MS Prepares Slim XBOX360, Kinectic (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

You're probably right about that, and if,as it appears, you can't run Kinect without a HDD, then an Arcade bundle would be ludicrous. I was just going by the initial E3 news.

 

[Hanson]

Here is a very short clip of people playing a Sonic game with Kinect:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj0nWnF2jIY&playnext_from=TL&videos=RnfrYYbKWHo


That does look rather silly, but the question is, does that look even a little fun? I know that may be an extreme example, but if I have the choice of jumping in the air and spinning to active a move versus pressing a button, the button wins every time.


I don't think MS realizes that videogames are played with our brains, not our bodies. There can be physical sensations that enhance immersion, but jumping and spinning is obviously going too far. IMO, the WiiFit is going too far, and that's just weight shifting.

 

[mattCR]

Plus when people buy WiiFit, they are buying it for the fitness element. When they buy sonic, they are not buying it to leap around their living room. Remember in the beginning of Nintendo having to up the straps on the remotes to keep people from flinging them? I'm waiting for stories of people jumping through their coffeetables or falling into walls... (ok, up late to go see TS3, and now, I am... outta here!)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

To be fair, Sega hasn't made a good Sonic game in a while (I think, overall, they're not that great of a developer now) and that Kinect game is just a remake/update of an already existing Sonic racing game.


I saw videos of people playing Dance Central and it actually seemed fun. It seems to be like Rock Band: you play it for a minute or so, do terrible and look goofy, then start to get it and it becomes fun. I'm curious about it, but then again it seems to be the only Kinect game that seemed more than just an impressive proof-of-concept and seemed like a fun game.

 

[Sam Posten]

VALHALLA I AM COMING!!!! -Led Zepplin


250 GB 360 #1 in hand. I intended to sell my 20gb launch 360 replacement to Gamestop for the $120 in credit they would give me for it (which is not a bad deal considering) and get it from them today but they were out of stock so I nabbed one at TRU. It's DEAD silent. Awesome. Just paid the $21 for microsoft to send me the data transfer cable so it will be a few days before I can move all my stuff there, I downloaded Fable2 to keep me busy until then =) Once I have transferrred the stuff off my elite I may trade both the Elite and the launch 20 in to gamestop to have dual Valhallas.... Will see. The launch is only sitting on a shelf and I'd like to have another 360 that is quiet as a media center extender anyway....

 

[Hanson]

If you want to upgrade to the new 360, the Gamestop trade-ins can bring the price down to under $100:


http://kotaku.com/5567148/how-to-trade+up-to-the-new-xbox-360-for-90?skyline=true&s=i

 

[Greg_S_H]

With what I have, I could only get it down to where I would owe $159. Since I've kept putting off getting a wireless adapter, I could look at it as the cost of the adapter plus $59.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/xb360250trade/default.aspx

 

[Hanson]

BTW, what the hell is Gamestop doing with these old 360 units, aka "RROD waiting to happen" models? If you buy a used 360 and it RROD's, is it still under the MS warranty? Are they selling them back to the MS warranty dept? It's seems like they sitting on a potential inventory nightmare.

 

[Sam Posten]

I assume they are shipping em bulk to 3rd world countries where MS does not natively market...

 

[Sam Posten]

I've tried trading in my 360s since I got back off from travel but no Gamestop near me has had one within 30 miles, seems to be a big scam to me. Meanwhile even Costco has pallets of em.


I may try selling both of em here at HTF...

 

[Hanson]

Kinect is looking more and more like a colossal failure. Amid reports that you must stand to use Kinect (MS claimed that you could play games sitting down, but developers let slip that MS told them the player must be standing in order to not confuse the software), it has been revealed that the 4 player gaming experience isn't what it's cracked up to be. While the unit will track up to 6 people, it cannot handle more than 2 players inputting commands at a time. So you could play 4 player games, but you'd have to take turns.


