Will Kinect/Move boost 360/PS3 sales?

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 23 November, 2010

"Unlikely," says a new report.

Both Microsoft and Sony reckon motion sensing add-ons Kinect and Move will significantly boost sales of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 respectively, but a new survey from a respected analyst reckons that's "unlikely".

Firm Cowen's Fall 2010 Video Game Survey chatted to 1300 individuals and 1001 videogame players from the US, and, according to analyst Doug Creutz, the results suggest price cuts "would have been better".

"Although our survey results show strong demand for the two new motion sensing peripherals among current Xbox 360 and PS3 owners, demand among non-owners and prospective buyers appears tepid," Creutz said in a note.

"Our survey results also show that the price prospective buyers are willing to pay for a new console has declined meaningfully versus last year; however, hardware price points remain unchanged."

Cowen's findings are sure to disappoint Microsoft and Sony, both of which hope to expand the traditional hardcore gaming audience of their consoles.

Microsoft's said publicly it reckons Kinect will extend the life of the Xbox 360 by five years. It sold a million units worldwide in the 10 days following launch, and Microsoft predicts five million sales by the end of the year.

Sony's been less aggressive in its predictions for Move, but has said it expects it to appeal to casual and hardcore gamers alike.

But what of Nintendo's Wii? Well, Cowen reckons the original motion sensing console is "unlikely" to see as large a sales boost this holiday as it did last year – despite Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime insisting otherwise.

Cowen concludes its report with a recommendation to game makers: publishers successfully targeting the core gamer can continue to thrive despite changes to the structure of the industry.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • linksdad #1 2 years ago

    The time and money MS spent on Kinect would have funded several major AAA titles. It is a purchase for current owners or people who have been sat on the fence. To those that dont own it is a further £130 barrier to entry, and perversly, likely to hasten the arrival of the next gen.

  • kangarootoo #2 2 years ago

    "The time and money MS spent on Kinect would have funded several major AAA titles"

    It would actually fund about 50 of them, very well. The marketing budget for Kinect was a stonking $500m.

  • FireMonkey #3 2 years ago

    Well apparently Kinect has already has boosted 360 sales (in the UK at least)

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-1...

    EDIT: Be good if I could type properly
    Edited by FireMonkey at 23/11/10 @ 15:08

  • vmanb #4 2 years ago

    I think i'd like to see actual U.K figures which MS don't want to tell us for some reason before suggesting that kinect has boosted xbox console sales.Figures for kinect sales that is.
    Edited by vmanb at 23/11/10 @ 15:11

  • alimokrane #5 2 years ago

    There is Week-One Boost and Sustained Boost - two different things! Let's see if the boost holds up post-release AND post-christmas, well into the new year.

    Right now, it's not very clear if the boost in sales is an indication of a sustained one for both 360/PS3 and wether that is due to either Kinect/Move. Analysts are there to speculate, that's how they get paid no matter how nonsense their predictions may be.
    Edited by alimokrane at 23/11/10 @ 15:18

  • CallousB #6 2 years ago

    I'm sure Kinect will boost 360 sales to a degree.....but then again....if Microsoft spent that $500 million dollars advertising just the 360 console by itself (as opposed to Kinect)..then that would boost sales.

  • FireMonkey #7 2 years ago

    What makes you think MS are holding back figures?
    They have released worldwide sales figures for the first 10 days which were officially over 1 million.

    http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press...

  • FireMonkey #8 2 years ago

    @Alimokrane - "There is Week-One Boost and Sustained Boost - two different things!"

    Agreed, but there was no mention of what type of boost in the report. It just said significant.
    A 100% boost in the run up to Christmas is what I'd call a significant boost even if it is not sustained

  • slippysloppy #9 2 years ago

    I know one person (which is actually better than I expected) who was a non -gamer consider buying a 360 because of Kinect. In the end the space issue scared him off and he purchased a Wii. His reasons being a) His kids would have been disappointed on Christmas day if Kinect didn't work because of space b) His kids know lots of Wii owners who they can share games with c) Price and d) he can hack the Wii and play illegally downloaded games

    His reasons, not mine but I think they cover pretty much the thought processes of current non-gamers

  • vmanb #10 2 years ago

    @Firemonkey. UK I REPEAT UK KINECT SALES FIGURES.

  • FireMonkey #11 2 years ago

    @vmanb - I know. No need to shout. 8)

    That's why I said that that was worldwide. It's still valid info to post as it helps give an impression of what it may be selling like in the UK.
    Edited by FireMonkey at 23/11/10 @ 15:54

  • lennon #12 2 years ago

    Whilst I guess the wii has no real space limitation as in how far back you need to be I cant really imagine playing wii games any closer to my TV than I would play Kinect games.

    Much further forward and my wiimote would be embedded in the TV.

  • HisDudness #13 2 years ago

    Clearly they should have painted their consoles red if they were serious about a sales boost.

  • ybfelix #14 2 years ago

    Wow, I clicked Megaton.co.uk at the bottom link for the first time and it hurts my eyes, do kids really like that design??

  • gjgjg #15 2 years ago

    Well I think this won't really be clear until after xmas.

    Also I'm sure there's a few heads like me who used the Kinect bundle as an excuse to upgrade to the new xbox while getting the girl friend Dance Central... so the boost will consist of a fair amount of non-new customers

  • makeamazing #16 2 years ago

    Kinect released at the same time as Black Ops didnt it, and when COD released in previous years usually Xbox/Ps3 gets a boost... now i am not saying this is the only reason, but first week is difficult to tell how well its boosted and for how long. Obviously it would have been easier if MS released it at a quieter time... but thats life. We may not get a totally clear picture until January, as Xmas usually boosts all three consoles, and we may not know if thats Xmas boost or Kinect (though it the numbers are greatly up that will show Kinect has an impact).

    But if this was even remotely true, that of course is more worrying for MS as they have invested a hell of alot more than Sony. Sony can afford for Move to fail bigtime, I dont believe MS can (though selling 1 million in 10 days is at least a good start).

  • Gastrian #17 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • Noble6 #18 2 years ago

    For 500m MS could have got studios to develop about 15 exclusive AAA titles. Insane innit ?

  • moggsy #19 2 years ago

    There is no way Kinect will single handedly sustain sales of the aging 360 hardware. I expect a next gen hardware release at the end of 2012. You heard it here first! ;-)

  • DrStrangelove #20 2 years ago

    "1300 individuals and 1001 videogame players"

    lol what are you implying?

  • Kerome #21 2 years ago

    It's too early to call this one. The Wii wasn't an overnight success, and especially for Kinect it will take some time to see its impact.