With Sony’s announcement this week that they had underestimated the demand for Move controllers, it’s a good job indie label, Virtual Air Guitar Company, is set to publish its controller-less Kung-Fu Live on the Playstation Network at the beginning of next month.
Using only the Playstation Eye and the patented Freemotion technology, Kung-Fu Live puts the player inside their very own comic book style martial arts film. Those familiar with Ragdoll Kung Fu (another PSN download) will get the idea, but this time, it will be the player giving the wooden performance. Players will be challenged to survive using a different array of attacks, dodges and combos in big Super Smash Brothers style arenas.
With relative success on the game event circuit this summer, Virtual Air Guitar Company seem pretty happy that they have a release date for their creation.
CEO of Virtual Air Guitar Company, Teemu Maki-Patola said: “The feedback has helped our small, independent team of developers deliver a fresh, fast, and frenetic experience that’s never been done quite like this before. Amid the sweat and adrenaline-filled discussions, the question everyone has had for us since day one was this: When will it launch? That question has finally been answered, and players will now be able to kick some serious ass in their living rooms this December!”
My first thought, however, is “Why?”. It seems a little desperate for it to come out right on the back of Kinect’s launch and if anything, aids Microsoft’s ‘you are the controller’ motif. I mean, I get the logic. Independent developer, self-published, getting in on the controller-less idea. But it feels to me like it’s on the wrong console. This is not to rubbish the Freemotion technology these guys have developed; their gameplay trailers highlight an immersive and responsive piece of kit. Sky-high jumps, round-house kicks, lighting bolts. It’s all there, and I can see it being a challenger to Rock Band session when you have a few friends over, regardless of the lack of multiplayer.
Maybe it was destiny? Sony announces a Move controller shortage, and out of the murky depths comes an indie monolith ready to scalp Kinect games in the thousands? Who knows?
Judge for yourself when Kung Fu Live hits the PSN in the US on 7th December ($14.99) and in UK/Europe on 8th December (€13.99/£10.99).
