ShopTo calls for lower UK Kinect price

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 30 June, 2010

Pre-orders currently "very low".

UK retailer ShopTo has called for Microsoft to lower the price it expects gamers to fork out for Xbox 360 motion sensor Kinect.

ShopTo pre-orders for Kinect are open now with a £124.86 price tag.

The current RRP of £129.99 and release date of Friday, 19th November listed on ShopTo are "placeholder", CEO Igor Cipolletta told Eurogamer this morning.

However, Cipolletta guaranteed those who pre-order Kinect will get the Xbox 360 add-on for the listed price irrespective of whether Microsoft's trade price is higher.

"It's too high," Cipolletta said of Kinect’s pricing.

"We believe that with this current economy it should be around £70. For £140 you can buy a Wii.

"Pre-orders are very low," he added.

Cipolletta doesn't expect Microsoft to bundle Kinect with the new Xbox 360 250GB model, set for a UK release on 16th July, although admitted that Microsoft may reveal such plans in the near future.

Last week Microsoft popped Kinect on its own online store priced $149, despite spokesperson Aaron Greenberg's repeated assertions that the $149 price tag put forward by US retailers is "purely speculative".

Cipolletta said that he has been told that Kinect's rumoured US pricing is correct, and based ShopTo's pricing on it.

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 (61) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dolly #1 2 years ago

    Yeah Bill, Fuck off.

    *Or not then. Screw it, make it £200 Bill. Apparently there's plenty of people more than willing to pay £130 for it*
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 15:00

  • Bremenacht #2 2 years ago

    Has it been listed for as much as 24 hours yet? I've not heard of something like this happening before.

  • metalangel #3 2 years ago

    Yeah, it's definitely because of the price. Definitely.

  • ignatiusjreilly #4 2 years ago

    Cipolletta doesn't expect Microsoft to bundle Kinect with the new Xbox 360 250GB model

    Why on earth not?

  • Eraysor #5 2 years ago

    It looks rubbish anyway to be honest, I don't think the price is the main problem.

  • Zaxlor #6 2 years ago

    Just what i've been saying to my mates. For £180 you can buy a hand Wii and you're good to go. OR, for £130 you can buy Kinect...Fantastic. Now, what do i plug this into? Oh, that's right, i've got to spend bare minimum of about £150 on a console to get it working. And then another £60 if i want wireless internet. And another £40 if i want to play online.

    So, that's £180 for a Wii, OR! £380 for a Kinect and a 360, to do exactly the same as the Wii, except you can play DVDs too...

    Total Ripoff. It dosn't matter what the price of the components are for Kinect, or how "clever" the device is, it costs half as much as a console and all you're doing is waving your arms about. Kinect is going to end up being like the Zune :/

  • EgbertoTheGreat #7 2 years ago

    Wish he was called Ivor instead of Igor. Ivor Cipoletta would be a hilarious name, Igor Cipoletta is only mildly amusing.

  • Sniper_007 #8 2 years ago

    @ignatiusjreilly because if they admitted that it would almost definitely be coming in a bundle then they may sell fewer consoles now ;-)

  • andywilkie35 #9 2 years ago

    I imagine pre orders are low because its the death of gaming and not many people want to spend £130 on poison.

  • patch #10 2 years ago

    Sounds to me like Microsoft have forgotten they're competing with Nintendo on this one, not Sony.

  • Spielo #11 2 years ago

    Surely there's a body to regulate articles like this? The ASA or Ofcom or someone?

    KEEP ADVERTS TO THE SIDELINES PLEASE.

  • menage #12 2 years ago

    @Zaxior

    Don't go dragging in shit that's irrelevant. Live and Wireless internet really aren't a factor with the target audience.

    I also thought the Wii would fail, I was wrong so i will see what happens. Not buying it though.

  • drumbaby #13 2 years ago

    Chipolata knows his onions.

  • adofessex #14 2 years ago

    I didn't know you could pre-order it :S

  • SAMagic #15 2 years ago

    @menage : Regardless of extra payments, I think Zaxlor has a point about the price. If the point of Kinect is to target the sizeable Wii market share, it simply won't work if it's more expensive. Surely a major part of the Wii's success has been the price and accessibility?

  • berelain #16 2 years ago

    No wonder the preorders are low, its only just had a price attached, that even he admits probably isn't final. Duh.

    As for bundling it with the console, of course they bloody well will- MS said as much in their E3 press conference.

