See if it had a normal PC connection (USB 2.0 or 3.0, or serial port) and it worked on a PC it would be worth it. The sensors are useful for all sorts of projects from 3D scanning, robot vision, etc. But with the proprietary Xbox One connector it is practically useless.
I think the price is fine, but that damn proprietary connector still being on it is a big middle finger to the DIY community. (And, yes, I think it is a intentional middle finger to not provide a $1 dongle to just make it USB complainant.)
Xbox One
Platform »
The Xbox One is Microsoft's third video game console. It was released on November 22nd 2013 in 13 countries.
A Standalone Xbox One Kinect Will Cost You $150
The thieves took the Xbox One but left the Kinect. Good luck using the console without its most critical, hugely-integrated component!
— Dan Ryckert (@DanRyckert) August 27, 2014
Really, this tweet pretty much sums up the state of the Kinect. If you're Microsoft and people aren't even willing to steal your peripheral, it might be time to re-evaluate the level of demand.
I like the new Kinect, but more for the more subtle usability stuff it adds to the XBONE - having friends be able to sit down on the couch, and immediately get logged in automatically, for example. Being able to use my television, or mute the volume, without fishing for the remote. Being able to to shut down my entire entertainment system by saying "Xbox Turn Off - Yes" as I walk away.
$150 seems like a crazy price to charge for a standalone, however. If they are trying to salvage the device as a concept, they should have put it out as a loss leader - $100 at the most.
Considering the number of Kinects already on the marketplace, I'd be baffled if people who actually want one ever need to spend more than $100 on a very lightly used unit.
Just going to say, terrible price for a terrible device. I bought the Xbox One with the Kinect (not planning on using the Kinect really), and enjoy the One, but the Kinect only goes so far as to being this interesting thing to use for about a half hour, though not great from the start. It worked better for me than my brother as he kept not making the correct gestures, or speaking clearer than needed, but it still wasn't good. I don't use it. It's inconvenient in more ways than one I think, when it's trying to be the total opposite.
As someone who bought the One with Kinect - the new sensor is what the first one wanted to be. It didn't even go through a long winded calibration, and was able to detect me right out of the box.
But in order to remove it from the box, Microsoft had to release a standalone. I don't think it's too expensive, and is probably in line with what it costs, plus the usual markup. Remember, anyone who wants one but doesnt own a One yet can just get the bundle and save $50 - this is only targeting people who buy the cheaper console and decide to partake in some dance games later.
The problem is that there are all of 2 games that require Kinect. 2. Neither are out yet.
I didn't say it's worth it for everyone, only that it's at least fairly priced for what the thing costs to make and ship. It's value in terms of usefulness is an entirely separate matter, and probably isn't worth $150. I may not have bought the kinect bundle if the new bundles had existed in June.
I just spent $40 on the PS4 camera like a month ago. Not really comparing the two cameras, considering the Kinect does have more features, but that price difference is crazy.
@substance_d: That is the point.
It's actually incredible the amount of people that don't understand this, and are mad that it's not the same price. Cost of production and everything aside, bundles are cheaper because they're bundles. There's a positive to buying them that way. If you decide you don't want part of it now, then in the future do, you shouldn't expect to pay the same. The existence of the bundle is even pointless at that point.
For the amount of support Microsoft has given it post launch (i.e none) it needs a price drop. $450 for the console + Kinect or $100 for just the Kinect. These prices are ridiculous for essentially Speech to Text.
Thats crazy talk.
I have a feeling you wont have a problem getting one, if you decide that the $150 in your pocket is trying to kill you and must be dispatched, at some point in your mental breakdown.
Who was in charge of creating the Kinect and who decided to make it the foundation of Microsoft's console marketing for a couple of years? I need to know so i dont hire them to mow my lawn....because....obviously they are no longer working for Microsoft, and two, they will charge me 6000 bucks.
Obviously they had to sell a stand-alone Kinect if it's no longer going to be required. Anyone who thinks that this spells the end for Kinect clearly hasn't been paying close enough attention. Microsoft stopped giving a damn about the Kinect a while ago. They're not selling this at $150 to get more consumers to buy Kinect; they're putting it at that price so if anybody ever did choose to buy it they would make a profit on it. It would be dumb of them to make it cheaper than $99 since that would devalue the Kinect Bundle and they would end up taking an even bigger hit on this peripheral that not many people want.
