Kinect is Microsoft’s gimmick, their ‘thing’, if you will, the hook that differentiates them from other platforms; like a guy with an unusual hat. Now some people like the look of the hat and some people think it looks plain stupid, there’ll always be differing opinions, but one thing’s for sure MS think they look damn good in that hat and they want to have it permanently sewn to their head. Ok, so that analogy kind of tripped over at the end there but you can see where I’m coming from, MS want Kinect to be a permanent part of their Xbox ‘ecosystem’, whether you like it or not, and this could spell disaster.
Price, cost, rate, amount, expense, charge, however you put it, you cannot underestimate the importance of it in the video game industry. And it’s here that we can begin to see a problem that could quite possibly lead to MS shooting themselves in the foot. History has shown that it’s not always the most technologically advanced console that comes out on top; price is a huge factor and one that has never been more important due to economic circumstances. Although there are exceptions as PS3 has been consistently more expensive throughout its life but has managed to sell at a greater rate than the cheaper 360.
So, assuming that MS want Kinect to be a totally integrated experience in their Xbox brand, it makes sense that they may choose to include it as standard with the upcoming hardware. This is where the all important factor of price comes into play. Should Sony, manage to get their new console ready in a close timeframe to the ‘nextbox’ there will be two, probably similar, consoles on the shelves with two very different price tags. The inclusion of Kinect (or a newer version) would almost definitely swell the asking price, unless of course MS are willing to take a monumentally massive hit on short term profits, which, given their current disappointments with Surface and Windows 8 phones as well as stagnant share prices, might not be an option.
Kinect cost $150/£130 on release, even if MS manage to reduce production costs on the device it could still bloat up the cost of a new Xbox console by $100/£80, which could even increase if the specs are enhanced. All Sony would then have to do is make the 4th Playstation specs a little better, the price a little lower, keep online free and suddenly they have a console that looks very appealing to the average consumer, unless of course the consumer loves unusual hats… a lot.
It’s hard for me to picture a way in which forcing Kinect as standard with a new Xbox could end with anything but misery for MS, even with another $500m marketing campaign. It’s my hope that Kinect or Kinect 2 remains an optional extra so that the 3rd Xbox can be competitive on its own gaming merits and keep Sony on their toes next generation.
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More information on the cool looking game Replaced is needed. Hope that is not vaporware like The Last Night.
Completely forgot about Replaced. Game looked great.
https://store.steampowered....
Hope it's not vaporware...
flailing is flailing no matter how accurate they make it, and there is no play in my gaming for flailing.
Going by Sony's Move device, the PS4 will very likely have peripherals similar to the WiiU. Much like the current Move, I have no iterest in playing a slightly upgraded version of a crappy Nintendo product.
Meanwhile, Kinect 2.0 has some serious Minority Report-like potential. It's a joke now, but Microsoft could really make something out this.
Either way I'll be sticking with a regular controller next gen.
Doh reply fail, sorry.
Might as well write something interesting... erm... let's see...
Like I said in the blog, I think it would be a mistake to include Kinect with the nextbox as the price would drive customers toward competing products. Instead they should focus on hardware reliability, standard HDD use, Rechargeable controllers right out of the box. Also, although it may be a hard pill to swallow, they need to adopt blu-ray as they can no longer afford to ignore the HD movie disc standard and developers are pushing the limits of DVDs beyond a joke now. I would also like to see them find a way to provide basic online gaming for free; Sony do it, Nintendo do it, every PC does it why not MS too?
For Sony I'd like to see a console built with developers firmly in mind, which they seem to have gotten the idea if Vita is something to go on. I'd like improved triggers on the controllers too, the DS3 is almost perfect and with this slight modification it could be the best controller without question in my eyes. Some stuff I'm assuming will be implemented for certain like wireless N, faster drive read speeds etc. Some things I'm crossing my fingers for like Android integration, background downloads for games/patches, cross game chat, greater social features, quick boots times etc.
Either way I hope both companies look back on the mistakes of this generation and work to improve on every aspect of our favourite hobby.
MS went out of their way to make the Xbox 360 look cheaper than the PS3, and if they get the chance will do so again. They also have the leasing deal thing going for them as well so expect they'll be offing that as well.
Regardless, there'll be tons of advertising aimed at making people miss any fine details which they should probably pay attention to.