Microsoft: Kinect Is Like Super Mario Bros.

[Skops]

At some point, Microsoft, just let the product try to SELL ITSELF. The more you jump in and defend it, point fingers elsewhere, and making more and more pointless comparisons (like kinect to SMB) the more ppl will question it.

 

[Baby Tea]

A) It ignore their core customer base, which is far from casual, which means this new base needs to buy its way in from the ground floor with a new console AND Kinect.

Not entirely true.
They are trying to get more people interested in the 360, but they've said that from the console's launch: They want the 360 to be the center of entertainment in the house, for everyone in the house.

I just had this conversation with another user here. Think baout this: There are 30 million 360s in the hands of consumers. How many of those have kids who don't really game? Or parents? Or siblings? Or spouses? Or nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends? I, for example, have a wife who doesn't game, a bunch of non-gamers friends, my nieces and nephews, and my sisters and parents. I will absolutely be buying a Kinect. Not because I want to play it along in my house (Though I might), but because now I can enjoy my favourite past-time with people who normally wouldn't know the first thing about how the 10 button, two analog stick controller works.

Microsoft isn't merely targeting the 'casual' audience, they are targeting existing 360 owners who are in a situation like me. And out of the 30 million 360 owners out there, I can bet that it's a huge number.

Not only that but they are targeting people who haven't bought any console, but have a diverse household. If parents have a teen who wants a 360 for Christmas or something, but they have their 5 year old and 7 year old to think about, then which would they pick? The teen wants to play Halo or COD with his friends online, and the parents want something appropriate for their two younger kids. I'd say go with the 360, now that Kinect is coming. They'll be something for everyone, and that's what Microsoft is going for.

B) It means going toe to toe with Nintendo who own and have owned that market share, but with no real backdoor to the strategy. Can Kinect do more indepth gameplay then, well, what we got out of the Eyetoy's games? If not, Wii wins there as well; it can do rail shooters, platform games, racing titles, sports titles, fighting games, RPGs...

First, again, the Kinect isn't competing with existing Wii owners. At least, I don't think it's meant to. I don't think Microsoft is that naive to think that the 70 million Wii owners are going to drop the Wii and rush out to get 360s. That's silly. But it's equally as silly to think that there are no more 'casual' gamers out there. I know a pile of them who don't own a Wii. My best friend owns a Wii, and he's borrowing his brother's 360 for a while. His wife likes the Wii, and he likes the 360. Now that is a situation where Kinect could over-take the Wii. I know he'd love the idea of just one console, rather then two.

And that second part of your post is filled with some pretty big speculation: Can Kinect do this? If not then...

Have you played it? I've read a pile of 'previews' online from people who have played it. Every single one said it was fun to play. There were issues, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this thing will cure cancer. But not one said it wasn't fun. Isn't that the important part, here?

Let's be honest: When the Wii first came out, I can't think of one gamer, who wasn't a Nintendo fanboy, who was not skeptical about the Wii's controls. Across the internet people cried 'gimmick!' and Nintendo shut them all up with a fun console that outsold the other big 2...by a massive amount. There was shovelware, certainly, but there also were/are some great games. We all thought it would tank, but it blew the markets away. And now, here we have Kinect, looking to step in and bring the 360 to a wider audience, and people are saying the same thing.

My biggest issue with all the Kinect bashing, is that people want it to die. Not just that they won't buy it, but that they want it gone forever. That makes no sense to me. As soon as something doesn't appeal to the 'core' crowd, it should be thrown out? I've told a bunch of people about Kinect, a bunch of non-gamers, and every single one thought it would be fun to play. Kinect is successful interesting people, at the very least, in the notion of playing video games. People who would have wrote it off before. The more people playing games, means less bad stigma about what gaming and gamers are like. I, for one, would think that's a good thing.

 

[OmegaXIII]

I'll believe it when i see it.

 

[Jared]

Wow, well there is an admission...Have to wait and see is what they say will come true but, I doubt it somewhat, at all

 

[Eviljesse]

I can't stand Microsoft.

I find it very hard to find anything I'm interested in for the consoles now. I used to be able to at least count on Sony and the Playstation series for some good RPG and adventure games, but now since everyone's dad, mom, sister, brother, grand parents, and dog are playing all these stupid motion games for the Wii, even Sony wants in on the action. I understand everyone wants money....and lots of it, but what about the rest of us that hate these stupid motion controled games. It seems now we must turn to the PC for those sort of games and even this is dificult because developers are making less and less for the PC due to pirates.
My solution to this problem, burn all the motion controled games and don't buy stuff from pirates.

My hate for Microsoft only grows. Think of what they have given us. Windows Vista...uggggh, the red ring of death Xbox 360.....more uggggh, most everything required to run on windows....big ugggggggghhhhhh, and now this. Thanks Microsoft, thanks for being a giant douche.

