Seems like in some quarters the official price for Kinect has made media commentators go a bit luke warm on Kinect. Especially with the curerently listed launch line-up coming in for a bit of stick too. This is as opposed to all media responses I read / saw prior to official pricing being uniform in their positive reactions. I certainly never saw all or even most mainstream media articels on Kinect pre-official price anouncement. But this article is the first where I've seen anyone in the media suggest that Kinect, with it's current list of games, is really not worth the entry price.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/201519/microsofts_14999_kinect_price_right_for_you_wrong_for_me.html?tk=hp_new

Microsoft's $149.99 Kinect Price: Right For You, Wrong For Me

Matt Peckham, PC World

Jul 21, 2010 9:23 am

Microsoft's Kinect has an identity problem. The company won't come right out and say it, but their newfangled "you are the controller" motion-sensing camera for the Xbox 360 probably isn't for gamers like me. It's for gamers like you. That is, assuming you're not really a gamer.

That's a problem, because chances are you--the not-really-a-gamer you I'm referring to above--don't already own an Xbox 360. You're what the media calls a "casual" gamer. You play games, sure, but casually, the way some people play cards, toss a ball around in the back yard, or scribble through Sunday's crossword puzzles.

Which means (remember, if you don't already own an Xbox 360!) that Microsoft's asking you to fork over twice as much as Nintendo's Wii, a grand total of $300 for a storage-emasculated (4GB) Xbox 360 bundled with Kinect and a party-angled acrobatic adventure game.

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So, is this guy's angle going to be proven right, or are the consumers (gamers and "casuals") ready for Kinect at this price? Whether these lukewarm or even negative articles have the right of it, getting negative press is not likely to be part of MS's playbook. I'm sure they anticipated some negative reactions to $149 though, so they will have talking points at the ready on this.

Seems like Dance Central may (need to) be Kinect's magic bullet, much like Wii Fit did great things for Wii.

I think the true potential of Kinect may not be realised until the next generation. Something like Milo may need a more beefed up system to really be all it can be. And I think regardless of how well Kinect does this gen it will be an integrated feature of the next gen for XBox. Motion control gaming is here to stay, and MS can't really afford the credibility swipe of flip-flopping on Kinect. 

Also you can guarantee there will be incentives like a $50 Walmart gift card deal to bring in the punters (in the USA at least). MS didn't retain the Elite/Arcade price levels on what is probably a cheaper console to make (even with the WiFi included) just to make more profit. They did it so they can throw around special retailer deals without taking significant losses.

I also think PS3, if it holds on to it's current pricing, has sufficient leeway this year to offer some pretty good retailer (pre)holiday specials. I'd be surprised if we didn't see a Walmart $50 gift card deal in Oct/Nov for PS3 / PS3 + Move bundle, maybe even on Kinect launch week as an attempted spoiler (I know I would if I was Sony). We didn't see a gift card deal in 2009 because PS3 had just dropped the price and certainly couldn't afford to support any further retailer discounting. Same goes for Wii, if Wii holds its current official price there is massive scope for retailer deals to attract the end of year buyer. So MS doesn't have a clear field to use discounting incentives, they'll all be doing it. However I think a PS3 price drop of $50 this year is a possibility. PS3 has averaged $75 reduction each calendar year, so $100 last year means $50 this year is on the cards. Then again PS3 is selling well, and past price reductions have come form a market share necessity, and at the loss of some functionality, so $50 price cut this year may not come.

I don't think $149 / $299 is the last we'll hear on pricing and bundles for Kinect.

Price doesn't matter, as it offers a cheaper multiplayer experience than it's competitors.

I think a $50 PS3 cut is very likely is PS Plus does well.

^ I think Sony will wait until 2011 to cut the price.

Maybe, but I am not so sure that leaving it at $300 for the entire holiday season is a smart move.

MOVE launches almost 2 months before Kinect, so the MOVE will already have the advantage against Kinect. They should get Walmart to package a $50 gift card with a PS3 purchase and/or $100 gift card with the PS3 MOVE bundle purchase the week of the Kinect launch.

This move has to be a given considering MS already has a deal in place with Walmart to grant all Kinect pre-order customers a $30 gift card with a purchase of Kinect.

Knowing this I believe either a pretty significant purchase bonus and/or price cut is required to mitigate the Kinect launch, especially considering the pull MS seems to have with the US media.

If SONY also goes the route I am suggesting they will have GT5 launching as well that same week as the $50-100 gift card promotion.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. A $25 cut is the most likely.

160 gig: $275

320 gig: $325

500 gig: $350

The 500 gig would seem like a genuinely amazing deal to the average consumer and Sony would be selling it at a very respectable margin. And it still leaves plenty of room for another price cut again next year. Although personally I think they'll just ride this year out with just the white model, Move, and GT5.

I doubt a $25 price cut will do anything. The white model will cause more sales than that.

In order for Kinect to have the impact some people were predicting it would have to have been priced at a level where it was (effectively) free; basically Kinect and a game for $50 or $60. Basically, it had to be at a price where everyone who owned an XBox 360 would buy Kinect to try it out, and those who were interested would not be discouraged by the price of buying an XBox 360, Kinect, probably an additional controller, and the Kinect game they were actually interested in. I think many people are just starting to realize that Kinect at $150 will struggle to sell as well as a game like RockBand; which may have great sales for a game, are not particularly meaningful as a platform.