Kinect Sensor becomes the highest selling accessory of 2010

The Microsoft X-Box Kinect Sensor ($149.99, 4 stars) was propped up by a cardboard box placed behind a 46-inch plasma TV. Why? Microsoft, the company that created the Kinect, recommends that the sensor be placed two to six feet above the floor—and the closer to six the better. Since I didn’t have shelving above my HDTV and drilling holes into my drywall wasn’t an option, my choices were limited. One of them is PDP’s TV Mount for Kinect ($39.99 list), which has adjustable arms that screw into the VESA holes found in the back of most flat-panels (typically used for mounting the set on a wall).

[GenericUserName]

There's just no spinning it, Sony were right, Microsoft have hit a major wall with kinect, a major wall made out of CA$H

[Mustang300C2012]

LMFAO

[Game-ur]

Meanwhile, in the real world MS stock keeps falling

[Mustang300C2012]

You hurt fanboy you. Thats why you have one bubble.

[TheOldOne]

*Kinect Sensor becomes the highest selling accessory of 2010 in America only*

Fixed.

For the last bloody time, America=/= the world.

Misleading title.

[deadreckoning666]

"Meanwhile, in the real world MS stock keeps falling"

WOW...mentioning stocks on N4G...thats pretty low. I don't think this is the right website for you...maybe Marketwatch would be better.

[aviator189]

@Game-ur
Actually, since the release of Kinect, their stock has risen 2% this year. While that may not be a significant amount, it's still a rise nonetheless and it's not in a "free-fall" as you're suggesting.

[Mystogan]

@Game-ur

Lol @ ''stock keeps falling'' on a gaming site.

BTW its not ''falling'' its just not like it used to be and it actually rose this year i believe. If you wanna be all fanboy about it, its still higher then sony's stock

[feelintheflow]

Actually stock price is not what you should be looking at. IT is market cap. That is the number of shares available on the open market times the price of the stock. Apple just passed MS last year, but there are very few companies that do, and most don't even compare. I don't think MS is having any financial problems. Making billions of dollars per quarter is not bad.

[AAACE5]

It was crazy! I went to several stores over the past few days and I kept hearing people talk about Kinect!

Toys R us had an old guy trying to figure out if it came with a game and a younger couple asking about it. Walmart had 2-3 people buying it while I was in electronics for about 5 minutes. Target had a group of about 8 middle aged ladies asking about it and the girl worker just raved about how much fun it was and how bad she wanted one. Best buy had people playing it and talking about how they could have parties with it and such.

The only place that didn't have people asking about it much was Gamestop! I've heard a person here and there asking about it over the past few weeks, but not much more than that. But then again, most people who shop at GS would have bought it already if they wanted it.

I was starting to think Kinect would do poorly with sales. But it seems like everytime I go back to a store, their stock of Kinect gets' smaller and smaller.

I guess all that advertising is starting to pay off!

[UnwanteDreamz]

"WOW...mentioning stocks on N4G...thats pretty low. I don't think this is the right website for you...maybe Marketwatch would be better"

Says the guy all over the sales article. Maybe the article doesn't belong here but mentioning stocks in a slaes related article seems pretty logical. Are you mad because he plays this stupid game better than you?

[vanquisher]

If we want to talk sales then stocks are fair game, or is it inconvenient for some here.

By the way MS stock is in a 52 week low.

[ct03]

So you're making up random crap now? Does this look like a 52 week low to you?

http://finance.yahoo.com/ec...

[vanquisher]

It is low and falling, that’s what the red color means.

[Kurylo3d]

Judging by the stock report... it looks like its rising to me.

[Armyntt]

Actually Game-ur. 16DEC09 M$ was trading at 30.10/share with a volume of 55,737,800 shares totalling 1,677,707,480 trillion dollars. Then currently its at 27.62/share with a volume of 64,070,500 totalling 1,769,627,210 trillion dollars. Just saying. These numbers could be spun in a trillion different ways itself. So in essence yes the price per stock has fallen but there is more people willing to buy it at 27 than at 31. BTW for those ignorant to all this, the volume did not go up because M$ decided to release more stock. Cause eack stock is a piece of ownership in M$ and M$ has not relinquished anymore of its company to be bought in quite some time. Just saying.

[Perjoss]

MS stock is falling??

that's it, i'm never playing another game on the xbox360 ever again!

why didn't someone mention this sooner??

[Christopher]

Yes, no spinning a comparison that's about as hard to understand as comparing it to car sales.

