Microsoft Kinect

[jonnyalpha]

I'm firmly in the this is the new 32x camp. And even I bought one of those kinect can fuck off though.

Over the years I've been the person who bought a Jaguar, Amiga CD32, NeoGeo Pocket Colour (firmly believing it would beat the GBA) and Atari Lynx. I've been suckered more times than I can really remember but I didn't fall for the 3DO and I'm not falling for this one either.

Actually the NGPC was still a great machine so I didn't feel a mug for that one. Xybots was my favourite game at uni and had a great version on the Lynx and Tempest made the Jag worthwhile as well. The CD32 though......oh dear.

[cassidy]

But even the cd32 had microcosm

Kinect has dance central. It could be the kinects microcosm or California games. (why I got a lynx btw)

[cassidy]

(lemmings wasn't a launch title. Blue lightning and caly games were. Yes I had one at launch with both games)

[Leynos]

I went into Game on Princes St today, and I was very disappointed that no one tried to sell me a Kinect.

I'm going to wait until February actually.

[MK-1601]

If not now and Dance Central, I can see a similar game based on the exact same technology becoming a blockbuster hit in the future.

Yeah, Just Dance.

[Corleth the Fey]

Yeah, Just Dance.

This.

Why the hell would Dance Central be more popular with 9 -14 girls than Just Dance 1/2? As MK stated Just Dance sold a shit load. The people who bought that will get it's sequel. Umm like is Lips bigger than Singstar yet?

And to Coxy - so you didn't like Just Dance? You won't like Dance Central then. You dance to music been played whilst following an avatar on the screen. The games are basically the same.

[Beertiger]

Except Just Dance doesn't work.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-just-dance/17-1776/

It's just something that works better when you're not relying on inaccurate tech in your hands. Sure those kids might not give a shit but then again they might. We'll just have to wait and see.

Besides, it's not like the industry can't support two games in a popular genre.

[Broker]

I'm willing to bet all your savings that it'll be as popular next year as We're in the Movies was a year after it's release.

Proof if it was needed that MS can throw as much cash at thing's as they want, and people are still going to realise they're shit. I'd totally forgotten about that crap, wasn't it going to massively expand their audience?

“We have the capability to turn your living room into a petting zoo, into a sports stadium,” reckons marketing chief Matt Barlow, “so our customer base is all those who have rejected gaming either because of the content or the controller.

I know the industry is all about hyperbole, but the level of bullshit is astounding. The only platform on the market which alienates people with it's limited genre's and which is generally limited to games with a complex control structure is the fucking xbox. The fact that they're making their fourth hamfisted attempt to appeal to a casual audience is the polar opposite of them expanding anything. They've seen what works for other companies, and repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to ape it, either by sticking so closely to the original that they offer no incentive to use their produce, as they did with Lips, or by completely missing the point of the innovation, as they have with Kinect.

[masterhand]

I have it on good authority that Microsoft are not making all that many Kinect hardware. Marketing might be mouthing off bigtime, but behind the scenes they know it's too expensive and they are not taking a risk on inventory.

[StumpyJohn]

I have it on good authority that Microsoft are not making all that many Kinect hardware. Marketing might be mouthing off bigtime, but behind the scenes they know it's too expensive and they are not taking a risk on inventory.

Maybe that partially explains Game's "Pre-order or no Kinect for you 'til February 2011" spiel.

[masterhand]

Maybe that partially explains Game's "Pre-order or no Kinect for you 'til February 2011" spiel.

Could well do.

[Hewson]

Except Just Dance doesn't work.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-just-dance/17-1776/

It's just something that works better when you're not relying on inaccurate tech in your hands. Sure those kids might not give a shit but then again they might. We'll just have to wait and see.

Besides, it's not like the industry can't support two games in a popular genre.

Interesting to see that Just Dance's metacritic score is 49 while the user score is 8.3. I realise that's far from conclusive but it gives an indication of the disparity between the perception of the critics and the people playing it.

[mushashi]

I don't think the critical reception (from your typical games journalist) and what actually shifts units or appeals to the wider market have that much correlation generally, as many a Wii game has proven in the past or the failure of Rock Band to usurp Guitar Hero, despite being regarded as the superior product.

[scottcr]

my son and niece both love playing Just Dance at their granny's on the Wii.

