Do you have an Xbox 360 with Kinect? If not, you might be in the minority.
You've got to hand it to Microsoft, they did a bang up job of advertising their new motion controller Kinect. In fact, the new, full-body controller for the Xbox 360 was one of the most wished for products this past holiday season. Just about everyone, from small children and senior citizens, to twenty-something gamers, and even people who have been working in the technology field for years, wanted the Kinect.
It seems that not only was it the most wished for, it was also the most received electronic device. Guinness recently awarded Microsoft with the world record for the Fastest – Selling Consumer Electronics Device. The Kinect earned the record by selling, on average 133,333 units per day, during its first 60 days on the market. From November 4th through January 3rd, Microsoft sold an amazing 8 million Kinects.
This means that Microsoft has managed to outsell both the iPad and the iPhone during the months following their initial launch. This may have something to do with the great launch planning by Microsoft. By creating a huge buzz and launching their product at the beginning of the holiday shopping season they were able to build huge demand for their product during the biggest shopping period of the year.
But the holiday shopping and the media blitz aren't the only reason people are buying the Kinect. Since the start of 2011, Microsoft has sold 2 million of the $150 controllers. While this is certainly less sales than they had during their initial launch, it is still none too shabby. The idea of a full body video game controller is catching on, and many creative techies have taken the idea, and the technology and run with it.
Just a few days after its initial launch, the Kinect was hacked at the urging of Adafruit Industries. After removing the security features and modifying the device, creative techies were able to use the Kinect to control a robot. Inspired by the modifications, other creatives have used the Kinect to make very futuristic motion-controlled interfaces for their computers. Even though the hack is rough at the present, it is workable, and shows the potential for using the Kinect technology to create smooth multi-touch technology.
In fact, after first discouraging customers from tampering with the device, Microsoft has wisely chosen to embrace the creativity of its users. They are launching a Kinect development kit later this month. This kit will provide the tools necessary for amateur programers to get in on the process of creating new programs for the Kinect both on the Xbox 360 and on the PC.
For now, the Kinect is a fun add-on to your gaming system, but it has the potential to lead to other leaps in computer technology.
Have you played with the Kinect? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments.
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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for TechCareersBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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