Wii Fit has sold ~6.5m this year. Each of those comes with the Wii Fit balance board accessory. Does this not count in comparison to Kinect?

All this article is doing is taking the 'might be highest selling' articles and making it a definitive statement without any proof.

Of course, who here really cares about that when they just want to discuss the extremes. Either Kinect is the best thing ever or it sucks, there is no middle ground for some reason.

[Christopher]

Of course, we could also just read the article and see how far this site has slipped:

"According to data compiled by NPD, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling game console in November."

"The Xbox 360 had five of the 10 best-selling accessories on the month, with the Kinect landing at number one."

"Microsoft launched the Kinect on November 4, and had sold 2.5 million units by the end of the month – twice the initial selling rate of Apple’s (Nasdaq:AAPL) iPad. In just one month, the Kinect is already the top-selling accessory in terms of dollar sales on a year-to- date basis."

All this is is twisting the numbers to make your product look the best. Top-selling accessory in terms of dollar sales on a year-to-date basis? Well, yeah, especially when you're including the total dollar amounts of the accessory bundled with the console in that pricing.

I really hate how people use statistics in this industry. It should be illegal and they should just be forced to provide how much they've sold and not twisting the numbers to make them look better than practically any product out there that can compete.

And, no, it's not just Microsoft.

Sony claims largest percentage growth in software sales in October, when Microsoft still sold more software overall but had a drop in sales since the previous month was a massive gain due to the release of Halo: Reach.

Apple has constantly promoted that they're the best selling tablet device out there, yet they ignore the prime competitors comprised of netbooks which sell way more than the iPad.

I hope many of you really see what this type of news is doing, which is nothing good for the industry and everything bad for it. It's the misuse of information. It's an attempt to market a product all over again.

[UnwanteDreamz]

Thank you cgoodno!

The second of your comments is why I think it is stupid to play the sales game if you are into gaming. You can spin this stuff so many ways it seems to take focus off of what is important to gamers. Quality games and game systems. If you like something and it is selling well I'm not saying you can't think that is a good thing but why focus so much on it?

[gamingdroid]

@cgoodno

"Wii Fit has sold ~6.5m this year. Each of those comes with the Wii Fit balance board accessory. Does this not count in comparison to Kinect? "

Actually, Wii Fit has been on the market all year long while Kinect has been what 6-weeks? So yes, in terms of the headline it is incorrect. It should read "Kinect Sensor becomes the FASTEST selling accessory of 2010."

Keep in mind that these are amateur sites.

"I hope many of you really see what this type of news is doing, which is nothing good for the industry and everything bad for it. It's the misuse of information. It's an attempt to market a product all over again."

Statistics is just another way of marketing, because it all depends on what ruler you use for the comparison.

With that said, I think there is a place for statistics and analysis and make sure you do your own analysis and look at the source!

Skewed statistics affects all types of industry so I don't think it affects gaming more than other industries.

@UnwanteDreamz

"Quality games and game systems."

The problem with gaming now is that it is turning into basically Hollywood. Some of the game critics are now bashing popular games based on sale while promoting niche games.

It's no different than Academy Award Nominee/Winners. Most of the time, I don't really enjoy those movies and they put me to sleep. Hey it won all these awards right? It is a quality movie? Maybe for them, not for me.

I enjoy quality games and quality games to me are the likes of Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War, Ninja Gaiden, Call of Duty, Mini Ninja (believe it or not, I immensely enjoyed that game), Mario Party, Wii Sports, Kinect Sports, Starcraft 2, Splinter Cell, Alan Wake and the list goes on... i.e. games that are enjoyable! It doesn't have to have blood, shooting, racing or backed by a big budget.

[ct03]

<<Wii Fit has sold ~6.5m this year. Each of those comes with the Wii Fit balance board accessory. Does this not count in comparison to Kinect?>>

The NPD quote talked about "best selling accessory in terms of dollar revenue". How much is that Wii Fit balance board worth? Probably nowhere near the $150 that Kinect costs.

[Christopher]

***It should read "Kinect Sensor becomes the FASTEST selling accessory of 2010."***

Not this article. This article only says highest selling.

***With that said, I think there is a place for statistics and analysis and make sure you do your own analysis and look at the source!***

I think there's a place for statistics that aren't used solely as marketing ploys. Sales statistics definitely don't belong on N4G in this day and age. Just leads to more inane console comparisons.

***The NPD quote talked about "best selling accessory in terms of dollar revenue". How much is that Wii Fit balance board worth? Probably nowhere near the $150 that Kinect costs.***

Yeah, got that. Read my second post.

