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Microsoft Vancouver staffing for AAA Kinect shooter

Art director resume indicates Canadian first-party outfit switched from casual to core using 360's motion sensor; release date, details not addressed.

115 Comments

Back when the Kinect was still referred to in the press as Project Natal, Microsoft's go-to core gaming developers Bungie and Epic Games were down on the device's shooter potential. Not to be deterred, it now appears as if Microsoft took that issue into its own hands.

Microsoft appears to be creating a new shooter for the Kinect.
Microsoft appears to be creating a new shooter for the Kinect.

According to the online resume of Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver art director Shawn Woods (spotted by a poster to the NeoGAF message boards), the publisher abandoned efforts for more casual Kinect titles in favor of crafting a new, big-budget shooter for the Kinect.

"Original team member in a new studio with a start-up mentality, hired a team of artists to create social microtransaction games," Woods' resume reads. "Over the course of the year, our studio strategy has changed and now focuses on developing a core AAA shooter experience using Kinect."

Founded in February 2010, the outfit (which Woods refers to as Zipline Studios) is possibly the result of a rash of openings that appeared on Microsoft's job boards in September 2009. Woods' resume offered no additional details on the project.

That said, MGS Vancouver will apparently remain devoted to titles aimed at the core gaming audience. According to its official website, MGS Vancouver's mission statement says that it "is building a world-class development team in Vancouver, BC, Canada, dedicated to making games for 'core' gamers. Our mission is to push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what's possible on Microsoft's game consoles."

Notably, MGS Vancouver is currently hiring for a number of open positions, including a new art director. Responding to a request for comment, a Microsoft representative told GameSpot, "We can confirm Microsoft has opened a new games studio in Vancouver, Canada, focused on 'games for core gamers,' but have no further details to share at this time."

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Avatar image for malatato
malatato

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@RAGEofSTUNTS Fable 3 really sucks ass if you played fable 1 and 2 Halo 3 sucks and Halo Reach is good I mentioned mediocre sequels not all of them were bad

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RAGEofSTUNTS

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@malatato That's his opinion to think that ps3 exclusives are average like how your opinion is to think xbox 360 exclusives are garbage and from what i see my opinion is that your a massive ps3 fan but atleast he didn't say all ps3 exclusives suck like what you say.

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thuban

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i just find it ridiculous that every time a new report on a brand specific device, fanboys bag it, and go on about console exclusive games... WHO GIVE A SHI7? both consoles have their strengths and weaknesses, if u like one over the other, buy it and shut up.. if u buy a 360 and wanna play a ps3 game.. buy a farken ps3,i did, like most real console gamer do.. all flaming the "ENEMY BRAND" does is make u look like a jealous 13 yr old brat. my last post mentioned KINECTS weakness in motion sensoring. watch me get flamed... not cause i bagged a "legitimate issue" but cause i praised the "ENEMY" the end fact is simple. if we didnt have 360 and ps3 competing for top spot, our systems and peripherals would all be outdated rubbish. instead of baggin the other console cause they make a good game or device or anything else. why not open ur eyes and ask urself "is this the change i needed to maybe like to own the "other console" too? and still if not.. just shutup about it.

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thuban

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the thing about motion sensor controls, is (eg move) they, when done well, are very fun to use and play games with, eg, killzone 3 and socom 4 were both very fun games to play using move, but i thought were quite average without it. also while i enjoyed crysis2 i thnk it would of been amazing with move support im my eyes, that is a success for a motion controller, making a meh game fun. and this is where KINECT really have a job to do.. at the moment, theres just no way u can make a FPS game a kinect game, without holding a controller, and in that case, its not a motion sensor game.. and tbh, the last thing i wanna do is jump around, throwing my arms about to simuate grenade throws etc. imo they will NEED a psMove like peripheral to make kinect a USABLE motion capture system for a FPS or any other serious game. if and when they do that, it may be the motion system of choice, and possibly the benchmark for anything in the future. until then. its just not gonna pull it off

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DeViLzzz

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can we please get serious efforts made to produce high quality, good looking games that are motion games ? please no more of much of the garbage we saw on the Wii

