Why Microsoft “Won” E3 2010
Before I get into this, let me just say that in my mind, and as a gamer, Microsoft did not “win” E3. What they presented was interesting, but for the post part, what I saw did not appeal to me that much. Kinect was neat, and I’d love to get my hands on one, but I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t. The non-Kinect games they showed off were hardly new, and I didn’t really get super excited for anything they presented. In my eyes, Microsoft’s presentation was not fit for E3.
Too bad what I thought of E3 does not at all matter. Microsoft wins E3 because one thing and one thing alone- Kinect. Stick with me, I promise I’m going somewhere with this.
This entire week, I have seen people gamers complain, saying that Microsoft’s E3 keynote wasn’t at all catered to them, which apparently equals a fail. I’ve even seen people claim that Microsoft’s keynote means that gaming is dead and Microsoft has killed it. (which is possibly the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while) One person even claimed that Microsoft’s new casual-centric attitude means that they are going to lose a lot of money. This could not be farther from the truth.
Think back to about four years ago, when the Wii was just being announced. Everyone’s immediate reaction was “What the hell? This is bullshit.” Regardless of our views on the Wii (Which for the most part, haven’t changed) Nintendo has become incredibly successful with the Wii. Everyone went “Oh, hah, this waggle stuff is lame. No one will ever buy this!” 71 million units sold. Seventy-one million units, guys. And that was as of March. It hasn’t even been a full four years the system is out, and it has eclipsed almost every console in terms of sales. It took Sony 6 years to get to 100 million with the PS2, and 9 with the PSX. And now, Nintendo is quickly climbing back to the top of the gaming hierarchy with this year’s E3. Now everyone is thinking “NIntendo is all about gamers! Nintendo 4eva!” despite their previous thoughts.
Microsoft will do the exact same thing. They’ll rake in the endless cash for a while, then merge that with the “real gaming” we all know and love, and it will work for them, and no one will care about how lame Kinect was in 2010.
“But what if casual gamers don’t care about Kinect?” Oh, they will. And they will for two reasons- it’s cheap, and it has no learning curve. If there’s one thing Microsoft has been trying to make apparent with Kinect, it’s that since there’s no controller, there’s no learning curve. You just jump in and play. And if the initial impressions of Kinect at E3 are anything to go by, that’s exactly how the thing works. No one has to tell you to “hold A to jump”, you just jump. For this reason, Microsoft will definitely hook the casual market easier than the Wii did.
Do you know what my mom said when she saw the Your Shape: Fitness demo? “Oh my god, where can I get one of those? How much is it? It’s not out? When is it coming out?” Casual gamers- even people that aren’t gamers, even the MEDIA- will eat this thing alive much faster than they did the Wii. Believe it or not, Natal is the cheapest motion control option. For $150 ($300 if you don’t have an Xbox) you can play this with anywhere from 1 to 8 people. For $370 ($669 if you don’t have a PS3) you can play the PS3 Move with 4 people. If you could play with eight people, it would be $690/$989. For $180 ($380 if you don’t have a Wii) you can play the Wii with 4 people. If you could play with 8 people, it would be $420/$620. In terms of price, casual appeal, and what looks like it could be fun for people to play, (We really need to eclipse the idea that fun requires a controller and/or guns) Kinect is going to sell an enormous, ENORMOUS amount.
You also have to take into consideration the novelty of voice control. If anything, this was what I saw of Kinect at E3 that impressed me the most. I can definitely see myself saying “Xbox, play” rather than grabbing the wireless remote, especially if I have friends over to watch a movie. Believe it or not, voice control is still considered future-tech. Being able to use such technology in something that’s considered an every-day occurrence is astounding, and definitely worthy of the coveted “ooh-ahh” demo.
Another thing I have heard regarding Kinect is its application with FPSes. Why do we feel that for something to be good, it has to work with every single genre of video games? I haven’t heard of any FPS developers trying to apply Kinect controls to their games, and it’s probably for a good reason- it wouldn’t work. But FPS isn’t the only genre of video games out there. Sure, some people might consider themselves FPS-exclusive gamers, but that’s not the crowd Microsoft is trying to attract right now. You’ve had your moment in the sun, but in order to remain successful, they have to appeal to all demographics- including the majority demographic, non-gamers.
When the Wii first launched, every major news outlet in the world, from TIME Magazine to the Today Show, had Wiis in their offices, showing off videos of themselves playing Wii Tennis and having so much fun. When Kinect is about to hit in October, the same thing will happen, and everyone will talk about how it doesn’t require a controller, and how easy and fun it is to play- and every store will sell out of them faster than they could take them off of the truck. Microsoft knows exactly what they’re doing with Kinect. And in a year or so, when they come back strong with the “hardcore” crowd, we’ll be back in Microsoft’s loving arms, claiming they were the best all along.
Microsoft won this year’s E3. Not because what they presented was appealing, but because what they presented was appealing to the right crowd. You can look forward to seeing “Kinect sells 1 million units at launch” very soon.
