Microsoft’s just confirmed a £129 price-point for Kinect in the UK. The sensor will cost $149 in the US and €149 in mainland Europe.
Microsoft has also confirmed the previously rumoured 4GB 360 Arcade replacement.
The console, Kinect and Kinect Adventures packaged together is to cost £250.
Kinect Adventures, includes 20 “adventures”: it’s the whitewater Indiana Jones thing used to show off the camera at E3.
“Kinect for Xbox 360 offers fantastic new ways to be entertained for the whole family,” said Xbox Europe boss, Chris Lewis.
“With full body, voice and multiplayer play straight out of the box, Kinect is a unique way for everyone to enjoy controller-free fun and entertainment.”
Kinect bundled with Kinect Adventures will cost £130.
“More than” 15 games will be available at launch, Microsoft said today,
The 4Gb 360 is to launch on August 20 in the UK. It’s the Slim design with 4Gb of flash memory, basically.
Kinect games – including Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride, will retail for £40.
MS confident 360 owners will see value in Kinect
In the wake of the announcement, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said the firm is confident consumers will see value in Kinect’s price-point, as it includes the $50 Kinect Adventures game as well as the camera, essentially making the sensor a $100 purchase.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Greenberg said marketing research conducted by Microsoft found consumers weren’t leery of the price, and Kinect shooting to the top of Amazon.com pre-orders was further proof the company has got it right.
“We obviously don’t make pricing decisions without doing our research. We’ve done a number of pricing studies on a global scale across a whole variety of audience segments,” he said. “When we talked to consumers about the different types of experiences you get with Kinect, we found that that sensor with the full game at $149 does quite well.
“We’ve even seen some of the retailers put up some speculative pre-orders for just the sensor as a standalone at $149. On Amazon.com, for example, it jumped to one of the top two things in the videogame category coming out of E3. Now we’re saying it’s not just $149, but you’re also getting a full $50 retail game as part of that.
“That said, there’s a tremendous opportunity here to drive new console sales. There will be a whole new wave of consumers looking for all new ways to experience games and entertainment. To be able to do that with the console plus the sensor and the game at that value is pretty unprecedented.”
Kinect itself has no date for Europe, but Microsoft announced a US release of November 4 during E3.
Chris Lewis has said previously Kinect will launch during November in Europe across the key markets
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