Microsoft's Kinect has sold 10 million devices worldwide to date and 10 million Kinect retail games to date, the company says.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this makes Kinect the "fastest-selling consumer electronics device," moving an average 133,333 units per day to create 8 million units sold in the device's first 60 days on shelves.
Microsoft calls the sales figures "an overwhelming success," and points to more to come for the device in the future, including Kinect-enabled Netflix and Hulu Plus on the Xbox 360 -- users can use gesture and voice to navigate those service offerings.
When Microsoft revealed in January that it had shipped 8 million Kinect hardware units, it announced the "Avatar Kinect" chat service, which it says will also arrive this year.
Although the company didn't offer specific dates for those services, it also points to Ubisoft's Kinect-enabled version of Michael Jackson: The Experience reaching the Xbox 360 on April 12. Dance games have proven to be the most popular genre thus far for the device.
Microsoft will also launch Twisted Pixel's The Gunstringer, THQ's Kung Fu Panda 2, 2K Play's Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do and Double Fine-developed Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster over the months ahead.
Christian -leave it to you to find the negative for MS in that story. Don't forget that it did come with a game. At least you can take solace in all of the good news lately about the Wii.
No kidding that was my first thought. Seriously, an attach rate of one. ONE? That's a complete disaster for Microsoft. There's no way developers can make money from this thing.
Joe McGinn said: "No kidding that was my first thought. Seriously, an attach rate of one. ONE? That's a complete disaster for Microsoft. There's no way developers can make money from this thing. "
Do you have numbers that we can compare to? For a product that has been out nearly 4 months, is the attach rate expected to be much higher? I'm wondering how new consoles fared 4 months into their life.
If I were to guess new machines would have a tie in of 2 or so, which could be in line with this when you consider that the unit came bundled with a game.
I would be interested in knowing which games the early adopters actually bought... I think the only interesting title on Kinect thus far is Body and Brain Connection, with research by Dr. Kawashima. Even then, that game's developers did not strive to delve too far beyond the efforts already done on the Nintendo DS. I think everything else is either shovelware or child's play.
Granted, you need pioneers to demonstrate the technology... but it really is amazing how their marketing push could successfully convince so many consumers to buy a $100+ peripheral almost 6 years into the life of a console, crucial to prolonging it's lifespan... that tactic has rarely been successful until now.
Don't be mistaken- the current generation's longevity is not the key factor to Kinect's success. Even the Wii repeated history with the Motionplus peripheral- it never took off, despite a good tech demo. There must be something about webcam controls that entices casual players... Playstation 2 and 3's Eye, both similar in core function to Kinect, have sold millions; most of their games are similar in nature to Kinect's launch lineup. However... they were not meant to be the focal point of longevity in their host systems... and sold for less than $100.
Nevertheless, there are definitely some interesting upcoming titles for Kinect:
Child of Eden, by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Q Entertainment
Codename D, by Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture
Project Draco, by Yukio Futatsugi and Grounding Inc.
Rise of Nightmares, by Sega
Ironic, isn't it? All the really interesting upcoming games are Japanese, not American.
"Christian -leave it to you to find the negative for MS in that story. Don't forget that it did come with a game. At least you can take solace in all of the good news lately about the Wii. "
It has nothing to do with trying to find the negative for MS in that story. MS itself said, they see Kinect as a console launch and so it is necessary to compare it with one. If you look at the PS3/Wiis console launch, which was in december 2006 (while Kinect launched in november 2010) and compare the attach rate of these consoles with the Kinect attach rate a few months later, you will get the following numbers:
February 2007 (3 months on the market) PS3 3.4
Febrauary 2007 (3 months on the market) Wii 3.6
February March 2011 (4 months on the market) Kinect 1
I've read that Harmonix's Dance Central is the best launch game. I watched the video footage of it, too. The game seems to make good use of the hardware- previous Rhythm genre titles on the Playstation Eye and "floor mat controllers" used unrealistic "static movements", as in the case of DDR. On the surface, it looks like a great game.
All the glitz doesn't hide the fact that on the inside, Dance Central is just a copy/paste of Harmonix's previous titles. The player follows the on-screen instructions, and must perform actions EXACTLY as the game dictates while ignoring the game's atmosphere, similar to the flashy but unexpectedly rigid Rock Band and Guitar Hero systems. The player cannot create their own dances, cannot participate in multiplayer, and cannot even match an on-screen avatar representing their performance compared to the AI characters. I've also read that the game doesn't truly track movements to an exact 1:1 ratio, much like the Wii Motionplus and Playstation Move come close, but have limiting quirks.
I'm sure the game sold well, but it's design and purpose is not unique in any way. It just takes advantage of newer hardware to APPEAR different and new. At least the sequel is promised to remedy these fallacies. But even if it does, the core design might not be any different.
One thing people need to know when buying this is that you can't expect much support. When the install base of the balance board was being tracked back in 2009 it was close to world wide PS3 install base. The device did not get much support though. Their may be about 50 games that support it in about 7 genres, so it is not because the device is limited to just fitness games.
