Earlier this year Microsoft released something called the "Kinect" for the Xbox 360. It's a kind of motion sensor that scans the player's body and allows the player's movements to control the game directly. As a fan of the Xbox, I was mildly interested in this. I was disappointed, however, when I saw some of the demos and trailers for the games. The influence of Nintendo's Wii console was definitely noticeable in the style and content of the games; the cartoonish graphics and more "kid-friendly" game play. Apparently the folks over at Microsoft are hedging their bets. I'm sure it seems like simple, obvious logic to them. The Wii is a big success, therefore if they follow the concept of the Wii, this new device will also be a big success. Unfortunately, there's a crucial miscalculation involved in their reasoning, a miscalculation that could sink the whole thing before it gets off the ground.
First of all, they are either grossly misunderstanding or deliberately betraying the demographic of their own customers. Xbox games have a reputation of being more mature and adult than their Nintendo competitors, and customers generally choose the console for that very reason. If there is any sort of demand at all for an Xbox motion controller, if there's any sort of void there to fill, it would be to have motion control coupled with typical Xbox style games. If Xbox gamers wanted to play Wii type games, they would have already bought a Wii. To me, the smart move would be to design and market this Kinect device to the segment of the population intrigued by the concept of motion control, but yet not interested in the kid-friendly Wii games. They should go after the people still on the fence, the people waiting for this motion control technology to be used with the kind of games they want to play. This should be fairly obvious, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would agree, people's who's first reaction to the news of this Kinect was to imagine a motion controlled Halo or Call of Duty. So why don't the executives at Microsoft seem to see this? Why are they modeling their product after one that already exists?
Well, it's certainly not a new phenomenon. I'm sure when some stone age company hit it big with the wheel, their competitor down the road immediately started producing the "Round Spinning Thing." It seems to be the go-to philosophy in marketing, and yet it is and has always been hopelessly stupid. I have a newsflash for any empty suit that ascribes to this sort of wisdom: YOUR PRODUCT WILL NOT BE SUCCESSFUL BY IMITATING ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT. If people are looking for that sort of thing, they will simply buy the original product. The imitating product will ultimately end up looking like a cheap knock-off (which, of course, it is.) Microsoft is pushing their product towards the Wii demographic. Don't they realize those people already own a Wii? What would they want with the Kinect? Are the million dollar executives sitting around the boardroom really this dumb?
This sort of thing is all the more frustrating when something I like gets remodeled to more closely resemble another product that's currently in the spotlight. With each new edition Guitar Hero is turning more and more into Rock Band. If I wanted to play a full band game, I would go out and buy Rock Band. Guitar Hero should have stuck with their own concept and gone in their own direction with it. They should have tried to provide something Rock Band wasn't offering. As it is, they've practically ruined the franchise trying to ride Rock Band's coat-tails. The latest installment came and went with barely a whimper. And of course, this phenomenon isn't confined to the world of video games. I could spend a whole post ranting about how one fast food chain after another has ruined their food trying to be more like McDonald's.
Now, I have no problem with trying to make money or looking for the profitable angle, but this is the sort of thing that gives businessmen a bad name. It is the epitome of the uncreative mind at work. It's the studio executive that puts pressure on a director to make his movie more like the current leader of the box office. It's the record executive the coaches a band to sound more like the stuff in top 40 charts. There's no telling how much talent and originality has been stifled and destroyed by this kind of nonsense. And the sad thing is, it doesn't work. Sure, you might have a small-scale success with this approach, but it almost never results in any sort of multi-million dollar blockbuster idea. The truly innovative always has to break its way through a thick wall of such stupidity to reach the public at large who are actually starving for just this sort of thing. Those are the true success stories. The people who's very job it is to give the public what it wants and needs, more often than not end up being an obstacle in the process because of their own small-minded lack of vision.
Hopefully, before this Kinetic idea goes under, possibly taking the Xbox 360 with it, someone will design a game that realizes the full potential of the technology and gives Xbox gamers what they're actually looking for. Of course the designer will get a lot of blank stares and they'll constantly be told, "People don't what those kind of games." I'm sure they'll feel at time like they're beating their head against a wall, and they'll have to fight tooth and nail with the persistence of a martyr. All I can tell them is, don't give up. Don't give in. People do want your game. Let's hope you can slip it past the idiots and into the stores.
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