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malatato

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@y2kern majority of ps3 exclusives are average?? so you think "too human" is better than god of war? you think Uncharted, Infamous,killzone,Little Big Planet,Metal gear solid, heavy rain are all average? wake up 360 fanboy the 360 only boast halo and mass effect 2 and take note mass effect 2 is no longer an exclusive. All AAA potential games are all coming in ps3 (twisted metal, Uncharted 3, Infamous2, The Last Guardian) and the only thing I heard coming to 360 is gears of war 3, be thankful that demon's soul sequel is also coming to 360 because if isn't i don't think ill put my hands on a 360 again. 360 only does shooter (HALO, L4D, Gears of war 3) ps3 only does everything PS Fable 3 sucks, Halo 3 sucks, 360 sucks from a 360 owner who regrets having one

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COPMAN221

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@botboy2kern, Yawn!

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edwise18

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Let's see where this goes.

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y2kern

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@copman221, piracy of games is common on all platforms, including the ps3 as well. i always find it funny when psfans boast about exclusive games and the majority of them are average. quantity is not equivalent to quality. nothing is wrong with paying for xbox live, it is the better online gaming service. pc gamers pay to play world of warcraft every month and thats just one game. psn is rubbish hence the reason you cant ever play it at the moment. and even when psn is on there is constant lagging and all sorts of other issues. worst of all, now it got hacked exposing peoples personal information including credit card numbers. and you think psn is better. while you sit on your couch home playing little big plannet for kids, someone is buying aligator shoes with your credit card. i rather pay for a good online service.

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warhawk-geeby

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@megakick Beef! Haha. Chill.

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blackace

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Aaahh.. more exclusives. It's about time. M$ is falling behind though. They need to step it up.

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kennythomas26

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we'll all have to see how this is going to look.

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shadystxxx

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I would perfer to see some sort of hybrid games using both the controller and kinect. I honestly think for core gaming a controller will always be needed, the thought of holding my hand out like a gun is not apealing, have you tried just holding your arm out straight for long periods it gets tiring real quick. Some really cool games could be made with a hybrid control system, instead of spending millions on an aaa title try some XBLA games with the dual method.

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godzillavskong

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Some people just can't refrain from coming up here and clicking on a topic just to bash it! You would think most adults would have better things to do with their time. I guess some just can't help themselves and feel they have to insult, or degrade one's preferred system. To each his own, but it really isn't necessary to feel like you have to persuade someone on why your favorite system is better. Unless you are a Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo sales exec, and want to help sales!lol

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malatato

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lemme guess .... this will be a rail shooter that has a bullet time feature that will let you dodge a bullet by making you a dancing idiot

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Johny_47

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Another shooter? wake up and get 'original' for once, Kinect has so much potential, I'd really like to see a 'next gen' RTS(real time strategy) game or a cool puzzle game that would use Kinect to it's full abilities, maybe even have a co-op RTS(that's never been done before, properly anyways) having Kinect track 3 people managing different stuff, just throwing ideas down =/

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calum1984

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The only way i can see this working is a hybrid controller/kinect game, the kinect adding things missing in console shooters than pc games have e.g head tracking so you can move your head individually from where you point gun (i.e trackir), lean, etc anything else would be too gimmicky

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wraigth

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All they need to do is slap the Halo name on it and it'll sell regardless of quality... Hopefully it'll be good, then i'll give it a go when Kinect is far far cheaper than it is at the moment.

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Flint247

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I actually do want to see this work. A generic shooter with a standard controller is getting boring.

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Sigil-otaku

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I'll just wait till the 360's been replaced by the next MS console and pick up a second hand kinect for around 20 pounds. And play the games then since it's not a priority at the moment but I think trying the sequel for steel battalion alone is worth a 20 pound investment in a peripheral. That, Project Draco and Star Wars game could be fun too but while I think Kinect gets way too much bashing from people who simply have the idea that they need it right now or it sucks. I see some potential in kinect and it'll either deliver on it or fail but the simple trick if you don't like the current selection is to just WAIT and buy it when it's cheaper if you want to.

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DanielL5583

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Bungie...*Automatically thinks Halo* While you're at it, can you add a little bit more pizazz to the game than what Reach did?

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AceCometh

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While I don't own a Kinect, it will be interesting to see if they can pull off making a top notch shooter using it. It could determine the life expectancy of motion sensing hardware.

