So Kinect is the Next 32x huh? Not so much. Who's having humble pie?

Well now 25 day's into the life cycle of the Microsoft Kinect. The fancy, much talked about and apparently much loved add on for the XBox 360. I must admit I decided I wanted one during E3. While the kid's were squabbling here about "Who won E3" I secretly knew the answer, because you can only win something by making money off it.
Hand's down Microsoft is making money off everything they showed us at E3. Last year was a bit slow for Microsoft, so I knew they'd come out swinging and early on I almost guessed everything they'd do.

Steady release of exclusive games throughout the year.

Mass Effect
Crackdown 2
Metro 2033
Splinter Cell Conviction
Alan Wake
Ninety Nine Nights 2
Fable 3
Halo Reach

Redesigned Xbox 360 that is selling like hotcakes, improvements to the best online service around.

Kinects much anticipated launch and I wasn't disappointed, I went to the midnight launch here in Florida and there were around three hundred people there, everyone having a good time. I got Kinect Sports, Sonic Free Riders, Dance Central and Kinect joy Ride, it's a heck of a lot of fun online and offline with a beer and a few friends over.

Now I go back and think about all those "Kinect will fail" articles and the "Kinect is the new Sega 32x" comments and I have to ask. What now? 2.5 million and very likely looking to go on the way to the 5 million they wanted this year.Is that salt in the wound of a Sony Fanboy? I realize Move has "Sold" over 4 million, but to me and I know I'm not alone, are sketchy numbers because unlike Kinect, there isn't a way to track how many unique users bought Move. Sony counts each want, Nunchuk and PS Eye as a "Move" sale, so how can we tell? My best guess is by software, where as games like Kinect Sports and Dance Central have sold hundreds of thousands, the Move titles are around 20K and that's not much.

I'm not against Sony, or Nintendo, I own a Wii and PS3. The fact that I own a Wii is why I didn't buy a Move in the first place. Using a Wii Mote without Nintendo characters just seems wrong to be, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, so I am looking for those hundreds of N4G people who said Kinect would fail and not sell and flop and be the next Sega 32X. I want to know what you think?

Originally I warned people, Kinect would sell well, the reason being is that casual gamers outnumber core gamers by a large number. Kinect is new and fresh, Microsoft held off long enough before releasing it to build up interest and now they have a full head of steam.

See the difference between me and most of the fanboys here is, I own all the consoles, made an informed opinion as to why I like the 360 better, (Mostly comes down to XBL and more people) and don't try to make excuses. I said Move would probably do fair and it is, not great IMHO because like I said, hard to tell unique numbers but I'm sure Sony is a little disappointed.

Let's see who steps up and says "Wow, I'm surprised, well played Microsoft." I seriously doubt many will.

So here we go on to next year and the cycle of trash talk is sure to start again about how Sony will have more exclusives, like this past year, though most Sony exclusives got pushed to next year anyway. We'll hear how Microsoft has forgotten their "Core" gamers and how they have no games, almost a reverse of what we heard from 2006 to 2008 pretty much with Sony.

Just figured I'd throw this out there.

[The-Tentacle]

Wow, the Move sales figure are DEFINITELY hurting the xbox crowd. Even got this one doing the whole "I have all duh console so I couldn't possibly be biased" excuse to damage control.

How can you say Kinect is a success in one hand and Move, with it's superior sales, is only doing "fair" in the other? It's hypocritical and fanboyish, your whole blog reeks of the familiar hurt associated with psychological pain in the rectal area.

Kinect and Move have yet to prove themselves and claiming victory now is like mistaking a hurdle for the finish line.

Your last paragraph is right though. They will be saying that the xbox has less exclusives than the PS3 next year and you know why?

...Because ITS TRUE!

Keep on spinning though, careful not to get to dizzy or you might fall over.

[0oAngeluso0]

I said Move was doing fair because it's a fact that 4.1 million unique users don't have Move. People bought two wands and probably at least a single nun chuk attachment. If you look at the game sales for Move, there really bad.

