News Kinect will struggle to hit mass market

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/07/01/kinect-will-struggle-to-hit-mass-market/1

 

The problem is, Microsoft is pushing casual games, that casual gamers already have on their casual console.

 

I agree - I can't see Kinect being a big success. Casual gamers will probably see it as a more expensive and more difficult to understand version of something they already have. Hardcore gamers will probably see it as a gimmick and a waste of time. I don't see it capturing any market in a significant way.

However, I'm willing to be proven wrong. If Microsoft can get the price down to a point where casual gamers might be tempted to try it, or if developers can find a way to use it as an effective control scheme for some traditional types of games like shooters, racing games or RTS, then it could be a success.

 

The problem is that if you're a casual gamer, almost by definition you'll have a Wii. Neither the Xbox or the PS3 attract the casual gamer audience.

Both Microsoft's and Sony's position will therefore have to be "buy a new console and controller to satisfy your casual gaming needs" - and as mi1ez said above, the casual gamers' casual gaming needs are already satisfied by their casual gaming console: the Wii.

 

Although i agree I'm still intrugued to see how this will play out for the PC.

Something to add to mt HTPC for media purposes maybe?

 

Common it know bunch of people playing on Xbox 360 who would dream of it. I consider console gaming as casual anyway.

 

you know a couple people? LMAo, great argument. kinect is going to a massive failure, no input device alone is already limiting its usefullness in games. The game they showed at e3 were not even playable, and looked terrible. It also has issues picking up motion at all times and has some lag issues (Se IGNs article).

 

it all depends on the price and the software... wii had the nintendo brands

 

Most people who own a Wii got it for Wii sports and then when it came out then the Wii fit.

Software wise as long as MS can produce a good sports game and a good fitness one they should do fine. Being as kinect is more impressive then the Wii mote/balance board, and the xbox 360 is much more powerful then the Wii this can't be too hard.

 

This will be Microsoft's "Rob the robot".

 

For the most part your wrong. They showed way more than ONE game. All first party titles sucked and were poorly designed, but third party devs like the guys behind Rock Band created a game that works perfectly called Dance Central which is more of a free form Dance Dance Revolution.

As for reports straight from E3, my fellow co-workers from VGChartz state that Microsoft might be able to fix some of the issues within the next few months. Sony's Move on the other hand worked 100% and is way more functional than the Wii Remote with Wii Motion Plus.

 

I don't see Kinect working for casual gamers either. They're unlikely to have an XBox 360 lying around, and even if they do, $150 is a lot of dough for just a few cameras which allow you to play some casual games with at most 2 people at a time.

 

Releasing Kinect as an optional add-in is clearly a terrible idea and is doomed to fail. For these radical new technologies to be accepted and developed for they need to be included as standard with every console (look at N64 controller and Wii remote). Microsoft really should have waited until the next iteration of the XBOX to release this... perhaps this is just the beta version so they can do it properly next time around with a new console.