[gamingdroid]

"Not this article. This article only says highest selling."

What I meant was that if the article wanted to make such an article, that should be the title and content.

"I think there's a place for statistics that aren't used solely as marketing ploys. Sales statistics definitely don't belong on N4G in this day and age. Just leads to more inane console comparisons."

You are right, a place for statistics that aren't used solely as marketing ploy would be nice. Unfortunately, this site is a user voted site full of fanboys. You wouldn't expect anything else.

Also, admittedly I'm always curious enough to click on the link myself... so I got no-one else to blame!

[Christopher]

***Also, admittedly I'm always curious enough to click on the link myself... so I got no-one else to blame! ***

Hehe. Ditto.

[VINNIEPAZ]

"Meanwhile, in the real world MS stock keeps falling"

WOW A new fanboy low. LMMFAO, did the Sony fanboys really resort to STOCK insults?

L M M F A O sad....

[Koolno]

The new "low" is people searching for false "news" on non-gamers sites, just to say "Yesss we win...for once", they just forget the most important thing, like always : the game quality, the game variety.

"sales sales sales" (but only in america, because others country give them bad health...like their library)

[ReBurn]

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the statement. But it is pretty funny.

[LiL T]

Funy how the people disagreeing with Game-ur are the same people that use sales as a quality indicator.

[Elven6]

TheOldOne: An American site is reporting about this and citing an American organization (NPD), why should they disclaim it? It's clear enough as is that they are referring to American sales.

[Koolno]

[email protected] searching for useless adds on non-gamers sites to cry virtual victory...for a camera :)

xfanboyz are not gamers, just shareholders.

[jneul]

yes and sales == quality right?? btw all that cash will go to the 500m marketing of kinetc good luck payimg off that one!!

[green]

Not bad for a device that a certain group of people claimed will have the same faith as the 32X http://n4g.com/news/614676/...
http://n4g.com/news/617666/...
http://n4g.com/news/620565/...

[kneelb4zod]

Don't act like the ps move didn't get the same negative smear campaign and in kinect favor people still believe it's a better option than ps move.

[green]

"Don't act like the ps move didn't get the same negative smear campaign"

It did not.

For every negative Move article posted on N4G i can post 5-10 negative Kinect articles.

-Kinect is just an eyetoy
-Kinects only game is Ricochet
-Kinects price is too high
-Sony and Nintendo turned down Kinect tech so it wil fail
-Kinect lag is horrendous
-Kinect will never support hardcore games
-Nintendo owns the casuals
-Kinect is all smoke and mirrors
-Microsoft cant make hardware so it will fail like the Kin.

pls take your pic and i will find dozens of articles that fall under those categories and more that stated that Kinect will be a big flop.

If you even mentioned on this site that you were interested in Kinect, or that it will be a commercial success you will be hit with dozens of disagrees.

The only question marked raised about the MOVE was its similarity to the Wii controllers. But Sony worshipers claimed that SOny had been researching the tech 1st (as if Nintendo researched and developed the wii with its controllers a week to its unveiling) and since it was more accurate, will resonate better with wii audience who want a more compelling experience.

[kneelb4zod]

The reason why kinect got those articles is,because Microsoft for a gaming division seems untrustworthy,they bought there tech and sense it's unveiling haven't shown what is possible with it and that part about nintendo,up until is showing there wasn't to my knowledge any tech demos and the video below kind of show there lack of their research. If I'm wrong give me a bubble so I can explain what I mean.

[jneul]

@green sony was doing r&d on move well before nintendo ever invented wii, oddly enough when eyetoy came out http://www.youtube.com/watc... you ARE THE WORST PEOPLE WHO LOVE TO SPIN THINGS INTO YOUR WAY OF THINKING WHEN REALITY IS KINECT == A 3D EYETOY
AND MOVE IS EYE+WII COMBINED WITH INCREASED PRECISION, TRACKING AND AUGMENTED REALITY AND VIRTUAL REALITY.
Thing is this gen has proven one thing, people like to buy gimmicks which are viewed to be popular and seen as kinect has been on oprah and has a 500m marketing campaign, ms has managed to make it look popular, hence everyone falls for the same old tricks they fell for with wii, when kinect does hardcoe games like kz3 as well let me know, but for now it's all pew pew pew!!
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Koolno]

"For every negative Move article posted on N4G i can post 5-10 negative Kinect articles."