  • Spydy #17 2 years ago

    MS are going to announce a much lower price. MS haven't confirmed the price, probably because they are gauging public opinion. Currently it's very negative. I'd expect a £99 price tag, or maybe even lower when they approach release.

    Looks like MS had wild expectations developing Kinect, but since they dropped the dedicated on-board chip it just hasn't worked out the way they expected. Kinetic is DOA unless something incredible happens. Either a massive price-drop or a killer app appears out of nowhere.

  • dfish #18 2 years ago

    @spielo
    anytime igor cipoletta opens his mouth warrrants an article on eurogamer.net.he's obviously in with eurogamer execs, shopto aren't remotely a player in terms of games retail market share. what do i care for his opinions, surely they should canvas the opinions of retailers as a whole to see what they think of the Kinect price rather than one small online retailer alone.

  • nuanimal #19 2 years ago

    @ignatiusjreilly

    MS will probably do a bundle in future, but right now, it makes business sense to sell them seperately - until the costs of Kinect go down over time, along with the 360s - ensuring there is a still a healthy margin.

    Just look at the different 360 SKUs... they each kept getting bigger hard drives but the costs were about the same.

    MS will likey wait until Kinect costs are lower - then bundle it, so to avoid taking to much of a hit.

  • ignatiusjreilly #20 2 years ago

    MS will probably do a bundle in future, but right now, it makes business sense to sell them seperately - until the costs of Kinect go down over time, along with the 360s - ensuring there is a still a healthy margin.

    You may be right, but if Microsoft's main concern is profit margin rather than maximising the install base then I really think they have the wrong strategy. Kinect needs good games, but developers won't make them unless there are enough people out there using Kinect to buy them.

  • sneetch #21 2 years ago

    @menage
    @Zaxior

    Don't go dragging in shit that's irrelevant. Live and Wireless internet really aren't a factor with the target audience.

    Any new buyers will be buying the new XBox Slim anyway which has built in Wireless, but I digress (further :) ).

    Given how much they've scaled Kinect back in terms of capabilities and the (IMO) rubbish launch lineup I'm not surprised the pre-orders are "very low". I'm waiting for that "killer app" now, if it was cheaper I might pick it up in anticipation of future releases.

  • slippysloppy #22 2 years ago

    At £69.99 M$ could recoup the costs on the games, more purchases of Kinect == more purchases of compatible games. Very few are going to pay the RRP and those who can afford it will have Wiis gathering dust and won't risk a similar purchase.

    M$ should lower the price and target hardcore gamers, against a high price targeted at the casual market.

  • t8yman #23 2 years ago

    @slippysloppy, its no good aiming at hardcore gamers, becuase hardcore gamers dont even want it.

    high price point very rarely has anything to do with low preorders. apple will tell you that.

  • Suttieb #24 2 years ago

    I dont think I have any spare plug sockets.. especially not for a peripheral

  • Quint2020 #25 2 years ago

    I'm sure that's going to work.....

  • slippysloppy #26 2 years ago

    @t8yman Good point about the hardcore gamers, though I think it could be shown to work with more hardcore games. Imagine MW2 or Bioshock if you could throw the grenades/plasmids. I could see it working well in addition to the controller not just on its own.

    A high price will put people off who are unsure about it. I've been looking forward to Natal and would def pre-order at a lower price but this is more expensive than an Arcade 360.
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 12:16

  • gnrlstuart #27 2 years ago

    what happened to that on board cpu that recognised facial and hand gestures? and ultra precise motion capture with high definition depth sensors and 60 fps capture rate? fuck this piece of shit. i wouldn't buy it if it was a fiver if it doesn't have any games...

  • mcmonkeyplc #28 2 years ago

    This guy is calling for a fake price to be lowered? Now I've read it all. If he based it on the US price then why the fuck is it £30 too expensive you fucktard?

  • metalangel #29 2 years ago

    I know why it's not selling! People NEED TO KNOW if Milo is coming out or not! It's the killer app EVERYONE wants!

  • awithers #30 2 years ago

    someone's gon-na get fir-ed... scrap that. someone recently retir-ed... ;)

  • brigadier #31 2 years ago

    Never trust a man named after a party sausage.

