An industry analyst hailing from Lazard Capital Markets, Colin Sebastian, has stated that “Expectations are mixed for Move and Kinect. Based on our conversations, we believe that industry expectations remain somewhat limited for new motion controllers (Move and Kinect), based on high initial price points, lack of compelling core game titles, and limited consumer buzz at this point.”
Microsoft is singing a different tune however, and product director Aaron Greenberg recently told Gamasutra that he predicts Microsoft will globally shift 3 million units this holiday season.
“Our key indicators are feedback from retailers; I think you’d be surprised at how sophisticated they are, and they really have the pulse of the market. They’re looking at preorders, they’re talking to customers,” said Greenberg.
“We’ve also done our own research. We believe this will be the biggest launch in our history, for Xbox. We will sell more Kinect sensors than we did [systems] at Xbox 360 launch. Our estimates [is] that we will sell in excess of 3 million units this holiday,” he predicted.
The Kinect will be launching in November with 15 titles ready to support it.
Speaking to the Seattle Times about the imminent Move launch, Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said: “We’ve had a chance to get people playing our system. The feedback we’ve gotten has been unanimous and tremendous. Our pre-orders continually are ramping up with consumers – retailers want to get more product.”
“Based on the retailer feedback, they’d like to get more than they have at this point. That’s a high-class problem to have,” Dille continued.
When asked about launching an entertainment product in the shadow of a dour world economy, Dille responded: “Every marketer…should be concerned and is conscious of the economy we’re living in. Having said that, we know many families might have had to forgo the big expensive vacation; you may not put a second addition on the house – but what we also know is families are looking for value.”
The Move is now on sale in North America and Europe, so we’ll soon find out if the device can live up to expectations.
Perhaps a good indication of the success of these two new motion control devices will arise from the Tokyo Game Show 2010, which will be opening up to the general public over the weekend – a show at which both Sony and Microsoft have set up their respective motion controllers as centerpieces of their exhibits.
Will Kinect and Move sink or swim this holiday season? Have your say on the MyGaming forum.
Source: Industry Gamers
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