As a result, my Mum has bought Just Dance and the Broadway one... she'll probably buy others too.

She'll never own an xbox and doesn't care at all how accurate it is. They all enjoy playing it.

[Stolly]

What amazes me is that for pages and pages on this thread the only justifaction that has materialised for buying kinect is down to a dancing game. Thats a dancing game ffs! And for a machine that has a top five selling game list of something like Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Forza and Gears of War! Not many dancers then in the current mix of 360 owners.

A bit more seriously, a fair few 360 owners will also own a wii and will be quite happy using the wii for their party (and dancing ) games anyway.

As for attracting a new more casual audience, I'd have thought that audience is already sewn up with the wii anyway and, if they don't have a wii yet, are still more likely to buy one over the 360, especially as kinect is looking a very expensive add on.

As for move, love it or hate it, at least it has a glowing ping pong ball on the end to show for your money

[Hewson]

I don't think the critical reception (from your typical games journalist) and what actually shifts units or appeals to the wider market have that much correlation generally, as many a Wii game has proven in the past or the failure of Rock Band to usurp Guitar Hero, despite being regarded as the superior product.

I think it's been particularly different in this gen. The original reviews of Wii Sports remain the purest example of the gulf between critics/gamers and more casual users (and Games tm's review of Move's Sports Champions shows it's still there). I'm supposedly a "hard core" gamer, but Wii Sports is still my favourite game of this gen by a mile and easily the one I've played most. I remember reading the reviews and wondering how people could miss the point so spectacularly.

[scottcr]

I think it's been particularly different in this gen. The original reviews of Wii Sports remain the purest example of the gulf between critics/gamers and more casual users (and Games tm's review of Move's Sports Champions shows it's still there). I'm supposedly a "hard core" gamer, but Wii Sports is still my favourite game of this gen by a mile and easily the one I've played most. I remember reading the reviews and wondering how people could miss the point so spectacularly.

I'll never forget the gamespot video review of Wii Sports - two fat guys on a couch trying to play it sittind down and getting fed up because it was "stupid" and "lame".

Personally - I can't wait to play one of these FPS' that track your eyeballs from across the room for accurate view movement.

[Halo]

Yeah, Just Dance.

While Just Dance sold quite a lot of copies, it's a game in the same genre that uses completely different (and somewhat limited) input method. I don't think Just Dance will be the most popular game released in the genre, and I think the difference in mechanics between it and a camera-driven game will be apparent even to the target audience, and that at some point in the future a dance game based around camera technology will become a huge hit.

I'm not sure if Kinect and Dance Central will be that hit, though - it could easily be a hypothetical Just Dance Camera Party released in 2013.

What amazes me is that for pages and pages on this thread the only justifaction that has materialised for buying kinect is down to a dancing game. Thats a dancing game ffs! And for a machine that has a top five selling game list of something like Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Forza and Gears of War! Not many dancers then in the current mix of 360 owners.

That's the least of their problems: the whole point of Kinect is to bring in a new audience. The problem is that it seems quite limited and expensive.

[simms]

What amazes me is that for pages and pages on this thread the only justifaction that has materialised for buying kinect is down to a dancing game. Thats a dancing game ffs! And for a machine that has a top five selling game list of something like Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Forza and Gears of War! Not many dancers then in the current mix of 360 owners.

A bit more seriously, a fair few 360 owners will also own a wii and will be quite happy using the wii for their party (and dancing ) games anyway.

As for attracting a new more casual audience, I'd have thought that audience is already sewn up with the wii anyway and, if they don't have a wii yet, are still more likely to buy one over the 360, especially as kinect is looking a very expensive add on.

As for move, love it or hate it, at least it has a glowing ping pong ball on the end to show for your money

The Dance and Fitness genre seems to be the most obvoius fit for Kinect at the moment and I think it will excel above handheld motion controllers that PS3 and Wii offers. Regardless of sales I think it will be most successful in this area.

[Major Britten]

What amazes me is that for pages and pages on this thread the only justifaction that has materialised for buying kinect is down to a dancing game. Thats a dancing game ffs! And for a machine that has a top five selling game list of something like Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Forza and Gears of War! Not many dancers then in the current mix of 360 owners.

A bit more seriously, a fair few 360 owners will also own a wii and will be quite happy using the wii for their party (and dancing ) games anyway.

