So who is Kinect for exactly?

Microsoft’s mixed message over its ambitions to market the Kinect motion cameras to the traditional hardcore Xbox 360 audience continues.

I believe a large slug of the core community will love Kinect for 360,” European VP for Xbox 360 interactive business Chris Lewis told Eurogamer.

They’ll love the navigating round their 360 via hand gestures. They’ll love that they can jump into a game like Joy Ride, which should really appeal to the hardcore community. We’re very committed to that hardcore community – it defined us.”

Lewis himself has previously said that Kinect was a way for Microsoft to expand beyond the core market, not serve it.

He told MCV in March that the device is meant to complement, not replace, the experiences on Xbox 360” and in July added that in this stage in the life cycle, what Kinect for 360 represents, this is how we reach out and connect with younger, older, female and more family orientated audiences”.

Previous execs to claim that Kinect is partially aimed at the hardcore market include Alex Kipman (we’ll have games that are specifically designed to work only with Natal – not just arcadey games, but real, hardcore, triple-A titles”), Ryan Moore (hardcore gamers will be the first to go out and buy it”) and Phil Spencer (Turn10 got on stage and showed how they think it integrates into the Forza experience”).

However, a company statement issued in June seemed to separate hardcore titles designed for a joypad and Kinect titles that appeal to everyone”.

One’s thing for sure, however – with the likes of Child of Eden and Fable III cooling talk of Kinect support, if Microsoft does hope to sell Kinect to its traditional audience it will need to quickly get to work on core software that supports the device.