Microsoft new hands-free Kinect controller makes playing Xbox 360 video games feel like magic: Wave your arms, move your body, issue a command and voila! games happen.
Appropriately, the new $150 device began disappearing from store shelves as soon as it went on sale Thursday, as strong first-day sales helped boost forecasts for Kinect's holiday sales. Plugged into an Xbox 360, the Kinect sensor wirelessly tracks players' full-body movements, voices and faces.
New Kinect-compatible games ($50) let players play soccer and volleyball (Kinect Sports), learn complex dance moves (Dance Central) and train a virtual lion or tiger (Kinectimals).
"We've seen a tremendous amount of excitement and demand for (Kinect) and saw lines at our midnight openings around the country," said Best Buy's (BBY) Chris Homeister. "We are currently sold out online, but we continue to work with Microsoft to obtain product shipments now and throughout the holiday season."
Abundant customer pre-orders led Microsoft to increase its estimates for Kinect sales this year from 3 million to 5 million. That has led some analysts to raise their expectations, too. "Microsoft (MSFT) apparently has good vibes from retail," said analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, who increased his forecast from 2 million Xbox 360-Kinect bundles and 1 million stand-alone Kinect sensors to 2.5 million and 2 million, respectively. "They expect sellouts."
That's already happening. Online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) and GameStop.com (GME) were sold out of the Kinect sensor (Kinect Adventures game included), but had complete Xbox 360 systems packaged ($300 and up) with the new sensor and game in stock. Some bricks-and-mortar stores had Kinect systems available; others sold out by late morning.
Target (TGT) experienced "very strong pre-sales" for Kinect, selling out of the Kinect sensor and the 250-gigabyte Xbox 360-Kinect bundle ($400) at its online store, spokeswoman Tara Schlosser said.
Walmart.com(WMT) and its stores had Kinect on hand, but "there is going to be very high demand for these products," said the retailer's Ravi Jarawala. "We will continue to restock throughout the season."
Newfangled video game features could give the video game industry a needed boost going into the holiday shopping season.
Thanks to the success of the gesture-based Nintendo Wii, which has sold more than 30 million in the U.S., "People now understand motion gaming," said Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, which brought its own PlayStation Move motion control system to market Sept. 19.
Since then Sony has sold more than 1 million Move products, including the $100 starter package (PlayStation Eye camera, Move motion controller and Sports Champions game); individual Move controllers ($50) are sold out at most stores. Connected to the PlayStation 3, Move's camera tracks the controllers, which used individually or with two Move controllers can replicate a virtual sword and shield in a gladiator game, for instance.
"There is an expectation and a desire to have a more realistic motion gaming experience," Tretton said.
Kinect and Move have both increased traffic to GameStop stores, the chain's Bob McKenzie said. Customers are "very enthusiastic about this new technology" that pairs the more intuitive gesture controls with the Xbox 360 and PS3's high-definition games, he said. "I think it really brings in a new consumer for us as we go into the holidays."
