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Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

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Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Old 09-28-10, 01:54 PM
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Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Child of Eden



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Old 09-28-10, 01:59 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

SAN FRANCISCO – SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 – Today Ubisoft announced “The Journey Project” - an initiative where gamers will be able to help complete the final level of the Child of Eden video game by submitting images of their favorite memories of Earth.

Starting today, gamers are encouraged to submit their personal photos for consideration by visiting the Child of Eden website (www.childofedengame.com). Examples include smiling faces, beautiful nature shots, stunning landscape views, and other happy and positive images. The deadline for submissions is November 20, 2010. All approved photos will be featured in the final level of Child of Eden.

“The theme of Child of Eden is ‘Hope and Happiness’ and I want players to experience happy feelings every time they play the game,” said Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Q? Entertainment studio founder and Creative Director of Child of Eden. “I need your help to convey these positive emotions, so please send us pictures that give you good vibes so we can include them in the ending of the game.”
Old 09-28-10, 02:00 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

BTW, this was announced at E3, but I don't recall it ever being mentioned 'round these parts.

IGN with more on the Kinect angle:
Old 09-28-10, 02:15 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

I think Pixy jizzed all over his computer when it was showcased in the stream-of-consciousness thread at the time.
Old 09-28-10, 04:19 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

And now: Destructoid's take on Child of Eden with Kinect controls:


Kinect is kind of a big deal. Since the motion controller (or as some call it, "the un-controller") was first announced at E3 09, the hands-free controller has built up quite a reputation. Some have said that Kinect isn't really even a videogame control device, and is in fact, a supernatural force created by magic. Microsoft seems to have gotten wind of Kinect's ability to inspire awe in those that are yet to experience it, hence their clown-packed, Tron-elephant-laden Kinect showcase at last summer's E3. If Bill Gates and company are embracing the notion that Kinect is some sort of otherworldly device, I fear that they'll live to regret it.

I don't think that level of hype is good for the console. Kinect may be good for a lot of things, but from my experience, magic isn't one of them. I had the opportunity to use Kinect to play Child of Eden; one of the most mystical, otherworldly games I've ever seen. By the end of my play-through, I came away feeling jealous of those around me who had opted to play the game with a standard controller.

Read on for my full impressions.


Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the creator of Child of Eden, gave the crowd a brief talk before we got to play the game. There was a powerpoint presentation that went over all of his past games (including classics like Lumines, Space Channel 5, and Rez) as well as a look at video work with Japanese art-pop group Genki Rockets. Then he showed us footage of Child of Eden, which consisted of a giant laser space whale that transforms into a phoenix, some stuff that looked a lot like classic arcade game Gyruss, a whole lot of sparkly explosions, and more Genki Rockets. As it turns out, they're doing the soundtrack for the game. Awesome.

So far, I was quite pleased. I've loved Genki Rockets ever since I heard them in No More Hereos. I love rhythm action games. I love abstract, metaphor-heavy, psychedelic visuals. I love shooting stuff. I even have a history of falling in love with particular on-rails shooters. How could I not love Child of Eden?



Sadly, Mizuguchi-san wasn't done talking yet. At the end of his presentation, he made a Freudian slip, one that I wont soon forget. I believe his exact words were "Playing the game with Kinect is very difficult... I mean... different. It is very different." He was actually wrong both times. The word he should have used was "broken".

Kinect effectively ruined my experience with Child of Eden. It was a great idea in theory; play a shooter where you aim with you hands, change weapons by clapping, and launch bombs by stretching both arms in the air. I would have loved that. It could have been total body immersion into the game world. What I got instead was a total backfire. As it turns out, poorly implemented full body only work to make the player constantly aware of their body, and the frustrations that they are experiencing in their attempts to interact with the game world. It's the opposite of immersion. I'm still definitely going to buy Child of Eden, but I'll be using the standard analog pad controls, or maybe the PS Move control scheme, assuming they aren't also broken. Unless there are some serious changes prior to release, I wont be touching the game's Kinect controls with a ten-foot pole.

