A few days back I posted up the story about Kinect selling out at certain retailers in the USA which sparked a lively debate which ended in a certain reader proving themselves to be quite the idiot.
But up until that point the debate was more around whether this shortage is being manufactured by Microsoft to build hype or whether there really is a large demand for the Kinect in America.
Now to add more fuel to the fire we are seeing reports that the stand alone Kinect is now no longer available to pre-order at both Game and Amazon (UK) with Play also stating that Kinect may not be available at launch but they’ll still take your money.
HMV, which if I recall is the only other massive gamers retailer in the UK, is taking pre-orders for launch however so if you are in the UK and want to pick up Kinect at launch you still can.
The part that amazes me about all of this is that it’s the stand alone unit that is selling out all over the place, I was utterly convinced that 95% of all new Kinect owners would be people who don’t already own an Xbox 360.
Without knowing how much stock their really is of either SKU we can’t say anything for sure but it looks like the core gamers are actually interested in Kinect and Microsoft may hit that 3 million units sold figure quicker than a lot of haters predicted.
Kinect lands in just under a month so it’s not long now before we can see if it’s all hype or not.
Source: VG247
Last Updated: October 13, 2010
Fox1
October 13, 2010 at 09:30
Here’s a future heading you can use after Kinect’s launch: “Kinect Sales are on Rails”
Fox2
October 13, 2010 at 11:33
Here’s a future heading you can use after Kinect’s launch:
“Fanboys like Fox1 are deeply disappointed in the huge success of kinect but would like to bow out gracefully and congratulate Microsoft in their sucsess”
Fox1
October 13, 2010 at 11:43
Ironically contradictory…
easy
October 13, 2010 at 11:49
if one likes what kinect offers and it is a dismal failure at retail level, does that mean one would no longer like kinect?
the apple’s newton was a horrendous failure, purely because it was way ahead of it’s time. now we all drool over the prospect of having a modern day equivalent. i suspect kinect will spurn an entirely new industry, just not in its current state of development (according to my needs or course).
kinect’s technology in 5-10 years will be common place, except it whether or not you like it.
don’t be a dingle berry on a bum grape.
Fox1
October 13, 2010 at 11:56
+1
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 12:23
Don’t worry Game (UK) and Amazon (UK) buyers, another 10 Kinects will come along soon. 😉
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 12:37
You know what I find strange. The kinect games are not in high demand (in all of the places that Kinect has presumably “sold out”). You’d think that if there was a buying frenzy for the hardware, the same would be reflected on the software side, or at least, you’d see higher than average buys on one or two of the more featured games (especially Kinectimals or even the dancing one).
😀 Marketing! You have to take your hat off to Microsoft. They’re truly the masters.
easy
October 13, 2010 at 13:57
it could be that people are interested in kinect but do not want to invest too much in games as it still relatively untested in the real world environment.
if it proves to work as advertised, then kinect games will invariably pick up exponentially.
on a side note, ms is not the only company that has mastered the dark art of marketing. all and sundry have fallen prey to marketer’s tricks while still remaining oblivious to the fact they’ve been duped. keeps the economy ticking over 😉
me thinks you need to widen the scope of your witch hunt
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 14:03
Oh of course, not, do you remember wiifit and the wii board? Nintendo and retailers declared that it had sold out before launch (the same tactic that Microsoft is adopting), and soon after it was launched it disappeared off the radars of morbidly obese housewives, bored teenagers and grandparents around the world.
Even Tony Hawk Ride was supposed to have sold out in stores in the US before launch.
Steve Hofmeyr
October 13, 2010 at 14:03
Buy one Bobby, I know you want to…
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 14:34
Only if we can play this Kinect FPS together. 😛
Gavin Mannion
October 13, 2010 at 14:47
No really, when the Wii was first released it sold out massively and yet the software sales never matched it.
Still to this day the hardware outstrips software pretty much month on month.
Steve Hofmeyr
October 13, 2010 at 15:24
Dude, that FPS is SIIICKK!! literally
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 15:58
I knew you’d like it 😛
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 16:04
@Gavin
I was talking about Wiifit (which came with a peripheral the wii board). Incidentally, since Kinect is also a peripheral, it makes comparisons valid between the two. It makes no sense to compare a console (the wii) to a peripheral device (like Kinect).
Nick de Bruyne
October 13, 2010 at 16:09
Holy crap that FPS looks BAD!
Ndibu
October 13, 2010 at 16:27
Alot of ps3 fanboys seem overly concerned with kinect sales. . .why is that?
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
October 13, 2010 at 16:44
Alot of xbots seem rather unfazed by having their wallets continuously raped by microsoft… why is that?
M@GE
October 13, 2010 at 17:32
Well….. my wallet hasn’t been raped once. Thats because I buy games when they are on discount 😛