In a recent Lyft ride on the way home from the airport, I had a conversation with my driver as he noticed I was taking a new PSVR home. I’m always happy to talk gaming with a stranger and he had a ton of questions about old games he used to play and if any of their successors are worth picking up. He was a fan of the Uncharted, Tomb Raider, and other action series. He brought up SOCOM for the PS2, a franchise I haven’t heard from in ages. I never really got into it since the last huge game from them was about 12 years ago and I wasn’t gaming much at the time.

He mentioned something I’ve only heard about in a few games, voice commands. Players would be able to control AI allies by speaking commands through the official SOCOM edition headset. I vaguely remembered hearing about the capabilities used in that game and thought about how there hasn’t been enough of that in current generations.

Dualshock 4 controllers have the built-in speaker that has been used sparingly since its conception. The Xbox Kinect and Playstation Camera both have mics but why haven’t we combined the mics and speakers to create a more fully immersive gaming experience? Sure, upon further research, I’ve found that some games have tried. Ryse: Son of Rome was one of the Xbox exclusives released around launch of the Xbox One. Players had a limited number of commands they could give through the Kinect to command allies in battle, but it wasn’t enough to be a selling factor in the game.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist tried to make use of Kinect tech the same way as SOCOM, and got mixed reviews. As did Madden and FIFA’s attempts to incorporate headset use; like making coaching changes or arguing with the ref. Foul language could get you in trouble with the officials, which was more of a pain for many players than anything. Mario Party 7 was released at the end of Gamecube’s lifecycle and came with a gimmick headset for use in certain minigames. Not bad for 2005 but why hasn’t that been expanded upon?

SOCOM 3 and SOCOM: Combined Assault were the last two major editions of the franchise to use voice commands in battle. These games are around 12-14 years old now. This got me thinking of ways voice commands could make current gen gaming better and it seems like the possibilities are endless, but the method to make it happen isn’t there. The most common way to make it happen would be the original method of headsets, since controllers don’t have mics and Kinects/PS Cameras are pretty much buried in the past. Even then, most games you play with a headset on are online multiplayer, so why would you need to give voice commands to the computer? Seems redundant to force this into a game. Even then, it will be pushed to the wayside and forgotten like games in the past.

Of course, we could just keep adding to the lure of strategy combat games, like the widely successful Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchises. Metal Gear Solid V had the perfect opportunity with Quiet lurking in the vantage points waiting for commands. Madden was onto something with their quick-on-the-go coaching changes. With the amount of control games come with now, you could have players run bases more efficiently, makes subs easier, and many other options would be available to allow for quicker and smoother gameplay. That prevents players form stopping gameplay to make adjustments.

Then we have the tech of the future that has made its way to the forefront of forward-thinking gaming: Virtual Reality. VR gaming is still in a very youthful stage of development. Its not so much in infancy, but it has so far to go in terms of the level of immersion gamers have been looking for. Developers can step their ‘game’ up by incorporating voice commands in their games. Star Trek: Bridge Crew is the first VR game to use voice commands to the extent we’d come to expect. Imagine moving through a first-person shooter, creeping through an office building when you hear a few voices in the next room. You have sniper support from the AI a building over. Using radio signal to request support would clear the room and allow you to move through without getting mauled by a swarm of enemies. That’s just one of many scenarios I could picture with the use of voice commands.

I have to imagine the use of voice controls died because of the gimmick nature of talking to someone that isn’t a real person. Gamers are always looking for ways to fully immerse themselves in whatever they are playing and that is why I think VR is here to stay. Voice controls can take virtual gaming to a new level. Even on a more mainstream scale, voice control has a place in current gaming.

What type of game could you see voice commands being useful? Give us a shout below or call into our new Saturday Morning Nerd Show podcast every Saturday at 10 am CDT.