This week we’ve got the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect and we thought we’d do a quick review on a couple of the titles we picked up. We’ve dug up some history on the Game Com Handheld, comment on some community feedback and hit the news:
- More MMORPGS using the free to play model
- Microsoft convinced Kinect will sell better than awesome
- Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well
- Microsoft Kinect Selling out
This week’s question of the week, have you ever caved into the peer pressure, press and “sold out” signs to pickup a piece of hardware, software or other device?
This weeks gaming podcast we contemplate the question “how do you buy video games?” Do you use news magazines, online reviews, screenshots, previews or do you have your own method of deciding what games are cool. We also do a bit of a flashback on Q*Bert.
– Kinect
The success of the kinect launch isn’t too surprising to me given that there’s been so much marketing. It’ll be interesting to see how it sells over a long period though – that will show whether it’s a success or not.
I personally am not interested in it. What does interest me is games. So if Kinect gets a few really awesome looking games, then I might consider getting it. I am a bit skeptical on whether you can make a deep, engrossing game without any controller/buttons though.
– Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well
Being encouraging and positive about a competitors product is unusual, especially coming from Sony.
And I don’t even agree with his take on it. I don’t think the 3DS will encourage people to take up 3D on the PS3. It might actually work the other way around: People will see that the PS3 has 3D, they’ll see the cost and see that you have to wear glasses. Then they’ll see the 3DS and find that it costs much less and is glasses-free. I know which one I would choose.
The only way that I would be interested in 3D on the PS3 is if I already had a PS3, 3DTV and 3D glasses. And I have none of those things.
-QOTW
I honestly can’t think of a time when that has happened. Seeing “sold out” signs doesn’t really affect me. In my view, just because something is sold out, doesn’t mean it’s good. I’m sure Nickleback and Justin Bieber get sold out shows, but they still suck.
– Kinect
The success of the kinect launch isn’t too surprising to me given that there’s been so much marketing. It’ll be interesting to see how it sells over a long period though – that will show whether it’s a success or not.
I personally am not interested in it. What does interest me is games. So if Kinect gets a few really awesome looking games, then I might consider getting it. I am a bit skeptical on whether you can make a deep, engrossing game without any controller/buttons though.
– Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well
Being encouraging and positive about a competitors product is unusual, especially coming from Sony.
And I don’t even agree with his take on it. I don’t think the 3DS will encourage people to take up 3D on the PS3. It might actually work the other way around: People will see that the PS3 has 3D, they’ll see the cost and see that you have to wear glasses. Then they’ll see the 3DS and find that it costs much less and is glasses-free. I know which one I would choose.
The only way that I would be interested in 3D on the PS3 is if I already had a PS3, 3DTV and 3D glasses. And I have none of those things.
-QOTW
I honestly can’t think of a time when that has happened. Seeing “sold out” signs doesn’t really affect me. In my view, just because something is sold out, doesn’t mean it’s good. I’m sure Nickleback and Justin Bieber get sold out shows, but they still suck.
Oh man, it was funny hearing your adventures while searching for “The Kinect” 😀
As for the Kinect longevity, well, I think it will depend a lot on what games will be on it. Microsoft learned the lesson with their XBox consoled, so I see a lot of good things heading your way 🙂
@Free-mium MMOs: things like conversion rates need to be taken into account as well. I do hope that good developers manage to increase it [conversion rate] to a high enough degree. That usually requires a good game, but again, it’s in the hands of the developers.
@Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well:
I also thought that there was a mistake in the title.
Dunno what to say about this; does Sony provide hardware parts for the 3DS? I mean it happened before, Samsung is providing hardware parts for iPhones, despite Apple being a competitor.
Anyway, I don’t quite believe the ‘need to build a good 3D experience’ cr@p …
@ question of the week:
No 🙂
The reason is simple: if I dismiss a product because it’s expensive, it means I don’t have the money to buy it. So unless peer pressure puts money in my pocket, the answer is no.
Oh man, it was funny hearing your adventures while searching for “The Kinect” 😀
As for the Kinect longevity, well, I think it will depend a lot on what games will be on it. Microsoft learned the lesson with their XBox consoled, so I see a lot of good things heading your way 🙂
@Free-mium MMOs: things like conversion rates need to be taken into account as well. I do hope that good developers manage to increase it [conversion rate] to a high enough degree. That usually requires a good game, but again, it’s in the hands of the developers.
@Sony hopes Nintendo’s 3DS does well:
I also thought that there was a mistake in the title.
Dunno what to say about this; does Sony provide hardware parts for the 3DS? I mean it happened before, Samsung is providing hardware parts for iPhones, despite Apple being a competitor.
Anyway, I don’t quite believe the ‘need to build a good 3D experience’ cr@p …
@ question of the week:
No 🙂
The reason is simple: if I dismiss a product because it’s expensive, it means I don’t have the money to buy it. So unless peer pressure puts money in my pocket, the answer is no.
You missed some information regarding BioWare and their Star Wars MMO: it’s interesting to hear a 1M subscriber base target for their game, because they spent $100M on developing and setting up the game. That actually puts a dollar value on MMOs. If you spent $20M developing an MMO, does that mean your target is 200K core subscribers? That tells me how a game like Eve Online is able to maintain. It also tells me that NC Soft were dirty liars regarding Tabula Rasa (and the courts ruled they were dirty liars anyway.) Star Wars: The Old Republic has Star Wars going for it, as well as BioWare’s name and the KOTOR IP, so it’ll draw 500K users first day. The trick is maintaining it.
