Why has Kintect been so successful? Seriously...

[New York Patrick]

Alright, I see a theme here.
So basically, lots of money and attention on marketing?

This is why I hate the capitalist structure sometimes...

How do you get from people choosing to buy something to hating capitalism?

Because people choosing to buy something is not marketing.
Marketing is the 'art' of indoctrinating a mindset on people and convincing them that they DO want to purchase something, even when they don't. We might all have an example of this, I can attest myself that I've been bought in my advertising only to find that I had no real desire for the object in question.

Capitalism has it's high points, and is responcible for a lot of advances in civilisation (can you imagine how much less budget a country would have without free market taxes?) but essentially does come down to one point. People need to buy things, and marketing's only function is convincing the subsceptible audience that they NEED what you're selling.
Even when you don't.

I don't see why it would be wrong of me to hate that.

Well, if we ignore your completely paranoid, illogical, and backward reasoning, we come to the conclusion that you HAVE NO REASON TO HATE IT. Marketing is the act of promoting a product so that people will consider buying it. In fact, without advertising, most new products would fail whether or not they are of value. The fact that you hate being informed of things you might be interested in is certainly questionable...

On top of that, are we really a species so weak that we can be indoctrinated by flashing lights or fancy ads? Are they to blame for our consumerism? I hardly think so! I know I am not "indoctrinated" by ads, and I shudder to think of what kind of weak willed person would be! In the end, you decide what you buy; nothing is forcing your hand, and it isn't capitalism's fault if you don't like it in the end, it is yours.

Another thing: What the deuce is a free market tax?! Are you even aware that those terms contridict each other on the deepest level? Furthermore, are you even aware of what you are talking about at all? I suggest to you, and ANY other fellow escapist that before they try and make some angst driven tirade about how capitalism is flawed, or corrupt, or even decide to discuss politics on these forums, they damn well LEARN SOMETHING about political and economic theory themselves!

Really now people!

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Alright, I see a theme here.
So basically, lots of money and attention on marketing?

This is why I hate the capitalist structure sometimes...

How do you get from people choosing to buy something to hating capitalism?

Because people choosing to buy something is not marketing.
Marketing is the 'art' of indoctrinating a mindset on people and convincing them that they DO want to purchase something, even when they don't. We might all have an example of this, I can attest myself that I've been bought in my advertising only to find that I had no real desire for the object in question.

Capitalism has it's high points, and is responcible for a lot of advances in civilisation (can you imagine how much less budget a country would have without free market taxes?) but essentially does come down to one point. People need to buy things, and marketing's only function is convincing the subsceptible audience that they NEED what you're selling.
Even when you don't.

I don't see why it would be wrong of me to hate that.

Well, if we ignore your completely paranoid, illogical, and backward reasoning, we come to the conclusion that you HAVE NO REASON TO HATE IT. Marketing is the act of promoting a product so that people will consider buying it. In fact, without advertising, most new products would fail whether or not they are of value. The fact that you hate being informed of things you might be interested in is certainly questionable...

On top of that, are we really a species so weak that we can be indoctrinated by flashing lights or fancy ads? Are they to blame for our consumerism? I hardly think so! I know I am not "indoctrinated" by ads, and I shudder to think of what kind of weak willed person would be! In the end, you decide what you buy; nothing is forcing your hand, and it isn't capitalism's fault if you don't like it in the end, it is yours.

Another thing: What the deuce is a free market tax?! Are you even aware that those terms contridict each other on the deepest level? Furthermore, are you even aware of what you are talking about at all? I suggest to you, and ANY other fellow escapist that before they try and make some angst driven tirade about how capitalism is flawed, or corrupt, or even decide to discuss politics on these forums, they damn well LEARN SOMETHING about political and economic theory themselves!

Really now people!

Paranoid and illogical reasoning? Despite the fact I placed down the entire logical train in front of you that anyone else could follow?

I would suspect that this is some kind of repressed outburst against anything anti-capitalist (AKA, Anti American) but that would be jumping to the same kind of assumptions you yourself have quite embarassingly embarked.

Capitalism IS about selling things. That's the entire idea- Free Market. Free market involves marketing, which can be just as poisonous in the video game world as anywhere else. As I've already stated I do not OWN the console in question, nor have I kept up with the advertising from microsoft, my remarks are not reflective of that particular case for all of those who seem to have jumped on that... rather perplexing bandwagon.
If you knew anything about economic theory, you would know that capitalism and the big green '$' are dependant upon one another.

Also, this has nothing to do with political theory. The fact you said that alone convinces me you're talking out of a very unwholesome place.

 

[purf]

What some or probably most of you might be oblivious to...

the Kinect is way more than a gaming device. I can perfectly imagine (well, actually, I know for a fact) how artists, interactive motion designers, video producers and such are going crazy about it and thus contribute to a (however) large degree to the sales.

 

[Nomanslander]

Because the box art makes it look so cool.

But the truth is it's buyer's remorse waiting to happen.

I give it a month for any buyer before he turns it into a paper weight, or a nice dust collector.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

I just picked up a kinect, and I definitely understand the hype now. True, right now it's just a gimmick and Microsoft's attempt to steal a slice of Nintendo's casual gamer pie, but in my opinion it's the best motion-controlled home gaming experience on the market right now.

With my experiences so far, the kinect's ability to track full body motion is incredible, and it's the only motion controller of the big three (the other two being Wii and PS Move) that doesn't require the player to hold ridiculous controllers. Also, the games are surprisingly enjoyable and engaging, and seem to do a good job of really showing off what the kinect is capable of.

All of that being said, I'm kind of afraid of the thing. It's really creepy always having a little HAL 9000 living above the tv, and it's always watching me, always listening...

 

[thiosk]

I have a PC, so I'm better than both. (Yes, that was a joke).

Stating truisms can be funny, yes.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I have a PC, so I'm better than both. (Yes, that was a joke).

Stating truisms can be funny, yes.

Now now, let's not do that.
I love the abilities of my high end PC as much as the next guy, but I still appreciate the consoles. Plus my girlfriend owns a Wii so I have to be nice about it.

 

[Fearzone]

Has it been? Other than high sales figures and homebrew applications for the PC, I haven't heard very much about it.

 

[flakmagnet]

Myself and 2 of my friends are "core" gamers, we all love "traditional" games, whenever I'm at home alone or with my partner, I'll be playing Bioshock, Assassins Creed, Halo, COD, you get the idea. But as soon as more friends come round, I'll break out the Kinect (or sometimes TRock Band). It's easy for new players to jump into, they have a blast, and it's great for party play, my friends are the same. I used to have a Wii for that kind of thing, but teaching people controls, calibrating things, buying multi controllers all kind of got to me, and Kinect was just a better fit.