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Kinect For Windows Releasing On February 1

Posted by Soulskill on from the press-any-key-or-flail-spastically-to-continue dept.

clinko writes "Microsoft has announced that the new Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software will be available on February 1st, 2012 in 12 countries, at a suggested retail price of US $249 ($149 for edu). Microsoft has chosen a hardware-only business model for Kinect for Windows; they will not be charging for the SDK or the runtime. These will be available free to developers and end-users respectively."

8 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Why So expensive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can get a Xbox 360 with a Kinect for $200. So, why should I pay more for just the hardware? Wasn't the hardware just on sale for Christmas for like $99?

    1. Re:Why So expensive? by Wattos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      On the Xbox M$ gets a cut from every game sold (even if it was produced by a third party studio). On the PC, not so much.

      This means, that M$ can afford to sell the hardware at a lower price point, and then getting the money back in game sales. On the PC, this business model does not work, therefore the hardware price increases.

    2. Re:Why So expensive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, obviously it would make sense for a business to sell you something unnecessarily expensively.

      I think the point is that it doesn't make sense for the consumer. The xbox kinect can be used with a regular computer, so why get a "windows kinect" for more when you could get the cheaper one and use it with your pc computer?

      Is this better hardware, perhaps with higher resolution? Or is there some hurdle put in the hardware and API for windows-kinect to prohibit us from using the cheaper xbox one with future windows kinect games?

      Not that I care much, since I don't use windows, but if the hardware is better (and can be read on linux), I might prefer the more expensive one for playing around with.

  2. Re:Now how does this change the hardware? by Xest · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's probably not worth your time. The people complaining will be the PC gaming zealots that hate this device because it originated from the console.

    The same people who will gladly blow the best part of $1000 on the latest and greatest graphics card at release.

    As you say, what you get for your money, particularly relative to the cost of many other PC gaming components, this is a steal regardless.

    Really, this was one of the most impressive things about Kinect from the outset, not that the technology itself was pretty impressive, but that Microsoft had managed to do such impressive tech cheaply, when previously such technology would've cost over 4x as much to put together yourself.

  3. Re:The few things I like about Microsoft by gmhowell · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Moreover, the advent of LibreOffice has made Kinect the only relevant product sold by Microsoft. Isn't it about time they skip all their other products and focus on Kinect, only?

    Yes, because everyone is exactly like you. While all children got that self-esteem building in elementary school, it turns out it was all a lie, except for you. You are the one true, special snowflake in the world.

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  4. Re:For what purpose? by RogueyWon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My experience of the Kinect? It's a very clever piece of hardware and very attractively priced - even in its PC incarnation. There's no end of things that can be done with it. I do suspect that this is what replaces the TV remote control. The only thing we know for sure that it's rubbish at is controlling video games.

    Outside of exercise software (where it's good, once you accept its limitations) it makes for a horrible game controller. Despite the craze for alternative control schemes during the current console generation, I don't think anything will be displacing the twinstick controller and the mouse/keyboard combination as the dominant game input methods any time soon.

  5. Re:Why for Windows? by Sockatume · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There's nothing stopping you using it on any other OS, however there is no SDK for those platforms, and therefore no expectation of compatibility. Hence, "Kinect for Windows".

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  6. Re:Now how does this change the hardware? by delinear · · Score: 3, Insightful

    FYI: the Kinect costs are estimated around $20. Subsidizing? Not really. Gorging? Yes.

    Do you have a source for that? The teardowns I read suggested lowest cost estimates were $50~ish just for the components, that's not including software (i.e. any licensing costs), hardware assembly, packaging, shipping, the retailer's cut, etc. It would surprise me if MS were losing money on Kinect sales but I don't think they're pocketing vast sums either.