Kinect priced at £129 in UK
Microsoft has priced the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360 at £129.99 in the UK.
£129.99 gets you the basic bundle of the Kinect sensor, plus mini-game compilation Kinect Adventures, but that's not the only bundle Microsoft is offering. Kinect will also be available bundled with the new Xbox 360 Slim model 4GB, plus Kinect Adventures, for £249.99.
Other Kinect launch titles, such as Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride will be available for £39.99 each.
The Xbox 360 Slim bundled with Kinect is actually a new model, with 4GB of flash storage and no hard drive. It also has a matte black finish, as opposed to the glossy 250GB 360 Slim.
Kinect is Microsoft's new camera-based motion controller, which watches player movements and translates it into game actions. We've only had one go quick go on it ourselves, but we have to say we weren't wholly impressed.
Retailers on the other hand are already getting behind the Kinect sensor; Martyn Gibbs, managing director of the Game Group in the UK said that he expects the sensor to be on Christmas lists for both hardcore and casual gamers.
"At E3 in June, we were lucky enough to play with Kinect and can say that it truly is ground-breaking technology," said Gibbs in an official statement. "Since then, we’ve been driving awareness of Kinect to our customers in-store and online. We know from their feedback that they are excited about getting their hands on it and what it could do to their gaming experience."
"Whether they buy Kinect on its own or as part of the great value bundle, it is going to be on the Christmas lists of both core gamers and families."
You can check our Xbox 360 Slim review for more info on Microsoft's new console revision.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyIs that a typo or has something passed me by?
They need the install base to hit a critical mass to get publishers interested in making quality games that utilise the hardware properly. Currently the only saving grave is that publishers know they can spend a lot less making a 'casual' Kinect game, especially compared to most AAA titles. However, they have to sell those games to a very small split install base.
If I were Microsoft, I'd be concerned. They've already publicly said they won't accept 'Wii-like shovelware' onto the console - but if the Kinect doesn't achieve a solid install base, that's all they'll get.
If they're seriously about the Kinect spearheading their mid-cycle refresh, then they better increase their subsidisation and get it priced under £100/$100.
The new 360 Arcade Slim comes with 4GB of internal storage and an empty HDD slot.
We may laugh at the incredibly small storage, but parents/casual gamers love the Arcade model. And now they can use that cheap 16GB USB stick the have lying around for game demos, Live Arcade games, etc.
Thx, updated!
£129.99 for Kinect on the other hand is a bit of a stretch given that I'm still not sure if Microsoft can pull it off with the right games and experience to stop me just buying a Wii to go with my 360 already. I guess as with anything it's down to the developers and I could well end up with one regardless, but I would have found £99.99 a lot more impulsive.
I'm sure it won't be that big a deal. With a traditional FPS, where every millisecond counts, maybe, but when the sole aim of some games is to surf down some rapids, 0.15 seconds will not make a massive difference, especially since everyone will be waving around like a nutter.
I'm really disappointed with Kinect. When they showed the original demos, it sounded as if it would be really subtle, detecting body language and chatting to the console. Now though, it's more like Eyetoy 2.0, just waving your arms around.
btw, in America Kinect will cost $149. In the UK, even with 20% VAT that's £115. Price gouge much?
I got a Wii and PS3 for all the motion gimics anyway.
But for $300 I could get a Core i7 950 in August "price drop baby...YEH"
Microsoft do not call it the Xbox 360 Slim, it's the Xbox 360 S.
Move has buttons for input, how does Kinect do it?
We'll have to use somethign else.
If you watch a video of it, it's clear the game is aimed at children or very casual gamers.
As for 'proper' racing games, I'm not sure. TBH I doubt they'll even make normal racing games for the Kinect.
However, the Forza 3 Kinect update does something quite unique that actually aids the gaming experience. While you use the standard 360 gamepad for driving, the Kinect tracks your head movements. This allows you to look around the cockpit with just slight movements of your head. It might actually make cockpit view useful again.
its a shame they haven't incorporated the G25/27 into the 360 S.
shame...
Wouldn't be worth their while. The G25/27 are designed for the hardcore simulation crowd, whilst there are no real hardcore simulations on Xbox. It just wouldn't sell as well as on the PC. I mean, who would buy a controller that cost more than their console?
I remember reading an article about MS getting Burnout Paradise working on Kinect. I don't remember how they did the accelerating and braking though, unfortunately, but surely they must have figured something out.
Maybe you make the car noises, like neeeeeeeeeeerrrrr for accelerating, and then a squealing noise for breaking.
I think this says it all.
£125 seems a little steep, but I suppose it's about right when you look at the Wii Balance board and other stuff like that.
that would be awesome! Thinking about that, you'd be able to do gear shifts and everything, maybe even nitro!
Engine failures would be a bit risky though
you could make that into a game from the grandstands and have the speed of the Bernoulli effect dictate how fast the car was going :D
you can get a second hand wii for £60 to £80 at a second hand store so this is massively overkill for similar games
unless they get A list title support which isnt going to happen this will badly fail
Move will be great for both casual and hardcores alike, Kinect will only attract the extreme casuals, most of which will be happy with their much cheaper Wiis (happier maybe, I'm sure most will prefer having some kinda interface between them and the game).
I still prefer to use the wired controllers. More bloody batteries to replace is not what I need in my life - the endless struggle that it is.
- Kinect costs ~150 Euro/129 pounds.
- Casual gamers are unlikely to buy it because it's expensive.
- Game studios will be making casual Kinect titles only because of the limitations involved.
- Kinect will end up as popular as the PowerGlove and as universally reviled.
What most irks me about Kinect is that it supports just two players at most and we still don't know what happens when you have people walking behind/in front of them while they're playing. We also don't know what the effect of wearing certain types of clothing (tight, loose fitting, weird fluff extensions, etc.) is, or that of different colours on the players and/or surroundings. Since Kinect also uses IR, having the room flooded with sunlight could screw with it as well.
It's a really expensive gamble to get Kinect. My guess is that most people will wait and see, resulting in no real games being made for it, and it dying a slow death.
I think that would have been better than an updated Eye Toy.
It strikes me as strange that as an avid pc fps gamer I have to use third party equipment in order to get mouse and keyboard on the 360.
For a peripheral that really makes a difference go over to www.xim360.com, the developer is shortly going to release XiM3 which is the most awesome device available for mouse keyboard (forget xfps rubbish)
Microsoft needs to force the big game makers to release games as Kin compatible the forza 3 in car view for £129 lol if you have money to burn maybe.
sorry meant for Christmas.... not sure if 3ds will be out by then.... need Christmas fun fix and so far Kinect only tech with a release date then.
getting a forza patch free would be a good idea though for the hard core.
Crimbo would be great for 3DS but I think Nintendo could launch it in the height of summer and still make a killing. It's the sort of thing I'd buy no matter what the launch games are. PS Move needs something exciting in the launch lineup to interest me. Kinect needs a miracle!
But seriously...anyone has a used Wii for sale?
Exactly, it's no where near as much of a gamble off the bat and already the fomula is proven and more recognized by the masses via the Wii. Also for many people, games they already own such as hard rain will be made compatible.
For the first 3 years of the PS3's life I was not impressed and started to support the 360, but slowly they have turned me around. I just wish the ****ers would make a slim version that allowed a Linux install and full, hardware powered PS2 emulation. I'd pay over the odds, just make me one :)