Microsoft Dropping Kinect Requirement From Xbox One

@masterrain: Don't dress up poorly implemented technology and anti-consumer practices as "innovation" and bemoan their defeats. 'Console fanboys' don't decide on the fate of technology, markets do. Microsoft was being outsold due in no small part to the significant price differences with the PS4, and they've jettisoned Kinect in order to make up some lost ground.

If their innovations had been executed better, then the market would have responded positively and they would have been more successful. Look at the cell phone market pre- and post- iPhone. That device was hundreds of dollars more expensive than competitors and Apple still managed to go from like 0% to 30% of the global cell market in less than a year.

Well executed innovations that people want will sell. Kinect was not one of these. It shouldn't thrive simply by virtue of being "innovative" or "original" - if that were the case I would not have lost everything on my musical toilet seat business.

That said, I think Microsoft has been very innovative with their Live service. I think the new follower/friend system is a great evolution of the service.

Worst move Microsoft could have done.

Wait, we didn't even have the chance to put an insulting spin on your name yet.

@galacticpunt: Two 180's is a 360. The Microsoft Xbox 360. They should go for it. Or the Xbox 360-U.

Or better, the Xbox 360-U2.

Ding dong! The witch is dead!

Man, never thought that would happen. My guess was that they'd drop the price by $50, maaaaaybe $100 with Kinect. But getting rid of it entirely? Kinect itself wasn't really the issue people had, it was the price markup.

Bah, I'll get one eventually once there are some games that I can't play without the console.

Amazon UK has Xbox One standard edition for 379 with kinect. PS4 shipping for 349. Even fully featured there is price parity, but the extra savings will help offset some of the performance/price value criticism.

. . . . . . Is there a buyback program?

Lol whatttt!

whatever. I'm still waiting for some damn games to play on my system. Doesn't matter if I have a Kinect in front of my TV or not. Still feels like the "next-generation" still hasn't started yet. Especially when I'm playing Xbox 360 and (yes oddly) my WiiU more than my Xbox One right now.

To be fair, I did turn on my Xbox One last night. Browsed for games, found none, and turned it back off.

I want new tech that is proven during development and thoroughly tested before having it foisted upon the market. Kinect does not meet the requirements I expect of a properly functioning piece of hardware and I strongly oppose(d) its mandatory inclusion as part of an otherwise completely functional console.

Agreed. This is why I haven't purchased either Sony or MS' new consoles yet. It's not a matter of expense, and i'll surely be purchasing something to play the new games, but right now it still isn't clear to me what the best option for that will be. There are no games. I am waiting for games that I want to play enough to buy the machine they run on.

I like consoles for the convenience but I am getting close to putting together a PC to sit next to my television for game purposes and to hell with the consoles.

I'm one of the few that is surprised that they didn't do this sooner.

Man, did they drop the ball coming into this generation. And last generation they built up so much by undercutting Sony's arrogance. Then Sony did they thing they did, and they got arrogant like Sony... and... wait, I'm loosing track. Where am I?

As someone who bought an Xbox One and PS4 on day one I feel burned. Sure it's great for everyone else but I am done parading MS as the de facto console. With my 360 I owned hundreds of third party titles. Thinking now is a perfect time to switch to PS4 and just the Xbox for exclusives. Sunset Overdrive, Halo etc. but for the rest of you people congrats, you held out and are smarter than I.

Well, fuck. I would have rather seen them drop the price and keep the Kinect. This is kind of weird. I mean, doesn't it kind of throw a wrench into all their plans to keep the Kinect in every house that owns an Xbox One? Is this them saying they no longer really give a shit about the Kinect. Not that they ever really did as a gaming device, but as a utility at the system level? I can't see this making them motivated to keep their dashboard as Kinect-friendly as it is in future updates if the device is only owned by a margin of their consumer base.

I'm not complaining, mostly because I don't give a shit either way. I guess if I bought an Xbox, I'd probably get the one with the Kinect because that sort of seems like the thing to do right now. But I don't really want an Xbox right now. The Kinect wasn't, like, convincing me to not buy one. In the future though, I can see myself being convinced that the Kinect isn't worth its weight when they inevitably quit supporting the thing. I mean, they'll always support it, in the way that they're not going to break into your home and unplug it, but I bet we don't see any Kinect games announced at E3 next year.

