Ever since the Kinect didn’t become a mandatory accessory for the Xbox One and allowed the price of purchasing the console to decrease by $100, the Xbox One sales has been increasing. With that in mind, it really is an indicator to Microsoft that either 1) Price does matter or 2) No one cared for the Kinect that much… Or most likely it was the combination of the two factors which caused the increase in sales.
But what about the Kinect for the future? For many people, the Kinect is becoming a hazy memory rather than an actual peripheral which they find essential to their gaming experience. Considering that the Kinect was hardly brought up during the Gamescom conference, many gamers deeply believe there isn’t that bright of a future ahead for the forgotten peripheral.
Phil Spencer responded to CVG in an interview about the lack of mentions for the Kinect by at first clarifying “We do have at Gamescom a section of Kinect games that people can go and play”, which indicates that Microsoft still have hope for their device. But why wasn’t it featured on stage (apart from Fruit Ninja Kinect 2)?
“I always feel that playing Kinect games on stage is always a little tough, because it’s just too easy for people to make fun of how people look when they’re jumping around playing. And then if you show a Kinect game without somebody playing you sort of lose what the game is about.”
– Phil Spencer, CVG interview.
It makes sense, it’s one of those “you have to use it to believe it” moments which many products do have. It would be a tad bit embarrassing watching the Xbox staff floundering around the stage, I’d only imagine the gifs used would be priceless! But it’s not really supportive of the device if they sound embarrassed of what it can offer. If what was being presented seemed like great ideas for the Kinect gameplay, then no matter how the staff look on stage, it wouldn’t break the amazement of whatever gameplay they just offered. So is the problem really appearances, or is there just no successful gameplay features which the Kinect offers for the upcoming games to make gamers feel as though the Kinect should be considered purchasing? Share your thoughts of the Kinect in the comments below!
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