Following recent news highlighting the fluctuating financial position that many businesses within the gaming industry find themselves in, today saw a promising chink of light appear.
The better news comes in the form of a brand-new development studio, Kinesthetic Games, and their first Xbox 360 title, Kung Fu Superstar. The new studio's debut project looks set to redefine the action-fighting genre, by being the first title of its kind to fully utilise the Kinect peripheral to allow gamers to learn authentic full-body martial arts techniques and unleash them on adversaries. Non-Kinect gamers should not despair though, as they will also be able to play the new title with a standard controller.
To begin with it may sound like it would be difficult to fit a story around such a game. However, the following extract explains the title's proposed storyline (which is almost as full-bodied as the game's motion-control features):
Players will relive the epic journey of Danny Cheng, a young aspiring martial artist, as he rises through the ranks of international fame and stardom. Aided by his trusted Sifu, Danny will discover the secrets of Kung Fu and become the most popular martial arts stuntman Hollywood has ever known... put their skills to the test on the movie set, where Danny takes part in dramatic fight choreographies and performs in explosive action sequences
Alternatively, you should check out the Kung Fu Superstar announcement trailer to get a feel for various aspects of the upcoming title.
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Kinesthetic Games, which has been created by three leading development talents in Kostas Zarifis, Alasdair Martin and Anish Antony (who, between them, can count Lionhead Studios and Codemasters amongst their previous employers), has also confirmed that Kung Fu Superstar will include a multitude of movie sets and plots and a good variety of characters to meet along your journey.
At this very early stage, Kung Fu Superstar does not yet have a scheduled release window.
We don't have them yet, but we'll publish a story as soon as we pick up the Kung Fu Superstar achievements.