Microsoft: We won't ignore hard-core with Kinect

Microsoft Kinect will first appeal to casual gamers, but eventually, all levels of players will want to get their hands on it, Microsoft said in a recent interview.

According to Chris Lewis, vice president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, Kinect will initially appeal to casual gamers who aren't necessarily looking for first-person shooters, but want a fun experience that they might typically find in Nintendo's Wii.

"Certainly over the launch phase and this Christmas in particular I think you'll see very much pure Kinect for 360 experiences that will appeal to broad young/older/female/family audiences," Lewis told GamesIndustry.biz.

Lewis was quick to point out that although Kinect won't appeal to hard-core gamers out of the gate, Microsoft is still fully aware of its need to appeal to those players. He said the company's E3 press conference, where it "spent spent a good solid chunk of time around Halo Reach, Gears of War and Fable," is proof of that.

Lewis' comments on Kinect, which Microsoft revealed earlier this week will retail for $149 when it launches in November, run directly counter to what his colleague, Ryan Moore, Microsoft's worldwide product marketing manager, said in a recent interview with CVG.

Asked which market segment will be first to buy Kinect, Moore said the company believes hard-core gamers will be first to jump on it.

"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.

Regardless of how the device gets there--either through core gamers to casual gamers, or vice versa--Microsoft still wants to appeal to both groups. And the company fully plans to deliver a viable experience to core and casual gamers.

"I'd say again, that doesn't mean we're walking away or forgetting the core--it's not about mainstream consumer or core gamer," Lewis told GamesIndustry.biz. "For us it's about a great experience for both."