CES 2012: Kinect coming to Windows PCs February 1

Whether you use it or just stare at it quizzically, Kinect has been a big success for Microsoft. In fact, at CES they revealed they’ve shipped more than 18 million add-ons for the 360 since it launched in late 2010. And now Microsoft has given a very concrete date for Kinect spreading its influence to your PC starting February 1.

But hold your horses, this doesn’t mean you can just plug in your current Kinect into your PC and go to town, because you’ll need a separate Kinect for PC, and it isn’t cheap. Amazon prices Kinect on the PC as $250, which is $100 more than it’s going for on the 360 on Amazon. Also, Microsoft was short on any news on games for the machine (it did list a few apps for the hardware), though it probably will work well with the Windows 8 interface that looks so similar to the current 360 dashboard. But why, when hackers have proven the current Kinect can work on a PC, is Microsoft launching a separate, more expensive Kinect with so little software support in less than a month? We’re pretty confused at the moment. More as it develops.