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Squilliam on 17 June 2010
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A203D said:
Squilliam said:

Actually Microsoft IMO are targeting 4 main areas.

1. People who are intimidated by controllers, any controllers.

2. People who would never consider playing games.

3. People who are excited by hands free interfaces for media/gaming.

4. People who are underserved by the Wii by attempting to make the experience as easy as possible and with new possibilities brought out by the different interface.

Microsoft haven't given up on their competition with Sony and they aren't losing ground that fast to make it useless for them to try to compete. This is the reason why they released the Xbox 360 redesign because it addresses every single major complaint about the system I.E. No wifi, a bit too large, ugly, and noisy.

I personally don't see many people choosing between a 3DS or an Xbox 360 even though I suspect the 3DS may very well be the fastest selling gaming device of all time once Nintendo ramp production. They address different markets and the connection more tenuous than the gameboy advance was to the Gamecube because whilst the GBA was a sales masterpiece the GC flopped hard.

Anyway Microsoft unveiled 4 key killer apps for the mainstream market.

1. Media interface ESPN to go along with Netflix, Zune, Zune video, Sky TV.

2. Dance game which was more akin to Rockband, and it looked like a lot of fun. Its unique and not replicated like that anywhere.

3. Fitness game. Sure theres the Wii Fit but this is an entirely different approach and from what I saw it may actually work better as a fitness program which surprised me. Ubisoft obviously know their stuff.

4. Kinectimals. It looks like it uses the same Milo base technology. It looks very compelling to keep small children distracted for half an hour or so at a time. Parents love anything which keeps their kids from bugging them!

1. Who are you trying to kid, people who would be intimdated by controllers are people like parents, adults and the elderly who have no real experience with gaming devices. a lot like the wii market. these are also people who wouldnt play games like call of duty, or even super mario galaxy. so again, adults etc. a lot of the games even look like Wii sports.

okay fair enough some people are interested in hands free entertainment and maybe some arent satisfied with the wii. but the wii has sold has sold a lot more than the 360; M$ are motivated into targetting this market for 1 reason alone, and that is profit. do you think a billionaire like bill gates cares about helping underserved wii users. of course not, or they would have targetted that market when they came into this generation.

2. i think the reason the 3DS might impede kinect's stride is because a lot of parents buy a DS for their kids and a fair amount of adults use the brain training games, puzzle games etc. so i think these people will have to decide if they want: a new motion capable device or a new 3D handheld for what i think could be a simmilar price point. but then for those without a 360, kinect would be more expensive than a 3DS. families and kids is the key market for kinect.

3. yeah fair enough ESPN is pretty cool. but this dance game seems very simmilar to 'just dance' on the wii, which was a hit. your telling me that M$ isnt targetting the fitness fans who enjoyed wii fit. and kinectimals, you have heard of nintendogs i take it. kinectimals seems based on very simmilar principles, some would say identical!!

 


1. Its something I heard from developers relaying some of their experiences with focus groups. Trust me, im not pulling this out of thin air. There are a lot of reasons for it between intimidation as in everyone is a complete and utter noob at some point and thinking that gaming is stupid. However these same people may see movies/music on demand as useful or ESPN and SKY in U.K./U.S. respectively as useful. So the entry isn't always going to have to be gaming related.

They didn't have the incentive or will to target these users because they were more interested in copying Sony TBH. That doesn't mean that they cannot refocus on new markets part way through the generation. I cannot speculate on their motivations, plans or anything like that so im not about to say Kinect was always in their plans or it was never in their plans. At face value at least it appears that even if it was coming, the Wii accellerated its development.

2. Sure from the perspective of the gaming dollar, or even the entertainment budget. However Kinect is for the family whereas the 3DS is a personal game device for usually one person. Its not directly competing even though its in the same market. Its the Ketchup to the Mustard in the condiments market really if you get what I mean. Both condiments but they serve different purposes.

3. Sorry, never played Nintendogs but the interactions seemed to be completely different but im not going to claim certainty here. However the dance program and fitness program are different in that they rely on total body movement as an interface rather than simply a single point of reference in the balance board or Wiimotes. Kinect simply makes a lot more sense as an interface for these types of games.



Tease.