Microsoft Dropping Kinect Requirement From Xbox One

I like this, kinect is useless in most cases, and like others have found out, voice commands are the only thing people are using it for, and this could have been done with a microphone on the controller instead a separate device, that very few games want to use.

Now only if Microsoft could release an Xbox One without the HDMI passthrough for $299, that would be the perfect buy for me. I don't have cable boxes, I don't need it, I just want a machine that plays games.

It seems MS botched almost everything with this console launch.

I'm not in the position to get a new console but it will be a PS4 when I do. Xbox has been my primary console since ms jumped in the console market. After I got a PS3 slim I slowly changed my preference for the PS. The xbox interface became so bloated with ads and that endless moving around just get to what I wanted to do. In time a all in one media/games device might suit me but not at this time. My Apple TV does everything else I need. I have no desire to play motion games.

MS lost me as a user. Titanfall was the only thing I wanted the xbox one for, once TF2 is on the PS4 then that problem is solved.

Guess their last bet is going strong with the cloud computing stuff and do it a lot better than the competition.

Well, that didn't take long.

At this point Microsoft should sell Xbox, at least to let the public give Xbox a second chance and see if the idiots who fucked this up were on the Microsoft side or the Xbox side. Right now I'd rather buy a bunch of original Xboxs than buy an Xbox One, simply because I don't trust Microsoft one bit.

ahhaha.....MS is shittin all over the customers

Oh Microsoft, dear old sweet Microsoft.

I may be the minority here but...I like using the Kinect on my X1. The voice function in Netflix alone makes things a lot easier if you've got stuff to attend to but want to make a selection for something fairly quickly.

I won't say it's prefect but, come on, we've got people speaking so many different pitches of each language that these things are never going to be perfect anyway. Not trying to excuse the Kinect, it certainly has problems, but at this point I would be pissed if I couldn't use my voice to control the system anymore.

So they dropped the only thing that differentiated the console from their competitors? Why would the consumer choose an Xbone when they can get a console (PS4) that is significantly more powerful for the same price?

Also lol at MS shitting all over the early adopters. I would never trust a product from MS again if I were one of them.

This past year makes Microsoft look like the most consumer friendly company you've ever seen.

I mean they are literally bending over backwards to give people what they want - kind of unprecedented in the gaming industry.

@humanity: The other perspective is they are compromising their vision to mitigate the loss of their market share. Their studios no longer have complete freedom to experiment with how the Kinect can compliment games. We survived the gimmick phase where features were bolted on to push add-on units. That goes away when peripherals become standard.

Now it's going to come back. Better with Kinect is still a threat. :/

Yeah, they compromised their vision that almost everyone hated.There's something to be said about sticking to your guns but if almost everyone hates you for it (like what happened with the DRM stuff) then maybe you should consider changing your ways because it's possible that they hate this for a good reason (otherwise you get something like Sony being really stubborn with the PS3 and taking years to make changes and catch up). I remember when the DRM stuff was reversed, tons of people were championing it as a moment when people spoke with their wallet and were able to enact positive change. Now all I hear is people complaining about them backpedaling and changing stuff that most of you were never fans of to begin with. I'd rather they change their policies to help consumers then stick to these policies that most people don't want.

Also, developers can still work on trying to do innovative stuff with the Kinect. Regardless of whether or not the Kinect is mandatory, you still have to convince consumers to pay extra money for it. Don't assume that consumers are idiots that are willing to throw away an extra $100 up front for no reason.

Sunk on the Blunk.

How so?

And yes, that is a genuine question.

huh.... they need a video to explain this..... ooookay.

You mean kind of like the PS3's chances a year into its life cycle? People are too quick to judge or form an opinion. Microsoft is too, apparently. Everything they've done so far has been rash and a complete 180 on their initial project. If anything, the reason the XB1 wouldn't survive is because they themselves would strip it to death.

@humanity: Yeah, but only out of desperation after getting every... single... thing... completely wrong. But yes, it's nice to see them capitulating to the market, finally.