Microsoft's Rare Games starts work on Kinect technology at Digbeth studio
Days after getting the keys to the door, Rare Games take Anna Blackaby on a tour of the Birmingham hub which will be working on Microsoft’s pioneering motion-sensing gaming experience
Deep in the heart of Digbeth, staff at Rare Games are busy positioning sofas and planning where they are going to put the coffee table.
But the Microsoft subsidiary is not creating a swanky break-out area for the 30-odd computer programmers already working at Fazeley Studios.
Instead Rare is setting up a mock living room where it will test Microsoft’s Kinect technology – a revolutionary new way of controlling video games where the player uses their body to interact with the game – jumping, dancing or bowling as the case may be.
It’s easy to imagine how players could get a little too vigorous in their movements, so Rare needs to be sure its games work in a real-life environment, hence Fazeley’s fake living room.
Rare Games caused a lot of excitement earlier this year by choosing Birmingham as its second location, supplementing its main base in Twycross, Leicestershire.
Now the first arrivals have started moving in, studio manager Jim Horth shed a little more light on what they would be getting up to in their 10,000 sq ft office space.
The Digbeth hub will be used to work on Kinect Sports, he said, as well as on the avatars which are used to personalise the Xbox Live experience for players.
He explained why Kinect – touted as a taking gaming a step further than Nintendo’s Wii – is so exciting.
“For a lot of people there are definite barriers to getting into video games and that’s represented by the controller,” he said. “The fundamental idea behind Kinect is that you are the controller by using your body or through speaking. That gives you a more intuitive interface.”
As well as physically testing Kinect Sports, there will also be programmers working on building the games themselves in Rare’s studios, which have the capacity to employ up to 90 people.
Rare Games’ Twycross headquarters is leading on the design and coding of games, whereas Digbeth will serve as a production hub delivering on the details. As for the Xbox avatars, games designers in Digbeth will work on everything from creating clothes to digital pets, as well as props like light sabres which gamers can accesorise themselves with when playing and interacting online.
Bagging such a high-profile tenant as Rare was widely regarded as something of a coup for Fazeley Studios, which has carved a name for itself as Birmingham’s digital hub, home to several rapidly-growing firms. Mr Horth said Rare had considered other locations before opting for Digbeth.
“In a location like Twycross it’s very difficult to have a workforce that’s more flexible and it’s difficult to find the talent we need for short-term projects,” he said. “The games industry is very dynamic and we always need to mobilise people rapidly. Our new watchword is agility.
“The location here has a much deeper talent pool and for the people who are working on those kinds of contracts, there are other employment opportunities for them when the projects come to an end. It’s a very networked location and it’s easy for people to find those opportunities.”
He said the calibre of graduates from local universities was also a factor.
‘‘That means that a graduate looking for opportunities doesn’t need to find somewhere else to go when they graduate.”
KINECT FACTFILE:
* Kinect looks set to do for Microsoft what the Wii did for Nintendo by bringing a new physical dimension to gaming.
* Previously known as Project Natal, the technology was given a new name – Kinect for Xbox 360 – at the E3 event in Los Angeles.
* Kinect Sports, which Rare Games is working on, will feature football, volleyball, bowling, table tennis, boxing and track and field events.
* Other launch games will include Dance Central, where players can learn moves from top choreographers, as well as an adventure game where players can simulate floating in outer space and navigating roaring rapids.
