Activision not fully supporting Move/Kinect, wary of high prices
Wondering why we didn't see a Kinect version of Guitar Hero or a Move-enabled Call of Duty at E3? COO Thomas Tippl told Gamasutra it's because Activision is hesitant to dive into the motion market, mostly due to the high price point of Move and expected high price of Microsoft's Kinect.
"I think as a publisher, you have to be concerned about how the price drives a lot of the outcome of how big of an install base there's going to be," he said. "The bigger the install base, the more likely that you can make sense out of your investment. So, the lower the price, the better. In this economic environment, it's probably more important than ever." He makes a solid point: a lot of the driving power (not all) behind Nintendo's Wii has been its low price point, which many feel has helped sell the idea of motion-based gaming to the mainstream -- the exact audience both Microsoft and Sony are trying to captivate with their new motion control tech.
Tippl also added that, while this new tech affords interesting new opportunities for developers and third-party publishers, it's not an experience suited for every type of game, yet he feels it could benefit some of Activision's brands. "We have a few franchises where we think this could be an interesting value to improve the experience for the player. Tony Hawk is an example. We have our Rapala Fishing franchise. But it's not going to be something that will be in every game, because I don't think it's one size fits all. It's not going to enhance the experience for every game."
