Two worked hand-in-hand

Games and marketing need each other to survive, but that doesn't mean they always see eye-to-eye. In his keynote speech at the MI6 developer's conference, Kinect project leader and Microsoft creative director Kudo Tsunoda likened the two departments to cats and dogs, but said they both collaborated to turn the sensor into a success.

We became a lot more inclusive about how we figured out design. We worked with marketing to figure out, first, who the customers are and what they want. We learned the core principles of Kinect would be about physical play, something that was approachable and intuitive.

There's no doubt that marketing has played a very large part in Kinect's world record sales, but it's hard to shake the traditional view that great game experiences come from designers, not marketers.

Read more...