As for attracting a new more casual audience, I'd have thought that audience is already sewn up with the wii anyway and, if they don't have a wii yet, are still more likely to buy one over the 360, especially as kinect is looking a very expensive add on.

As for move, love it or hate it, at least it has a glowing ping pong ball on the end to show for your money

Well thats the thing, Microsoft are not aiming this for the 360 gamers, they want the casual market. Unfortunately for Microsoft their last attempts at this have been pretty big flops (Youre in the Movies and LiPS). There are no compelling games for Kinect for their existing user base and its priced too high for the casual market no matter how much Microsoft try to justify the price saying its a bargain. Microsoft really should have aimed this at the hardcore gamers first as these type of gamers are usually the early adopters of any new tech then release more casual orientated software later alongside the core games once the price had come down.

As for MS not making many Kinect units, I dont believe that at all. The amount of money that MS are spending to market this thing means that they expect to this thing to be a huge success, theyre not going to limit their supply.

[masterhand]

As for MS not making many Kinect units, I dont believe that at all. The amount of money that MS are spending to market this thing means that they expect to this thing to be a huge success, theyre not going to limit their supply.

My source is good, but my idea and his of "not that many" would be different from the layman such as yourself. Apeing the Wii's success would be easy on paper, "So popular they've all sold out!" Then engineering a shortage to keep demand up.

[Major Britten]

My source is good, but my idea and his of "not that many" would be different from the layman such as yourself. Apeing the Wii's success would be easy on paper, "So popular they've all sold out!" Then engineering a shortage to keep demand up.

[mushashi]

My source is good, but my idea and his of "not that many" would be different from the layman such as yourself.

What's the ballpark amount we are talking about? 3 million or significantly under that?

[jonnatar]

My dad works for Microsoft and apparently they've only made 31 so far.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

I think it's been particularly different in this gen. The original reviews of Wii Sports remain the purest example of the gulf between critics/gamers and more casual users (and Games tm's review of Move's Sports Champions shows it's still there). I'm supposedly a "hard core" gamer, but Wii Sports is still my favourite game of this gen by a mile and easily the one I've played most. I remember reading the reviews and wondering how people could miss the point so spectacularly.

I think the 6/10 and 7/10 reviews were bang on actually. Different stuff appeals to different people, but I honestly can't believe that anyone would rate Wii Sports as one of the best games of this gen (although I'd agree it's one of the most iconic as it was the start of the mighty commercially successful waggle movement).

[masterhand]

What's the ballpark amount we are talking about? 3 million or significantly under that?

Lucky to even be a million units.

[Hewson]

I think the 6/10 and 7/10 reviews were bang on actually. Different stuff appeals to different people, but I honestly can't believe that anyone would rate Wii Sports as one of the best games of this gen (although I'd agree it's one of the most iconic as it was the start of the mighty commercially successful waggle movement).

A lot depends on the importance placed on local multiplayer, to be honest. To my mind it's the best local multiplayer game of all time.

[Major Britten]

Lucky to even be a million units.

Microsoft has revealed they are expecting to sell in excess of three million units of the highly anticipated motion control input system, Kinect, this holiday season.

"We believe this will be the biggest launch in our history, for Xbox. We will sell more Kinect sensors than we did [systems] at Xbox 360 launch," Microsoft product manager Aaron Greenberg told gaming website Gamasutra.

Greenberg cited the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on Kinect marketing as the key reason for the lofty projections. In fact, the marketing budget was so high that it has exceeded the amount spent on the original Xbox 360 launch.

Hmm, unless something has seriously gone wrong in the last 3 weeks I doubt very much Microsoft will have less than a million units made ready worldwide for xmas, unless youre talking about the UK/European market by itself.

[titch]

Hmm, unless something has seriously gone wrong in the last 3 weeks I doubt very much Microsoft will have less than a million units made ready worldwide for xmas, unless youre talking about the UK/European market by itself.

lol busted.

[sandman]

I still dont get who MS think is going to buy it. Is anyone on here?

As for the casuals, they already own a Wii and have no desire to fork out a small fortune (in a severley depressed economy) on something which is only slightly flashier.

I really don't think the hardcore are going to but it as there isn't a game thats any good and they have been (in their eyes) burned by the wii already.

Who does this leave?