Kinect Is Now Beginning to Attract Hardcore Gamers, Microsoft Says

Hardcore Xbox 360 owners are finally beginning to see the advantage of owning a Kinect sensor, according to Microsoft, which notes that more and more people are interested in the device due to its integration with core games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The Xbox 360 received the Kinect peripheral back in 2010 and, since then, the sensor has been used by dedicated games, like Dance Central 3, and in various degrees by regular Xbox 360 titles, like Forza Motorsport 4.

While the sensor has definitely attracted a more casual audience, Microsoft believes that it’s finally beginning to resonate with hardcore gamers, thanks to the integration in triple-A experiences like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or FIFA 13.

"When you look at the way core has adapted to Kinect, the things that they're valuing with it - the voice control stuff is really starting to catch on. When I look at some of the stuff we've done with Skyrim, some of the work with FIFA...voice integration has been unbelievable,” Microsoft’s General Manager of product marketing for its Interactive Entertainment Business, Matt Burlow, told GamesIndustry.

According to the executive, Microsoft and developers are barely scratching the surface in terms of what’s possible with the Kinect in regular games.

"There are plenty of uses for this particular technology, whether it's gesture or speech, and we've only scratched the surface. We've only been in this thing a couple of years now...Kinect is going to be something that everyone's going to want to own. Whether you're core, whether you're broad, whether you're entertainment or game based - the present's great. The future is going to be even better."

Considering how much Microsoft invested in the Kinect, you can expect the sensor, or at least some evolved version of it, to play a big role in the oft-rumored Xbox 720, which will replace the current home console soon enough.