#FF00AA

US retailer GameStop has whacked up pre-order offers for Kinect and various Kinect games, revealing that it intends to charge $149.99 for the add-on.

While its standalone Kinect for Xbox 360 listing carries that price tag, a separate “Kinect Arcade Bundle” - perhaps meaning an Xbox 360 and Kinect, or perhaps meaning a software package - is listed for $299.99.

I’m not sure that GameStop actually knows more than we do (I don’t think they’re above pulling the price out of thin air, and I’m somewhat surprised that they’d have gotten a definite price even though the thing will only launch in November) but the point is that Microsoft didn’t name a price during their keynote, and at this point in their media plan it can only mean that it won’t be cheap.

This is mind-boggling because, apart from the consultancy fees to imagine that dreadful name (which, to make matters worse, is apparently pronounced “connect”), the thing is just a couple of webcams and a tiny motor! (Okay, I know, the magic is in the software. But the thing with software is that you do make it up in volume.)

Chances are they’re counting on the $299 pack to seduce non-gamers who bought a Wii. That price point is indeed affordable, but there are two big mistakes here: First, those people have already bought a Wii, and I doubt they can easily be convinced to spend $299 again for another console they won’t use (much) either. Second, the Wii’s success was mostly viral, and existing 360 owners would love nothing more than demo Kinect to their relatives in order to convince them to buy one — if the standalone Kinect was cheap enough for them to be interested. At $150, a huge majority of them will not be.