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lock445

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bahh I want the new gen...

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mideonnviscera

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Definitely worth a shot.

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mtait01

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will we finally see a game to set a new benchmark for motion control games? I HOPE SO!!!!! it will actually give me a reason to get a kinect :p

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MissObvious

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I suppose it's not surprising that someone decided to try this. I'm curious to see how they end up making it work.

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megakick

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oh but ps3 doesn't have phishing and pirated games? ya ok. so you are justify PSN breach be acknowledging the same issues all online consoles have + the PSN worldwide shutdown and leak. that works?

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Kevz0

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I never thought I would see a AAA Kinect game, but a AAA Kinect Shooter, wat?

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StellaLunaris

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I may only take interest if you have to yell "PEW PEW PEW" to fire.

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dt2003

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will turn out to be a lame a** game like all other kinect games

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wwlettsome

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Skeptical but interested in seeing what they come up with.

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GamerLegend10

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hmm hope it works out well, im not buying kinect until theres some really decent games made for it...i dont like casual games

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deactivated-5a5f623fa2551

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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COPMAN221

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@megakick, are you new to video games as well? Pirates have been running wild on the 360 for years and you're paying for it. Stealing of accounts on Live has been going on way before PSN was hacked, the only difference is we arn't paying for it bud. Do your homework son. Xbot Live, fail megakick + live= Super fail

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megakick

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im sorry are u new to video games cop221? did u miss the PSN meltdown? how do u think sony kept PSN free? sony put every psn account in jeopardy because of their great free PSN, fail. xbox live > PSN

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COPMAN221

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monson21502 Posted "goty comfirmed! a true motion controlled shooter" @ monson21502, That's the funniest thing I heard all week from you. Good one.lol :)

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COPMAN221

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buying1999 Posted "Wow, Microsoft is "SECURELY" kicking butt and taking names" Really? I can't tell, Other than Gear of War 3, What other exclusives are coming out? I can't wait to play that "AAA" first person shooter with just my hands..lol What a joke that will be. Yeah PSN is free but continue paying $60,00. Next year it will be $70.00 just as long as people like yourself keep paying for it..

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steveguttenberg

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Can't wait to use Kinect to play video games. Don't get me wrong, Kinect is a great exercise machine...

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COPMAN221

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Just a little too late.. No thank you...

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Megavideogamer

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Well at least we will eventually see how Kinect could possibally deliver a shooter. I personally don't believe a Halo/Gears of War/Call of Duty/etc. Type of shooter game can successfully use the Kinect. Let alone be popular with First Person shooter fans. Or even make a decent 3rd person shooter game. Hitman with Kinect. I just cannot see kinect working for these types of games. Let alone being popular with the people who enjoy shooters. At least with Move and Wii You can have a shooter with plastic "Gun" attachments for the Wii mote and Move Controllers. But for kinect I just cannot see a First or Third person shooter game making it money back. But someone's go to try...The Vancouver studio good luck to them.

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xxKai

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I'd play if I can stay sitting on my couch, the gun would maybe be recognized when I point out my forefinger and thumb out... No that's still too tiring

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fkbwii

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Child of Eden is a shooter... just sayin'.

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paranormalnut

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@steelmouth. Then PS move don't count.. Rock star is working on a 360 game, Epic is working on a 360 only game (not just gears) thats 2. gears 3, then the XBLA has a few. Also a few games will be shown at E3 for xbox only. PS3 has a lot coming as well.

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lowkey254

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No thanks.

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pokecharm

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glad to see at least one gaming company is creating jobs instead of laying people off.

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Phil-teh-Pirate

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An AAA shooter title for the kinect where (I can only surmise) you pretend to hold an imaginary gun and jog on the spot to move and do god knows what to motion turning... Gentleman and ladies, we've entered a new age of casual gimmick suckage.

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steelmouth

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i dont know how much games cost to make but if ms put aside 1billion for new exclusives,then we looking at 8 to 10 new AAA exclusives within a year

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steelmouth

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@paranormalnut and which 10 excluves are those that ms ant telling us about and please no kinect stuff those dont count in my books

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steelmouth

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am really really hoping for many AAA 360 exculsive anoucements its real embarassing how many exclusives sony have already realease but non on site for the 360, if am right only gears have a firm date

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