The Kinect add-on for the Xbox 360 gaming machine has been highly anticipated by the fickle world of gamers. The world of motion control and gaming machines comes at a cost because it is new. Is the additional gameplay really worth the price? Can you get the unit cheaply?
Is it worth fighting to save a few bucks?
The opening price is $ 149.99 and from what I can see, there is little movement on this for the holiday season that is looming in 2010. This is a bit more for what is essentially an additional controller. You can buy complete gaming systems for that price, although the Kinect is unique and unlike any other game controller.
I’m using the word controller when the Kinect is actually a sensor bar. This sensor bar watches the players with a built-in camera and copies the body movements of the players. These are displayed on the screen in whatever Kinect-ready game you are playing. This is very strange and noticeable in the game as you just collect things and move around remotely. It takes 5 minutes to get used to and then you can play. This is a very new concept and explains the high price. Come January and the price will drop to $ 99.
To compete with the Kinect, Sony is releasing its “Move” controller. The Move is not as hands-free as the Kinect, but it is cheaper. However, this is irrelevant if your machine is an XBox 360. You need Kinect.
Is it really possible to get a cheaper price on Kinect now?
The main way is to buy a new Xbox console at the same time. As a standalone product, Kinect comes bundled with a game. But when buying a bundle, some retailers are packing more games alongside the Kinect motion sensor.
Included offerings come in a 250-gigabyte hard drive model and a 4-gigabyte hard drive version. The consoles come separately at $ 299 and $ 199. With the Kinect bundle option, you only pay an additional $ 100, saving you $ 49. This makes the 250GB bundle $ 399.99 and the 4GB bundle $ 299.99.
So getting started with the Kinect will require a financial investment. I think the user experience has improved so much that it is worth the additional cost. As word spreads about how the game works with motion sensor technology, many households will add this to their Christmas list for 2010. It attracts people to want to play together.