 

[Eviljesse]

Let's be honest: When the Wii first came out, I can't think of one gamer, who wasn't a Nintendo fanboy, who was not skeptical about the Wii's controls. Across the internet people cried 'gimmick!' and Nintendo shut them all up with a fun console that outsold the other big 2...by a massive amount. There was shovelware, certainly, but there also were/are some great games. We all thought it would tank, but it blew the markets away. And now, here we have Kinect, looking to step in and bring the 360 to a wider audience, and people are saying the same thing.

My biggest issue with all the Kinect bashing, is that people want it to die. Not just that they won't buy it, but that they want it gone forever.

The best game for the Wii is New Super Mario Bros and thankfully it makes little use of the motion controls, and as for wanting Kinect to "die", you are correct, I hope it does.

I had hoped the Wii would just go away too. My reason for wanting them gone and not just simply refusing to buy it (which I have refused to buy a Wii and will not buy Kinect or a 360) is related to the fact that since the introduction of the Wii and motion controls, developers are more interested making games for them. There haven't been many new "good" single player RPGs or adventure games in recent years. Most games have all gone the route of motion controled junk, or foaming-at-the-mouth-style, shoot everything, blow shit up, games. I'm not saying they don't make RPGs and such but the decline in them is staggering. Most of them are in the form of MMORPGs now, which are ok, but sometimes you just don't want to log in and put up with a bunch of people.

So yes I hope they die.... I know they won't and I know for many people they are fun, but damn it I can dream.

 

[poiuppx]

My biggest issue with all the Kinect bashing, is that people want it to die. Not just that they won't buy it, but that they want it gone forever. That makes no sense to me. As soon as something doesn't appeal to the 'core' crowd, it should be thrown out? I've told a bunch of people about Kinect, a bunch of non-gamers, and every single one thought it would be fun to play. Kinect is successful interesting people, at the very least, in the notion of playing video games. People who would have wrote it off before. The more people playing games, means less bad stigma about what gaming and gamers are like. I, for one, would think that's a good thing.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'd love for the Kinect to be a success. Gaming deserves to evolve, and every step forward that isn't a total miserable failure is a good one because it expands the scope of what gaming is. My issue is, and remains, how capable the system ultimately is.

As counterpoint to your own stance, if I may add, I've seen a fair few reviews commenting on the non-functionality of it in certain instances. Your shirt's too black, you're sitting down, you crossed over into the other player's space... especially for a control unit intended to be very intuitive, these sound like major missteps.

But hell, if it works, then awesome. Honestly, the 360 NEEDS this. News over the past six months have seen them lose console exclusivity with two major developers who helped them become a powerhouse, and has seen multiple MMOs go the way of the dodo long before even hitting the airwaves, a fact that given the whole Live subscription thing probably means more cost revenue to them then those outside the accountant's office can really realize. They need something new and fresh and exciting, something that will bring new gamers to them as well as older ones.

As a side counter to one of your notes, what about the multi-console gamers/households who have a Wii and a 360? In order to sway them, you'd need to prove 'This does things differently, and better, and with a gameplay experience you can't get on the unit you already own. It's worth your $150 (or whatever ammount it ends up being).' So far the only one I've seen that does that is the dance game, which I admit looks kinda fun. Just not $150-worth of fun.

But even with all that said, I WANT this to work. I want Move to work. I want 3D to work. I want all of this to work, because each time one of these works, it means new avenues to explore in gaming. Look at what came about because gaming consoles rose up. Look at what we got from the concept of portable gaming. Saving games. Multiplayer. Stories. Add-ons. Mods. Online achievement systems. You can like the new stuff or hate it, but the end result is that the more things expand out, the more options gamers have.

So here's to the Kinect. May it work out how Microsoft wants it to. I just don't think, from what I've seen thus far, that it will. I leave it to the pros to prove me wrong, and I hope they do so epically. And hell, least it'll be better than the Six-Axis.

 

[Baby Tea]

I had hoped the Wii would just go away too. My reason for wanting them gone and not just simply refusing to buy it (which I have refused to buy a Wii and will not buy Kinect or a 360) is related to the fact that since the introduction of the Wii and motion controls, developers are more interested making games for them. There haven't been many new "good" single player RPGs or adventure games in recent years. Most games have all gone the route of motion controled junk, or foaming-at-the-mouth-style, shoot everything, blow shit up, games.

You need to learn that in the gaming market: Genre popularity ebbs and flows.
Like ocean waves.

I can remember a time in the late 90s where you couldn't take two steps without tripping over an RTS. It's happened to JRPGs, text adventures, adventure games, platformers, and right now? It's casual games and FPS titles. Just like the music industry, where you see certain genres spike in popularity for a while (Anyone remember the Swing boom of the 90s?), gaming genres do the same thing.

Which, really, is a great thing, over-all. During the RTS boom, we got amazing titles, like Starcraft, Total Annihilation, and Homeworld This shows that, when focused, the industry puts out some awesome stuff. So I think the more the industry focuses on motion controls, the cooler stuff we'll see.

And don't worry: eventually your favorite genre will be the genre of choice in the spotlight.
In the mean time, enjoy the games we have today or replay old favorites.