Microsoft Confident That $150 is Right for Kinect
In a recent interview, Microsoft's Chris Lewis revealed why the company priced Kinect the way it did and how long we'll have to wait before we see some non-casual games.
When Microsoft showed off Kinect at E3 this year, a lot of people were disappointed with the games demonstrated. They were all aimed at the casual gaming market and though plenty of casual gamers own Wiis, most Xbox 360 owners probably don't consider themselves part of that market.
Well, Microsoft hasn't forgotten about the more dedicated gamers, but as far as Kinect is concerned, they are focusing on the casual market for now. Chris Lewis, VP of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, this week told GamesIndustry.biz that we can look forward to hybrid games that complement what might ostensibly be a controller-based experience with gestures, voice and physical movement. However, though Lewis said that this will happen over the next 12 to 18 months, he said that over the launch phase and through Christmas, the Kinect games will be very "much pure Kinect for 360 experiences that will appeal to the broad young/older/female/family audiences."
When GamesIndustry wondered aloud if that would be enough on its own to get people to part with the cash, Lewis said, "We're confident it will – early signs are very positive."
Another sore spot for Xbox 360 owners is the price. A lot of gamers think Kinect is a little bit pricey. When asked why Kinect costs what it does, Lewis said Microsoft researches these things across wide groups of target customers and that it's confident – particularly because it comes with Kinect Adventures, which has 20 different levels – that it's good value.
Do you think Kinect is good value? Let us know in the comments below.
Read the full interview here.
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That is far too high. Most people who would buy this will already own a wii and an xbox. So why would they spend the price of another console just for an add on
If they really expect to sell a lot at these prices, I guess their strategy for selling this is quite long-term... As with the PS3's motion controller they are hoping that these will revamp a 5 year old console. - In other words, don't expect price cuts in new games, controllers or consoles any time soon - and no next-gen in the near future.
Yes, It does appear that they are trying to as you said "revamp a 5 year old console" it pays to keep in mind that in the case of the Xbox they are attempting to revamp technology that at the time of the release was already getting old where as the PS3 technology was fairly new and we are still only beginning to see the potential of the console.
Microsoft have basically admitted that they are only marketing the Kinect at this point in time to those who have plenty of money to spend and immediately buy any interesting object for the sake of having it, Aka, The Rich Casual Gamer.
It is also likely that part of the reason it is being marketed for the Rich Casual Gamer for now is that no company is really willing to release a full working Kinect enabled game in the near future, Possibly relating to the increase in commands, Etc, The more details that have to be differentiated and stored somewhere and inevitibly the 360's lack of storage on disks to store the required extra details.
In a year.....if the price drops to $100 or under and works with Win8 on PCs, im totally buying it.
Won't buy it just for gaming now though.
Kinect = $150 = £97.
Kinect = £129.99 = Bullshit.
I hate to think what they're charging the Aussies.