Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) allowed the Electronic Entertainment Expo to come and go without announcing any official pricing for its Kinect motion gaming platform.
“Official pricing has not been announced,” says Microsoft’s website. “$149.99 is an estimate only and subject to change.” MSNBC cites a Microsoft representative who said that price is based on retailer estimates. Last week, Gamestop started selling Kinect for pre-order, also for $150.
PC World writer Matt Peckham speculated that Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) wants to start selling its Kinect devices ASAP and that it’s better to offer a worst-case price and drop it before launch if necessary.
PC World’s Jared Newman offered a number of theories why Microsoft hasn’t released final pricing yet. It’s possible that the company has not determined pricing yet or is determining whether or not it can bring the cost of the device down between now and the launch date. He said that it’s also possible that the company is still figuring out what bundles it wants to offer with the device.
Some in the media have suggested that $150 is too expensive for a secondary platform device which doesn’t, at least yet, come with a lot of games to demonstrate the technology.
