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Microsoft: 'Hard-core' will be first to buy Kinect

Though most hard-core gamers aren't too excited about motion gaming, Microsoft's worldwide product marketing manager believes hard-core gamers will be the first to pick up the company's new Kinect platform. Do you agree?

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read
Is this game really designed for the hard-core gamer?
Is this game really designed for the hard-core gamer? Josh Lowensohn/CNET

As a hard-core gamer who spends hours each day playing video games, I can say without reservation that I'm not all that fond of motion gaming. And I'm not very excited about Microsoft Kinect or PlayStation Move. But Microsoft's worldwide product marketing manager, Ryan Moore, believes it will be a person like me--the hard-core gamer--who will be first to pick up Kinect when it hits stores later this year.

CVG recently interviewed Moore and asked the Microsoft employee if hard-core gamers will really like what they find with Kinect. Moore seemed sure that the hard-core--typically a key market segment that could make or break a product--will adopt Kinect.

"I think we know that hard-core gamers will be the first to go out and buy it, as they are with any product," Moore told CVG. "So we know we have to have a wide range of experiences, from things like [an] animals game to games that are more geared towards the core."

Pressing further, CVG said that the hard-core seemed disappointed with Microsoft's E3 press conference. Ironically, Moore decided to focus his answer on titles that weren't designed for Kinect, only mentioning the motion-gaming device as an afterthought.

"I think [our E3] was a great show for all consumers," Moore said. "With the announcements around Halo: Reach, Gears of War, Fable III, this would be a great year even if we didn't have the launch of Kinect."

Whether Kinect will actually appeal to hard-core gamers remains to be seen. Most of the Kinect titles the company showed off at E3, including Kinectimals, Kinect Sports, and Kinect Adventure, didn't seem to be targeted at hard-core gamers. In fact, they seemed more Wii-like than anything else. Given Nintendo's track record with hard-core gamers, this could mean trouble for Microsoft's desire to attract the core.

I guess we'll find out when Kinect launches later this year. What do you think?