@hobozero: I just hate how everyone revels in Microsoft's failure, when in reality they are celebrating people never taking risks in this market again. If MS had taken Sonys strategy, both consoles would have just been 1 year old PCs in fancy cases. ZzzzzZzzZz. The only reason consoles have any value is exclusives, which have no real reason for not being on PC apart from bribes from Sony or MS. BTW I have a crap PC and no new console, so I guess I'm an impartial observer :P

EDIT: Although those two new controllers are pretty amazing!

If you're buying day one and thinking you're getting a good deal, you're an idiot. Things get cheaper the longer they're out. That's how selling things works. The only reason a person should buy these consoles day one is if they're interested in being part of the zeitgeist and seeing how they unfold and update from the very beginning.

Rather then make the kinect actually work and supply quality games for it... Let's just not instead! Because here at xbox "fuck it" isn't just our moto... It's a way of life!

@herbiebug: Man its Sony's 4 year run encapsulated into 1.5 years

1. Everyone knew this had to happen.

2. Microsoft was the only thing saying it was never going to happen.

Now everybody can experience how cumbersome that interface is without voice commands. Fantastic.

Can you build a PC for $399 that can play games at the quality level a PS4 will over the next 5ish years? Seriously asking...when I've looked, seemed like a decent video card was about 300 itself, but I'm no expert.

I'm a 20+ year long PC exclusive gamer, and let me tell you: PC gaming is always more expensive if you want to play modern games. That's just the truth of it, no matter what any overly defensive brother of mine might say about the platform. It's a premium priced, premium platform, full stop.

That said, the Xbone and PS4 aren't really all that crazy advanced. PC versions already on day one surpass the PS4 version, which wasn't always the case in previous console eras. A relatively low cost PC today could probably compete with the PS4 for a long time, and any well-built machine should surpass the PS4 for years to come.

Yeah, I just wrote a similar thing elsewhere. I'm a PC gamer so I don't have a dog in this fight, but Microsoft are coming across as really desperate and confused for the past year. It does not instill consumer confidence.

Sony on the other hand have been clear and focused from day one.

Thing shouldn't have been in the box to start with. Either way, I still have no desire to own a Xbox One. In a couple years if they have enough exclusives I want to play on it, then I might grab one, though.

and, predictably, the comments for this video are garbage

Sorry Microsoft. Too little too late. I'm getting a PS4 for Destiny and Beast Souls. I don't know who was waiting for a Kinectless Xbox, but I'm sure that the people who were excited about it are now pissed that developers are going to drop it like a bad habit.|

Next console cycle (if there is a next one) do a little market research on the people who actually play games instead of whatever it was that you did to lead you to the terrible decisions of the xbox launch last year.

I wish I could justify a $400 console purchase with 2 games

Rich people I tells ya

Man I called this so long ago I was starting to think I might've actually been wrong, once. It's a really weird move at this point, I was already kinda decided on the ps4 but was coming around on the XO and the new kinect. Now that they're not backing up their kinect as hard anymore I'm not sure if I'm still interested. Dunno man, I guess they did the research and this was the right move ... It's a weird one, though.

Indeed. Nothing shocking here.

I still think that the key point going into E3 with all this is "what about the games?". Be they Kinect games, or non-kinect games, what matters in terms of driving Microsoft's console forward is whether the games are good. We don't know if this is the case yet because the generation is still new and games aren't here in any great number yet (which is also true of the PS4).

The Xbox 360 launched in Nov 2005. 6 months later, there were approximately 60 game releases with Oblivion, GRAW, Burnout, Fight Night, and Geometry Wars among the leading titles.

The Xbox one launched in Nov 2014. 6 months later, there have been approximately 45 game releases with Rayman Legends, Titanfall, Tomb Raider, DR3, and Child of Light leading. Most notably of the stand out titles this time around, quite a few of them are also out on the 360. This wasn't the case with the Xbox last time.

All in all this feels like a sluggish start. Microsoft clearly need to build momentum and to do so very quickly. Will cutting the Kinect from the basic edition help them to be more competitive? In the long-term, it probably will. In the short term, all that matters is the games that are coming out in the next quarter and whether they are good enough to sell more Xbox Ones and get that install base up.

I have sympathy for developers with Kinect games in development who are concerned about how this is going to shake out for them but if their product is good enough then there is still going to be a sizeable market to shoot for. That said, ultimately, if Kinect is a piece of hardware that is going to be broadly used in gaming in the long term then it is now up to the developers to make games that are good enough to make people want to purchase a Kinect. This is ultimately a better situation for consumers than was previously the case.

