Hardcore Gamers Will Be Crucial to Kinect Success

Most of the video games that Microsoft showed at the recent E3 event in order to convince the crowd about the capabilities of its Kinect motion tracking system were clearly oriented towards the casual market. Kinectimals, the game where interaction with a cute animal is the main gameplay mechanics, might as well be the poster title fort the new device.

But it seems there are people at Microsoft who believe that hardcore gamers, the type fond of Halo and Gears of War, will be the ones most interested in motion tracking.

Speaking to CVG, Ruyan Moore, who is the world wide marketing manager for the Xbox platform, stated, “I think we know that hardcore gamers will be the first to go out and buy it, as they are with any product,” adding, “We know we have to have a wide range of experiences, from things like the animals game you saw today to… games that are more geared towards the core. I would expect a wide range of products to be released this holiday.”

One of the problems that hardcore gamers will face is that they don't know exactly when Kinect will be launched and how much they will need to pay for it. The motion tracking solution is dated for November 4 in the United States but those gaming in Europe and Japan are still uncertain about when they will be able to pick it up.

And despite the fact that its own online store mentions a launch price of 150 dollars, Microsoft has repeatedly said that it regards all information about price as rumors at the moment with the exact pricing options coming in August, at the Gamescom trade show. Selling Kinect to hardcore gamers would mean applying Sony’s strategy, providing motion control to an important first person shooter franchise.