Kinect, revealed at the E3 trade show in June, lets you control a game with your body movements. It has a 3-D motion sensing camera that can capture your movements and translate them into controls for games, movies, and TV shows. The initial games coming for Kinect from Microsoft will be two-player games that will sell for $49 each. The Kinect pricing shows that Microsoft really wants the new accessory to be a big mid-life kicker for Xbox 360 revenues.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":199631,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,games,","session":"B"}']In addition, Microsoft said it will launch a new
On Nov. 4, Microsoft will start selling this 4-gigabyte Xbox 360 with Kinect and the Kinect Adventures game in a bundle for $299.
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Meanwhile, the 250-gigabyte version of the Xbox 360, with a glossy black finish, will continue to sell for $299. There is no Kinect bundle for the 250-gigabyte version, said David Dennis, a spokesman for Microsoft.
Dennis said that the three games Microsoft will make available at retail at the Kinect launch — in addition to the freely bundled Kinect Adventures — will be Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride, each available for $49.99. MTV Harmonix will also price its Dance Central game for Kinect at $49.99. That’s a significant statement, since games have been priced at $59.99 since the Xbox 360 launched in 2005. Now, with weakness in the market, it’s smarter to price games cheaper. The entire pricing strategy is thus geared to mass market gamers, who are more sensitive to high prices than hardcore gamers.
It remains to be seen if gamers will consider Kinect a good value compared to the Nintendo Wii, which sells for $199, and Sony’s upcoming Sony Move motion-sensing controller. The Sony Move controller is bundled with a game, a controller and a camera for $99. Each additional Move controller will cost $49, and a sub-controller for first-person shooter games will sell for $30.
There will be 15 or so games available for Kinect when it goes on sale in North America. Microsoft has already started a promotional tour to show off Kinect in shopping malls around the country.
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