Thank you for saying what I didn't want to have to type out myself.

Yeah I'm not sure announcing a lower price model in 1 month is going to help them move units. If anything, I'd bet May 2014 will be the slowest month yet for XBOne sales. They should have just announced a price drop today, effective immediately to $399, and then release the Kinect-less SKU in June. That would probably help them move a lot of units in the short term as it makes a $399 XBOne with a Kinect (and maybe Titanfall) look like a pretty great deal, even if the Kinect is now borderline worthless.

@plague102: wow. Did you come to this conclusion all by yourself?

The longer your system is out, the less features it should come standard with, makes sense. It worked for PS3 and it's going to work with xbox one......Oh wait. I guess kinect is going to become worthless again, why code for something most users wont have?

Wow, gotta love competition! They should do a white or coloured one to distinguish the styles though.

Pocketnow music!

@masterrain: Except you're sorta making it sound like Microsoft was some kind of underdog with a one in million idea that just didn't get any traction because the industry doesn't want any innovation, and that's far from the truth.

Microsoft had an idea that they sold to the public based on hype and unrealistic demos and once the hype around it died off, people started realizing that it was a faulty peripheral that barely worked. So instead of saying hey lets figure out ways to get people actually interested in this thing so they'll buy it, they just said, eh lets pack it in here, and make consumers front the bill for it, and of course, people responded with their wallets.

Cool. Now no 3rd party developer will ever support Kinect again. Thanks for the $100 doorstop, Microsoft. PS: Fuck you and your shitty console I overpaid for.

Oh yeah, that hot QR code scanning.

They haven't even released in all regions yet and they are already making drastic changes to their SKUs. Things must be worse than they look.

Someone get the Microsoft PR department some WD-40 all that back-pedaling has made that chain squeaky.

So, I'm confused, Microsoft didn't take a risk with the Xbox One? Or they did take a risk with Xbox One? Because from where I stand, they did take the risk, and they failed. They misjudged the market, the market spoke, and the market said "no". Not all risk is rewarded. It wouldn't be called risk if it were.

@spiritof: Yes MS took the risk, what I'm saying is people should appreciate that more. They bet on sci-fi Kinect and TV stuff, and at the moment it looks like it's failed, however I don't understand why people are happy. What did Sony do? "Its just like a PS3 but more powerful and even more like a PC." That's the most safe, vanilla strategy possible. If everyone did that the console market would be fucking boring.

I'm not mad that people are saying MS are failing, which so far they are, but I think we should encourage more risks, otherwise how will we ever get holograms and hoverboards? Personally I think they are ahead of their time but who am I?

TL;DR We should be sad when cool technology fails, not celebrate its demise.

@masterrain: I understand the want and need for innovation, and I think if Microsoft hadn't tried to slip their DRM scheme past everyone before launch, the Xbox One would be sitting much better than it is today, but they didn't, and its cost them dearly. After that, and coming out $100 more than the competitor, every concession and explanation they've made has made them look like they're scrambling and confused. I don't know if it's the audience rejecting innovation as much as the audience wanting Microsoft to sleep in the bed they've made.

Again, I think Microsoft could have sold the importance of The Kinect pack-in (or even eaten the cost and announced a price cut), but the DRM wool they tried to pull over everyone's eyes became an albatross that they still haven't been able to shake.

@spiritof: Oh yeah It's all Microsoft's fault, I even think their DRM could have been cool if they'd have talked about the potential positives. Its like the opposite of Apple who have average products but great marketing.

Ultimately, this is probably a good decision for them. And I have hopes for Phil Spencer's vision for Xbox.

But the messaging and positioning for the Xbox One is so hypocritical and disjointed and noncommittal at this point, and while I continue to enjoy my 360, my eyes are still firmly set on the PS4 as my next console of choice. MS needs to earn my trust back big time if they want my business beyond the 360.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Now if they would only announce that they are putting GDDR5 RAM in there and a 50% better video card to put it on par with the PS4. I'd still get the PS4. It was just announced that another game is running at lower resolution on XBOX one. Watch Dogs is 792p compared to 900p on PS4. Face it, Xbox One is slower.

Official response just in from Patrick Klepek, and this is a direct quote, "No."