Kung-Fu Live Lets You be the Next Karate Kid

Try some stretches before you try this at home and pull something

Think you have what it takes to throw down with Jackie Chan or Jet Li? Chances are you probably aren’t at their level and never will be. So what is an aspiring Kung Fu master to do? You could spend the next few years training, honing your skills and doing all that Karate Kid styled “wax on, wax off” stuff. Or you could fake it and show off your skills in a video game. Of course that means sitting on a couch, which we don’t recommend. As an alternative to just more button mashing, there is the Kung-Fu Live fighting game, which will let players show off their badass fighting skills for the PlayStation Network this fall. The game is currently being developed by the Virtual Air Guitar Company, a Helsinki-based independent game producer and computer vision specialist. And yes, virtual air guitar does sound a bit redundant to us too.

While the game also sounds like it would have been ideal for the upcoming Xbox Kinect, Kung-Fu Live actually relies on patented Freemotion technology from Virtual Air Guitar Company. With the PlayStation Eye camera, the technology tracks your movement, and uses real-time motion tracking and image scanning, so users aren’t just pounding on the X and Y buttons, but instead need to make actual swings and kicks to control their onscreen character. There are a limitless combination of martial arts moves and tricks to pull off. Plus thanks to the use of the camera, players are also inserted into the game, so instead of playing some beefed up hero with a stupid outfit it can really be you.

A couple of things come to mind however. First, let’s hope that gamers don’t try to adorn the usual silly fighting character outfits, and second, let’s hope some living rooms don’t get seriously trashed thanks to this game!

Kung-Fu Live Official Site