The battlefield was new to both companies, the tools and the rules were still being examined, and both Microsoft and Sony thought their submission to the motion gaming cake of courage was going to come out on top. Apparently Microsoft was right and Sony…not so much. From the very beginning of this little war everyone noted how conceptually similar the Move was to the Wii, and then showed open interest in the tech that Kinect was offering.
According to the latest NPD numbers and our very own Michael Pachter (Wedbush Morgan analyst for those who don’t know…gaming guru to some…ignorant fumbling fortune teller to others), Kinect is outselling the Playstation Move by something around 5:1 (in North America). Whether or not this has ANYTHING to do with the original Xbox 360 population in North America hasn’t been considered?
However, debatable statistics aside, Kinect has been officially named the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever by Guinness World Records. Anyone else noticing how gaming is starting to creep into the world records more and more? 10 million jumping cameras later sold worldwide, it seems plausible.
Despite the impressive sales, many core Xbox gamers have been protesting rather loudly that Kinect is a ‘kids peripheral’, and little more than a ‘party gadget’. Microsoft consequently spent the beginning of this year trying to reassure owners that they hadn’t wasted their money and that ‘loads of’ core Kinect’ stuff is on the way.
What do you think?