The Kinect is likely to be a big hit with casual gamers, but will it appeal to Microsoft’s core Xbox 360 audience?
Ted Pollak, a senior analyst at Jon Peddie Research, told TG Daily it was “unclear” if the controller-free platform would be widely accepted by mainstream players.
“I think Microsoft’s Kinect is also a cool technology and it will expand the gaming market even further in all kinds of directions of game play we have not yet experienced,” said Pollak.
“In particular, I think Kinect has the potential to deliver really neat augmented reality experiences. However, at this point it is unclear how Kinect will appeal to core gamers.”
Pollak also noted that Sony’s Move was currently the HD core gamers “best vehicle” for motion-based titles.
“Gamers must have buttons on a controller for a deep and challenging core game experience and Sony definitely delivers with Move…[And] Move will appeal to casual consumers.”
Pollak added that his experience with the Nintendo 3DS at E3 2010 was nothing short of “fantastic.”
“The Nintendo 3DS will appeal to core gamers and casual gamers alike. It was amazing to see the quality 3D effects without glasses and, despite the screens relatively low resolution, it produced a crisp image with plenty of pixels to satisfy a wide range of game types and passive entertainment (i.e 3D anime, movies, etc).”
