Analysts: 25 million Kinect units by 2014

Various analysts have given their opinion on how well Kinect will sell. The result? Very well, in a nutshell.

It’s fair to say that Kinect has been a hit so far, with Microsoft boasting of selling its first one million units in just 10 days. But will the Xbox 360′s motion control system carry on selling well for the rest of the life of the console?

According to Eurogamer, Screen Digest analyst Piers Harding-Rolls predicts Microsoft will sell 25 Kinect units by 2014, based on the assumption that the Xbox 360 will have an installed userbase of around 75 million by then (8 million consoles sold per year from here on in). Colin Sebastian from Lazard Capital Markets agrees with this figure in principal.

However, our favorite crystal ball-gazer Michael Pachter thinks it may be too early to tell because we don’t yet have all the facts at hand (which is most unlike him). His point being that Microsoft could cut the price significantly or even bundle Kinect with every new Xbox 360 sold. In which case the numbers could shoot up considerably. And he does, for once, have a good point. Mark the day in your diaries, folks.

Peter Molyneux is an ICO fanboy

Peter Molyneux is a very successful games developer with some classic titles to his name. But he wasn’t responsible for ICO, something he’s sorry about.

ICO is a truly great game. But it’s one that many people didn’t play for whatever reason. And that’s a real shame because it was, and remains to this day, one of the best games ever released for the PS2. Unlike many games from the last generation it still stands up to scrutiny to this day, and I urge anyone to get themselves a copy to see what all the fuss was/is about.

One man who agrees wholeheartedly with this positive appraisal of ICO is Peter Molyneux, who recently revealed a certain level of fanboyism with the game in a Eurogamer feature. He said:

You go back to that title and have a look at it

Fils-Aime: Wii 2 is coming, but not yet

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Wii 2 to arrive. 2012 is now looking the most likely year for it to be putting in an appearance.

Many of us are expecting Nintendo to unveil the Wii 2, or its next-gen console at least, in 2011. After all, the Wii likely has its best days behind it, with most people interested in buying one having already done so. Kinect and Move won’t help Wii sales either, as people have more than one option for motion control gaming.

However, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has insisted the Wii 2 isn’t quite ready for its debut, insisting that there’s life left in the original Wii yet. After stating categorically stating that the Wii 2 isn’t a definite for 2011, he told Kotaku:

As we sit here today we’re saying the Wii has many, many more units to sell. After we’ve reached an installed base of 45 million here in the U.S., we can have a conversation about the next generation.

45 million you say? The Wii is currently sitting on around 35 million units in the U.S. so it’s likely to take at least another year for that target to be hit. Which suggests Nintendo is eyeing 2012 as the year to release its next-gen console. Assuming the world doesn’t end by then, obviously.