As for the Exclusives thing, didn't we hear the same thing this year? How Sony was going to have sooooo many more exclusives and in the end, Microsoft actually had more. Seeing as how Microsoft actually tends to keep their games under wraps, I'll wait and see what next year holds, but no doubt Gears 3 is the biggest game of the year on any console.

It's not a Blog based on Move sales however, you seem to have missed the point. It's a Blog on Kinect sales and how all the PS3 fanboys cant admit when something is a success. I'm sure you were probably one of the ones calling it the next Sega 32X or said it wont sell at $150. Thought so kiddo.

[ZombieAssassin]

Did you just say Gears 3 will be the biggest game of the year on any console??? I guess they aren't releasing a CoD next year huh? Don't get me wrong i love Gears (infact its the only reason i still own an xbox) but it won't be the biggest game of next year, maybe biggest exclusive but not the biggest.

To get ontopic with your blog, to be honest most of the Sony fanboys said kinect would sell really well out the gate mainly due to a $500 million dollar advertising campaign, don't get me wrong SOME said it would be the next 32x but not that many you just remember it that way because it most likely hurt you to see someone say that.

I've seen some of your comments too and your what most like to call bias, so i'm sure your one of the people that thought Move would be a flop (hell i did since it had basically no advertising) but now that it didn't you have to write an article about how kinect didn't.

Also if you wan't to get techinical ME2, Metro 2033, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Fable 3 aren't really exclusives as they are all on PC..sure they aren't on a playstation product but still they aren't exclusive since they can be played on something other than an Xbox 360.

[Statix]

When Microsoft spends HALF OF A BILLION dollars on marketing and hype for this gimmicky, useless piece of crap, would it even be considered a "victory" for it to sell decently, let alone outsell the PS Move? The PS Move released to much less marketing hype and budget, so you kind of expect it to not do as well.

So Microsoft basically paid the public to buy Kinect, and a couple million people bought into it. Big effing deal; now let's see Kinect completely tank and fade into memory next year when the Microsoft-manufactured hype train completely dies down.

R.I.P. Kinect, 2010-2011.

[darthv72]

I actually liked the 32x so don't hold that against me. There have been a multitude of failed add-ons in generations past. They failed not due to sales but support. Although...I guess that ties in with sales so....

32x is a good example of a failed add-on. Sega was stupid to release it but hey. Some of the games are worth quite a bit due to its failed nature. Some would even argue that segacd was a failure yet there are over 100 titles for it. Not so much a failure from the stand point of games but from penetration in the user base of the genesis system.

Nintendo had some failed add-ons as well (ugh power glove to name the obvious) as did Atari and NEC and even Sony. Every console company comes up with ideas "after the fact" and try to get them out to consumers either to entice new customers or keep the ones they have happy until the next big thing. That is typical business.

When it comes to something that changes the way games are played. That is a different category than the typical add-on. A good example would be analog controls which Sony released after their PS1 had been on the market already. We know this was a response to Nintendo having the stick on the N64 and even Sega had an analog controller as well.

Sony knew that to get more people to puchase this "new" controller was to get support for it to be as full force as they could. Basically making it no longer choice but a requirement. Packing it in with every new system sold and even making it the de facto std for their next system(s).

We can speculate as to what the future holds for kinect. Like sega cd changed the way sega made games from that point forward (saturn/dreamcast) kinect could change the way games are played on a "MS" console. Notice how I didnt say gaming in general.

I can see MS putting more support into Kinect than Sony would for Move. The tired argument of the kinect is an eyetoy can be answered by looking at what sony has done with the eyetoy. It failed due to support. PSEYE was no better until they came out with Move. I would not expect to see a flood of straight up PSEYE games coming now that Move is out. Thus, the PSEYE is a failure WITHOUT Move.

Kinect...not so much. It may be the de facto interface for the next console.

Oh and no need to be jealous about MS and their deep pockets. Sony can afford to do the same, they just dont want to because they are relying to much on the PS brand now. It doesnt have the weight it did anymore and it shows.

