Although most of us could care less, Kinectimals, is going to outsell, surprise, and surpass our expectations. This virtual pet game that Microsoft announced at E3 this year will allow kids to train and play with up to 20 different cats, which reminds of me of another recent trend that made millions in the past few years: Webkinz.
If you've ever heard of the Webkinz then you understand where I'm coming from. Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with a unique code printed on a tag. This allows access to the "Webkinz World" website, which in turn lets the user own a virtual version of the pet for online play for a limited time. What sounds as a simple addition to an ordinary stuffed animal turned into a frenzy of a business for the Ganz Company and helped establish similar spin-offs for the Webkinz brand. Numerous types of animals and breeds such as lil' kinz were brought on board. Kids simply ate them up. I saw this first hand, and yes I was confused by the swarms of little that began collecting and obsessing over the little guys. It reminded me of the Cabbage Patch Kid boom from when I was a kid.
It seems as though Microsoft looked into the virtual Webkinz world and saw the potential for an untapped gold mine within the Xbox community. Microsoft's motion-navigated Kinect looks to bank on what I can only call the cutest friggin' presentation I've ever seen at their press event at E3. While many of you saw the lovable personality driven tiger cub, named Skittles, I saw invisible glowing dollar signs swirling around his head in a halo. Forget the adults, the hardcore gamers, or for that matter, even the casual gamers for a second. Now, remember how many parents are out there; parents that have kids that are going to go insane over these digitally collectible "dolls" that Xbox has made into a completely tangible experience. These are the same parents that drove over an hour to get the latest hard to find Webkinz animal to make lil' Timmy happy; if not only for a few hours until he was bored and wanted another one. It was Timmy's fix and mom was all too happy to give him his ration.
Microsoft will only be releasing 20 animals at launch. This is just a teaser mind you. For example, when Webkinz started to catch on, the Ganz Company started looking for more creative ways to broaden their brand, and did so beautifully. In 2008, they opened the Webkinz eStore. In their eStore players can buy virtual items such as furniture, clothing, charms, and online-only pets. Before I go any further, let me just nudge you in the direction of Xbox Live for a moment. Xbox Live already has this configuration blooming as we speak with virtual avatars, clothing, pets, etc. They presently have the capabilities and the platform to allow these kids to refresh their animal frenzied addiction from the same place they are playing with their new little buddy. Moving on... According to the Webkinz Wikipedia page, in 2009, Ganz released Birthstone pets and continued releasing one new birthstone pet every month. Starting in April of this year, they are doing the same thing with Zaniac Pets, for those that like the constellation and star theme. They will also be releasing one of these per month. Do you see where I'm going with this? It's endless.
Currently, the Ganz Company and the Webkinz brand are rumored to be worth about $2 billion, with an increasing revenue stream of about $750 million a year. So it makes perfect sense that Microsoft wants a piece of this action. Just don't be surprised when you see Microsoft announcing Zombie animals or characters straight from some popular Xbox titles for the Kinect. And the cash cow moos on.
If you've ever heard of the Webkinz then you understand where I'm coming from. Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with a unique code printed on a tag. This allows access to the "Webkinz World" website, which in turn lets the user own a virtual version of the pet for online play for a limited time. What sounds as a simple addition to an ordinary stuffed animal turned into a frenzy of a business for the Ganz Company and helped establish similar spin-offs for the Webkinz brand. Numerous types of animals and breeds such as lil' kinz were brought on board. Kids simply ate them up. I saw this first hand, and yes I was confused by the swarms of little that began collecting and obsessing over the little guys. It reminded me of the Cabbage Patch Kid boom from when I was a kid.
It seems as though Microsoft looked into the virtual Webkinz world and saw the potential for an untapped gold mine within the Xbox community. Microsoft's motion-navigated Kinect looks to bank on what I can only call the cutest friggin' presentation I've ever seen at their press event at E3. While many of you saw the lovable personality driven tiger cub, named Skittles, I saw invisible glowing dollar signs swirling around his head in a halo. Forget the adults, the hardcore gamers, or for that matter, even the casual gamers for a second. Now, remember how many parents are out there; parents that have kids that are going to go insane over these digitally collectible "dolls" that Xbox has made into a completely tangible experience. These are the same parents that drove over an hour to get the latest hard to find Webkinz animal to make lil' Timmy happy; if not only for a few hours until he was bored and wanted another one. It was Timmy's fix and mom was all too happy to give him his ration.
Microsoft will only be releasing 20 animals at launch. This is just a teaser mind you. For example, when Webkinz started to catch on, the Ganz Company started looking for more creative ways to broaden their brand, and did so beautifully. In 2008, they opened the Webkinz eStore. In their eStore players can buy virtual items such as furniture, clothing, charms, and online-only pets. Before I go any further, let me just nudge you in the direction of Xbox Live for a moment. Xbox Live already has this configuration blooming as we speak with virtual avatars, clothing, pets, etc. They presently have the capabilities and the platform to allow these kids to refresh their animal frenzied addiction from the same place they are playing with their new little buddy. Moving on... According to the Webkinz Wikipedia page, in 2009, Ganz released Birthstone pets and continued releasing one new birthstone pet every month. Starting in April of this year, they are doing the same thing with Zaniac Pets, for those that like the constellation and star theme. They will also be releasing one of these per month. Do you see where I'm going with this? It's endless.
Currently, the Ganz Company and the Webkinz brand are rumored to be worth about $2 billion, with an increasing revenue stream of about $750 million a year. So it makes perfect sense that Microsoft wants a piece of this action. Just don't be surprised when you see Microsoft announcing Zombie animals or characters straight from some popular Xbox titles for the Kinect. And the cash cow moos on.
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