E3 Preview: FIFA 13 and Kinect Integration

With the tagline “Predictably Unpredictable,” it’s safe to say another FIFA title at E3 was rather predictable.

FIFA 13 will be released this fall, presumably the beginning of October. Now, each year, the FIFA franchise will receive the general roster update and a few new gameplay tweaks that offers ‘the best and most realistic FIFA to date.’ Well, after looking at the official trailer released by EA Sports, it looks exactly the same as last year’s title. But who am I to judge? I guess I’ll have to wait until for gameplay is released to talk more about that. But for now, let’s get into something special about the newest release.

One of the newest additions to FIFA 13 is the integration of the Kinect. No, you do not have to run around your room and kick things over. That’s not how EA wants it done, and neither would your parents. Instead, the Kinect will be used solely for your voice and commands. The voice commands have gotten rather popular lately, with the latest hit being in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. What can you expect to see, or say?

In FIFA 13, your voice will be the substitute for pausing that game. What that means is instead of pausing the game to make substitutions, change formations or set pieces, you now can simply say what you want and the Kinect will do those wishes for you in-game. Not too bad, right? Well, it gets better…kinda. Also, since the Kinect picks up all audio during your playing experience, it will hear every single thing you say or yell. So say your playing the game and the ref makes a terrible call. You better watch what you say because if your start to curse or freak out, you will be flagged. Yup, I just said that. The Kinect will actually hear all your swear words and unhappy moments you have during a match and you can actually be penalized for it. It is pretty cool when you think about it, but could be pretty annoying at the same time.

When I play FIFA, I am a very emotional player. I’ll probably swear anywhere from 10-30 times during a game because a player makes a shitty pass (whoops), the ref is favoring the other team, or my goalie becomes too lazy. I really don’t want to be carded for yelling, so there better be an on/off option. I do like the direction this is going in, but if the Kinect picks up voice, why is it we pay for the camera???

There still isn’t much information yet on FIFA 13, but as it starts to roll out, you can expect to see it here. FIFA 13 will be released October 2012 on both PS3 and Xbox 360. In the meantime, here’s some screen shots.