Why has Kintect been so successful? Seriously...

[ZombieGenesis]

This is mostly a question of curiosity, not expressing my particular opinion on whether it should or not. The paradox as I see it exists as such;
The Kinect is a motion controlled dip into the realm of 'casual'. Created to capitalise on the market that the Wii has created in the gaming demographic- but why would people who own a Wii buy into the Kintect? And for that reason, why do the people who own an Xbox 360 (seen to be of an entirely different audience to the afforementioned Wii demographic) feel the need to own a Kintect? A strictly gimmick endeavour attached to what fans might name as a more 'hardcore' machine.

Note; I don't actually own a Wii or a 360 right now, so don't feel I have any bias on this.
I have a PC, so I'm better than both. (Yes, that was a joke).

 

[KissofKetchup]

I dunno...I played with one in a Gamestop not too long ago and was pretty impressed with it. It was actually pretty fun too. I guess it all comes down to the fact that it's well designed and fun

 

[maddawg IAJI]

You'd be surprised at how many casual gamers play on the Xbox. In fact, out of all 3 consoles, I see the Xbox as the middle ground between hardcore and casual players.Why it is so popular however is pretty obvious, Microsoft out marketed Sony and Nintendo. Armed with a larger marketing budget then the Xbox 360 had when it launched, Microsoft crammed advert after advert at us until we basically forgot that the Move even existed (At least I did). needless to say, it got the ball rolling and in some cases, that's all you really need to do.

 

[Armored Prayer]

Perhaps people were curious about playing without the use of controllers? For the the casual(or anyone else) it looks very futuristic and worth getting.

 

[veloper]

Advertising. Smart advertising. Lots of it, prime time.

 

[archvile93]

It was advertised on Oprah. That's all you need to know.

 

[Aris Khandr]

The Wii has been out for four and a half years now, and has a reputation as the "kid's system". True or not, you're starting to see the kids that enjoyed the Wii four years ago decide that they're getting "too old" for "kids stuff". So the XBox 360 and PS3 are both looking like "more grown up" options. Kinect/Move bridges the gap between the normal 360/PS3 games, which are generally a bit too mature for such audiences, and the "kiddy" Wii.

 

[Burwood123]

They know their target audience, they then exploit that and market to them intelligently. It's basic market manipulation consumerist sheep that aren't happy with normal controls because this is the new thing

 

[baddude1337]

I'm stumped too. It may be a relatively cool piece of kit but there just isn't enough good games (at least right now) and you need a fairly big room to play it.

 

[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...

 

[Aris Khandr]

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?

 

[darkcommanderq]

Cause it has.

But I agree with you, it seems strange that the same people that like the WII would go out of there way for the 360 Addon for the same games in HD...

 

[Magners]

I don't know about this Kintect you speak of so I cannot answer your questions

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Parents bought a Kinect bundle for the weight loss games and the casual games as well as the Netflix plugin. For non-gamers, the 360 is still a great multimedia tool. They've also considerably lost weight and absolutely love the system. I see no wrongdoing in Microsoft's advertising regime either. People ultimately make their own choices in what they spend their money on. I think other people think that Kinect isn't for them so it can't be for anyone and is ruining "their" system. Microsoft has successfully brought their product to more than one consumer, making it useful to more than just game-enthusiasts.
Stop hatin, its a bold and smart move by MS.

 

[Therumancer]

Well I think the success is largely due to a lot of mainstream X-box gamers not being opposed to casual games, but not wanting a dedicated system for them. Now that the 360 (and to a lesser extent the PS-3) can do that type of gaming too, they figure "well, why not get the add on, and do some casual stuff too?".

Understand that the gaming market right now is saturated by the mainstream right now, it's no longer the refuge of the fairly intellectual. The 360 market has all of those X-box live players that everyone complains about causing them to lose brain cells, and the stoners and so on. The guys who just want to get drunk and wasted and play games like Madden, various pro-wrestling titles, and be obnoxious with the latest FPS craze, are going to find a lot to like in some of those casual games now that they don't need to make a choice in having a dedicated system for them, or a dedicated system for these other games.

That's my thoughts at any rate.

 

[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.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Then hate the people who buy things they don't want.

 

[Fujor]

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

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

what??!

microsoft didn't force people to part with their money. it's not like the kinect is food and water, or fuel. it's not essential.

infact the kinect looks to be one of microsofts tamest marketing strategy for a while. they basically stole it off nintendo

quick edit- if you consider kinects marketing as indoctrination then you are too susceptible to moving images and bright colours, and we all love those

 

[Entreri481]

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.

I don't see some kinect commercials as indoctrinating... I would mark it's success up to good marketing, internet buzz, completely controller free, and also the ability to access different items on the dashboard by just moving your hands.