If you are excited for the release of Kinect Star Wars as well as the R2-D2-themed Xbox bundle, then it looks like you will have to wait for 2012 to get your motion controlled Star Wars fix. The Official Xbox Magazine's UK site reports that Microsoft has confirmed a delay for both the upcoming game and the special edition console. Here is what Microsoft had to say from the source article:
"Microsoft and LucasArts have elected to move the launch of Kinect Star Wars beyond holiday 2011 to ensure the full potential of this title is realized," a spokesperson told us. "This move applies to both the Kinect Star Wars stand-alone game and the Kinect Star Wars Limited Edition Console. We will communicate additional timing information at a later date."
One can only assume that this move stems from numerous reports of clunky and frustrating motion controls that came out of E3, SDCC and GamesCom. While the various gameplay modes (Jedi, podracing and rancors so far) sound like fun, initial reviews of demos have been downright negative when it comes to motion control movements. Let's face it, the whole point of the game is for fans to have motion control Star Wars fun. If the controls are sub-par, then that spells big problems for a game that would base a heck of a lot of its marketing on those movement controls.
Don't look at this delay as a total negative. Reviewers spoke their minds about the demos and the game's developers have listened. This is not always the case. Hopefully, this will allow those at Terminal Reality to fine tune the game, without the pressure of a 2011 release deadline, thus providing us with the game experience we had been eagerly anticipating.