ago

    Well it could work on move as it's essentially just moved the right analogue stick to the pointer bit but you have the added bonus of the controller knowing how is' positioned so you could use it for quite a variety of things.

    Kinect I'm not so sure on with no pad to control movement I'm struggling to see how you could do an RPG with it or any game that requires movement through a 3d environment with any degree of finesse.

  • Sevens #33 1 year ago

    "I really hope that they put move in fallout 3 Vegas. It's perfect fort the game. Any one else agree with me on this one ?"

    Sure. Fallout 3 is tedious and pointless. What better game to add motion control to. That aside, keep motion control out of "traditional" RPGs. And only make a few non-traditional ones.

  • TwitchyMcTwitch #34 1 year ago

    Well, if all he could think of is mini-games, I wouldn't want him and his team to try adding support in.