New audiences credited with pushing demand

GameStop has confirmed that it has encountered shortages of Xbox Kinect controllers and bundles, as demand has proven greater than initially expected. Executive VP Tony Bartel suggests "expanded audiences" have been showing interest in the controllers, which are expected to bring sales performance similar to Nintendo's Wii launch.

"I think you are going to have consumers following the UPS truck to our stores to pick up that product as soon as they can find it," Bartel said during a recent conference call. The executive suggests PlayStation's Move controller has also proven a strong seller.

GameStop does not expect to be able to keep up with the demand for Kinect hardware as the holidays approach, but the retailer is planning to keep the software titles in stock. The current best-selling games are said to be MTV Games' Dance Central and Kinect Sports.

Microsoft initially expected to sell 3 million Kinect controllers before the end of the year, but the estimate was later raised to 5 million. The company already reached a million sales in just ten days after launch, well ahead of the Black Friday rush. [via GamesIndustry.biz (sub. required)]

By Electronista Staff