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by mschaef 933 days ago
The Sony Playstation was originally conceived as exactly that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_NES_CD-ROM

Part of the issue with these sorts of console add ons is that they just split the addressable market further. ISV's either have to address only console owners with the add on, or they can address everybody with the console if they can manage without the extra hardware. Commercially, this can be a hard sell, which makes it difficult to sell the add on, making it even more difficult to write software requiring the add on.
1 comments
philistine 933 days ago
You're being too positive. Only two add-ons in the history of console games have been successful: the Famicom Disk System and the PC Engine CD. All other add-ons have failed to sell enough to warrant vibrant development. Note that both add-ons were japanese successes.

No add-on has been able to survive more than one year outside Japan. Not even PS VR, whose sales are too low.

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lelandfe 933 days ago
The Kinect did alright, selling tens of millions
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philistine 933 days ago
Despite its success, it still had a lower attach rate than the Famicom Disk System. In terms of software, after the first year no one could make any good money selling Kinect titles.
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jpsouth 933 days ago
Was that not because it was bundled into nearly every Xbox 360 sold at the time?
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lelandfe 933 days ago
> Kinect for Xbox 360 continued its momentum in 2011 reaching 10 million Kinect sensors sold worldwide to date. Not only were sensor sales an overwhelming success, but Kinect drove significant game sales with more than 10 million standalone Kinect games sold worldwide to date

https://www.engadget.com/2011-03-09-microsoft-sells-10-milli...

From 2011. At any rate, it obviously satisfies the grandparent’s comment on success. (Also, you may be thinking of the Xbox One, which they received flak for bundling with a Kinect)

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philistine 933 days ago
Microsoft knew add-ons simply do not work long-term. That's why they put a Kinect in every Xbox One's box. Didn't solve the problem of everybody was over with the concept though.
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jpsouth 932 days ago
I may well be thinking of the Xbox One!

Certainly 10m standalone units warrants the ‘success’ tag, I’d imagine — thanks for the link.

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