You just forget that the negatives news was the reality, the previews ! moive had 9/10 good ones, kinect the opposite...

only fanboyz forget the facts..

"it deserves the sales.
It's good it's selling this well. "

see, not gamers, only shareholder searching some kind of "victory" over the ps3 domination..pathetic :)

[Apotheosize]

500 million can do that

[Funky Town_TX]

I don't think they spent $500 million in one day. That could be the total budget for adds over a spand of set years. For most people to assume how they will split that $500 million is crazy.

[Christopher]

Seriously? People don't read the articles that mentioned the $500m?

http://www.nypost.com/p/new...

They specifically said the $500m was for the Holiday season, as a blitz attack on the market.

Similarly, there is $400m being used to market the WP7 at the same time. Which is nothing compared to the money they've been spending continually on Bing! advertisements.

This is standard for Microsoft. They always invest heavily in marketing. Very heavily.

Why? Because it works. Especially in the U.S. it seems.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

@cgoodno

Advertising works everywhere, not just in the US.

However, a lot of Europeans hate Americans, and thus would not buy a Microsoft product since many feel Microsoft is some kind of representation of Americanism. (RHE)

Also, the ads that MS would have in EU may not be the best for those cultures, since MS is based in the states, they may not know how to make an effective ad for EU and other parts of the world.

Whatever the case MS seems to do well in all English speaking nations, probably because their ads are better in English?

[Funky Town_TX]

After I picked it up I told a few or my friends / co-workers about it. The very next day they went out a picked up consoles and kinects. Thats about 6 people that I know of. I just hope dev take full advantage of all the capabilities.

[vanquisher]

Wow you must work in a very high paying job if your co-workers can just spend hundreds of dollars just like that.

[lelo2play]

With all the crap articles and fanboys rants against Kinect during the last year... it deserves the sales.
It's good it's selling this well.

[StitchJones]

$150 for a lame controller, the only thing cool about it is hacking it. The games for it are pretty horrible.

[Funky Town_TX]

support what you like but why should you care if Kinect sales if it's lame?

[Ame_No_Shiryuu]

well said man...

[TheDynamo]

America may not equal the World, but it SURE is close:

AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO GAMING - THE LARGEST GAMING MARKET IN THE WORLD

THE BIGGEST AND BEST AMERICAN DEVELOPERS
Naughty Dog
Insomniac
Rockstar
Sucker Punch
Epic Games
Infinity Ward
Treyarch
Bungie
Bethesda

THE TOP AMERICAN GAMING WEBSITES
IGN
Gametrailers
Gamespot
Kotaku
1UP
Gamespy
Joystiq

THE BIGGEST AMERICAN GAMES THIS GENERATION
Halo
Call of Duty
Grand Theft Auto
Gears of War
Uncharted
Resistance
The Elder Scrolls

THE BIGGEST AMERICAN PUBLISHERS
EA
Activision Blizzard
Microsoft
Take-Two
THQ
LucasArts

PS3's TOP RATED GAMES
Grand Theft Auto IV - AMERICAN
Uncharted 2 - AMERICAN
Little Big Planet - UK
Pac-Man Championship Edition - JPN
Red Dead Redemption - AMERICAN
Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 - AMERICAN
Call of Duty 4 - AMERICAN
Bioshock - AMERICAN
Street Fighter 4 - JPN
Metal Gear Solid 4 - JPN

So you see... Without us... AMERICA... You wouldn't have a leg to stand on. And your BELOVED Uncharted Series wouldn't even exist. WE RUN GAMING. Respect it.

And Kinect is INCREDIBLE. :-)

[0oAngeluso0]

Bubbles for you. I'm sure if PS3 were leading in the States most of these people would be fine with thinking and saying the States is everything. The fact of the matter is the USA buys the most consoles, games, accessories. Who wouldn't try to win the USA?

I believe that's why XBox does so well here. It's more American then the competition. I run a gaming clan/community that has both 360 and PS3 players and teams and the PS3 people in the clan/community are all weird, into some weird Anime and Japanese cartoon and comics, every single one of them.

Congratulations on Kinect BTW, I enjoy mine and am glad it wasn't the "next 32X" lol

[JUDALATION]

Weird??? Im American and you need to SHUT THE FUCK UP SON! Japanese anime is better that the crap on American tv (the housewives of atlanta or the Jersey shore to name a few) by a country mile... Bleach and FAiry tales are great no matter where you are from... I can understand that America is A very important country but that does not give us the right to be arrogant pricks like you!

