Xbox 360′s Kinect Controller is a Hit for Microsoft

Microsoft’s Kinect, their own version of motion controller is garnering a lot of excitement and from the moment it hit stores, the shelves have been bare. The device allows gamers to dive into games using motion control. The thing that makes Kinect stand apart from the Wii’s motion controllers and PlayStation’s Move is the lack of a controller to hold in your hand as you play. It tracks body movement, voices, and faces wirelessly.

With stores both online and offline selling out of the $150 peripheral, this looks to be a good sign of how well it should do during the holiday season. Best Buy’s Chris Homeister had the following to say about the crowd turnout.

“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of excitement and demand for (Kinect) and saw lines at our midnight openings around the country. We are currently sold out online, but we continue to work with Microsoft to obtain product shipments now and throughout the holiday season.”

Due to the overwhelming amount of pre-orders, Microsoft had increased its sales prediction from 3 million to 5 million. In turn, analysts have raised their expectations of the Kinect’s sales. Micheal Pachter of Wedbush Securities increased his forecast of 2 million Xbox 360/Kinect bundles and 1 million Kinect standalone devices to 2.5 and 2 million, respectively.

It appears that the prediction of the Kinect selling out was dead on with stores like Amazon.com and Target reporting that they have already sold out of the Kinect device. Walmart.com’s Ravi Jarawala stated that “there is going to be very high demand for these products and they will continue to restock throughout the season.”

With the Wii, PlayStation Move, and Kinect, the increased popularity of motion controllers should bring a much needed boost for the gaming industry. More and more consumers are showing interest in the new features that video games are offering whether it’s the motion control or high-definition graphics.

[Source: USA Today]