Game developer Bethesda Softworks is adding voice commands to its hit video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim via Microsoft's Kinect controller.
Bethesda announced that later this month, it will release a free update for the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim that will enable Kinect support. It will add more than 200 different voice commands for Kinect owners.
Using the new voice-recognition capabilities, players will be able to give their followers commands, interact with menus, and navigate the map, perform dragon shouts, and assign hotkeys. The Kinect support will also add new functionality, including special map functions, additional hotkey options, and the ability to sort inventory items by name, weight, and value. A full list of the 200 voice commands is expected before the update goes live.
The Kinect functionality will be available in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish, CNN reported. The English version is set to be released during the week of April 23, with other versions following later.
"When you do things, like when you are on the map, you uncover a lot of map markers and quests to go to a particular place," Pete Hines, vice president of marketing and public relations for Bethesda, told CNN. "[With Kinect] you can use voice commands to do things very easily, to jump to different cities on the map, even doing things in inventory like sorting by weight, by value — that functionality doesn't exist in 'Skyrim' as it is. With Kinect, it unlocks a lot of new options."
Skyrim, which hit stores in November, quickly became the most-played game of 2011. It also took home the award for game of the year at the Game Developers Choice Awards last month and at Spike's Video Game Awards in December. Our own Matt Murray, who reviewed the game, gave Skyrim high praise, saying that it was the best installation in the Elder Scrolls series to date.
For more, see PCMag's full review of Skyrim and the slideshow above. Also check out 7 Things You Should Do in Skyrim, If You Like Skyrim, You'll Love These Games, and Download the Books of Skyrim to Your iPad or Kindle.
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