Posted by : Unknown Tuesday, July 06, 2010

The common response I get when asking people about Kinect something like: "doesn't the Wii already do that?"  The best response about the rumored $149 price tag was was: "I can stand in front of my TV and look like a twat for free" He has a point...have you seen how the people look in this video?


So this made me start thinking about who the target audience is and the demographic that it seems to fit snuggly into is the Families with younger children.It seems to be going after the Wii market in every way doesn't it? I mean...they even have Kinect Sports coming that is almost a complete clone of Wii Sports Resort.
Kinect SportsWii Sports Resort
The one game that I've seen that actually makes me see the appeal of Kinect is Kinectimals.  Granted, it's Nintendogs for the 360...but it looks so great and I can see the interactivity between children and the animals being huge.  I could see this becoming the first really well done virtual pets.
Kinectimals
Every game I've seen so far seems to be aiming at this market...so let's assume that is exactly what they are going after.  How do they compare to Wii?  Getting the movement capabilities without having to hold controllers is potentially a big win.  The Kinect is rumored to work for at least 2 people...maybe 4, so the cost relative to buying that much in Wii controllers is another win.  The graphics capabilities of the 360 is vastily superior...so win there.  But, most importantly for me...ACHIEVEMENTS!  So, they are setup to be successful...but they need to remember one thing: Most people bought a Wii and then purchased NO GAMES to go with it.  Kinect is rumored to be very expensive to make, so if they are relying on software sales...they could be in trouble.
Kinect
Now, what about getting Kinect into the more mainstream gamers market?  I was asked at E3 during an interview if we were planning any Kinect features for Red Faction: Armageddon...after answering no, I was asked how I would do this if I had to.  I told him that I feel the way to get it more mainstream is to augment the controller experience with Kinect movements instead of a complete transition.  If we focus first on things like a simple arm movement to reload, or things of that nature...maybe we can integrate it in a way that makes sense for standard gameplay and more natural.

What do you think?  Is there anything appealing about Kinect for mainstream gaming?

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