Kinect Games
- Thread starter AzBat
- Start date
I'm not so sure there is an actual difference. They only mention a new firmware, which combined with their dedicated USB 2.0 port requirement to me suggests much more that they're just not bottlenecked on the PC like they are on 360, and that they've optimised the firmware for that mode of operation. Not entirely sure of course if that is really true, but that's my guess. And the student version is $149, which is similar to 360's Kinect, suggesting a similar manufacturing cost. Considering what the device does, they should easily be able to get away with a relatively premium price for now despite the BOM, and of course they have a healthy R&D, marketing etc. investment to earn back money on, so why start lower?
But that's just conjecture though.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
It could just be that the X360 version is selling at or near cost of manufacture. The device itself is just used to push software packages with much higher profit margins.
On the PC, MS doesn't get licensing fee's from each company selling software that runs on Windows, so that extra 100 USD premium might just be there so they make a profit on the sale of the hardware.
Regards,
SB
On the PC, MS doesn't get licensing fee's from each company selling software that runs on Windows, so that extra 100 USD premium might just be there so they make a profit on the sale of the hardware.
Regards,
SB
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwindows/
From reading around it sounds like it has a full USB 2.0 interface and some changes to the camera lenses to support "near" mode. Reading further on the blog, this was actually announced quietly in November. Looks like the hardware was tweaked a bit, and this unit will not be compatible with Xbox 360. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwi...2/kinect-for-windows-building-the-future.aspx
From reading around it sounds like it has a full USB 2.0 interface and some changes to the camera lenses to support "near" mode. Reading further on the blog, this was actually announced quietly in November. Looks like the hardware was tweaked a bit, and this unit will not be compatible with Xbox 360. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwi...2/kinect-for-windows-building-the-future.aspx
Silent_Buddha
Legend
It does make me wonder if they'll eventually be releasing a "professional" version of the Kinect camera system for use with business and industry. An area where they can charge significantly more with the attendant large margin.
Regards,
SB
Regards,
SB
At $250 SRP, what's the market actually going to be? Surely it'll be too niche among gamers to be worth targeting. In fact won't it be too niche for anyone to target? I can't see who it's going to sell to to write software for, resulting in no software to actually use Kinect. On XB360 it's obvious use was motion gaming. What's the use on a PC viewed from 50" away (way further than I am from my PC currently, or have ever sat from a PC!) where you have a mouse for pixel-perfect interfacing?
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Not sure but there are plenty of niche controllers (good steering wheel systems can go for 500 USD and up, good flight control systems, etc.) which sell around that or more. Some people are willing to pay up to 100+ USD (my own mouse runs ~80 USD) for a good "gaming" mouse along with another 50-100+ USD (again ~80 USD keyboard) on keyboard.
You have people willing to pay 500+ USD for a video card. People who were willing to pay 1000+ USD for a CPU that's barely faster than ones that were 1/3 that price. People paying 250-400 USD for a motherboard when they could do just about as well with a 100 or less USD MB. Same goes for Memory, SSD's, etc.
I have a feeling this will be something altogether different from Kinect for X360.
Where Kinect for X360 is solidly targeted at the casuals with game companies slowly finding ways to incorporate it into more core game types, the PC is going the opposite direction.
On PC it's more targeted at enthusiasts, developers, businesses, laboratories, schools, hobbyists, etc. initially with MS later moving down to more casual types as developers find engaging applications.
So basically initial audience target is at opposite ends of the spectrum. You can tell just by looking at the requirements. You are required to use the Kinect for Windows SDK in order to run anything on Kinect. That's going to move it out of the hands of most casual types for the time being.
Regards,
SB
You have people willing to pay 500+ USD for a video card. People who were willing to pay 1000+ USD for a CPU that's barely faster than ones that were 1/3 that price. People paying 250-400 USD for a motherboard when they could do just about as well with a 100 or less USD MB. Same goes for Memory, SSD's, etc.
I have a feeling this will be something altogether different from Kinect for X360.
Where Kinect for X360 is solidly targeted at the casuals with game companies slowly finding ways to incorporate it into more core game types, the PC is going the opposite direction.
On PC it's more targeted at enthusiasts, developers, businesses, laboratories, schools, hobbyists, etc. initially with MS later moving down to more casual types as developers find engaging applications.
So basically initial audience target is at opposite ends of the spectrum. You can tell just by looking at the requirements. You are required to use the Kinect for Windows SDK in order to run anything on Kinect. That's going to move it out of the hands of most casual types for the time being.
Regards,
SB
18 Million Kinect Sensors sold
Well I'll say this much, my wife has no interest in games yet she just setup an xblive account because she loves Kinect. In particular she really likes the Your Shape Fitness 2012 game, she's using it every day and I've started to as well. She hasn't really played games since the Intellivision days so it's neat to see her interested in them again. Or as she put it, "Finally something for me". My sister in law and her daughter tried it at an Xbox 360 store in Montreal while I was there and they loved it as did the other ladies that were there. This device seems to really connect with the female audience, I'd be curious to know if there is any demographic breakdown of who is using Kinect.
It doesn't seem like they're approaching it from a mass market approach on the PC. Looks like they're interested in making it a specialty product. For instance, if you wanted to build an interactive display system for retail stores, you would develop and pay for this version because you'd have warranty and support etc.
Emphasis mine
Yeah, but they already have a software market in racing games or FPSes for high quality mice etc. Kinect needs ground-up designed software. Just having a Kinect plugin that maps gestures to key presses won't go down a bundle with the PC gamer!
Yeah, I think it's looking more that way. Basically it's Kinect for professionals, and not for entertainment. Presumably companies will resell Kinect as part of a product.
I had actually had a thought for its use professionally (not games) but I want to flesh it out first. I also have a hard time dropping $250 on this when I already have two Kinects in my household and nothing but MacBook Pros (+one old iMac) + all the $hit I've given the 3DS and Vita for being $250+.
19.68" sounds about right for PC use
Well, I hope Kinect 2, or whatever works with the next xbox allows you to stand within a shorter distance. I'm guessing this near mode is not for full-body, so I'm curious to see if the distance restrictions will be the same in that case. Even a few feet of improvement would be welcome. It'll be interesting to see what changes they made to the camera lenses to make this work. I don't know much about cameras. That said, having such a short working distance for interaction with hand gestures etc is pretty great.
Ahh, should have paid more attention. I guess I assumed it was inches as it's a US product.
As for those software partners, apart from Mattel there's not really much of relevance to this thread. And I don't see Mattel really targeting kids games for a $250 peripheral. They'd surely target XB360 for that.
