190°

Is It Time to Call the Xbox Kinect a Smash Hit?

Microsoft has now sold 2.5 million units of the Xbox Kinect in less than a month. With sales staying consistent, is it safe to say that the Kinect is a big hit for Microsoft’s gaming division?

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mashable.com
ryuzu5327d ago

Wow, same sales as Move so 2 smash hits in motion gaming huh?

r.

SixZeroFour5327d ago (Edited 5327d ago )

technically its only really 25 days old in NA (well 26 when i post this), 20 days old in EU and 10 days old in japan (12 in other parts of asia)...but yea, id say motion gaming from both sides are doing fairly well

Zir05327d ago

Not really MS is sold to costumers while Move is shipped. Plus 1 person can have 4 Move controllers. So Kinect have effectively outsold Move.

Bigpappy5327d ago

Zer0 is correct. 1 Kinect per house hold on average. 2 Move per customer average. Kinect sale are more significant.

D4RkNIKON5327d ago

SPIN SPIN SPIN!!! you guys really have to justify your purchase by making others feel like their sales aren't sufficient? Grow up

zootang5327d ago

500m spent on marketing, I'd say.... No!

Army_of_Darkness5327d ago

Besides, anything can be a smash hit with the right advertising;)

darthv725327d ago

it could be depending on how they create demand. Creating games that CANT be played any other way. If that were to happen, it could potentially be the first "add-on" to equal the user base.

Not even sega cd could do that.

Vherostar5327d ago

@D4RkNIKON - bang on the money mate and Zir0 all MS numbers are shipped always have been and always will be the fact you don't know this just shows how you don't actually read articles in the 360 section and just hang about in the ps3 section to slate ps3 gamers.

tacosRcool5327d ago

What about all the Kinect Hardware that Burger King got and gave away every 15 min for a couple of weeks? I don't think that Microsoft gave away them for free and I know they are counting all these.

pixelsword5327d ago (Edited 5327d ago )

Well, it's out there and it's selling, despite how it sold; so congrats Microsoft for your success, Sony for your success and Sixaxis, which made motion gaming with a controller fun for me, plus the Wii for showing everyone how it's done.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5327d ago
SuperKing5327d ago

I think I'm dizzy now, too much spinning. I loved how the xbox fanboy just crumbled away when they heard about Move's sales. Lol I'm really enjoying this.

sinclaircrown5327d ago

Try getting out more. Seriously, there's a whole world of things better than which add-on sold more for a video game console.

Or, now this is a long shot, but you could try actually using Move or Kinect... That might be fun too.

Nah, lets get back to checking your fantasy console league stats!

pixelsword5327d ago (Edited 5327d ago )

If that's fun for him, eh, let him have his fun; at least his version of fun is not stealing, or adultery, or hurting people physically.

Sharingan_no_Kakashi5327d ago (Edited 5327d ago )

I'm pretty sure lots of people are smashing and hitting it. :)

@disagree: Oh relax it was a joke lol.

The Creep5327d ago

i wouldnt call it a smash hit

SuperKing5327d ago

Hell, your can sell steaming dogsh!t with an $500 million advertising budget, which ironically something Kinect has in common.

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DiRtY5327d ago

sure. 100k sold to consumers per day is outstanding.

dale15327d ago

how do they know already,sold to retail,whoesalers etc,i mean npd,chart track take nearly the second month to find out what was sold in the first month at the retail tills.so how would they have that information before the likes of npd have that themselves.remember npd is just one of many that report on sales.its shipped like all of these companys end of.

Killed4Less5327d ago

It seems it is but I'm still waiting for that killer app.

Show all comments (49)
240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

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videogameschronicle.com
1d 18h ago Replies(3)
Goodguy011d 16h ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

1d 16h ago
GamerRN20h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga19h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid63818h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein17h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

GamerRN12h ago

Majority of Gamepass users are currently on console...

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crazyCoconuts18h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

1d 14h ago
Futureshark1d 5h ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

Show all comments (66)
300°

Looming Xbox layoffs threaten Microsoft's reputation

Even as the company sets out to overhaul the very definition of Xbox, cuts at its studios risk creating a negative image reminiscent of EA's worst era

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gamesindustry.biz
Jingsing4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I appreciate the article but this guy must be living in a delayed universe, The reputation was ruined 10+ years ago and hasn't recovered since. As such people have voted with their wallets and stopped buying Xbox products in large amounts.

YourMommySpoils2d ago

Their reputation was lost way before that. From the moment Microsoft said they entering the console business, we all knew it would be a downgrade.

Bathyj2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

That's not true at all the OG Xbox had drive and they had hunger and they wanted to accomplish something. It was a great console.

they didn't quite reach their goals and they gave up prematurely because they couldn't win. It was halfway through the Xbox 360 when kinect released and that was when they lost their way and we're a rudderless ship ever since

Agent751d 22h ago

In all fairness, Xbox had some great games with online play, Xbox 360 even better. Xbox consoles started to die with the Xbox One. Ditch consoles for the PC and PS.

YourMommySpoils1d 14h ago

@Bathyj hard to compute ay. Xbox was never better than a PC and that's all they ever were. A demo box. Doesn't get more true than that.

3d ago Replies(1)
isarai3d ago

What reputation is this threatening exactly? 😂

Lightning773d ago

Rumors of Turn 10 being either shut down or hit with massive lay offs is on the horizon.

The issue is MS will do something right only to do something very, very wrong. And they do this what seems calculative at this point. Doesn't matter what they do the Investors and leadership want more and more money an endless bottomless pit of purr insatiable greed. A company that acts like it's broke or hurting is what really, really infuriates me. They've surpassed apple again well over 3 trillion who acts like they're a million dollar company is fk stupid. Pivots and changes for no reason and can't do things for more than a year with out a pivot or changing their metrics.

Christopher2d ago

That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest.

1Victor2d ago

@christopher: “ That would be really bad since Phil just hyped up next year as a big Forza year at Summer Game Fest”
The key word big can be ether good or bad 🤷🏿only time can tell

DarXyde2d ago

First Forza being generated entirely via AI?

If any company would do it, it'd be them.

Nacho_Z2d ago

Isn't the point that it's irrelevant how profitable MS is, the suits have decided it's time that the Xbox division started making them money. Hence the layoffs, the pivots.

hennessey862d ago

That wouldn't surprise me, as motorsport has been heading down hill since the great number 4. Where as playground have consistently put out better games. I think the two studios will be merged under playground games banner.

2d ago Replies(2)
Show all comments (63)
660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
6d ago Replies(1)
6d ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer6d ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

6d ago
pwnmaster30006d ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

6d ago
Obscure_Observer6d ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger6d ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30006d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole6d ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 6d ago
Tacoboto6d ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif6d ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing696d ago (Edited 6d ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif6d ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
-Foxtrot6d ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast6d ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts6d ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto6d ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
Profchaos6d ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo6d ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner6d ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic18816d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 6d ago
6d ago
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