Move was released early to reviewers at large, and, contrary to some posters here, reviewed pretty well. Certainly, it reviewed better than expected. The hardware is 1:1 with no latency, and works in all lighting conditions. Oh, and it has buttons.
Is Microsoft scared of something? No sign of Kinect reviews before launch
This topic is locked from further discussion.
I don't expect a plethora of reviews, but I do expect gaming sites saying they have received Kinect hardware and games for review. It is less than 10 days now. Therefore, I think there's a good chance that most Kinect reviews will be bad. This best explains Microsoft's decision not to send out Kinect games for review.Its 10 days before release...why would one expect a plethoria of reviews for it 10 days before release?
and lol n4g sorry man that is not a reputable site...and any thing linked through it instantly becomes circumspect n4g is meant for fanboy news and fanboy news only which is why I never visit there. there are many places that put up review embargos including sony...it means nothing.
WilliamRLBaker
If Kinect does what Microsoft claims and more, then the gaming sites would only help market Kinect. Perhaps Microsoft is afraid that the sites will say Kinect is a disappointment. The road shows and public events were planned in advance, before Kinect games went gold. Perhaps after the games were finished, reality set in and Microsoft got scared of what reviewers will say. I think there has never been a major hardware (with more than a dozen launch games) that had a release day embargo. Kinect might be the first one.quiet down now kinect haters... have a helping of reality.
http://www.lazygamer.net/is-the-lack-of-kinect-review-opportunities-a-red-flag/
"On the second major aspect, the fact that Microsoft are not sending out units to gaming sites for review and the review embargo is set for the release date, this isn't anything new in the industry and can mean one of three things.
Either that they have no faith in the product and are planning on selling it purely on the back of marketing
Or
They don't feel that gaming sites are the appropriate channel to market the device
Or
They want full control of the marketing machine and would rather manage it all themselves.
All three are true in some aspect but if Microsoft had no faith in their product then you wouldn't be seeing it in road shows, public events or any number of TV shows and schools that we have already seen it in.
I don't think that Microsoft do think that gaming sites are the best channel for marketing Kinect as can be seen from reading any comments section on any gaming site, gamers want to know how Kinect is going to make their games even better and the fact that it isn't doesn't sit well with them.
In closing, Kinect isn't the first title or device to have release day embargoes. This happens pretty often and while it is worrying it isn't necessarily a sign that the device will fail but rather a sign that Microsoft are dominating the marketing machine while they can."
markinthedark
I totally agree.Basically
If x is good, early reviews will support this sales will increase.
If x is average, early reviews will support this sales will either stay the same or decrease
if x is bad, early reviews will support this and sales will go down.
What this means is that with a 67% chance MS does not think to highly of their own product.
alextherussian
They don't get reviewed this early, but the gaming sites normally received the games this early so they can prepare for the written reviews.I think they are just building up the hype as much as they can, usually big stuff dont get reviewed this early
gamer-adam1
[QUOTE="markinthedark"]If Kinect does what Microsoft claims and more, then the gaming sites would only help market Kinect. Perhaps Microsoft is afraid that the sites will say Kinect is a disappointment. The road shows and public events were planned in advance, before Kinect games went gold. Perhaps after the games were finished, reality set in and Microsoft got scared of what reviewers will say. I think there has never been a major hardware (with more than a dozen launch games) that had a release day embargo. Kinect might be the first one.quiet down now kinect haters... have a helping of reality.
http://www.lazygamer.net/is-the-lack-of-kinect-review-opportunities-a-red-flag/
"On the second major aspect, the fact that Microsoft are not sending out units to gaming sites for review and the review embargo is set for the release date, this isn't anything new in the industry and can mean one of three things.
Either that they have no faith in the product and are planning on selling it purely on the back of marketing
Or
They don't feel that gaming sites are the appropriate channel to market the device
Or
They want full control of the marketing machine and would rather manage it all themselves.
All three are true in some aspect but if Microsoft had no faith in their product then you wouldn't be seeing it in road shows, public events or any number of TV shows and schools that we have already seen it in.
I don't think that Microsoft do think that gaming sites are the best channel for marketing Kinect as can be seen from reading any comments section on any gaming site, gamers want to know how Kinect is going to make their games even better and the fact that it isn't doesn't sit well with them.
