Although both Xbox One and PS4 have plenty to offer families, in terms of launch day games Knack edges the PS4 ahead for my children.
This is going to get messy. Distinguishing between the pros and cons of two very different systems is at best tricky and at worst ill advised. However, the families I work are increasingly asking which is the console they should choose — and yes, casual gamers early adopt too.
Answering this question I usually talk about identifying which launch titles they will get the most value from. After all buying any technology on day one is all about those “ahead of the curve” experiences you get for your money. Every one else will have them too when they jump on board, but you are likely paying a little more to be there first.
Spending time with Knack on the PS4 I have been more than a little impressed by the top notch quality of game-play mechanics, story telling and Pixar-like presentation. To have a game like this as a launch title is more than a little surprising.
In case you’ve missed it, Knack is a game developed by Japan Studios and Mark Cerny, lead architect on the PlayStation 4. This is no small thing, as you discover when playing the game. What is at heart an action platformer soon opens out to reveal a host of hidden treasures and power-ups, not to mention a well balanced combo system.
You play as a small robot, Knack, who discovers he can levitate ice, metal, wood and other substances around his body. This both enables him to drastically increase in size as well as access special abilities that relate to each material. At first I wondered whether this was incorporated just to let the PS4 flex its processing power, however its integral nature to the rest of the game make it clear this was fundamental from the start.
Some may complain that this could be achieved on older hardware. This may be true in part, although the scale of things would likely suffer, but for me that makes it all the more impressive. At a time when other “Launch” games are sliding back into the slippery named “Launch Window”, Knack stands as a statement of intent. The PlayStation 4 is as much for families as any other demographic.
It’s a message underlined by other PS4 titles like indie games Hohokum and Octodad as well as by the family friendly cross-buy features for Flower and Flow. Also, I’m more than a little taken with the now default Remote Play feature on PlayStation 4 games. This not only means that I can play and access any of my gaming/media via my Vita from anywhere in the world, it also means I can free up the main TV like I do with the Wii U.
Now, of course this all needs to be balanced with the knowledge that each and every platform is working hard to accommodate and attract families. We are still really enjoying games like Wii Party U and Nintendo Land on the aforementioned Wii U, and I’m hugely excited about the new Kinect sensor on Xbox One.
As a statement of intent, and creating a platform that is future proof, the inclusion of Kinect with every Xbox One purchase is laudable. Having it there in the box, like the default inclusion of the Wii Remote, legitimates a whole raft of games that would otherwise not be viable with an optional add-on controller.
However, at launch this is tempered somewhat by a lack of games that make full use of that Kinect sensor. Ryse: Son of Rome may use some voice commands, and you will be able to control the new Xbox One media ecosystem with Kinect but I think families really need a game at launch to legitimate the investment in that kind of technology.
Kinect Sports Rivals is coming soon after, in “Launch Window”, and once it does arrive I think will change things substantially. The original Kinect Sports is what sold me on the first Kinect controller and offered an experience I couldn’t get anywhere else. We still play Kinect Sports on 360 today.
Trying Kinect Sports Rivals, and having a peak at what the new Xbox One Kinect sensor could “see”, was more than a little eye opening. Not only could it accommodate play much closer, and in a smaller area, but the level of fidelity it could see was jaw dropping — not only detecting finger movement and breathing, but also whether I was smiling.
As you can see, Rare have really got to grips with the advancements in this technology and (with it being packed in) I’m sure others will soon follow, like the very promising Fantasia Music Evolved from Harmonix. But until these games arrive it’s hard to count Kinect in the plus column for day one purchasing decisions.
Which brings us full circle back to Knack which stands out as something unique and very appealing for families. Like the little robot himself, it’s a game easily overlooked but seen in context punches well above its weight as the two new platforms fight it out this holiday season.
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BAM! knack, indies, vita,... who's hating on 'em now!
