Alexa is Amazon's "intelligent personal assistant" that runs through its voice-activated Echo devices. Basically, it works like this:
Just shouted at my Echo to play Kiss From a Rose there and it struck me how we just take amazing technology for granted now. If I want to hear Kiss From a Rose I just scream at a tube in the corner and there it is. Instant. High quality.November 23, 2017
And if that makes you think, boy, what that really needs is a tie-in to a massively successful yet vaguely disappointing videogame, then you'll be thrilled to hear about the new Destiny 2 Ghost Skill for Alexa, "giving players of one of the best-selling video games of 2017 to date the first-ever Alexa voice integration in a live game experience."
Instead of demanding music from a device that is almost certainly not spying on every move you make inside your own home, you can use "a variety of utterances" (that's a direct quote from the press release) to ask Alexa to ask Ghost to do you a solid, from the practical ("Alexa, ask Ghost to equip my raid loadout") to the utterly unimportant ("Alexa, ask Ghost to tell me who are the Red Legion.")
You can ask Alexa to ask Ghost to call for backup ("an easy way to interact with friends in their clan to enhance the social experience of Destiny 2," which is kind of ironic because you can talk to the gizmo on the table but you still can't talk to the people in the game), or even ask Alexa to ask Ghost for some advice on what to do next—which will probably end up as some variation on "go shoot some guys," but maybe it'll tell you to take a break and go outside for awhile instead. You never know.
"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 Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said. "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 Edition Destiny 2 Ghost. The lines between in-game and out-of-game have been blurred in an incredible new way."
The "limited edition Destiny 2 Ghost" Hirschberg refers to is the little fella in the image up above, a Wifi-enabled speaker in the shape of a Ghost that works with Alexa devices. You don't need it to use the Ghost skill on Alexa, but if you want it, it'll be available on December 19 (preorders are live now) and will set you back $90. The Destiny 2 Ghost Skill itself is free for Alexa users.
