Microsoft Beats Sony in Motion Control Battle-Royale 2010

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
0
0
Microsoft Beats Sony in Motion Control Battle-Royale 2010



Microsoft and Sony both released motion control systems in the last half of 2010 and it looks like Kinect sales swiped the Move.

Ever since Nintendo released the Wii in 2006 and proved that motion control systems were not only a gimmick but sold pretty dang well to boot, Sony and Microsoft began spinning their wheels to come up with competing schemes. Sony combined its Playstation Eye with special Move controllers to provide control of games while Microsoft threw its weight behind Kinect. Sony bundled Move with its PS3 console for $399, and standalone packs of the Move, Eye and Sports Champions retailed for $99. Microsoft's Kinect addon was pricier ($150), but the bundled console pack was the same price as Sony's. There have been some numbers of sales divulged by executives (At CES, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that he shipped 8 million Kinect units,) but videogame analyst Michael Pachter believes that Kinect outsold the Move almost 5 to 1.

"About one fifth of PS3 sales included bundles with Sony's Move controller, suggesting a modest third month," Pachter said, referring to December as the third month since the Move was released (September 17th, 2010.)

In contrast, Microsoft released Kinect on November 4th and sold extremely well throughout the holiday shopping season. "About half of Xbox 360 sales included bundles with Microsoft's Kinect peripheral, as Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles outsold PS3 Move console bundles by 5:1."

To add insult to injury, the top two bestselling Kinect titles sold 13 times more copies than the best two Move games, Pachter pointed out.

While I can't say that either of the two motion control systems are "better," I think that the possibilities of what game designers can do with Kinect are much more interesting. And as for which company "won," it's equally hard to say because by all accounts Microsoft spent a veritable buttload of cash developing the technology and marketing of Kinect.

I can't say that Sony dropped an equivalent amount of dough on Move, so any sales translates to more profit because of the lack of super-high overhead costs. I mean, those Kevin Butler ads can't cost that much.

Source: G4 [http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/709792/pachter-kinect-bundles-outsold-playstation-move-bundles-5-to-1.html]

Permalink
 

Chrono212

Fluttershy has a mean K:DR
May 19, 2009
1,846
0
0
I was in an HMV over the Christmas period in Piccadilly Circus and it had a notice outside saying 'Limited Supply of Xbox Kinect' which I was genuinely surprised at.

I have yet to use one but...it just looks [insert derogatory statement about motion controls here].
 
Jul 22, 2009
3,595
0
0
Yeah that makes sense.

Microsoft stuck a buttload of money behind marketing.
I find Kinects tech rather more impressive than Moves.
The 360 seems to have a slightly more casual feel to it over PS3. (Not to say it's a casual console in any way).
So Kinect hits the best of both worlds, hell I consider myself a 'hardcore' gamer but Kinect intrigues me and the games actually look like there was effort put into them (well... some of them).

Still I hope to see innovation from Sonys front too and I hope they don't resort to shovelware because of the relatively lacking sales.
 

Pendragon9

New member
Apr 26, 2009
1,968
0
0
I don't think so.

MS dropped 500 mil into advertising alone, which was a HUGE waste.

Besides, the games that came bundled with Kinect do NOT mean good games. This is the "Wii Sports" argument all over again.

I'm not defending one form of motion control to another, but to say Microsoft won is, well, a lie.

Besides, Kinect technology isn't all that impressive tbh. No more impressive than the MOVE at least.
 

Nooners

New member
Sep 27, 2009
805
0
0
I tried a Kinect at my younger cousin's house over Christmas. As a party game, it was actually quite fun, not gonna lie at all. The real trick will be seeing if it can do anything else.
 

Pendragon9

New member
Apr 26, 2009
1,968
0
0
Straying Bullet said:
Obvious Troll is obvious.
Easy on crying troll there. You seem to forget Kinect is based on the Power Glove and Virtual Boy combined, so they didn't innovate either.
 

V8 Ninja

New member
May 15, 2010
1,903
0
0
I'd like to see how many of the Kinect systems were bought by nerdy coders waiting to hack the hell out of the machine.
 

