Star Wars Kinect alive and well

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 September, 2010

LucasArts: "Stay tuned."

Star Wars Kinect, unveiled during Microsoft's E3 2010 Project Natal extravaganza with an on-stage demonstration accompanied by a video, is indeed a game and not a tech demo, LucasArts has confirmed to Eurogamer.

We'd heard from a well-informed source at the US studio that LucasArts only heard about the game "just before E3", and apparently the video shown at the lavish Los Angeles event was just that, with no game actually behind it.

LucasArts denied the claim, however, and reconfirmed to Eurogamer that Star Wars Kinect, which is quietly in development at Ghostbusters: The Videogame creator Terminal Reality, will be released next year.

"The game remains in development with Microsoft Games Studios and Terminal Reality but we have no additional information to share at this time," a LucasArts spokesperson said.

"The game doesn't come out until 2011, so we've got some time.

"Stay tuned!"

Little is known about the controller-free Star Wars game.

Terminal Reality is building it with the Infernal Engine, the same used to create Ghostbusters, according to Gamasutra.

Terminal Reality briefly mentions it on on its official site.

"Whew – That was a big secret to keep!" says the developer. "We can't say much about it right now, but we're chomping at the bit to show you more."

The video shown during E3 2010, which you can see below, suggests Star Wars Kinect is an on-rails third-person action game in which the player wields an imaginary lightsaber and duels Darth Vader.

Microsoft's promised exciting Kinect-related news at its Tokyo Game Show press conference, scheduled for this Thursday. Could Star Wars Kinect play a part?

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.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bad09 #1 2 years ago

    Who gives a crap where the hell is Battlefront 3????

  • CaptainQuint #2 2 years ago

    Rebel Assault HD. No thanks.

  • TopKatt #3 2 years ago

    Not being a Sony fanboy here, honest, but is it just me that thinks this would make much more sense as a Move game than a Kinect one?

  • Mcstrife #4 2 years ago

    Not sure what would look more geeky: slashing about with clenched fists pretending you are holding a sword or doing the same thing holding a small stick with a glowing ball on top of it.

  • matrim83 #5 2 years ago

    Who gives a crap about Battlefront 3 where the hell is Republic commando 2? :p

  • MaoZedong #6 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • dsmx #7 2 years ago

    Definitely be a better fit on the wii or the ps3 with move this game.

  • Skurmedel #8 2 years ago

    Bring back Kyle Katarn!

  • bad09 #9 2 years ago

    @matrim83

    I'll see your RC2 raise you X-Wing! so many great series left to rot while we get waggle rubbish for the kiddies :(

    I hate Lucasarts....

  • CaptainKid #10 2 years ago

    I'm curious how I am supposed to control a lightsaber or gun or anything really without a controller.
    Perhaps the game comes with peripherals..

  • Silent-Hal #11 2 years ago

    Screw using a lightsaber; they need to get the basics of, oh I don't know, letting you move your sodding character first! This is exactly why action games just aren't going to work with Kinect. EA's demo of the new Harry Potter game was exactly the same.

  • matrim83 #12 2 years ago

    @bad09 Yeah I cant believe they stick around and make this when they are sitting on (what would be) some potentially excellent sequels.

  • bad09 #13 2 years ago

    @matrim

    Yeah something is off at LA. BF was the most succesful SW series, DF/Jedi Knight was hugely popular, X-wing/TIE fighter are absolute classics and RC was a cult classic.

    Why on Earth they left them to die when we all are gagging for new games in all those I do not know. I guess shovelling shite like this and God Of War clones is easier than making interesting SW games again.

  • Ron_Justice #14 2 years ago

    Looks really, really bad. Ragdoll on the stormtroopers is laughable and the whole concept just strikes me as a cash in.

    For me, my attitude to L A is:

    Battlefront 3 = respect

    Shovelware = RUN AWAY!!!!!

  • schnide #15 2 years ago

    Terminal Reality? Oh that inspires a massive amount of confidence.

    Why am I alongside so many other gamers better placed to know which developers are and aren't good for developing key titles when people who get paid to make those decisions don't have a bloody clue? Oh LucasArts, how the mighty have fallen..

  • Beano #16 2 years ago

    Pew pew pew...

  • ZizouFC #17 2 years ago

    Is there anything stopping them from releasing the game with a lightsaber peripheral? At least something to hold onto, even if it isn't picked up by the camera?

    There's definitely nothing stopping you from holding your own lightsaber replica (if you own one).... or a stick from the garden.

  • digoutyoursoul #18 2 years ago

    why dont you gaming websites ever ask about battlefront 3? annoys me

  • TopKatt #19 2 years ago

    The Star Wars Geek in me wants to be able to hold my Move controller in front of me, press the button and see the lightsabre on screen open up with that whooshy noise. Not sure how you could achieve that with Kinect, even with a peripheral of some sort.
    Edited by TopKatt at 13/09/10 @ 12:39

  • digoutyoursoul #20 2 years ago

    @topkatt i really wouldnt rule out a move port at some point, if it does well on kinect i think you will see it on ps3 at some point. i've got a feeling it will be a load of dog shat anyway and people wont be that upset at missing out, lucasarts are one of the worst devs for strategy and game decision makers this generation imo.