Who was in charge of creating the Kinect and who decided to make it the foundation of Microsoft's console marketing for a couple of years? I need to know so i dont hire them to mow my lawn....because....obviously they are no longer working for Microsoft, and two, they will charge me 6000 bucks.
Don Mattrick
I think it's not too bad when you consider that it's bundling a new game with it. I was honestly expecting something like this anyway. If they made it 99 dollars, then what's the difference between buying a Kinectless-X1+ Kinect and the Kinect X1 bundle? Of course it is going to be more expensive than 99 bucks because they want people to look at the Kinect X1 bundle, too, and makes more sense that way.
@corruptedevil: Oh....my bad, he will charge me $1 like 6000 times with microtransactions. Ha.
@corruptedevil: Oh....my bad, he will charge me $1 like 6000 times with microtransactions. Ha.
He left Microsoft to be the new CEO of Zynga so yeah, he will.
I feel like this version of Kinect actually has (...had?) tons of potential, but Microsoft is doing everything in it's power to make sure it's just as big as a joke as the 360 Kinect.
But now before the people find out. Make yourself a Kinect millionairre.
What an epic fail the camera is. The kinect I have on w/my launch One is mostly just irritating. WTF were they thinking? I get it to some degree but the planning and vision was so shallow and under committed on obviously. Death impending for this bit of tech I'd guess. Instant nostalgia I'd sadly also hazard.
Really, this tweet pretty much sums up the state of the Kinect. If you're Microsoft and people aren't even willing to steal your peripheral, it might be time to re-evaluate the level of demand.
THIS.
@substance_d: That is the point.
It's actually incredible the amount of people that don't understand this, and are mad that it's not the same price. Cost of production and everything aside, bundles are cheaper because they're bundles. There's a positive to buying them that way. If you decide you don't want part of it now, then in the future do, you shouldn't expect to pay the same. The existence of the bundle is even pointless at that point.
Exactly what i was thinking reading the comments in this thread!
@caesius6: Yep, calibrated it correctly, multiple times. I've seen others say it works for them to an extent (though they're often Xbox fan boys), and others say it doesn't. I did everything correct, and it's not great. I'm not complaining about it just to complain, or hate to hate, I legitimately dislike it for understandable reasons. I feel like you like it for some reason; maybe it works for you, or it works for you about the same, and it doesn't bother you, I have no clue, but in my experience, in more ways than one, it just doesn't work that well, nor is it ideal compared to the alternative with just a controller. Don't just assume I say it doesn't work because I dislike it as if I have some bias; if it worked well, I may be more into it. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure my Kinect isn't defective. I'm positive I'm not just "plain incorrect".
It sounds like you're defending it more out of bias than actual love for the Kinect, I don't know... I don't know of anyone that has gotten it to work well. The voice recognition isn't perfect, so you sometimes have to say it over and over, even if you are speaking clearly, and after one or two times that it doesn't get it, it becomes pointless, so it's easier to use the controller. In the games I've played, like Dead Rising 3, it's dumb and somewhat distracting even to shout out at bosses, and useless to get zombies' attention with it. I also found it easier to simply press B really quickly whenever grabbed by a zombie compared to shaking the controller which actually takes more time. The funnest I've had with the Kinect was watching my brother play Zumba fitness, and it wasn't even me doing it. It was funny to see him do it, and at times the Kinect not recognizing.
I don't think I'm in the minority either with how well it works, so don't act like I'm trashing it to trash it, or that I'm wrong. It's ignorant and somewhat offensive. I gave it a chance, and I have good reason for not liking it. If I were to put a price on it, I'd say it's $40 bucks worth. That's just what I would want to pay for it if I didn't have one already, and if I actually wanted one. The person that wanted to use it most, my brother (not the one that played Zumba), doesn't even use it because it's not that great to use.
You know what...
If Xbxo One talked to you and sounded like a women (Scarlett Johansson, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Mila Kunis, Charlize Theron, Kristen Schaal) or a man (Aaron Paul, Jemaine Clement, Brad Pitt, Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Alec Baldwin, Will Arnett, Chris Hemsworth, Morgan Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Aaron Paul BITCH...and we were told that the Kinect had the speech processor doing it we would have all bought Xbox One.
The problem with Kinect is it did very little people needed or wanted. It has no hook...sounding like Scarlett Johansson or Morgan Freeman woudl have been a huge hook if the machine said something interesting with some primitive AI subroutines.
I think I'd want mine to talk like Rhys Darby or Jemaine Clement.
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