Actually, maybe if I used a ten-foot pole, the game would have worked better. I don't have particularly short arms, but no matter how hard I reached, I couldn't get the game to let me aim outside of a 1/4 screen-sized boundary in the middle of the screen. I also couldn't get it to let shoot a lot of the time, or even move the cross-hairs. There was no sense of "playing a game with your body", just a sense of trying to communicate with a game that wasn't listening to me. I got so bored with the game's unresponsive attitude that I eventually started to breakdance while "playing" it. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to try to keep myself entertained, and the game's music was pretty catchy, so why not dance to it. Child of Eden seemed to appreciate my efforts to keep things light, as I actually managed to hit more targets once I stopped trying to aim, and started popping and locking. Perhaps breakdancing will go on to be the Kinect equivalent of button mashing? I suppose time will tell.

So yeah, score one for Child of Eden, but strike one for Kinnect. The game itself was fantastic, like a higher concept, brighter, and happier sequel to Rez. Kinect only served to botch the whole experience. The visuals are captivating. The way that on-screen events synchronize with the soundtrack is intoxicating. Sadly, not of that matters when the motion controls don't work.

I don't know if that' the fault of Microsoft or Q Entertainment, but either way, someone better get back to the drawing board before Child of Eden comes out Q1 of next year.
Old 09-28-10, 04:24 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Next gen controls redeemed!
Old 09-28-10, 04:24 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Yikes. That doesn't sound good for Kinect.
Old 09-28-10, 04:38 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

will it be easy for them to adapt the Kinect to be used with a controller just like Move, or will they just give up when it fails?
Old 09-28-10, 04:43 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Originally Posted by starman9000
will it be easy for them to adapt the Kinect to be used with a controller just like Move, or will they just give up when it fails?
I've wondered that too. Move works so well (with some games), using something like that, Kinect would be WAY better (more accurate, high-def camera, much better sound detection). Still, on some level, that would totally defeat the purpose of Kinect. It'll be interesting to see what pans out.


BTW: I read a story recently where some MS exec at TGS predicted that Kinect will out-sell the ipad. Now I have no idea why anyone would even think of linking Kinect sales to ipad sales as the two items have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but that just seems like an idiotic statement on two levels to me.
Old 05-06-11, 03:39 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

As seen in Joystiq:


Sob story: Why I'll be playing Child of Eden with Kinect

by Justin McElroy on May 6th 2011 4:00PM



It seemed like a fine idea for a feature.

Armed with a early preview disc for Ubisoft's upcoming Child of Eden, I would compare the game's two methods of control, the good old-fashioned thumbstick and buttons and the newfangled Kinect method. Then, when comparing the scores for both, I'd have a pretty good idea of which method is superior.

So what was the problem? The fly in the ointment? ... Well, see, one of the methods made me cry.
Child of Eden (9/27/2010)

I'll admit that I had to literally wipe some dust from my Kinect before I started up this spiritual successor to Rez, but before the opening strains of the first level, "Matrix," had ended, I was reminded of how much promise the camera has.

As I hurdled down a tunnel of light, pulsating music urging me on, I'd wave my hand over enemies and ... OK, I'm getting ahead of myself. At the very start what actually happened is that I sort of spun around for a while and had to fight to get my view back on anything worth shooting.

The disorienting thing is that both the camera and the reticle are tied to the motions of your hand and until you get that into your skull (it didn't take me more than a minute) you're going to be staring off into space a lot.

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Once you learn to wrangle the camera, you have two weapons at your disposal: On your right hand, a lock-on missile barrage capable of targeting eight enemies at once and, on your left, a rapid fire laser that destroys whatever you wave at. While the targeted missile strikes require you to flick your hand forward, the left-hand laser is always firing.

While the missiles are more powerful and therefore your primary weapon, the laser is the only thing capable of bringing down enemy projectiles. Here's the way that typically plays out: You wave your hand over a group of enemies, destroy them with a very "Force Push"-like move and then eliminate some enemy fire in such an authoritative way, it's hard to not to (appropriately enough, considering the level's title) feel like Neo. What I'm saying is that playing Child of Eden with Kinect is like being a Jedi and The One simultaneously. (And yes, for those wondering, it's perennially 1999 in my noggin'. Sorry.)

So many video games are power fantasies, but when the barrier of the controller is removed, it's hard not to let this one go to your head. But the impact of using the Kinect is about more than gameplay. Standing up, likely even closer to the screen than you'd normally sit, you're immersed even deeper into Child of Eden's neon synaesthesia.

