I came across this video while browsing Crunchgear today.  We all should have seen it as inevitable, but these fine folks from USC have created a way to play World of Warcraft (and presumably other games) using the Microsoft Kinect.

My initial response to this was that this gameplay method really opens a lot of doors for gameplay immersion.  In the video itself, the movements are quite stiff and don’t really match the gameplay very well at all.  It’s obviously a proof-of-concept presentation and I think a game company with a couple years development time could really turn this into something that engages a player a player even more in an MMO than a keyboard and mouse.  I imagined a two-handed throwing motion for a fireball, a bow-drawing-and-release motion for a bow and arrow and any number of motions that could be used for emotes (mind out of the gutter, please).  Think of a real-time full body PvP experience using the Kinect!

I got tired thinking about 8 hour raids using this control however.  Gearscore would no longer be the only requirement for elite raiding guilds – they’d also need to know your time for the last marathon you ran.

The first half of the video is neat to watch, though the gameplay is not how I’d like to play WoW.  The real interest for this in me is the possibilities that we could see a couple years down the road with the Kinect.

The second half of the video degenerates into an diatribe on getting those darn kids to be active while playing video games, which I see as being like brussel sprouts:  yes I know they’re good for me, but I don’t want to watch a YouTube video about them.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/12/28/video-playing-world-of-warcraft-with-the-kinect-and-wont-somebody-please-think-of-the-children/

What do you all think?  Will you, or anyone you know, be playing an MMO using the Kinect any time in the future?