Fus Ro Dah! Skyrim Gets Kinected

Just when you thought it was safe to actually sit down and play your friendly snow-capped RPG in the comfort of your marshmallow-esque sofa or overpriced gaming chair, those lovely people at Bethesda have to go and make you want to break your own personal vow and buy Kinect.  Nail down the vases, tell granny to stick to the conservatory, because no mortal is safe from dragon shouts and flailing arms now that Skyrim has been overhauled so that “You are the controller”.

Truth be told, when we first got to see the first tinkerings of the Kinect mods for Skyrim, we were actually suitably impressed by how natural it appeared to be and being able to produce partial or whole dragon shouts, and have them recognised as such by the system, was particularly impressive.  That said, I imagine that most people would rather be sat on their arse for a game such as Skyrim as it’s highly unlikely that the majority of gamers will want to be on their feet for more than three-hundred combined hours of gaming.  Throwaway titles where you can dip in and out for a quick slap of a tennis ball, yes, but not traipsing up snow-dusted mountains for an hour just to find some guy’s misplaced Legendary Fruit Pastille of Soul Absorption.

The technology is great, and the idea is somewhat romantic and idyllic to those who love the immersive properties of such deep games, but the practicalities just don’t add up for this particular gamer.  I’ll stick with running it on full whack through the PC, and enjoy the immersion brought about by ridiculously-detailed textures, while I sit in my comfy chair.  Chuck in the option to scream dragon shouts though, and I may just take you up on that. Boasting no fewer than two-hundred separate voice commands, this latest patch will be made available for free through Xbox Live.

• EA Announce The Sims 4: City Living Expansion
• PETA Crosses The Line with Farming Simulator 17
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Review
• Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments - Review
• ONE Ring