Motion controllers provide plenty of opportunity for non traditional gamers to get involved in console gaming and none more so that the literally hands free
Kinect from
Microsoft.
Today sees the debut of the latest exceptionally accessible title on
Xbox Live Arcade and if the fun is open to all, the pedigree of the title isn’t in question.
Double Fine Happy Action Theatre comes, not surprisingly, from
Double Fine Productions – the makers of the more than doubly fine
Psychonauts and… pretty good
Brutal Legend. Since the mixed reponse to Brutal, they’ve moved into the downloadable sphere with the likes of
Costume Quest and
Stacking, to great success. Not incidentally, the studio was also founded by
LucasArts supremo
Tim Schafer and he brought a ton of talented developers with him.
Happy Action Theatre is obviously not a triple A title but
Schafer and co have set their sights firmly on fun, with the game director saying he wanted to create a game with his own three year old daughter in mind. The game containts 18 experiences which are closer to interactive toys than regular competitive titles, meaning anyone can join in at any time.
Unlike traditional
Kinect games, there are no menus to navigate, no gestures to learn and no right or wrong way to play.Up to six players can play at once, and the environments will intuitively respond to their body movements and react in interesting and unexpected ways. Play with hot lava flowing through your living room, build an ice cave out of your furniture and wait out a blizzard, or become a giant monster and stomp buildings to the ground. There are no winners or losers in Happy Action Theater and no fails or frustrations – just fun!
Hardcore gamers may scoff but sometimes games are allowed to just be a laugh.
Double Fine Happy Action Theatre is available now from the XBLA marketplace, priced at 800 MS points (€10).