Closing Thoughts

During last years E3 show, we were introduced to Project Natal. Now known as Kinect, we were shown some cool motion control, virtual painting, and Milo. With Milo, interaction with a virtual person in a virtual world. Emotion recognition, voice recognition, and recognizing the user were all aspects of Milo's tech demo. But what I found most incredible, was the instant recognition and transformation of a real world object into a virtual object when the girl handed Milo a drawing. Peter Molyneux at the time stated that this was a dream of his, and that last year, they had demo's of Milo for people behind closed doors. This had me incredibly excited for the potential and applications of Natal in future games and even possible applications on the computer (eventually). So when E3 2010 came around, I was really excited for Microsofts Press Conference. If Milo is what they had ready for last year, just imagine what they'd have ready for this year! E3 has come and gone and my impressions of Microsoft Press Conference? Disappointing. To me, it was arguably one of the worst of the Big Three press conferences ever (although not topping Nintendo's snoozefest of sales stats a few years ago). Here's my thoughts explaining why I feel this way:

* No Milo - With Milo being the highlight of Natal's showing last year, I figured it only natural they'd have a lot more to show of him. He wasn't even mentioned. Peter Molyneux was asked about him, and apparently he responded that Milo was "sitting it out in a booth this year." If Natal/Milo was Peters dream come true as stated last year, it's very peculiar he didn't make a showing this year. Molyneux has a history of overselling and overpromising on products, so has he done the same with Kinect? I hope not, but again, time will tell.
* No Official Kinect Pricing - Microsoft didn't announce a pricing structure for Kinect nor games for it. I'd figure that at max, they'd price Kinect at $99.99 with a game bundled with it. Nearly everything they've shown, this year as well as last year, has been geared towards the casual gamer (and more on this point later). The casual gamer, or their parents if younger, aren't going to be spending a ton of money on an accessory to a system. Retail projections, and even Microsofts own store, have placed Kinects price point at $149.99. That's simply too much. For $199.99 ($50 more) they can get a Wii system with games and controls for one person. To use Kinect you have to have a Xbox 360, at least $199.99 more for the upcoming Arcade equivalent of the Slim 360. I just think that is way above what a casual gamer will pay for a new technology with doubts as to how well and for how long it will be supported. Nintendo is fully behind the Wii, and casual gamers/parents know that Nintendo won't leave them high and dry. That uncertainty can play a big part in the decision to purchase. If Microsoft is really smart, they'll introduce Kinect at $49.99-$59.99. I highly doubt they'll go this low, but Kinect I believe would fly off shelves at this price. They need to get high penetration of Kinect quickly, given how close to Christmas they're launching it. The casual gamer/parent is very price conscious, especially the way the economy is currently. Should a parent get the Kinect, a 360, and a few games that are unfamiliar names and no ones played before (highly doubtful that many would get to play them between November 4th and Christmas)? Or get a Wii and a few more games that are very recognizable (Mario, Zelda, etc.)? I think the choice is clear.
* No Official Kinect Game Pricing - Related to the above, no pricing mentioned for Kinect games. Retail projections have the games priced at $59.99. This, again, is simply way too much. Considering at least one of the games was going to be a free download Arcade game (Joy Ride), this pricing seems a bit outrageous if true. Consider at most (with few exceptions), first party Wii games are $49.99, and third party are $29.99-$49.99 new. PlayStation has stated that first party Move titles are to be priced $39.99, although big titles such as Killzone 3 I doubt will retail for that. My guess is they mean Move only controlled games. But with that pricing structure, if true, could see Microsofts games sitting on the shelves through the Christmas season. Hardcore gamers are more likely to pay more, but little was shown, and virtually nothing for launch, that a hardcore gamer would be interested in.
* No Hardcore Gamer Titles - Pretty self explanatory. True that Kinect seems geared for the casual gamer, but they could at least demo'd something for the hardcore gamer, or promised at least one launch title for them. I read somewhere that it takes a hardcore gamer to tell the casual gamer what's really 'cool and interesting,' and I believe that true to a degree. Especially the employees of the stores Kinect is going to be sold in. If they're "blah" about the games, it's going to be really hard for them to show or convince customers that they'll really dig and enjoy Kinect.
* Launch Date - They've got the launch date awfully close to Christmas. They're going to have to do some major marketing blitz and have demo units in stores well ahead of the launch date to get customers interested. November and December are crunch times when it comes to shopping for Christmas. Not a lot of time for sitting in front of the TV. Shopping, wrapping gifts, working longer hours to afford Christmas, school semester ending, etc. all add to the bustling season. Microsoft should have put a date closer to September like PlayStation Move.
* Lag - As most gamers know, lag can be killer in games. From what I was able to tell, there's substantial lag in some of the demos shown. Half a second lag can make or break a game. They really need to get it under control.
* Nerfed Specs - What I mean by this is Microsofts decision to pull the processor out of Kinect and have it run off the 360's processor. Not only does this put a strain on the 360, but it also saps what has been estimated to be at least 20% of the processors power. That's 20% less processing power that could be dedicated to graphical processing, speed, and other miscellaneous game controls, including the aforementioned lag. I also wonder how 'whisper quiet' the fan will be once it's processing the Kinect. And with the lack of a processor, if the higher $149.99 price rings true, it makes it that much harder to swallow.
* Minimal Slim Changes - Yea, they made it smaller and added Wireless Networking built in, but I had hoped they'd make it more on par with what the PlayStation 3 had; ie a Blu-Ray drive and a non-proprietary hard drive. I figured the Blu-Ray drive was a long shot, but user replaceable hard drives I don't think is too much to ask.
* No Dashboard Announcements - I had hoped they'd announce further Dashboard improvements, especially since they shut down the original Xbox Live service. Seamless integration of Zune (so you don't have to see the Zune splash screen and so it doesn't take you out of your current theme), a web browser, clan support, more than 100 friends, getting rid of the 'grey bubble' at the bottom of most themes, etc. could all be welcome improvements they could introduce in a Dashboard update. But no mention of one whatsoever.
* Natal Concerns - It'd been nice to see them address some of the concerns people have with Natal/Kinect. Like mentioning how one can control the game once one gets fatigued, how much sitting down affects games, controller usage an option with games, etc.
* Overall Show Performance - This is really hard to quantify, but a lot of the show just seemed fake. The actors, the forced excitement of the presenters, the lack of any audience interaction with the Kinect demos, just made it seem really 'fake', forced, and uncomfortable.

I was really hoping for a lot more from Microsoft. The Press Conference left me disappointed. I don't seem to be alone in this thought, but this blog is my thoughts so I won't mention anymore of what others have thought of their performance at this years E3. I figured Natal/Kinect was going to be center stage for Microsoft this year. But I didn't think it'd make such a weak showing. I still think it has a lot of potential. Not only for Xbox, but other uses as well (such as an Operating System option, artistic programs, general PC usage). I just felt that this years showing made me feel that the past year that developers had to work on Natal/Kinect has been wasted. This may seem a bit harsh, and I do understand that there's probably quite a bit that they didn't show. I'd just like to see Microsoft have something that really makes it stand apart from the PlayStation and the Wii. Right now Kinect just seems to be a little more than Move sans controller, and a high-def version of the Wii.

I still prefer my Xbox to the rest, and enjoy the games on it moreso than my PlayStation and Wii. I'm just not nearly as excited after this years E3 as I was last years E3. That being said, I think this is the end of my first blog. Comment as you like, and I apologize if it seems overly negative. I do think my concerns are valid and warrant addressing, but maybe things aren't as bad as I'm seeing. As I've stated before, time will tell.

Mooplaid