Which brings me to Kinect – since it’s announcement, my concerns since its launch was in this order: does it work? Check, after using it at E3 back in June. Then it’s “Will people buy it?” Check. Now all that’s left is support. You have to keep interest high with games six months from now. Just like any console launch, there’s a killer app (Kinect has two: Dance Central and Kinectimals) and a bunch of junk (Joy Ride, anyone?) By the way, Microsoft forgot one thing about the Japanese: they have small homes. The Japanese were very interested in Kinect, but since they don’t have the living space for it, there’s poor, poor sales (muted trumped: Waaaah, waaaah.) However, Japanese devs are working on hardcore Kinect games.
One of the most bizarre news in the past week was Sony issuing a pamphlet stating, among other bizarre statements, that 60% of Wii owners were considering getting a PS3 and Move. Really, Sony? You want to brag that? That 60% of Wii owners were THINKING about getting a PS3 with Move? That’s AWFUL. You should have 100% of them CONSIDERING getting a Wii. I guess 40% of Wii owners don’t even know the Move exists, huh? I could THINK about 3D televisions. It costs NOTHING. If the BEST you can do is brag that 60% of Wii owners are aware of the Move’s existance, you’re in big trouble. In the first ten days of release, the Move moved (see what I did there?) 300K units in North America, even though you trumpeted you shipped over 1M units. The worst reports for Kinect were that it moved 500K in 5 days, and Aaron Greenberg scoffs at that number (as do most people who can’t find a Kinect on the shelf. Amazon, of all people, sold out, and just recently restocked.) Sony better decide to ditch 10 year plans and do what Microsoft did: release a console a year before the competition, and make it at most $300,
As for hoping the 3DS sells well, this sort of tells me Sony has completely given up on the PSP. The PSPS Go! is being remaindered for half-price by Sony itself now, and they basically stuck their middle finger up at gamers when Kingdom Hearts PSP was not available digitally (the Go! does not have UMD).
I wonder what the sales on Sony 3DTVs are. Oh, and by the way, big whoop if you get 3D glasses with a TV. Or even 2. You know the headaches people get from seeing 3D without glasses (much less WITH them)? If you have 3 or more people in your household, much less when you have friends over, your 3D is worthless.
You missed some information regarding BioWare and their Star Wars MMO: it’s interesting to hear a 1M subscriber base target for their game, because they spent $100M on developing and setting up the game. That actually puts a dollar value on MMOs. If you spent $20M developing an MMO, does that mean your target is 200K core subscribers? That tells me how a game like Eve Online is able to maintain. It also tells me that NC Soft were dirty liars regarding Tabula Rasa (and the courts ruled they were dirty liars anyway.) Star Wars: The Old Republic has Star Wars going for it, as well as BioWare’s name and the KOTOR IP, so it’ll draw 500K users first day. The trick is maintaining it.
Which brings me to Kinect – since it’s announcement, my concerns since its launch was in this order: does it work? Check, after using it at E3 back in June. Then it’s “Will people buy it?” Check. Now all that’s left is support. You have to keep interest high with games six months from now. Just like any console launch, there’s a killer app (Kinect has two: Dance Central and Kinectimals) and a bunch of junk (Joy Ride, anyone?) By the way, Microsoft forgot one thing about the Japanese: they have small homes. The Japanese were very interested in Kinect, but since they don’t have the living space for it, there’s poor, poor sales (muted trumped: Waaaah, waaaah.) However, Japanese devs are working on hardcore Kinect games.
One of the most bizarre news in the past week was Sony issuing a pamphlet stating, among other bizarre statements, that 60% of Wii owners were considering getting a PS3 and Move. Really, Sony? You want to brag that? That 60% of Wii owners were THINKING about getting a PS3 with Move? That’s AWFUL. You should have 100% of them CONSIDERING getting a Wii. I guess 40% of Wii owners don’t even know the Move exists, huh? I could THINK about 3D televisions. It costs NOTHING. If the BEST you can do is brag that 60% of Wii owners are aware of the Move’s existance, you’re in big trouble. In the first ten days of release, the Move moved (see what I did there?) 300K units in North America, even though you trumpeted you shipped over 1M units. The worst reports for Kinect were that it moved 500K in 5 days, and Aaron Greenberg scoffs at that number (as do most people who can’t find a Kinect on the shelf. Amazon, of all people, sold out, and just recently restocked.) Sony better decide to ditch 10 year plans and do what Microsoft did: release a console a year before the competition, and make it at most $300,
As for hoping the 3DS sells well, this sort of tells me Sony has completely given up on the PSP. The PSPS Go! is being remaindered for half-price by Sony itself now, and they basically stuck their middle finger up at gamers when Kingdom Hearts PSP was not available digitally (the Go! does not have UMD).
I wonder what the sales on Sony 3DTVs are. Oh, and by the way, big whoop if you get 3D glasses with a TV. Or even 2. You know the headaches people get from seeing 3D without glasses (much less WITH them)? If you have 3 or more people in your household, much less when you have friends over, your 3D is worthless.
Oh, that should be “muted trumpet”. You know: Waaaaaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Oh, that should be “muted trumpet”. You know: Waaaaaaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Oh, regarding Question of the Week, my reason for not buying Kinect is simple: my place doesn’t have the room for it. I want it, but I can’t use it. I’m currently moving stuff around so I’m preparing to buy it someday. The production cost of Kinect is $56, so when I buy it, it’ll probably be $99 by then.
Besides, I want to get the Rock Band 3 + keyboard first.
Oh, regarding Question of the Week, my reason for not buying Kinect is simple: my place doesn’t have the room for it. I want it, but I can’t use it. I’m currently moving stuff around so I’m preparing to buy it someday. The production cost of Kinect is $56, so when I buy it, it’ll probably be $99 by then.
Besides, I want to get the Rock Band 3 + keyboard first.