Tech Trend
Console videogames move beyond mere fancy graphics to lifelike physics, characters and controls

Unleash It!: See it bigger  LucasArts

The Force Unleashed

As Darth Vader’s apprentice, you wreak havoc in a world that’s lifelike down to the molecules and muscles. Digital Molecular Matter software realistically simulates how things break, so metal bends and wood splinters along the grain. And the game’s Euphoria artificial-intelligence system simulates the muscles and nervous systems of every Jedi or Wookiee you encounter. Fling one through the air, and he will flail his arms, seeking a handhold. $60; lucasarts.com

Getting Personal: See it bigger  Bethesda Software

Fallout 3

Strike a character in a regular game, and it plays a canned animation of an injury. But in Fallout 3, the pain is personal. Choose among more than 50 weapons—everything from hurled ashtrays to portable nukes—that studiously obey the laws of physics as they smash into the computer-simulated skeletal systems of supermutants and irradiated ghouls. Crippling adversaries isn’t just for show, either. Broken arms can’t hold pistols, and crushed legs won’t support weight. $60; bethsoft.com

In Command: See it bigger  Ubisoft

Tom Clancy’s Endwar

Direct this war game’s futuristic troops simply by barking commands. High-power processors parse your speech to recognize 80 military terms strung into orders such as “Unit One move to target.” Developers trained the speech-recognition software using actors with more than two dozen unique accents, giving the game 95 percent accuracy regardless of your pronunciation. Drive invading drones out of Paris just by yelling “Attaaaack!” $60; ubisoft.com

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7 Comments

i still doubt that tom clancy's endwar's voice recognition is 95% accurate. many many voice recognition software does not work, plus, although the game may have 95% accuracy, your mike may not. take the xbox360. many games i have played, the voice recognition does not work very efficiently, even when im just chatting with friends. i have had to upgrade my headset a few times to get that clearer sound.

I've been playing the End War demo and it doesn't seem to understand the word Two in a New Zealand accent.

w00zzy

from wichita, ks

You should try it with the new PS3 BT headset with the HQ features. 95% would be accurate.

I wonder what they will come up with next?

Virtual reality made for your home?

Could the Power Glove make a comeback?

<(^.^)>

-THE KID

I wonder what they will come up with next?

Virtual reality made for your home?

Could the Power Glove make a comeback?

<(^.^)>

-THE KID

I played the Endwar demo and was thinking it would be simple commands with little to no accuracy, however it was 100% accurate for me. With many different words too and variations also. During the voice command tutorial it told you what to say, after complying with the directions I tried to get off track and say something else thinking it would still advance, it didn't. It just said that it was the wrong command, I repeated that a few more times but it stayed consistent with recognizing my attempts to fool it. It is a truly shocking game, the gameplay is flawless in time with the voice commands and character movements.

another game that had similar features to end war was hawx. GREAT game! i got it for pc and it ran beautifully! graphics are awesome and the voice commands are useful when using flares :) i think ill get end war to see how it goes.

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