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I spent some time this week checking out Say2Play, a new interface that meshes with many popular PC titles to add voice functionality to the game. Read on for my impressions and a link to the full feature.
Digging through two decades’ worth of assorted controllers and peripherals, we got the impression that any semblance of a “standard” controller format has been thrown out the window. Nothing much seems to surprise us after Nintendo bailed from the dual-analogue boat with the reveal of the Wii-remote.
We now have motion controls, touch screens and accelerometers. We can control games by tapping our fingers, posing in front of a camera or pounding on drums. Square Enix even teamed up with NeuroSky – a consumer biosensor manufacture – at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show to illustrate up-and-coming technology that utilizes brainwaves to play games. Compared to that, voice-recognition technology seems elementary. The DS uses it, EndWar capitalized on it, and now Say2Play hopes to make the technology widespread.
Say2Play integrates voice controls into popular PC titles. However, just to be clear, it isn’t intended to make games completely hands-free. The team behind Say2Play realized that repeating directional movements out loud for an infinite period of time wouldn’t be met with much enthusiasm. Instead, Say2Play is intended to refine the gameplay experience. Secondary actions such as switching weapons, reloading, healing or jumping can now be controlled by voice, allowing you to react quicker and perform multiple actions simultaneously. In theory, having the ability to utilize your mouse, keyboard and voice at any point in time should give you a competitive edge over others.
To read the full preivew click here.
Say2play works pretty good. Although there are some disadvantages, too. I wrote my own article about say2play. I don’t think it’s really helpful for shooters, but for games like age of empires and rome total war it really is.