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[Xbox-Scene]

Source pins Kinect manufacturing costs to 150USD Posted by XanTium | June 21 16:20 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From develop-online.net: Microsoft is paying around $150 in total manufacturing costs for each Kinect unit, Develop understands. A highly-positioned, trusted source had given Develop the "$150 manufacturing cost" figure on the condition of anonymity, adding that the expenses of Kinect is a topic of concern for his company. Screen Digest games analyst Ed Barton said he was "not surprised" by the $150 manufacturing figure that Develop put to him. Barton believes that the Primesense acquisition may come into the cost equation. "There's basic hardware tear-down costs," he says, "but Kinect isn't just a number of components, it's also a software layer - one that is absolutely key for the whole experience. "Kinect's R&D costs might be sunk into the manufacturing costs, because Microsoft needed to ensure that Kinect's basic imaging actually has a software layer that can be fed into the developer toolchain. Full Story: develop-online.net

[JCDenton@AS]

and ms normally put a large markup on there accessories eg: hdd's so im guessing this will be out for around $230 - £200. Then £40 for a game.. Its not going to sell for that. At all.



Edit:

Just looked on the main page and they say that bundles with the new console will go for 199?!?! So thats 150 for this and how much they making the console for??

This post has been edited by JCDenton@AS: Jun 21 2010, 09:53 PM

[Aphonia]

My gut feeling is that Microsoft will be willing to accept a loss on this (like Microsoft and Sony originally did with their console system) to try and get it into as many peoples home.  The question will be is it low enough.  I think most people have speculated at $100 (USD).

While the stuff at E3 seemed cool, I just don't see myself jumping around my apartment to play most of these games (and if so, not something that I'd use more than a few times and forget about it), so I don't see myself throwing in an extra $100 (if that's what it is) to get this.  I'm good to go with my controller.

[kingatrock]

I'm interested in kinect (for the tech and later possibilities, not so much the kid launch titles). I hope they launch for $99 but it ain't looking good. As much as I like the 360's online and everything MS is infamous now for raping with accessories. $99 is an insta-buy for me, $150, not so much.

I really hope they eat that $50 cost but its ms.. I just don't see them giving us a break.


Hope I'm wrong.

[hyfall381]

QUOTE(JCDenton@AS @ Jun 21 2010, 09:48 PM)

Just looked on the main page and they say that bundles with the new console will go for 199?!?! So thats 150 for this and how much they making the console for??

i think i know of the article youre talking about. i noticed several people who are confused about this...
what that article says is that there will be a $199 version of the 360 slim this fall.  they will also be selling slim+kinect bundles.  but there is no word on the price for those bundles, or the kinect itself.

that article was poorly written. thats why people are reading it and thinking theres a slim+kinect bundle for $199.  wish that were so.

as far as this article goes, just because its costing them $150 to make the kinect, it doesnt mean itll sell for that price, or even more.  its normal for a new system to cost more to make, than what it sells for. if i remember correctly, both the 360 and ps3 cost more to make, in the beginning. so im not gonna assume itll sell for $150 or more, based on production costs.
however... i have a feeling itll be close.  as i said before, i would NOT pay more than $150 for the kinect.  if it doesnt come with a game, i wont even pay the $150.

[Flagg3]

As people have surely noticed with the Xbox 360, Microsoft is far less willing to subsidize hardware costs than they were with the original Xbox, so my guess is that $99 is out of the question.

My best guess is that they will release it at anywhere from $149 to $199, with the low end being the most likely.  It will definitely be bundled with a game pack - almost certainly a mini game collection like Wii Sports, although it probably won't be limited to just sports mini games.

If I were a betting man, I would say that this 'leak' was planted by Microsoft in order to soften the blow when the price is announced.  If they were to simply announce a $150 price tag - many people would complain being as that is in the high end of current estimates.

But if you leak the alleged $150 manufacturing cost first, then suddenly everyone is relieved that the retail price is 'only' $150 when it is announced.

[trentdadi]

Kinect is available for pre-order RIGHT NOW from amazon.com for 149.99.
Kinect at Amazon
It doesn't look like it comes bundled with anything but I believe the price will probably drop quick.

This post has been edited by trentdadi: Jun 22 2010, 01:45 AM

[relaxxx]

I think $150 is ****ing absurd! If they knew it would cost that much to manufacture they should have scrapped it and gone back to the drawing board.

I paid $20 for a PS2 Eye Toy 5 years ago, it wasn't too accurate and needed extra lighting to work good but it was a blast and capable of detecting 4 players. So in 5 years the only way they can figure out how to improve technology is to bulk and bloat on components and price? Well ain't that a peach!

[jdsony]

People are funny.

The statement saying the software is part of the cost that adds up to $150 is a bit misleading. The software cost them a certain amount to develop that is correct. The device has to pay for the software costs as well is also true. Software though is not like hardware and it really depends on how many they sell as to what the individual costs associated to each device is.

[ixus238]

Typical Hype and LIE from Microsoft.  We all know there's no way that's piece of plastic costs $150 to manufacture.  They're just trying to give suckers the reason to be hooked on ...... "The Emperor's New Kinect."

Aren't they used to say 360 20GB/120GB HDD high cost goes to "additional inspection & verification" ?   Aren't the 360 RROD is 3% just like everyone else? or $600 to manufacture a 360?   Whatever.

This post has been edited by ixus238: Jun 22 2010, 06:37 PM

[Flagg3]

For once, I would actually side with Microsoft on this one.  

Even though Kinect may essentially feel like a Playstation Eye, it is far more complex and ambitious.  As I've stated several times, *IF* it works as claimed, it will be a revolution in motion capture technology, and will essentially be doing the work that normally requires very expensive and bulky body sensors used with a green screen.  If that can be done with a $150 piece of hardware, it would be an astounding technical achievement.

Personally, I still don't believe that it will work.  I just can't believe that the Xbox is capable of performing the calculations involved effectively in realtime with just a stationary front facing camera, regardless of how many sensors it has.  

Don't get me wrong, I have already pre-ordered my Kinect, and I would love for it to work exactly as promised, but my educated guess is that it will be laggy, and even in the most ideal conditions it will not track with 100% accuracy even for a single person.  And if it can't perform with 100% accuracy, it will never be more than a novelty.  

FYI, there have been rumors that the demos shown at E3 were precorded.  Until we see final hardware demonstrated in average living environments, no one will really know how well it will actually perform when it ships.

http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?4054...oke-and-mirrors