UK Kinect shortages not 'managed,' says Microsoft exec (but totally welcome, we presume)

He said penalised.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
We called a lot of the targets around our area in Chicago-land during the launch week to find they didn't have one. My wife and I ended up going to a Target about 45 min away in the end where they were holding the last one in stock for us. Our Best Buys nearby were also sold out. So, I don't know of their status right now - I know they were being grabbed up fast during the launch week here.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
lol you got the ghost-face. yo what up, casper?
honestly... how dare you state an observation like that about your community? you should be more like Duke... say it's selling so much that you ("and your wife") had to drive [45 minutes] to buy something they be giving out for free like syphilis in guatemala.

@golobulus

Why did Ezio's anecdotal experience get thumbed down and Duke's anecdotal experience thumbed up?

Anecdotal evidence means almost nothing and can be fabricated by fanboys, which we know happens all the time. Why does anyone put any stock at all on it?

@Invigilator
you asking me?? lol
that's what i'm wondering!
"caspered" for stating an observation.
what the fizzle...................

@copa
I agree. It seems more likely (to me) that a lot of retailers were more caught off guard by the popularity, since it was relatively hard to gauge pre-release (esp. if you went off feed back from gamers on sites such as this) & they likely just didn't stock as well as they could have.

@copa

That and they want to say, "see, we sold over five million!"

@copa

"Four years of steady sales (well ... let's agree on three-and-a-half) has helped clear Nintendo's good name"

Ummm cleared there good name where? Certainly not here in Joystiqs commenting community, where everything Wii is still banished like Satan in Sunday school.

Funny too, how all the Wii bashers (mainly 360 fanboys) are now gobbling up Kinect like it isn't Xbox's Wii accessory and pretending its the most original thing on the block since d-pads lol...

@Co

Who wouldn't want a novelty feature on a console that can actually play games.

@copa It's in their best interest to sell as many as possible as bundles. So making more bundles and fewer standalones, which is managing the shortages, is in their best interest. In fact, given that MS is spending $500M in marketing alone to sell 5M worth of Kinects, if they don't sell most of them as bundles, they've thrown a lot of money away.

Besides, although in the short term having stock is your best plan, but not necessarily in the long term. Look at Wii. If enough people could have bought one early and said "yeah, you stop playing it after a week and never play again, it's overrated, don't get one", they would have sold a LOT fewer.

So I don't really buy the argument that MS wouldn't manage shortages because it wouldn't be in their best interest.

@copa LOL, but if you supply low initially and sell out, it maybe enough to make people panic buy for Christmas for fear of not getting hold of it and you push the sales.. I think it worked as well, the 2.5 million sales is definitely good.. I cant wait to see Kinect sales come February / March, wonder how many will be selling it second hand on ebay.. I think I will be able to pick it up for around £50 second hand then..

@BrianH

Future Shop, that's in Canada right?

@Nofriendo

yep, owned by best buy

@BrianH

Canada... the land of tomorrow @@

I'm still in yesterday here in the States.

@BrianH

They're empty boxes dude lol.

I haven't been able to track down a Kinect at Futureshop or Best Buy

@BoBsS
Wait--so Microsoft can supply boxes of the Kinects but not the consoles...?

@BrianH
I have a feeling that initially they shipped little, maybe down to actual logistical issues, but possibly to inflate interest, impossible to tell to be honest.

Just to affirm you seeing a shed load still in stock, looking at online retailers here in the UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kinect-Sensor-Project-Natal-Adventures/dp/B0036DDW2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291673250&sr=8-1 -- Amazon.co.uk loads in stock also has 55 other sellers in amazon market place.. Amazon has reduced the price to £120, price is already beginning to drop..

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/10296372/Kinect-Including-Kinect-Adventures-/Product.html?searchstring=kinect&searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&urlrefer=search -- Loads in stock 33 other people selling it second hand already from £115 -- really not looking good now..

http://www.game.co.uk/Xbox360/Hardware/Accessory/~r349590/Kinect-With-Kinect-Adventures/ -- In stock

Thats the three biggest sellers I could think of, now ebay:

shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=kinect+sensor&_sacat=0&_odkw=kinect&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313 -- 7 pages of sellers , majority with inflated prices and a lot of them with selling multiple kinects (1 had a wall of kinects stacked up and on sale)


So if there was any shortage I dont think it is the case now, they need to sell as many as possible to hit 5 milion target and the price is already beginning to drop, which is not a good sign..

Now PS Move as a counter example:

www.amazon.co.uk/Playstation-Move-Controller-Black-PS3/dp/B003R7KV16/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1291673925&sr=8-5 Amazon sold out the controller on its own available from 3 sellers @49 RRP is £35 .. Interesting

www.play.com/Games/PlayStation3/4-/10667267/PlayStation-Move-Motion-Controller/Product.html?searchstring=playstation+move&searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&urlrefer=search Its in stock at £35 which is cool, 3 sellers from £57 huge mark up..

www.game.co.uk/PS3/ControllersandAccessories/Controllers/~r347164/PlayStation-Move-Motion-Controller/ -- Playstation move controller sorry out of stock..

.. The funny thing is that the Playstation move bundle with the ps eye is in stock everywhere I think, but the ps move controller on its own is being sold for more than the ps move controller bundled with the ps eye, its hilarious ..

I give the kinect till after Christmas before it drops to below £100.. I am waiting for it to hit around £50 second hand so I can get it for some depth sensing experiments / toying around with it in Linux lol..

@FriedConsole
The only way sales will last is if they start putting out good games that "core" gamers will like.

@Prox I hope this was sarcasm. Looking at the best selling titles for the Wii has proven all who have made these claims to be incorrect. The Kinect isn't aimed at "core" gamers in any regard, so them putting a bunch of time and effort to try and fit the device into both demographics (core and casual) is a waste of time. They already have the core audience with the base machine.

@FriedConsole It's interesting that they just mention the UK; I assume elsewhere in the US and Europe things are running smoothly?

I agree though, difficult to see how this is sustained. Obviously releasing before the Holiday season taps into people a) buying gifts per se, so it will always do well and b) visiting relatives/friends who enjoy the social interaction that it allegedly brings. But keeping this going with rehashed games that have been done on the Wii will be harder to convince people of the need for it.

Have there been any figures released on people who have brought a 360 with Kinect, i.e weren't 360 owners before it was released?

@FriedConsole

In case "your" dense? What irony, not that an illiterate fool like you would know what irony is.

@Invigilator

Sorry about that. You're a douche. Better?

Oh you should look up the definition of "irony". And isn't it ironic... don't you think?

@Nofriendo

No I felt cool being one the first people with a Wii. It's pretty human.

@Nofriendo
It's fun being the person who picks up the last console.

@Joeybeast
The bundles are easier to find for sure. I guess with so many consoles already sold, the vast majority of purchasers are not looking for a bundle.