Rigs83

Elite Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,932
0
41
Nooners said:
I tried a Kinect at my younger cousin's house over Christmas. As a party game, it was actually quite fun, not gonna lie at all. The real trick will be seeing if it can do anything else.
First you have to hack it and then use it to control robots. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106976-Hacker-Preparing-Kinect-Controlled-Robot-Army]
 

Trogdor1138

New member
May 28, 2010
1,116
0
0
I actually have a Move since it was bundled with my PS3 and in my situation basically equated to getting it for free, it comes with Sports Champions. I was actually surprised that it works well and I've been having fun with Sports Champions, it had more features than I thought it would and is easy to use.

The only thing really wrong with it was the fact it was an obvious attempt at trying to drink some of Nintendo's milkshake, if it had of been released earlier I think it would be doing better, but it just feels like they're late to the party to the point where the music has stopped and everybody has passed out. Kinect doesn't really interest me, I don't like the idea of controller free gaming, but I would definitely try it out if a friend had one.

It's been a smart way to extend the consoles lifespan though, I'm glad they haven't rushed out consoles for a new generation, I can't believe it's been so long since the seventh gen hit us.
 

maddawg IAJI

I prefer the term "Zomguard"
Feb 12, 2009
7,840
0
0
Well obviously it would.

Microsoft spent a lot more money on advertising. It got to the point where you couldn't get through the day without seeing an AD for it and Move is essentially just like the Wii with much better graphics (But that is not necessarily a good thing)

I'm not a fan of Motion Control gaming, even the few games I own for the Wii avoid the motion control aspect of it. I think this may be a step back in gaming in my opinion, but I'll take Motion Controls over 3-D gaming any day of the week.
 

BrunDeign

New member
Feb 14, 2008
448
0
0
That thing about 8 million units shipped? Has nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to do with how many units were sold. It is definitely less than that. I'm trying to remember what the specific numbers are.

Also, where are the actually numbers? I'm seeing ratios and all that but no concrete numbers. Just word-of-mouth from Pachter.

And 26 is 13 times greater than 2, so the fact that the top two games sold 13 times better mean just about nothing. All four games could have sold like crap.

I'm just want more concrete numbers is all.
 

HentMas

The Loneliest Jedi
Apr 17, 2009
2,650
0
0
well, a big part of that is MOVE´s fault, the all anouncement on Move from the whole state of Morelos (here in México) was "not in stock" for 3 weeks before the christmas holidays

but tha damn kinect was EVERYWHERE, in the batroom, in the restaurant, in the clothes shop, that thing was available and at hand wherever you looked

its a shame how sony just dont cares about sales here in MX, while Microsoft is surely putting a lot of effort to please us.
 

Twilight.falls

New member
Jun 7, 2010
676
0
0
I can't say that I'm interested in any current Kinect titles.
I can say that I'm interested in future applications of the technology.

It's nice to see the Kinect perform well, it seems to be doing something fresh, unlike the Playstation Move's incredible similarity to the Wii.
 

Jesus Phish

New member
Jan 28, 2010
751
0
0
Pendragon9 said:
I don't think so.

MS dropped 500 mil into advertising alone, which was a HUGE waste.
How much did Sony spend and how much was both companies return on investment of advertising?

If the Kinect is outselling the Move and it's making its money back, then how was it a huge waste? I don't know for sure if it is making its money back, I'm just stating if it is making it, then it was not wasted.

AzrealMaximillion said:
Can we get a number of how many Kinects are actually used not by hackers?
Since most of the sales of kinect seem to be coming in the form of a bundle with an xbox, I'd say most kinects are being used for their intended purpose. Other than that, what does it matter if hackers are using kinects? They're still buying them. If anything it adds another reason to buy one, one that Microsoft doesnt seem to mind.

BrunDeign said:
That thing about 8 million units shipped? Has nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to do with how many units were sold. It is definitely less than that. I'm trying to remember what the specific numbers are.

Also, where are the actually numbers? I'm seeing ratios and all that but no concrete numbers. Just word-of-mouth from Pachter.

And 26 is 13 times greater than 2, so the fact that the top two games sold 13 times better mean just about nothing. All four games could have sold like crap.

I'm just want more concrete numbers is all.
Companies love hiding concrete numbers in favour of ones that look better. 8 million shipped sounds better than 1 million sold (a number I've made up)