18 Month Wait for 'Hardcore' Kinect Games -say's Microsoft EMEA vice prez.

[MaxwellGT2000]

Darth Tigris said:

makingmusic476 said:

Darth Tigris said:

So were people really expecting a ton of core gaming experiences at launch?  Really?

This was just revealed about a year ago and introduces very different way of gaming.  It takes TRADITIONAL core games some 2-3 years to conceptualize and release, so why would these be ... easier?

Casual gaming at first, just like it was the Wii, should be expected.  If those don't appeal to you, wait.

Uh, the WIi had Twilight Princess (and Red Steel) at launch, with Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 less than a year later, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl only a few months after that.  Four of the best hardcore games this generation were were released for the system well within its first 18 months.

OT:  A peripheral lives and dies on its initial support.  Unless it has software that'll convince people to buy in early on, it will struggle at first, and Microsoft will have a hard time breathing life back into the device later on in the game.  They're relying on casuals to be the early adopters, and with $299 as the base price for a non-360 owner at that. 

They should've taken Nintendo's strategy.  Get the hardcore to opt in for Twilight Princess, then get the casuals on board when the hardcore start showing off Wii Sports to their friends and family.  Had they released this alongside, say, Gears 3, it would've provided them with a decent sized initial install base from which to attract more casual buyers.

But, to be honest, those were controller games that had motion control forced on them.  In fact, I played TTP on the GC just fine.  And Mario Galaxy could've easily worked just fine on a regular controller.  I have yet to play MP3, but I've read similar things about that.

From my understanding, that's exactly what MS DIDN'T want with Kinect.  They really want unique experiences, not ones that will have the core continually saying "this would've been better with a regular controller".  And those types of experiences are just going to take time to be done right.

Metroid Prime 3 is playable with a regular controller but the set up is annoying as hell, Wii controls improved the game in every way.  TP I felt more immersed with Wii controls and liked the aiming much more than with a traditional controller, SMG I agree with though it was obvious the origins of that game was on the Gamecube, but they are using the controls in great fun ways but it is in sections of the game rather than the entire game.