In a move of confidence, Microsoft"s Kudo Tsunoda expressed his opinion on Kinect sales saying that the webcam-style peripheral will "blow away" the iPad. Speaking in an interview with Gamasutra at the Tokyo Game Show, the Kinect spokesman stated that device is on track to sell millions of units this holiday season.
"The preorders have been really strong. As far as what we"re looking at for Holiday, this is going to be stuff that"ll blow away any of the sales you"ve seen with iPad," says Tsunoda, when asked what he thought about the device"s chances of success. "The Xbox 360 is already selling better than the Wii and Sony right now. Kinect"s really just going to boost that to a whole new level."
Apple’s iPad sold one million units in its first 28 days on the market. The device went on to sell a total of three million units in less than three months.
There is much speculation among gamers that Kinect will fundamentally change the landscape of the Xbox 360, which thrives on its popularity with core gamers. Tsunoda responded "This is both for people making games and people playing games. We just want you to make or play the games any way that you want."
Tsunoda insists that video game developers should pick whether they want to make their titles compatible with Kinect, a traditional controller, or even both. "If you want to make a game with a controller and using Kinect, if that"s going to make the game the most fun, use it that way. That"s awesome. The only thing we"re looking for is to enable developers to build the best experiences possible," says Tsunoda. "Both developers and the people playing are loving the experiences."
Neowin reported this week of Microsoft"s announcement of five new Kinect games. Kinect for the Xbox 360 is set to hit stores shelves on November 4 in North America and November 10 in Europe. The device carries a $149.99/£149.99 price tag.