I'm almost as fascinated as the guys over at Penny Arcade at the success of the Microsoft Kinect, though I really shouldn't be. I knew it would appeal to a certain demographic of gamers, but I never could have guessed the extent that this product's tendrils have reached, specifically into the female and completely non-gamer demographic. Allow me to provide my own anecdotal example.
Last year around September my wife mentioned that maybe we should plan on buying a Kinect. She did this of her own volition, with no provocation from me, with me never even mentioned what a Kinect was. She found this information out for herself and decided she wanted to try it. Part of my Christmas gift was a Kinect, and we both (despite my best efforts to be a curmudgeon) have been having a blast with it. Dance Central is just plain fun, and Fitness Evolved is the only thing that has got me to exercise willingly in the past 5 years.
Now to the real point of my story. Eventually my sister wanted to try it, and after her first round at Dance Central she's been over to my house 4 times to play. She now owns her own 360 and Kinect with Dance Central. My wife had a group of girlfriends over the other night, and somehow they got around to playing Dance Central on the Kinect. Three of them are now buying brand new Xbox 360s, Kinects, and their own copies of Dance Central.
I'm telling you guys, this shit is uncanny. It's contagious. I feel like I'm patient zero. But this is 100% a good thing. Video Games are becoming mainstream, and that will lead to their legitimacy as an art form. I don't mean 'mainstream' like Halo is mainstream, I mean mainstream like the majority of households in the United States will have a video game console in them very soon.
What do you think about the success of the Kinect?
Last year around September my wife mentioned that maybe we should plan on buying a Kinect. She did this of her own volition, with no provocation from me, with me never even mentioned what a Kinect was. She found this information out for herself and decided she wanted to try it. Part of my Christmas gift was a Kinect, and we both (despite my best efforts to be a curmudgeon) have been having a blast with it. Dance Central is just plain fun, and Fitness Evolved is the only thing that has got me to exercise willingly in the past 5 years.
Now to the real point of my story. Eventually my sister wanted to try it, and after her first round at Dance Central she's been over to my house 4 times to play. She now owns her own 360 and Kinect with Dance Central. My wife had a group of girlfriends over the other night, and somehow they got around to playing Dance Central on the Kinect. Three of them are now buying brand new Xbox 360s, Kinects, and their own copies of Dance Central.
I'm telling you guys, this shit is uncanny. It's contagious. I feel like I'm patient zero. But this is 100% a good thing. Video Games are becoming mainstream, and that will lead to their legitimacy as an art form. I don't mean 'mainstream' like Halo is mainstream, I mean mainstream like the majority of households in the United States will have a video game console in them very soon.
What do you think about the success of the Kinect?
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