Microsoft is ripping people off with the Kinect

Yes. Consoles work on the same profit basis as, say, printers. The hardware itself is manufactured at a loss, and then this loss is regained by the 10-bucks-a-game for consoles or the profit margin on licensed printer cartridges for printers.

It works. Claiming rip-offs without seeing their books is a bit short-sighted.
 
OMFG! Companies making profit from something they sell?

THIS SHOULD BE OUTLAWED!

Good thing you don't know the profit margins on most products then, smartypants, because it doesn't seem like you would be able to handle the truth.
 
I thought this thread was going to be on how Kinect is a complete piece of shit that was released in what appears to be a pre-alpha stage with a pathetic assortment of shovelware as the starting game lineup.

Anyway, it's so cheap because it was going to be much more powerful, and use its own processor; but instead they gutted it which drastically cut manufacturing costs.
 
I think the coolest thing I've seen since the release of the Kinect is that an open-source driver for Linux has been released 3 hours after the EU launch.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhW-cvpkks[/youtube]
 
Personally I find it a stupid gimmick that mostly appeals to people who are into gimmicks.

The whole idea that games in the future will all make use of things like Kinect is also questionable, I don't see myself playing a FPS or an Adventure with this device.

But I guess there is apparently a group of people who demand it.
 
From gameplay vids on Youtube I got the impression that it's horribly imprecise, doesn't register your movements properly, meaning that no serious, precision-requiring game will ever be made for it. There's no killer app for it, which means it's doomed from the start. 150 bucks to play shit like dancing games and kinectimals? Hmmmmm.
 
Should not knock it until you try it. Based on the initial vids I saw on the internet I was not impressed at all. First day of the launch though our project team set up a demo in the store and it has been incredibly popular, even the employees when they are not busy selling something will go over and play with it. It beats out the Wii and PS Move for sure as far as motion controls go. Dance Central is also amazingly addictive and that coming from someone who wanted all rhythm and music games to die in a fire since Guitar Hero hit the scene.
 
SuAside said:
OMFG! Companies making profit from something they sell?

THIS SHOULD BE OUTLAWED!

Good thing you don't know the profit margins on most products then, smartypants, because it doesn't seem like you would be able to handle the truth.
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:rofl:

Agree, haha!
 
Bal-Sagoth said:
Should not knock it until you try it. Based on the initial vids I saw on the internet I was not impressed at all. First day of the launch though our project team set up a demo in the store and it has been incredibly popular, even the employees when they are not busy selling something will go over and play with it. It beats out the Wii and PS Move for sure as far as motion controls go. Dance Central is also amazingly addictive and that coming from someone who wanted all rhythm and music games to die in a fire since Guitar Hero hit the scene.
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I swear, I've been seeing posts like this on quite a few forums.

What's Microsoft payin' ya?
I kid... I kid... I hope...

From what I've seen first-hand it's fucking terrible though, just like most reviewers say. 1-2 second delay on voice recognition and motion tracking, which is really a make/break thing with a motion control device. And Microsoft are going on about how this is their "Xbox 720 that will last for a whole new generation".
 
That's a tad misleading... the cost listed there doesn't include R&D, marketing, packaging, assembly, shipping, etc, etc.
 
Brother None said:
Yes. Consoles work on the same profit basis as, say, printers. The hardware itself is manufactured at a loss, and then this loss is regained by the 10-bucks-a-game for consoles or the profit margin on licensed printer cartridges for printers.

It works. Claiming rip-offs without seeing their books is a bit short-sighted.
Click to expand...

That's the Sony and Microsoft initial release sales model. The manufacture price falls fast and once it falls below the sales price each unit is then sold at a profit or break even. Price cuts usually just eat into the profits each unit is sold for.

Anyway that linked article is just a bad, poorly researched article. It just a paraphrase of another article which they did not understand and thus have presented the research in a poor fashion. I have this little test, if Wikipedia gives a answer to something that a article misunderstands than it's just total shit. And hey Gamespot fails it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_materials .

It cost more than $56 for Microsoft to make Kinect. Then is more cost in shipping Kinect to the actual stores, then retailers make money on it(unless then discount it to use it a loss leader) so Microsoft doesn't even get the full $150 back from the sale. That just all the direct stuff for each unit and not indirect things like advertising and R&D.

Anyway downloadable games can have mark-ups of up to a million percent(maybe, I 'm not really sure).
 
That's the standard operating model these days. It's the same in the medical equipment business, since it's mostly a "subscription" service now. Hospitals gets machines for free while they are charged a higher percentage per test kits.

Personally, I think such operating models lead to centralization of control, eventual loss of competition and monopolization of markets, but that could be just me.

As for the price, well, whether something is a rip off is all based on individual opinions. I.E, their incomes, and attitudes towards spending on leisurely pursuits.
 
sea said:
The funny thing about all this, though, is that according to the original creators of Kinect's technology, the problems with responsiveness, face recognition, etc. are all due to Kinect using a cut-down spec of what they designed everything around, in order to save on manufacturing costs. Had they been willing to put up with slightly less profit on each sale, Microsoft may have been able to reduce or remove some of the top complaints against Kinect.
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That's the same reason that the Wii has spastic motion sensing, it was eventually addressed when they released the Wii-Motion Plus, which contains the gyro the Wiimote was supposed to have. I'd wager that we might see something similar with Kinect down the road (assuming they don't just release a new, better model with their next system).
 
Wow, a device costs more than it costs to produce, that's a shock.
Don't let the Apple fanboys know!
 
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