  • RexRunti #21 2 years ago

    I'm not sure abouth this game at the moment. What I would suggest is to bring out the Force Unleashed style game with lightsaber and movement handled by the controller and all the force powers handled by Kinect.

  • bodypopper #22 2 years ago

    Agreed, PlayStation Move would be better for this game.
    The movement tracking would have to be bang 'on target' for it to work using Kinect and it still won't satisfy as much without something physical to hold.
    Maybe you can use a toy lightsaber and have Kinect scan it!? Or a strip light...
    Edited by bodypopper at 13/09/10 @ 12:54

  • MiniAmin #23 2 years ago

    I doubt Kinect will be "alive and well" when this comes out.

  • metallicorphan #24 2 years ago

    yeah add me to the list who wants to see Battlefront 3,their release of Battlefront 2 for Xbox1 in the same month as the 360 came out was a bit dumb,i hope they don't make the same mistake this time round and finally release Battlefront 3 for the 360 when the Xbox 3 comes out,LOL

  • makeamazing #25 2 years ago

    With the fact that the original video was a fake, its unlikely that Terminal Reality have been working on this game for that long, so that suggest (with a 2011 release) an on the rails harry potter like experience. I dont see any Star Wars fan who likes SW games to actually be that excited about this, as others have said, there are so many great LA games they could make, X-Wing... and Jedi Knight.... ah the old days :(

  • drxym #26 2 years ago

    Star Wars Kinect is one of those games that from the moment you see the demo you know is going to suck rocks.

  • darkmorgado #27 2 years ago

    Oh, and my Star Wars geeky self is wondering why the seperatist droid fighters and tanks are working with Stormtroopers and Darth Vader...

    Erm, because the Separatists were really under the control of Palpatine the whole time, and he created the war in the first place to consolidate his rise to power.

  • Shinetop #28 2 years ago

    Rebel Assault HD. No thanks.

    Ridiculous. Rebel Assault was fucking awesome. Bring it on.

  • Shinetop #29 2 years ago

    @drxym: where did you see the demo?

  • Ryze #30 2 years ago

    Fake video.

    NO SALE!

  • drxym #31 2 years ago

    @ShineTop. The clip is there in the article which is what I meant by demo. IMO it looks like in-game footage even if the guy in E3 was just (badly) pretending to play it.

    Of course it could be a target render which is an even more depressing thought.
    Edited by drxym at 13/09/10 @ 13:19

  • Markitron #32 2 years ago

    Im a massive SW fan and even Im not interested in this. Im not a Kinect-hater or anything but without the ability to freely move in 3D space and no tactile feedback, I cant see this being anymore than a gimmick. I PRAY im wrong tho. Sony are idiots for letting MS nab this game, it would have been moves Killer-app.

  • Shinetop #33 2 years ago

    So how 'free' were you to move around in The Force Unleashed, or Jedi Knight, or Super Star Wars to name another classic? You're still following a single path. The only difference is that you can move slightly to the left and right.

  • Skurmedel #34 2 years ago

    I've not even seen the last two films. It's like with the matrix sequels, I pretend they don't exist :) The Jar Jar Binks thing made me quite excited as an adolescent, when I saw it last time I just realized what a massive piece of turd it was. Anakin blows up a star base by accident?

  • Silent-Hal #35 2 years ago

    ^

    Revenge of the Sith was pretty good actually. It was the only one of the prequels that even came close to being as good as the original trilogy.

  • EthanWoods #36 2 years ago

    Who gives a crap about Battlefront 3 and Republic Commando 2?

    I want KotOR 3 AND The Old Republic!

  • Nighthawk_08 #37 2 years ago

    I don't know what all the fuss is with this game. It looked really awful from were I was sitting. Maybe because it's the only title that Microsoft shown that resembled an action game (for kinect), or maybe it's the huge starwars fan base that's excited. But to see an action game were you have absolutely no control of your characters movement has no appeal to me.
    Think of all the great titles you've played over the years and then imagine them without the ability to control movement of your character. I really think kinect needs to have some sort of control to go with the system for it to succeed. I honestly feel Without it there will be no worthwhile games which is a shame because it IS impressive tech

  • davisorle #38 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • makeamazing #39 2 years ago

    So how 'free' were you to move around in The Force Unleashed, or Jedi Knight, or Super Star Wars to name another classic? You're still following a single path. The only difference is that you can move slightly to the left and right.

    @shinetop..are you a gamer? Are you really saying there is no difference at all to an on the rails game compared to a Force Unleased or Jedi Knight game. Perhaps you need to play more games. If you are going to say that a game consists of something moving on screen and a player pressing buttons (except in the case of Kinect of course), then perhaps, but in gameplay terms games I dont think its fair to go that simplistic, they are worlds apart in terms of game play between a game which moves the character itself and one that you move. Crazy person :)

  • Stickman #40 2 years ago

    champing.