Analysts differ over Kinect pricing

Two leading games analyst have come out on either side of the divide in the debate surrounding Microsoft’s 130 RRP for Kinect.

The Kinect bundle costs only $100 more than the cost of a standalone console, so they can afford to sell Kinect for $100,” Michael Pachter told CVG.

The standalone price for Kinect is too high, and core gamers will be put off by the price. At current pricing, it’s only a $30 advantage [over Sony], given that the all-in cost for a complete Move package is $180 and the all-in cost of a standalone Kinect is $150.

I don’t see a meaningful threat to the Wii at these prices. The all-in cost of the arcade bundle is $299, still $100 above the Wii, although some people will find that attractive. At this price, it’s not particularly competitive with the Wii.

I think that both Kinect and Move are priced too high to spark the whole industry, but think that both will sell modestly well.”

However, rival analyst Jesse Divnich thinks Microsoft has got it right.

EEDAR feels that $150 is an appropriate price for the Kinect,” he told Gamasutra, adding to TG Daily: Previous peripherals with mass-market appeal, such as band kits, have sold millions of units worldwide even while priced north of $150.

With band kits, however, consumers were tethered to only enjoying games within the music genre and developers restricted on future iterations by the install base of non-upgradeable band kits. As a camera and motion sensor based device, the Kinect does not have those same limitations; developers will be able to optimize its software for years to come. [So], Kinect should not be viewed as a software peripheral, as most peripherals are, but rather a hardware peripheral.”