Activision: Kinect is too expensive

In the same revealingEDGEinterview in which heimplied that thesacked Infinity Ward execs were criminals, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick expressed concern over the price of Microsoft's controllerless motion controls. He does think 3D gamesaretotally radical though.

"I think that 3D is super-compelling," he said. "The push has come from film but, personally, I find that live action in 3D is disruptive to the storytelling. But games in 3D are incredible. And when you see bullets whizzing past your ear, or imagine you're playing Guitar Hero over the internet and your bass player is right next to you, that's a really great enhancement of a game experience.

"I think 3D was made for videogames, and I'm very excited about that. With Kinect... I love it as an idea, but [Microsoft has] got to get the price down."


Above: Is this $149.99 worth of"weeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

Activision does love it some peripherals, though, and while Kotick is wary about the price, hebelieves that Kinect is good for something, as long as it's the right peripheral for the job.

"If the fantasy is to unleash your inner rock star, you need a guitar, or you need a mic, or a DJ booth,"he said. "Kinect and Move are superb for dance games - we don’t need to make a dance pad if you have Kinect. So as long as we think a peripheral is going to deliver something that’s compelling and interesting and innovative we’ll support it."

Kinect releases on November 4th in the US and November 10th in the UK for $149.99 and £129.99. Given the initial investment of owning an Xbox 360, and that the only included game is Kinect Adventures, which you probably don't want, it's an expensive proposition.The same can be said of thePlayStation Move bundle, which is $99.99 USD, but only includes one controller.

We're not sure how in love with 3D we are (excluding the 3DS), but regarding motion controls, well gosh, we agree with Kotick. Anyone planning to pick up Kinect on day one? When the price comes down? Ever?

[Source:EDGEvia CVG]

Sep 27, 2010

GamesRadarTylerWilde
Associate Editor, Digital at PC Gamer