[Parapraxis]

"Sony can afford to do the same, they just dont want to because they are relying to much on the PS brand now. It doesnt have the weight it did anymore and it shows. "

That statement make no sense.

[Vherostar]

"sketchy numbers because unlike Kinect, there isn't a way to track how many unique users bought Move"

Tehre isnt a way to track how many unique people bought Kinect either! How you think they would do that exactly?? I am with you on the fact Kinect is doing better than the ps3 fanboys say but trust me those 2.5 are amount sold to stores as are Sonys 4.1 million. People have to stop listening to twists.. It is IMPOSSIBLE to track actual sales all the companys can do is track the amount the sold to stores. The reason? Stores don't report to Sony/MS/ whoever with the numbers of that product sold every week. Anybody who's worked in retail will know this.

And 4 of your exclusives weren't exclusives BTW... Just stating before the fanboys rip you.. (mass effect, Splinter cell, Metro 2033 and Fable 3)
I am not gonna comment on the fanboy comments you made like Sony being disappointed at move numbers I just thought I would put you right.

[tigertom53]

the best way would be to track the camera sales

[Convas]

Errr, but dude, we have two upcoming ANNOUNCED exclusives coming up. Two. Gears of War 3 and Codename: Kingdoms. The "Competition" has over ten. Even if only six PS3 exclusives come out next year, it'll still be more than just one on our console.

I mean, if you're good with Kinect then, you know that's cool and all, but I'm not, and apparently, most Core Xbox gamers aren't either.

On the one hand, I laugh at the idiots who say 360 only folk have no games to play (This is politically incorrect, we have VERY few EXCLUSIVES to play), because we all know that multiplats no longer exist ... and account for more than 60% of most gamers collections.

But on the other hand, I can't help but shake my head at the guys who say that having Core exclusives, not the stuff casuals will go for like Dance Central or Kinect Sports, no I'm talking about CORE games like Splinter Cell, Halo, Gears, Alan Wake, those types of game, suddenly aren't as important any more. The 360 is real light on those, and unless that changes between now and E3 2011, it'll all but confirm that the 360 is dead for Core gamers that support Console Exclusives.

So I wouldn't celebrate. This could be the beginning of the end for us.

[0oAngeluso0]

2 exclusives? So because Microsoft is better at keeping some games secret it means they wont have more? We already know Gears 3, Kingdoms, Forza 4 and probably either Halo Wars 2 or Halo Ce remake in HD and off the Reach Engine. Also, I wouldn't count out a Perfect Dark game or something else along those lines. Remember, everyone said PS3 would have more exclusives THIS YEAR and failed to deliver.

I am happy with My Kinect and enjoy it, I hope there are more games next year and I hope they expand on it, but I'm not one of those idiot's who believes Microsoft has abandoned the people who bought 45 million consoles. We will continue to see some quality games. Actually overall, the 360 has more exclusives in it's library then the PS3. Some I haven't even played yet, I have about 15-20 titles I've bought but yet to play, ie Dead Or Alive, Nuts and bolts, Ninety Nine Nights 1 & 2, Crackdown 2, Fable 3 ect... I just haven't had time to play them.
Also, there is already another Splinter Cell game in development, they are clearly working on Alan Wake 2, Cliffy B has hinted at some new info, possibly a Kinect Gears, maybe Gears of War specifically made for Kinect.

That all being said, this Blog was more about the people who said Kinect would fail and fail badly, just wondering if they are going to sack up and eat some crow!

[TheBlackSmoke]

"That all being said, this Blog was more about the people who said Kinect would fail and fail badly"

Then you have wasted your time as I don't recall anybody saying that it wouldn't sell.

The argument against it has always been that MS lied about what it was capable of in terms of offering for the hardcore audience.

Many people said that it could only do casual and now that's its here it hasn't proven anybody wrong.

If you enjoy dancing and fitness games immensely then by all means Kinect is for you, otherwise stop talking about it because Nobody is envious of this product.