I was reminded of how much promise the Kinect has.


Eden's threadbare "save the girl" central objective couldn't be more tired, but something about how immersed I was in that world short-circuited my cynicism. At the end of "Matrix," I saw my charge, Lumi, and flailed desperately as I tried to free her from her crystalline prison. The music was swelling to a crescendo and I was literally doing everything I could physically to save a girl that, for the moment, was the only other person in the universe. And then, just for a second, right there in my living room, I teared up. Maybe it was emotion of the moment, maybe it the depressing realization that all the flailing had actually left me pretty winded. Either way, it happened.

Next, I tried the controller. It was fun.

As several more hours of testing would prove, my scores were fairly even between the two control methods, but my experiences could not have been more disparate. With Kinect, this is synthetic tourism, a 10-minute trip into a gorgeous, abstract world where you're the most powerful being in existence.

With a controller, Child of Eden is a video game.

____________________________

Personally, I think this game will BOMB. Not that it isn't going to be good, but this looks a lot like an XBLA game. And without much to draw in the casual or core gamer besides Kinect, I can't see many people wanting to spend $49.99 on this retail disc game. Maybe I'm off base, but to me this one feels destined for the bargain bin express.
Old 05-06-11, 03:54 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Originally Posted by Decker
Personally, I think this game will BOMB. Not that it isn't going to be good, but this looks a lot like an XBLA game. And without much to draw in the casual or core gamer besides Kinect, I can't see many people wanting to spend $49.99 on this retail disc game. Maybe I'm off base, but to me this one feels destined for the bargain bin express.
So what you're saying is it'll sell like it's Rez 2, without the vibrator?
Old 05-06-11, 03:56 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Looks beautiful. Hopefully the icons that will constantly pop-up telling me to move forward or step back will be as equally beautiful.
Old 05-06-11, 03:59 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Originally Posted by Groucho
Looks beautiful. Hopefully the icons that will constantly pop-up telling me to move forward or step back will be as equally beautiful.
Old 05-11-11, 08:49 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

It'll be nice to finally use my Kinect, but I'm also hoping the game bombs so I can pick it up for $20ish. It really should have been an arcade title for 1200pts. Oh well, still looking forward to it and hoping that the controls aren't too bad.
Old 05-11-11, 08:58 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

well Kinect games are $50 to begin with, so coupled with a decent deal, I don't mind getting this day one.

Garnett on Weekend Confirmed raved about the Kinect integration and how fun and flawless it really is.
Old 06-13-11, 08:08 AM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Damn, there is zero buzz for this. Comes out tomorrow and nary a review to be found. Not usually a good sign.

BTW, K-mart is giving $15 VG coupon with it. Seems like the only deal going. Hard to tell since it wasn't in a single ad in the paper yesterday.
Old 06-13-11, 10:51 AM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Yeah, I was kind of hoping to read some reviews before I decided whether to buy it. Hopefully we'll hear something today or tomorrow.
Old 06-13-11, 11:09 AM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

There's a review in Game Informer..

They gave it an 8 I beleive - the biggest flaw being that it's short. Like XBLA short. Like 5 worlds, each 15-25 minutes long, but then new skins are unlocked for replay.
Old 06-13-11, 11:13 AM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

Yeah, this definitely feels more like an XBLA title than a disc-based game.
Old 06-13-11, 11:38 AM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

I may just rent it, then. Of course, Kinect games seem to hold their resale value pretty well, so maybe I'll just buy it and re-sell it. With the Kmart deal, I could probably break even.
Old 06-13-11, 12:10 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

'Eh, sounds like Rez and I got plenty 'o hours out of that one. I'm still in, and like Gramps said, seems like it might be an easy resell if it sucks.
Old 06-13-11, 12:37 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

The short length plus the fact that I don't have a Kinect means I'll have to pass on this.
Old 06-13-11, 12:41 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

It's Kinect support not mandated - can be fully played/enjoyed with a controller as well.
Old 06-13-11, 01:13 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

But will I cry?
Old 06-13-11, 01:21 PM
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Re: Child of Eden: Rez successor (Mizuguchi) GORGEOUS! ...w/Kinect support

When don't you?

Bambi - Tears
Super 8 - Tears
Prince Concert - Tears
Deadly Premonition - Tears

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