“Ask Ghost to…stop Making Jokes”
It’s happened, we’re now living in the year 3,000 with the ability to issue voice commands. Today, things just went a step further; Activision Blizzard announced the “Ghost Skill” companion, the Alexas voice-integration system that can be used for Destiny 2.
Ghost Skill was revealed at the AWS re:Invent 2017 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Tom Taylor, senior vice president, Amazon Alexa and Byron Beede, Activision’s senior vice president of Product Management. With this app, many gamers can now issue voice commands that directly affect their actions in Destiny 2. That is to say, you can now live your dream of telling Nolan North what to do, simply by communicating to your Ghost via Alexa.
As elaborately detailed in a press release, Ghost Skill will let you execute a variety of functions in Destiny 2 through the simple use of your voice. All you have to do is begin your sentence with “Alexa, ask Ghost to…” A great benefit to console players whose controller navigation cannot issue commands as fast as mouse and keyboard. Want to talk to friends? Tell your Ghost. Needs to know your next objective? Ask your Ghost? Need to know about an enemy faction? Ask your Ghost. Who needs codexes when you have Alexa, am I right?
”The Ghost serves as your guide and companion in Destiny 2 the game, and now players will be able to bring that experience into the real world with them through Alexa,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision. “The Destiny 2 Ghost skill is the first of its kind and the most innovative and immersive gaming experience to date on Alexa. We’re excited to give our community of players, who are among the most-dedicated fans in the world, new ways to play Destiny 2 with the Ghost skill and Limited-EditionDestiny 2 Ghost. The lines between in-game and out-of-game have been blurred in an incredible new way.”
“Alexa is now part of the Destiny 2 experience, and we’re excited for what that means for Destiny 2 players and the future of games and voice technology,” said Steve Rabuchin, Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “Gaming is an example of where voice can create a more engaging experience in a natural and delightful way for customers. Rather than interrupting gameplay to navigate menus, players can just ask Ghost through Alexa to help with certain tasks. Players love the Destiny 2 experience, and now Alexa can make it even more immersive and fun.”
“Destiny 2 players being able to interact with a physical Ghost paired with an Amazon Alexa is just a really fun and unique idea,” said Pete Parsons, CEO of Bungie. He added, “With our partners at Activision, it’s been exciting to develop this project into a rich, useful skill worthy of Amazon’s Alexa.”
Also announced is the Limited-Edition Destiny 2 Ghost, a WiFi enabled Ghost speaker which is compatible with Alexa devices to bring the look and sound of the Ghost from inside the game into the real world. The Limited-Edition Destiny 2 Ghost is available for pre-order now at an SRP of $89.99 and can be purchased separately as a companion to Alexa devices. The physical Ghost is not needed to use the free Destiny 2 Ghost skill, but the game and an Alexa device are required. The Limited-EditionDestiny 2 Ghost will be available on December 19, 2017.
The collaboration of Activision Blizzard and Amazon may pave the way more interesting technological integration in the future. We could see more publishing companies incorporate smart home or other devices to video game IPs as time goes on. The earliest pairings came with mobile devices, apps directly linked to games, such as the one by Nintendo. But will they all seamlessly enhance the experience? We’ll have to wait and see.
Happy gaming.
SOURCE: Press Release