Kinect Sales Miss Japanese Targets

A Microsoft exec has admitted that Kinect sales have proved disappointing in Japan, with the Xbox 360 still failing to grab market share as expected. Xbox Japan chief Takashi Sensui confirmed that sales of the motion-tracking peripheral "haven't met our initial expectations in Japan," MarketWatch reports, with the gadget "still not widely recognized." The confession follows an admission earlier this week that Windows Phone sales were also unsatisfactory.

Nonetheless, Sensui still holds out hope for a surge in Japanese Kinect popularity. "We have received good reviews from the people who have used it" the exec insists, perhaps suggesting that the peripheral needs to be experienced in order for gamers to add it to their must-have list. Meanwhile, he also points to Windows 8's support for Kinect, and the growth in Windows gaming, as a likely motivator for sales.

Previous reports have anecdotally suggested that Kinect's vision-based tracking system could prove an issue in small Japanese apartments, with the sensors being designed to recognize players in larger US rooms. Add-ons like the Nyko Zoom promise to address that, being lens adapters that modify the Kinect's field of view to suit smaller spaces.