  • mcmonkeyplc #32 2 years ago

    For the record I'm calling the Cipollata man a fucktard. Not you wesker. :)

  • gorf #33 2 years ago

    i thought MS should offer this add on asa loss leader in order to grow the 360 casual gamer base. would mean more money to them in the long run associated small loss on the hardware. Anything above £70 could jeopodise its sucess before it even starts. ill bet all the software companys developing Natal games must be looking at this pricing policy with great concern
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 12:40

  • Lebowski #34 2 years ago

    It'll get an epic DJ-Hero or Beatles Rock Band-type price cut once no-one buys the bloody thing.

  • karooo #35 2 years ago

    Kinect was aimed at the americans, no one with a brain outside the US wll buy this at such a high price.

  • Spungles #36 2 years ago

    Pre orders would be low because by and large the mainstream/casual folks don't pre order. If MS hadn't rushed it out asap with relatively quick to develop copycat wiggle-ware then it might be a different story.

    Not that I'm bitter about there being no hardcore games yet or anything....

  • BobsUncle #37 2 years ago

    And how much of that £130 is retailer profit?
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 12:50

  • des #38 2 years ago

    "Kinect was aimed at the americans, no one with a brain outside the US wll buy this at such a high price. "

    Just like nobody bought Wii in Europe,right?

  • alcides #39 2 years ago

    A 3D camera that rips-off the PS2's eyetoy games, while doing them only slightly better... This is totally worth it.

    Also too late Wes, Rob's already on it!
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 13:05

  • Doctor_What #40 2 years ago

    Weird - Amazon.co.uk have taken it off from being a pre-order. A few weeks ago it was in the top ten pre-orders, ahead of the PS3 Move, but the Move is still available for pre-order but the Kinect isn't any more. How strange.

  • Zaxlor #41 2 years ago

    @everyone commenting on me...

    I was trying to compare the Wii and Kinect, in terms of what they can do. Sure, you could buy a release day Arcade for like £80 second hand, then buy a brand new Kinect for £130. That's £210, for a console that can play games, DVDs and lets you wave your arms about. No online though, just that...

    Or, for £180, you can grab a new Wii. That lets you go online. That dosn't require a sub...

    If you want to play family games, by moving your body about, why would you choose to spend more money on a 360 and Kinect, when the Wii's already got an established market. The only bonus of Kinect, is that you don't need to shell out £35 on a new remote for each additional player, but considering the DF preview hinted heavily that Kinect only works with 2 players, that'd bring the price of a Wii and 1 more remote to £210. That's THE SAME PRICE as a hypothetical 2nd hand 360 and Kinect.

    What i'm trying to say is, given the choice between an Elite 360 now, costing about 200 quid...Or a slim, which would you buy? The slim one, right? Since it's got wifi built in AND a bigger hard drive. Same thing goes with the Wii and Kinect+360. More money, for almost the same thing. Microsoft are going to have to advertise the shit out of Kinect, to get people to want one.

  • des #42 2 years ago

    ^^

    http://gamejournos.tum blr.com/

  • t8yman #43 2 years ago

    are hardcore gamers really interested?

    I dont know if I'm classed as hardcore, I play about 12-20 hours a week? but I couldnt give a toss about all this arm waving shenanigans.

    I dont want to "be" the controller, I dont even want to wave a controller around. I dont even want to tilt a controller to mimic someone gliding or parachuting - I want to hold a good, responsive, accurate and comfortable controller in my hand - preferably without wires, but its not the end of the world if I have to plug in a playncharge cable.

    I play games to chill, have a laugh, and get a bit of a buzz - not for a cardio vascular workout.

    and dont even start me on "xbox - pause"..............

  • Hobo #44 2 years ago

    A retailers pre-orders are low? What could they do to fix that?

    I know! Get a "respected" gaming website to put a story on their website about it. Better yet...TWO!!

  • Darren #45 2 years ago

    I *might* have bought Kinect if it had been nearer £40, just for option of having a Minority Report-style interface, but I have zero interest in it at over £100, especially as I already have a Wii that does pretty much the same thing. Kinect is a friggin' glorified webcam with a few extra gubbins with the bulk of the processing handled by the Xbox 360 itself so a £130 price tag comes across as outrageous IMO.

    If Microsoft persist with that pricepoint and Kinect flops, well then they've only got their own greed to blame for it really.

  • Machiavellian #46 2 years ago

    If Kinect does cost 150 to make, I really do not see MS going in the red at this time in their lifecycle for the 360. Price isn't everything to the masses its hype. MS can always drop the price if the need to but once you set the price you can never go up (unless you want to piss off a lot of people).

