Microsoft: All our game studios should use Kinect

All games built by Microsoft’s games studios will need to incorporate Kinect going forward, a key exec at the company has said.

Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer initially told Gamespot that “it’s not a mandate that everything we do in first-party has to support Kinect right now".

But, elaborating, he suggested that Kinect functionality will be available in all games going forward, suggesting that use of the tech is near-mandatory.

"Specifically with [Kinect’s voice-recognition technology], there are some things that just seem to make navigating and playing games so much easier, that I would guess the answer will be yes in the end, that you’ll see all first-party games using some form of Kinect functionality."

Spencer said that using Kinect technology “makes the experience better”.

“I think there’s some specific examples where Kinect makes everything better,” he said.

At Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the Xbox firm revealed a number of Kinect-enabled games pitched for core audiences.

Forza 4, Fable The Journey, Mass Effect 3, Tom Clancy Future Soldier and a new Star Wars game will each incorporate Kinect. It appears that some of these games will not work with a standard controller.

Microsoft Studios includes UK outfits Lionhead and Rare, as well as US developers Turn 10, 343 Industries and BigPark.