With the North American launch of Kinect only a day away now, Microsoft’s senior vice president Don Mattrick has stated that the company expects to sell more than 5 million individual Kinect sensors before the end of the current year. Last September, Microsoft indicated it was expecting to sell approximately 3 million units. Mattrick added that if this number would be achieved, Kinect would become the biggest Xbox-product launch in terms of sales.
The Playstation Move, which was launched by Sony in September, is also expected to sell approximately 5 million units before the end of the year. This motion-controller sold in excess of 2.5 million units in the month following its launch.
MS, I think your expectation is a little high. Maybe 3 million in the year in all regions combined, but not in the US alone. See, you will only be selling the device for 2 months, while Sony will have a total sale of 4 months of the new device. Also, not to mention that the system functions like an Eyetoy, but granted there is a greater amount of sensors that make the system more responsive. However, Sony just released a vid talking about how when they were testing, people responded to having something in their hands to manipulate the controls better (hence why Move exists, and not just a better Eyetoy).
Personally since I don’t own a 360 I don’t care. But on the other hand, I am interested in seeing how many of the devices sell, and how well those games that are developed for Kinect actually turn out.
I’m really hoping that Kinect is a moderate disappointment to minor success.
Why? I don’t want to lose my controller. If its a glowing success, more things may try to go that way and I REALLY don’t want that. It definitely has some interesting mechanics and some AMAZING non-gaming applications. But gaming needs a controller for comfort’s sake.