Poor marketing strategy?

sony already did this with the eyetoy a long time ago. the microsoft kinect is an add-on to the system of which you can only play mickey mouse-y types of games like kinect adventures and national geographic i don't like those family type of games. i think
its good microsoft has given the consumer a choice this time i don't want kinect even when i did have it with my xbox 360 console i never used the thing. i don't know whether it would have improved sales if they had of included it in one package, i think
the answer to that is something we don't know because that could go either way.

 

Okay, so you're asking if marketing the Kinect hadn't happened if would've helped sales for the XB1 or not? IMO, I don't think it really would've mattered. People would've found out very quickly anyways and the same thing that did happen likely would've
happened. Also, as you said, this isn't even counting all of the other issues that obviously affected the popularity and sales of the console...

 

Kinect hasn't just been poorly marketed, they haven't yet given most gamers a good reason to want it.

Now now before you all get your panties in a twist, I am not saying that Kinect is a bad device. On the contrary, it does voice control very well indeed.

Rather, where are the kick-*** games for it? Get some must have Kinect only title made and the marketing will practically write itself.

As to the One launch, with Microsoft seeing Netflix being used more than games on the 360, I think Microsoft looked at it the wrong way. People weren't buying the 360 for Netflix, they were using the app (and others like it) because it was there. It meant
they no longer had to switch device, to say their Roku, to enjoy their Netflix content. How many of you out their let your husband, wife, partner, kids etc watch Netflix on your account when you weren't even at home?

 

I dont think knowledge of the Kinect hurt microsoft, the extra 100 buck price hurt them. Combined with some other things, the much higher value games from PlaystationPlus, the availability of free games on the PS4, some backward compatible stuff at lunch,
etc. I got both system last year around November and the PS4 cost less and offered alot more stuff for me to play, its really just that simple. The gap has been closed alot, but I think the value issue is what really hurt them.

 

While price was certainly part, it was knowledge that hurt it too.

People saw the first incarnation of Kinect and were underwhelmed with what it offered over its lifetime.

So the choice to make its inclusion mandatory with the Xbox One was akin to Microsoft saying "you know that device that you didn't like? Well we are now making it compulsory for your Xbox One."

The Kinect 2.0 is better than the first version, but the lack of support for the first left people with a bad taste in their mouth.

 

Thank you Vaynel.. That was part of my thinking as well. I feel the 2nd gen Kinect is great for the X1 and that the poorly received 360 version may have hurt the X1 simply by name association. (Kinect I mean)

 

"While price was certainly part, it was knowledge that hurt it too.

People saw the first incarnation of Kinect and were underwhelmed with what it offered over its lifetime."

I still disagree, it was the price combined with the overall value proposition of the purchase. If they had included the Kinect and not charged an extra 100 dollars for the console, I don’t think it would have hurt sales at all.

 

We are in agreement yozoo but looking at this from different sides of the same thing.

Had Kinect 1.0 been brilliantly supported and had a glut of can't miss titles, do you really think people would have minded paying the extra cash for an updated version with their Xbox One? No of course they wouldn't, they would have known that they were
in for something good.

As we know though, Kinect 1.0 never reached anywhere near its potential and must have games were distinctly thin on the ground.

So this is where we are in agreement. The knowledge of the Kinect's pervious version put people off paying the extra money.

 

People need to learn how to speak with their wallets. MS pushed the new Kinect sensor because the 360's version sold very well. Despite its sales, many people seemed to hate it, at least vocally. I personally never had any issues with my old Kinect sensor
- in fact, I still have it and it works comparably well to the new version; I just can't use it for as many cool things. If so many people actually hated it, why didn't they get rid of it or sell it? I think doing that would've given MS a pretty clear message
about how people feel about it. The thing is, from where I'm standing at least, it seems that not very many people actually did that (at least not enough to get MS' attention)...

One of the things I think MS did correctly this generation, was to actually start listening to the voice of the consumers rather than just to the research and the sales alone. Because of this, the Xbox One console has evolved continuously for the better
and is making more and more people satisfied. However, this also comes at a cost, because listening to the public can be incredibly difficult - not everyone can get everything they want. Being able to pick and choose what many people actually want, what works,
and what actually makes sense in their overall plan is something I would never want to be a part of - the scrutiny from millions alone must be mind-boggling (and in some extreme cases, can result in things like numerous death threats, etc. that must weigh
on any person unfortunate to read or hear them).

Personally, now that I think about it, that's the bigger issue here - people, as consumers, get far too attached to products or take things far too personally if it doesn't go their way and seemingly feel the need to scream about it at the top of their lungs
or through hatred rather than handle things rationally and with civility. Products are not sports teams or anything of that sort that needs to be cheered for or against - you simply choose to buy it or not. It's that simple - there's no need to say, "I hate
this device; the people who made it should die!" I believe people should be more positive about it, including here on these forums. If you like it, feel free to say so - it would help sell the product. If you don't however, then simply don't buy it. Let the
product and sales speak for themselves. We as a whole need to get away from this whole negative frenzy when it comes to products - it simply isn't necessary in the slightest (again, IMO). If we can't do that, at least do your best to give actual, rational
reasons for why you don't like it - many people, at least online, seem to fail at that...

 

Could not agree more on that people need to speak with their wallets GG.

It's like the folk who bemoan that Call of Duty doesn't change but yet go out and buy each yearly incarnation.

 

Well said GG. And I'm thankful that so far people on this thread have posted thoughtful responses instead of "its apiece of junk, don't buy it" or " you're stupid if you don't love it". Thank you