In closing, Kinect isn't the first title or device to have release day embargoes. This happens pretty often and while it is worrying it isn't necessarily a sign that the device will fail but rather a sign that Microsoft are dominating the marketing machine while they can."
booniga
Let me ask you this, how many gamers on this board are sort of on the fence and waiting for reviews to decide to buy kinect? pretty much 0 of them.... the general consensus is either kinect is the devil, or they are waiting for more core games... reviews arent going to make any sales... if kinectimals scores a 10 across the board are you gonna buy it? There is no upside to it... only a possible downside... its a business, why take a chance if there is nothing to be gained?
hell we can watch a 10 minute clip of kinect working great only to have someone examine it with a fine tooth comb and pick out at exactly 1 minute in 34 seconds where there was a half second of lag, then make a gif of it and spam it all over the place. Gamers could care less about kinect praise... they will ignore it all and harp on the flaws. MS isnt going to be swaying anyone toward kinect with reviews, it only serves to provide ammo to haters that like to cherry pick every minor flaw.
the sales will come from getting exposure from casual avenues and from showcasing it directly to the public. Not from letting disgruntled core gamers pick it apart.
If Kinect does what Microsoft claims and more, then the gaming sites would only help market Kinect. Perhaps Microsoft is afraid that the sites will say Kinect is a disappointment. The road shows and public events were planned in advance, before Kinect games went gold. Perhaps after the games were finished, reality set in and Microsoft got scared of what reviewers will say. I think there has never been a major hardware (with more than a dozen launch games) that had a release day embargo. Kinect might be the first one.[QUOTE="booniga"][QUOTE="markinthedark"]
quiet down now kinect haters... have a helping of reality.
http://www.lazygamer.net/is-the-lack-of-kinect-review-opportunities-a-red-flag/
"On the second major aspect, the fact that Microsoft are not sending out units to gaming sites for review and the review embargo is set for the release date, this isn't anything new in the industry and can mean one of three things.
Either that they have no faith in the product and are planning on selling it purely on the back of marketing
Or
They don't feel that gaming sites are the appropriate channel to market the device
Or
They want full control of the marketing machine and would rather manage it all themselves.
All three are true in some aspect but if Microsoft had no faith in their product then you wouldn't be seeing it in road shows, public events or any number of TV shows and schools that we have already seen it in.
I don't think that Microsoft do think that gaming sites are the best channel for marketing Kinect as can be seen from reading any comments section on any gaming site, gamers want to know how Kinect is going to make their games even better and the fact that it isn't doesn't sit well with them.
In closing, Kinect isn't the first title or device to have release day embargoes. This happens pretty often and while it is worrying it isn't necessarily a sign that the device will fail but rather a sign that Microsoft are dominating the marketing machine while they can."
markinthedark
Let me ask you this, how many gamers on this board are sort of on the fence and waiting for reviews to decide to buy kinect? pretty much 0 of them.... the general consensus is either kinect is the devil, or they are waiting for more core games... reviews arent going to make any sales... if kinectimals scores a 10 across the board are you gonna buy it? There is no upside to it... only a possible downside... its a business, why take a chance if there is nothing to be gained?
hell we can watch a 10 minute clip of kinect working great only to have someone examine it with a fine tooth comb and pick out at exactly 1 minute in 34 seconds where there was a half second of lag, then make a gif of it and spam it all over the place. Gamers could care less about kinect praise... they will ignore it all and harp on the flaws. MS isnt going to be swaying anyone toward kinect with reviews, it only serves to provide ammo to haters that like to cherry pick every minor flaw.
the sales will come from getting exposure from casual avenues and from showcasing it directly to the public. Not from letting disgruntled core gamers pick it apart.
To say there is no upside to positive reviews is naive. There's plenty of upside. How many of the hardcore gamers have casual friends or relatives? If the reviews of Kinect are good, then the core gamers help market Kinect by word of mouth. Furthermore, core gamers may like casual games just as much as casual gamers. Again, if Kinect is as good as Microsoft claims, the reviews would say so. Microsoft is probably too afraid of the reviewers saying Kinect doesn't do as Microsoft claims. Wow, you really think reviewers are so stupid that they only focus on the negatives? Well, they are not that stupid. At the very least the reviews can give a clearer perspective on whether Kinect works as expected or not. Furthermore, they can give us a better idea of how well Kinect does when gamers use it for a period of weeks or months. Sales will come from marketing and from maintaining the novelty factor. In my opinion, it is the novelty factor that makes or break Kinect.MS decided to spend $500 million on advertising a product they dont think very highly of? Its not like they have any chance of recouping that money during the holiday season... so they are clearly expecting strong continued sales.I probably would not buy one, but dont downplay the ability to google a review by your average consumer. MS can expect lots of things but dont assume their decisions to be infallible no matter how much money they spend, its quite conceivable they had a vision they did not attain and are now pouring money into it to "heal" the problem. Companies, big or small, are just a group of people; some of them smart, some fat, some thin, some humorous, all capable of making mistakes.If kinect got good reviews, would you buy one? probably not. This is why MS doesnt care about handing it out to reviewers.
markinthedark
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