It's interesting that MS lavished so much attention at E3 on such a flawed device. It's still tentatively set at $149, but I wonder if they'll cut it to $99 if it bombs. The should save themselves the trouble and lower the MSRP to $99 out of the gate. This does not look like something that will be flying off the shelves.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Does anyone know how the Slim compares in size to the Wii? I looked for pictures to no avail. I've got my Wii standing up next to my 360 lying flat, but I'd stand the Slim up if it's not huge like the current 360.

 

[Hanson]

Here's a comparison (the two XBox 360's are at different angles, but the proportions should be fairly accurate).





The "Slim" isn't that much slimmer, but it is shorter (it's also deeper by a touch, something MS does not really advertise). As you can see, it still dwarfs the Wii.

 

[mattCR]

Someone has pointed this out in the MS technical forums... Kinetic is far more suited, far more suited, as a technology aimed at single-user PC environment, where it's method of recognition for login, and vocal input would have actual real world use in an environment that would want it.


The concept of a PC where a doctor could sit down, Kinetic would recognize him by face, and he could say "MS Word" and then dictate his notes for the day for patient files.. crap. That would be awesome.


But as a game playing device... not so much.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

They're already aiming for a more casual market than the traditional 360 gamer. The Wii advertised to non-gamers to get them to buy it, but Kinect is aiming to non-gamers in households where they already have a 360. I think it will have some neat games, but won't be worth the price. The non-gaming uses are much more interesting to me, but they seem to be something you could pull off on the 3DS.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Morgan Jolley

They're already aiming for a more casual market than the traditional 360 gamer. The Wii advertised to non-gamers to get them to buy it, but Kinect is aiming to non-gamers in households where they already have a 360.

Well, what's the point of that? That's not going to expand the user base at all. For all the money they poured into development and the games that will most likely lose money due to a lack of userbase (which are likely subsidized my MS), just selling a few units to existing XBox users makes zero business sense. They need Kinect to expand their market to casual gamers, but the buy in is too high when you figure in the console, especially in light of a $199 Wii bundle that probably won't collect any more dust than the Kinect.


And the Wii didn't really target casual gamers -- whether it was planned or not, the launch shortages made it the hot toy to own, and the news cycle was filled with so many Wii stories that it just fed on itself. A tip of the hat to Wii Sports for making the Wiimote more than a waggle stick, but this was lightning in a bottle, and MS is never going to create that with Kinect.


Yes Matt, I agree that Kinect would be an awesome PC interface -- I mentioned that earlier in this thread. But as a gaming input, it was clearly not well thought out.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Thanks, Hanson. I was hoping it was a tiny little thing. Deeper might be a problem, as the current model already protrudes from the shelf.

 

[Hanson]

They had to fake the reveal at E3 -- they put the Elite shell over the Slim, but they had to cut the back off completely because the Slim does not actually completely fit inside the Elite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Jjt7B5Hiw&feature=related (jump to the 1:15 mark).

 

[Hanson]

Not to beat a dead horse but...


http://www.gamesradar.com/f/is-kinect-shooting-itself-in-its-invisible-foot/a-20100628172230139015

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The Wii absolutely went after the casual audience on purpose. They used a remote control as their input device because it was simple, approachable, and recognizable, directly marketed to senior citizens and housewives, and made a pack-in launch game that was harmless and had mass appeal. Sure, there was a Zelda game to appeal to their core gamers, but I don't think many core gamers are buying Wii Fit and Wii Music. The console's success is due to it's mass appeal to the casual gamer as well as having core titles (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.).


Every 360 that MS sells (just like the Wii and PS3) is sold at a loss, albeit a very slight loss. They make this back by selling games and collecting licensing fees. A marketer from MS just said that they expect the early adopters of Kinect to be their core gamers. The hope is that the Kinect interface will expand the potential player population to include casual gamers who may live in the same household as core gamers. This means selling just the Kinect (these core games already have a 360) and then selling games made for Kinect. Imagine being able to sell two different kinds of games to two different kinds of gamers, but on the same console. It's what Nintendo is able to do with the Wii and families, and MS is looking to do the same. There's a reason their launch titles are a dancing game and Kinectimals, instead of something at all resembling traditional hardcore games.