    My belief is that MS will sell Kinect at 150, then during the holidays have some great discount deals to get that Christmas sales and after that gauge the sell of the device and decide if they need to discount it. Maybe discount kinect when something big come out if possible.

  • Darren #47 2 years ago

    It would be quite amusing if the £130 price point sticks and customers go into GAME to buy it, thinking they're getting the complete package, including the console!!!

  • Machiavellian #48 2 years ago

    320*240 resolution on this glorified camera.

    For $150.

    Get real MS.

    Where did you get those specs for the camera because on MS website here are the specs for Kinect.

    * Color VGA Motion Camera 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 30FPS
    * Depth Camera 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 30FPS
    * Array of 4 microphones supporting single speaker voice recognition

    I understand that you want to belittle the device but you are making yourself look foolish since you do not know or even understand the hardware within the device and how costly some of it is. As a consumer I do not care but that doesn't mean I do not understand that Natal is not cheap because the tech isn't cheap.

  • des #49 2 years ago

    Let's see

    -product appears for pre-order in last few days(24 hours?)...until this only Game was taking pre-orders
    -no official price
    -launching in November
    .
    .
    .
    -low pre-order numbers,water is wet

    This is like one big ShopTo advert

    Kinect is at number 10 now,btw...lol

  • Moz #50 2 years ago

    The same specs are on Play.com too though no price.

    Though gotta love to publicity shots, family enjoying Kinect in a living room twice the size of the average living room in the UK!!!

    WAs actually getting excited about this after E3 now i find i just dont have the space for it

  • BillyBrush #51 2 years ago

    THE PRICE HASN'T BEEN ANNOUNCED - CALM DOWN

    Once again, you're getting well ahead of yourselves.

    Microsoft/Gem/Whoever should give Igor a special fuck off high trade price for being a twat and spreading bad/utterly false news on websites, the 'placeholder one' he has is high because they understandably want to cover their ass until he knows what it costs.



    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 16:31

  • mcwildcard #52 2 years ago

    £130 sounds about right if the US price is actually correct.

    $149.99 = £100
    + VAT = £117.50
    + Well those brits don't mind paying a tenner extra = £127.50
    + I suppose we should bring that to a round figure = £129.99

  • BillyBrush #53 2 years ago

    If my auntie had a dick she'd be my uncle.

  • Nephirion #54 2 years ago

    So in the UK it cost £30.36p more than in the states? For retailers and consumers alike that's not a very attractive import price.

  • CHACK #55 2 years ago

    Its just absolute genius - Microsoft want to encourage the casual gamer into the frame and expect them to part with £130 in todays economic climate, this is to "engage consumers who haven't yet bought into the Xbox experience"and as Zaxlor points out who the hell is going to shell out all that money for a console and a Kinect not to mention the higher priced software in one go?

    I'll tell you, it sure as shit isn't going to be a "casual gamer".

  • Chazmeister #56 2 years ago

    Anything more than £99 and they can forget it.

  • White_Westie #57 2 years ago

    they may adopt the same policy as the wii fit / balance board.

    £ 70 - £80 I thiink it will be...

  • rascoj64 #58 2 years ago

    I might get one to go with my copy of Tony Hawks Ride, imagine the control is just as good and I'm struggling to think of other things to spend my hard earnt money on!

  • penhalion #59 2 years ago

    The Kinects price is sheer nonsense. I can get a PS3 wand for 30 quid or 60 with the camera so why the heck would I fork out 130 quid for what is essentially just another fancy camera. The dedicated electronics were removed from the kinects ages ago! It's the reason it now lags and can't handle more than two people at a time.

    Someone needs to call microsoft on this. The kinects is now just a fancy camera array that requires the 360 to do all the work, thus slowing the machine down. Originally it contained dedicated hardware to do the processing. It seems that microsoft have removed this hardware without lowering the price. Trouble is that todays consumer is wise to such nonsense after the fiasco that was the original PS3 launch i.e 2 hdmi ports multiple cell processors etc. etc. Then the final machine was less than half that ppromise.

  • FuzzyDuck #60 2 years ago

    The only reason why i want either this or Move to succeed is to help prolong this hardware generation's lifecycle.

  • sentinal101 #61 2 years ago

    Personally looking forward to kinect but frustrated at microsoft not being more forthcoming with price. hard to imagine they dont know it yet, hopefully find out soon, fingers crossed they are hoping to create some hype with annoucement of much lower price than is being put out there at the minute but wont hold breath.