So Kinect sales are at 4 million...

[MaxwellGT2000]

makingmusic476 said:

Darth Tigris said:

Posted this in the news article and will repost here:

 

Ok, anybody that tries to minimize the SALES PHENOMENON that Kinect is this holiday should be banned for a week for trolling. This is just amazing.

What is really amazing to me, though, is that Microsoft may have found with Xbox 360 Kinect the one system this gen that excites and satisfies BOTH core and casual gamers. That there is the definition of a winning combination.

And I know that will probably go down as one of the most hated statements ever on this site. I'm ok with that, because facts are on my side. 

However, Microsoft is thus far segmenting their casual and core userbase.  Core titles are limited almost exlcusively to controller-based titles and casual titles are built pre-dominantly around Kinect.  You have little overlap between the two, and you have few games designed to cater to both the casual AND core.  Simply having both types of titles available on a single console is not enough.

What differentiates the Wii from PS3/360 is its number of bridge titles:  titles that cater to both the casual and core.  Games that are incredibly accessible on the surface, but provide plenty of depth for those willing to invest the time.  Key examples of this are two of Nintendo's best sellers, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario Kart Wii.  Super Smash Bros. Brawl could also be seen as having a somewhat casual exterior, given its simple basic gameplay mechanics, while still beign at its heart a very hardcore game.

And what's great about bridge titles is that they not only satiate both the casual and core consumer base, but they also open casual gamers up to more core experiences, thus helping to foster new hardcore consumers.

There's nothing I've seen so far on Kinect that could really count as a bridge title, and I doubt Gears of War Kinect will do much to bridge that divide.  Forza probably has the best shot if anything, but that's assuming you can drive via Kinect controls.

Also, I'd argue that Kinect satisifies the casual consumer base at this point even less than the Wii satisfies the core consumer base.  A handful of decent titles isn't going to cut it.   That may change in the future, but that's how things stand now.

We'll see how its selling after the launch hype has died down.

Edited for clarification.

I agree with most things you state but I'd say the Wii satisfies the core just as well as consoles of past gens, PS3 and 360 have a lot of games that are hyped released in short time frames, which isn't normal it's something that has happened this gen only, which is why Wii games have spread out sales both across many titles and selling well months after release, and PS3 and 360 are very front loaded which never happened before in a generation of consoles.

For me personally I think these "AAA" hyped core titles are rarely worthy of satisfying my personal gaming tastes, but they're typically marketed well, much better than Wii titles, and just that alone gives some image of "man PS3 and 360 gets a lot of games for the core" cause thats what you see presented to you, when you kinda have to look for the Wii games lol 

Anyway yeah Kinect is separating core and casuals in not only games but who they're trying to market to.  Even then the line-up so far isn't that appealing to me, Dance Central is the only game I want and I'm not about to spend 150 game price for just one game.  Kinect Sports would have been a better bundle for Kinect as well since it works so much better than Kinect Adventures but since I already own Wii Sports/Resort, I don't really feel like buying it stand alone lol. 

But out of those two titles neither one could you consider to ever bridge things, bridge titles are big for getting friends and family to play with you, and it helps sales a lot since you're bringing two markets together, like with NSMB Wii.

OT: Congrats to Kinect, hopefully with increasing sales it will increase the support, I'm still worried about how well it'd be supported in the next couple of years.