Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Television advertisements for Kinect follow a relatively standard pat-
tern. Ads begin from the perspective of the television, looking out on to a
scene with players preparing to play Kinect by putting a coat on their couch
launch into play, often in pairs and frequently surrounded by onlookers
who seem to relish the opportunity to watch their friends connect with the
Kinect. The groups are diverse in terms of age, race, and gender, although
all the play spaces are large and all of the rooms in which the Kinect is
played are quite well decorated, indicating a lack of diversity in economic
emphasizing the fundamental shift Microsoft seeks to make in how video
games are played. This motif is continued on the Kinect website, which
promises that Kinect of ers “something for everyone” as “whether you're
a gamer or not, anyone can play and have a blast . . . Kinect promises a
much of the focus in discussion about the Kinect and Wii is about how
they change how games are played, the focus on who is targeted to play the
games is just as important.
The Kinect certainly seeks to change how games are played, of ering a
mimetic interface with the promise that “you already know how to play. All
the premise that the potential audience for these games is broader than the
one that prefers learning how to play a game while sitting on their couch. In
seeking to change the 'how' in playing games, Kinect also seeks to shift the
'who' and, as more people are included in playing games, the notion of the
target audience for video games will change. Messages for the Kinect and
the Wii reach far beyond the traditional base of gaming and, although some
gamers may decry that these products are not for them, the broader appeal
stands to benefi t them greatly as the larger cultural discourse surrounding
games changes. The relevance of this kind of appeal is particularly notable
in contrast to advertising for Sony's PlayStation Move. Instead of seeking
to broaden the audience of potential players, Sony appealed to their base of
core gamers, frequently ridiculing the shortcomings of the Microsoft and
ing, advertisements for the Move tend to be shot from behind the player,
to illustrate both graphics and motion. Further, the players are more likely
to fi t the average demographic data about the typical gamer, featuring a
homogenous group of adult men using the Move. Although there are many
factors in making a potential new platform a success, this limited type of
appeal translated into an “understated launch of Sony's new Move control-
ler [that] has not signifi cantly moved the needle on hardware or software
course of video games, both as more people gain fi rsthand experience play-
ing games and as a broader cross-section of people are seen playing games.
These shifts mark an opportunity to redefi ne how video games are seen and