As for M$ keeping exclusives secret, I think its safe to say they don't have much for next year. All you have to look at is the small number of first party studios and the fact that most of them put out a game this year already and with PS3's install base pretty much level it will be hard for MS to convince 3rd party's for exclusive games now unless of course they are of low calibur.

[Tron_Rocks]

We could also say that 80% of the multiplatform games look and play better on the 360.

I too have a Kinect, my 4 kids, my Wife and I enjoy it quite a bit and are already hungry for more games from it. That being said I also own a PS3 and I am sure at some point there will be a Move in the family as well.

I and my son are hardcore gamers as well, it is moronic and stupid to assume that hardcore gamers (MANY MANY) of them aren't just plain gamers and can enjoy what Kinect has to offer.

[EskiJoe]

I didn't say kinect would fail, but since i'm bored i'll type something and give my impression of kinect.

My opinion, it's cool but alot of the things you could do without the infrared camera. The coolest things i've seen from kinect are from the open drivers running on the computer... specifically the one where the 3d sensing image is overlayed with regular image and the whole thing is replicated inside a program...

The things I see for kinect on xbox is that it would allow for easier tracking of bodyparts that are moving in parallel to the viewing angle because of the extra dimensional recognition. Though I would suspect such a thing could be replicated on another system, using a regular camera albeit it most likely would be more prone to errors.

Summary for ppl who don't wanna read the whole thing: kinect on xbox - meh/nice... kinect on computer - cool.

Last thing to Angelus, good for you, warning people that kinect would sell! lol

[blackburn5]

I would like to say to all Kinect defenders to stop talking nonsense please. Ever since Move has come out you have said many things that make no sense including Kinect is better because it is "different", Kinect has gotten better scores then move has, Kinect games are better because they are built from the ground up and the fact that Move can be integrated into third party games is not an advantage. Now your here again with the nonsense that Kinect sells better because one person can buy 4 Move wands and that buying one Kinect is better.What are you taking about? Doesn't the fact that one person would buy 4 Move wands show how good it is? And even if one person buys 4 wands doesn't that still count as 4 Moves sold? And how does everyone know that the 4 move wands are for that person alone and not to give to 4 different people?

And to set people straight we never said that Kinect wouldn't sell. We said that it would be a limited retro system that is only of kids and not core gamers. And we were right. The only games that actually work or are worth having is DC and KS. When you check the scores of the other games that aren't mini games or dance games they have gotten score that are equal to or even lower then the Move games and even the mini games get low scores e.g. Motion Sports and Deca Sports.Look what happened when they tried to integrate it into a HP and Sonic Riders game. It didn't even help them get a higher score, it actually lowered the score of the games and it wasn't even because the games were especially bad but crappy Kinect controls that dragged them down.so I don't know why you bothered to write this blog for. Kinect is exactly what I and everyone else said it was, a retro, limited kids toy that no core gamer would take seriously. Sorry.

[Z501]

I never said it wouldn't sell either.

[Parapraxis]

It would have been very weird if it didn't.

[tplarkin7]

The 4.1 million number was "shipped", not "sold". Patcher thinks that about 2.5 million Moves were sold (mostly in Japan). Sony refused to comment on sales which makes me think they sold less.

Launches usually sell high numbers due to the hardcore. We'll know the victor in a couple of months. My guess is that Move sales will take a hard dive.

[HolyOrangeCows]

"The 4.1 million number was "shipped", not "sold". Patcher thinks that about 2.5 million Moves were sold"

Then what is Pachter lying about? Sony creating a false demand by holding out on shipping Moves, or PS Move "only" selling 2.5 out of 4 million?

[tigertom53]

all I know is it doesn't matter how many is shipped or sold because the software sales on the Move are bad compared to Kinects software sales, I think we can all agree on that because number don't lie. other then that a bunch of fan boy conspiracy theories. lol =o)

[maverick40]

What was the point of this seriously?Are you that insecure?

[Mikey Mike]

Blah blah blah......move and konnect are both gimmicks. Wii did it first, and to be honest, it's all point and click interaction no matter how these companies market these silly devices.