Walmart Unveils $200 Kinect Bundle

[Andy Chalk]

Walmart Unveils $200 Kinect Bundle

In the latest sign that Microsoft's Kinect will clock in around the $150 mark, Walmart has begun advertising a Kinect bundle [http://www.walmart.com/ip/Project-Natal-Bundle-w-Choice-of-Game-Xbox-360/14665155] with a game and a gift card for $199.

Microsoft [http://www.microsoft.com] still hasn't committed itself to a price for Kinect, the motion controller for the Xbox 360, but that rumored $150 figure just won't go away. The latest pointed finger is an advertisement from Walmart offering a Kinect bundle for $199. For a couple of bills, you get the Kinect hardware, a Kinect-enabled game and a $30 gift card. The ad features Kinect Sports, but apparently the list of games available in the bundle is not yet complete.

Kinect pricing remains a touchy issue because while Microsoft refuses to carve any stone, observers have expressed concern that the oft-reported $149 price tag could hinder widespread adoption. Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald said in June [http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/kinectsports/news.html?sid=6267854] that the projected high price point of Kinect is a "big risk," while Activision COO Thomas Tippl noted that his company was "concerned about how the price drives a lot of the outcome of how big an install base there's going to be."

"We'll have to see how much of an install base they're going to develop," he said [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101583-Activision-Concerned-About-Kinect-and-Move]. "A lot of that will depend on the price point they choose."

It's also interesting to note that Walmart has Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Dance Central and Kinect Joyride also available for pre-order and all listed at $60 - the same price as Madden NFL 11 [http://www.walmart.com/ip/NCAA-11-w-Bonus-10-Walmart.com-eGift-Card-PS3/14282505] for the PS3, which also comes with a $20 gift card. Sure do hope Microsoft is still tweaking those numbers.

Source: Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/07/walmarts-200-kinect-bundle-hardware-30-gift-card-game.ars]


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[L4hlborg]

Can't you get a Wii for almost the same price? Does Microsoft actually think that people will buy a rip off of something, for almost the same price and having less publicity among the casual audience that they are aiming at? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

So its looking like about £200 when it's launched in the UK then. Well done selling loads at that price.

The way I see it, normally they sell the consoles at a loss then make money on the software right? Why not do the same here? (maybe they already are, but I can't help but still see as Eyetoy HD )

After all, I can't see Kinect games taking $50 million to produce, so they should be easy profit.

 

[Captainguy42]

I'm probably not going to buy this until I see some real games for it, not just this first party shovel ware templete stuff.

Does anyone know what's the lineup for this thing so far?

 

[vallorn]

good job selling an addon at the price i can get a used PS3 for (i know places, okay) Thats gonna sell tons of units [/sarcasm]

 

[vallorn]

I'm probably not going to buy this until I see some real games for it, not just this first party shovel ware templete stuff.

Does anyone know what's the lineup for this thing so far?

all ive seen is shovelware and an on rails StarWars game. its all So interesting.

 

[Jared]

Ive seen GAME, here in the UK showing siilar bundles and offers...still, its way too expensive, and way too...gimmicky

 

[Danpascooch]

Can't you get a Wii for almost the same price? Does Microsoft actually think that people will buy a rip off of something, for almost the same price and having less publicity among the casual audience that they are aiming at? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

Oh it's worse than that, you see, not only is that $200, you have to already have a 360

So people would be paying for the same price as the wii to not even get a console.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Great! An already overpriced peripheral, packaged with another overpriced arcade game!

 

[vallorn]

Can't you get a Wii for almost the same price? Does Microsoft actually think that people will buy a rip off of something, for almost the same price and having less publicity among the casual audience that they are aiming at? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

Oh it's worse than that, you see, not only is that $200, you have to already have a 360

So people would be paying for the same price as the wii to not even get a console.

or a controller

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

that is sad because this has a lot of potential....actually I would be more interested in kinect as an enchanced reality UI controller than as a game controller

with some goggles and kinect you too can pretend you are tom cruise in minority report

 

[Wakefield]

This is stupid. For a little bit more I could own a Wii and it comes with a game.

With this I would need to buy Kinect and and xbox (even if bought together its still more expensive)

Why would I do this?

 

[LightspeedJack]

It will be kind of fun to watch M$ fail so badly. Maybe they will learn from this.

 

[dochmbi]

It will be kind of fun to watch M$ fail so badly. Maybe they will learn from this.

Yeah I'm hoping Kinect will be a complete commercial failure, it would be glorious.

 

[Dexiro]

They're just making the Move bundle look awfully cheap, and you get 3 lots of hardware in that.

My friend bought a used PS3 with a game the other day for the same price, and i'm pretty sure you can get a Wii for less.

Good luck M$!

 

[thethingthatlurks]

So 1 game and a $30 gift card and natal for $200. Doesn't really look like that good of a deal to me...
Now that I think about it, $200 will buy me ~4000 hours of entertainment on Steam, so I'll pass on this...

 

[VanityGirl]

Why does it seem like my Move and Kinect are getting further and further away from me?

There's no way I can afford the $150 Kinect and goodnes knows how much the Move will cost me in total. >_<"

 

[molesgallus]

Can't you get a Wii for almost the same price? Does Microsoft actually think that people will buy a rip off of something, for almost the same price and having less publicity among the casual audience that they are aiming at? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

It's not a rip-off. Playstaion Move is a rip-off. Kinect is, at worst, achieving a similar goal.

 

[L4hlborg]

Can't you get a Wii for almost the same price? Does Microsoft actually think that people will buy a rip off of something, for almost the same price and having less publicity among the casual audience that they are aiming at? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.

It's not a rip-off. Playstaion Move is a rip-off. Kinect is, at worst, achieving a similar goal.

Ok, the Kinect itself may not be a rip-off, but pretty much all the games being published on it are. And since people probably want to actually play a game with it, you will end up with a similiar experience than you would on the Wii.