Kinect has a wider range of uses but it still stands that add ons do not get a lot of support from third parties. The reason is the add on has a lot smaller userbase than the console. It is not worth the cost to support it or even make a game that only uses it in most cases.
I think they make money on these units. But I do agree that lots of people are buying these with no plans of plugging them into a 360.
I look at this like the early days of the DS, where no one was really sure how the software would shape up. I think developers will find cool things to do with it, and the attach rate will rise.
"But I do agree that lots of people are buying these with no plans of plugging them into a 360."
I've sold maybe 60 Kinect devices and bundles myself, none of them to programming enthusiasts yet. Sure, some could have slipped by me while I was working, but given the nature of my position that isn't very likely.
I'm sure there are many people excited about hooking up a Kinect to their PC, but there is no way to accurately judge that other than by asking sales staff at retail outlets. And through my experience, the claim that most people (heck, even claiming that 1/10) are buying the Kinect for other purposes is a stretch.
1) I believe they lose money on the hardware, or break-even at best.
2) Without people buying games, no 3rd parties will make them = device slowly dies.
Kinect just has the same problem the Wii does, some games are a good match, some games aren't.
Do you have numbers that we can compare to? For a product that has been out nearly 4 months, is the attach rate expected to be much higher? I'm wondering how new consoles fared 4 months into their life.
If I were to guess new machines would have a tie in of 2 or so, which could be in line with this when you consider that the unit came bundled with a game.
Now they need to keep their momentum up and release some great games to keep shoppers buying them.
I have had a chance to play it recently with 4 titles, and it was fun but not worth $150 to me yet.
Granted, you need pioneers to demonstrate the technology... but it really is amazing how their marketing push could successfully convince so many consumers to buy a $100+ peripheral almost 6 years into the life of a console, crucial to prolonging it's lifespan... that tactic has rarely been successful until now.
Don't be mistaken- the current generation's longevity is not the key factor to Kinect's success. Even the Wii repeated history with the Motionplus peripheral- it never took off, despite a good tech demo. There must be something about webcam controls that entices casual players... Playstation 2 and 3's Eye, both similar in core function to Kinect, have sold millions; most of their games are similar in nature to Kinect's launch lineup. However... they were not meant to be the focal point of longevity in their host systems... and sold for less than $100.
Nevertheless, there are definitely some interesting upcoming titles for Kinect:
Child of Eden, by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Q Entertainment
Codename D, by Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture
Project Draco, by Yukio Futatsugi and Grounding Inc.
Rise of Nightmares, by Sega
Ironic, isn't it? All the really interesting upcoming games are Japanese, not American.
It has nothing to do with trying to find the negative for MS in that story. MS itself said, they see Kinect as a console launch and so it is necessary to compare it with one. If you look at the PS3/Wiis console launch, which was in december 2006 (while Kinect launched in november 2010) and compare the attach rate of these consoles with the Kinect attach rate a few months later, you will get the following numbers:
February 2007 (3 months on the market) PS3 3.4
Febrauary 2007 (3 months on the market) Wii 3.6
February March 2011 (4 months on the market) Kinect 1
http://n4g.com/news/30100/ps3-attach-rate-up-to-3-4-wii-attach-rate-u p-to-3-6
If this was a console launch, like MS said, the attach rate was low.
All the glitz doesn't hide the fact that on the inside, Dance Central is just a copy/paste of Harmonix's previous titles. The player follows the on-screen instructions, and must perform actions EXACTLY as the game dictates while ignoring the game's atmosphere, similar to the flashy but unexpectedly rigid Rock Band and Guitar Hero systems. The player cannot create their own dances, cannot participate in multiplayer, and cannot even match an on-screen avatar representing their performance compared to the AI characters. I've also read that the game doesn't truly track movements to an exact 1:1 ratio, much like the Wii Motionplus and Playstation Move come close, but have limiting quirks.
I'm sure the game sold well, but it's design and purpose is not unique in any way. It just takes advantage of newer hardware to APPEAR different and new. At least the sequel is promised to remedy these fallacies. But even if it does, the core design might not be any different.
http://kotaku.com/#!5617276/how-multiplayer-kinect-dancing-works
http://123kinect.com/dance-central-2-features-possible/
I think it's possible that Harmonix was rushed to complete Dance Central, so they could not implement all the features they wanted.
- XBox 430 attach rate at launch was 4
- PS3 was 1.5 (criticized for being alarmingly low)
Kinect has a wider range of uses but it still stands that add ons do not get a lot of support from third parties. The reason is the add on has a lot smaller userbase than the console. It is not worth the cost to support it or even make a game that only uses it in most cases.
Still it is great for MS that it is doing well.
I look at this like the early days of the DS, where no one was really sure how the software would shape up. I think developers will find cool things to do with it, and the attach rate will rise.
I've sold maybe 60 Kinect devices and bundles myself, none of them to programming enthusiasts yet. Sure, some could have slipped by me while I was working, but given the nature of my position that isn't very likely.
I'm sure there are many people excited about hooking up a Kinect to their PC, but there is no way to accurately judge that other than by asking sales staff at retail outlets. And through my experience, the claim that most people (heck, even claiming that 1/10) are buying the Kinect for other purposes is a stretch.