All the folk at Microsoft are extremely happy at the minute and so they should be. At the CES keynote – which Ryan Seacrest co-hosted I must add – that it has been a record year for CEO Steve Ballmer and co.
Xbox 360 was the top selling console in North America in 2011 with over 66 million systems sold worldwide and almost 40 million people on Xbox LIVE. Kinect has sold 18 million worldwide also, with nearly 800,000 360 and Kinect bundles sold on America’s shopping day, Black Friday. Remember these are sold figures, not shipped.
In the keynote, they pushed the entertainment apps that are now on the Xbox 360 and have stated that they haven’t finished adding to the console in that regard. More live TV and on-demand TV is scheduled to be coming to 360s all around the world.
Everyone likes stats, so that’s why Microsoft have graced us with a few that pertain to the entertainment centre side of things on your favourite gaming machine.
- The hours of video consumed globally on Xbox LIVE increased 140 percent from 2010 to 2011.
- In December more than 60 percent of U.S. Xbox LIVE Gold members used entertainment apps on Xbox LIVE – for an average of an hour a day each.
- The number of people using entertainment apps on Xbox LIVE increased by nearly 50 percent globally from November to December.
Microsoft will also be introducing Kinect For Windows on 1st February in 12 different countries. Obviously, they have seen what people can do with the sensor when hooked up to the PC and are going with it, which is smart. However, it seems like those that have the original sensor won’t be able to avail of the Kinect For Windows software.
The ability to sell Kinect for Xbox 360 at its current price point is in a large part based on a consumer buying a number of Kinect games, subscribing to Xbox LIVE and other transactions associated with the Xbox 360 ecosystem. In addition, the Kinect for Xbox 360 was built for and tested with the Xbox 360 console only, not with any other platform, which is why it is not licensed for general commercial use, supported or under warranty when used on any other platform.
They have confirmed that any Kinect sensor that is manufactured in the second half of 2012 will only be compatible with the Xbox 360. When the program launches in February, Microsoft hope to, “reach far beyond entertainment to revolutionise education, healthcare, manufacturing, science, and more”…Hmmm…
Microsoft look to be putting a lot of their focus into big businesses with the PC Kinect sensor as they’ve claimed to be working with over 200 “innovation leaders” like Telefonica, Toyota and Mattel.
Many US retailers have the Kinect priced at $100 more than the 360 version. But if it’s to “revolutionise healthcare”, I suppose it’s worth it, right?
