Microsoft has sold more than 2.5 million of its controller-free Kinect video game systems worldwide only 25 days after launch, the world's largest software company said, keeping it on track to hit its target of 5 million sales this holiday shopping season.
Kinect sold well during the high-volume "Black Friday" shopping period after Thanksgiving, which traditionally kicks off holiday shopping, according to a Target executive. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
Microsoft's new device, which hooks up to the company's Xbox console, lets gamers control movements on-screen by gestures and voice commands. It competes with the latest version of Nintendo's Wii system and Sony's PlayStation Move device.
Nintendo doesn't have comparable sales figures as it bundles its new Wii motion controller device with the Wii console. But the company says it now has more than 65 million Wii remote controllers in the United States market, averaging sales of 46,000 per day.
Sony has not yet made public retail sales figures for its motion-sensing Move controller, an add-on for the PlayStation 3 console launched in September.