[theIMP]

@JUDALATION
Wow you are calling him arrogant? If you came at me sideways like that in real life, I'd put your stupid ass on your back "SON!!!!!". I agree with your point, but you went about it the wrong way. You can't lump a whole country of people like that, but if that’s him experience then he's entitled to it. Calm yourself down man. It’s just the internet.

[LiL T]

@thedynamo
You should get a bottle of lube, it will be easier to remove your head from your.....
america is very small compared to the rest of the world, Just cause they think they are the best (LOL far from the truth) does not make it fact.

edit @ Angelus, some people find guys running arround in tights going after a oval ball weird HUH!

[EVO-OM3GA]

American is one of the largest countries in the world no one is saying it is the world but depending on the industry your in America matters if you wanna be a success and in Gaming America matters but no more or less than any other Major Countries that relates to gaming

[ActionBastard]

Kinect is incredibly over hyped. What are you playing, dancing or exercise?

And 9 US devs is hardly "WE RUN GAMING".

[EVO-OM3GA]

Kinect as everyone knows was to capture the Casual, the tech is early, why dont you wait till devs have had the tech for longer than what 2months and see what they can come out next year and the year after and the years to come..

9 Devs!
He Listed 9 we all know there is alot more than 9!

[TheDynamo]

If America ISN'T running Gaming, I would LOVE to hear your answer as to WHO IS. And for the record, as we ALL know, Japanese Gaming is dying a slow death.

So I ask you again...

If it's not THE GOOD OL' U. S. of A...

Who then?

I'll sit back and await your answer...

[ActionBastard]

@ TheDynamo
Who's running gaming? No one. Everyone is contributing. Japanese games sell all over, EU games sell all over, NA games sell all over. From your little list of 9 you forget about Konami, SEGA, Platinum Games, NINTENDO, Media Molecule, Quantic Dream, Square Enix, Tecmo, Team Ninja, Kojima Studios, Grasshopper, Namco, Mistwalker and on and fucking on. Step outside the little bubble you live in...there's a huge world out there.

@ EVO-OM3GA
2 months? You really think devs have only had the tech for 2 months? Wake up.

[TheDynamo]

@Action Bastard - You're only proving my point. AMERICA (the country that you're trying to downplay that you hate so much) has created the BIGGEST GAMES, the HIGHEST RATED games, and the BEST games.

And you answer back with random studios in random countries. And sorry, Japan may have been a force years ago, but they're not anymore.

AMERICA has the best collection of Developers that have created the BIGGEST franchises in ONE COUNTRY.

Deal with it.

It's true whether you accept it or not.

[ActionBastard]

USA created Mario Bros? Sonic? Ninja Gaiden? Ape Escape? Little Big Planet? No More Heroes? Final Fantasy? Gran Turismo? Metroid? You're so delusional it's made my day!

"AMERICA has the best collection of Developers that have created the BIGGEST franchises in ONE COUNTRY."

Is your last name Palin or Moron?

EDIT: Glad you love it, your helping make it easy. And I'm American you dipshit. "We Americans" LOL! I guess you missed the French dude demoing U3 on Fallon. You make me ashamed of my country.

[TheDynamo]

@Action Bastard - I love the constant name calling. Wonderful. It proves that even YOU don't believe what you're saying and even YOU are getting frustrated with the truth.

Read my original post.

It says, "THE BIGGEST GAMES THIS GENERATION".

But I guess a guy named "Action Bastard" can't be sought upon to read correctly. Not having a Father and all. :-)

America (and the West in General because Bioware is Canadian. By the way... Mass Effect 2 is GOTY) has taken over Gaming. And it KILLS YOU. I know. It hurts.

But enjoy Uncharted 3 next year.

We Americans worked hard on it for you.

We appreciate you singing our praises...

[UnwanteDreamz]

@Dynamo

Your comments are ignorant knee jerk reactions to some perceived slight. I would defend your right to be dumb but this takes the cake.

Name the best American made gaming consoles without mentioning the PC.

Name the top American made arcade games.

BTW most of the most popular games in the hisory of gaming aren't American games. There were like 4 decades of gaming before this one. I'm American too and your reaction to this is a little embarassing, not for me but for you.

[lordkemp007]

Dynamo Grand Theft Auto 4 was developed by Rockstar North in Scotland. ie UK.

Edit - Thanks for the reply Dynamo.

[TheDynamo]

@lordkemp - You are correct, Sir. But Rockstar Games originated in the US. And its Headquarters are in New York City. It's an American Company. But you are correct with GTA4...