In a Windows Central article (HERE), people at MS basically said Kinetic gestures had seen very low level of use among users.** So now the New Xbox Experience is sans gestures.

I think it is sad in one way, it was an 'interesting' if niche/feature of the console. I suppose since they are selling units without the Kinetic they felt having that feature continue would be a disappointing things for XB One owner without the camera. They said they would listen to fans on this subject, but I suspect that it won't be considered really.

Like I said, it still a bit sad in a funny way. I was not a fan of Kinect, or at least of pushing Kinect into places/games it should have been, yet I think for controlling teh console it was interesting.

** (a transcript directly to what was said)Jez: One of the questions I've seen posed in our Windows Central NXOE thread pertains to Kinect gestures. I've noticed that they're absent from the latest build on the New Xbox One Experience - what's the situation there?

Mike: On gestures, when we looked at the New Xbox One Experience we wanted to prioritize features that customers were asking for, plus areas of improvement from the existing Xbox One UI. Then, we wanted to look at the use-case model of features that take a lot of investment and say, "is it worth continuing to invest in that area?"

With gestures, the reality was the usage was very, very low. So for now, we've cut that from the New Xbox One Experience. So when we launch on the 12th, they won't be in the product. We'll continue to monitor and listen to feedback to see if people want them in.

You can at least respect the fact that they are willing to change even if it means looking a bit silly in the process. I honestly wish that Sony was as flexible with their XMB which could really use some more work. I don't know how many months in a row now I am being told to Discover these amazing new power options each time I turn the console on.

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Also, I really, really hope the new UI is way better than what they currently have. Metro has always looked like someone just threw everything on the screen in vague categories, plus too many ads.

@monkeyking1969: This is good news. There was nothing worse than the kinect reading your hand while drinking from a glass as an attempted gesture. Last I checked you could only turn it off during video playback and that didn't always work. We had to angle the unit away just to avoid this. I assume the voice controls will still work and we use those all the time. The camera also works well enough for xbox fitness.

You can turn those prompts off.

Aren't voice commands the useful thing about Kinect? When they kill those, then they'll bury Kinect.

Wait, are there any Kinect games coming out? Is it actually already dead? Is this the video game equivalent of an elderly person dumped off at a nursing home and staring out the window blankly as they just wait to die alone?

@liquidprince: Oh believe me, I've tried.

I have Kinect 2.0 and his little brother buried behind the shed near my house, both of them were DoA, poor little fellers.

Kinect came out in a blaze of glory only to fizzle out in the most unimpressive way, ill never understand why MS tried to push the Xbox One with the Kinect as a major feature the games suck and the functionality it gave was questionable at best.

To be fair, they were never really useful in the base UI to begin with. The only time I've ever seen it work is when it's accidentally triggered by people in the room gesturing their arms during a conversation. I own a Kinect 2.0, but since it's basically useless for anything other than a room mic, I wish Microsoft would just patch in the capability for any mic to be able to pick up voice commands (and the thing already ships with a headset to do that anyway).

I think dumping gestures is a smart move, but I really hope that they'd put more work into the voice controls. With the new update voice controls seem more unresponsive and sluggish than before.

Also my Xbox/Kinect still recognizes my fridge door as a friend of mine.

Better get some of those Kinect Fitness games then :P

@turtlebird95: Kinect Fitness is actually a great product, even though it's slightly hard to use in an apartment as small as mine. It's not a fault of the technology; I just really don't have the space to jump around in here in general.

But the workouts I have done with Kinect Fitness have been surprisingly effective, and the camera is really good at picking up things like the temperature of different muscles and your movements in general.

When it's just one or two bodies moving and interacting in a room, the Kinect works great. But especially in a situation like mine, where I've got a lot of appliances, chairs and other things behind me from the viewpoint of the camera, the Kinect may sometimes confuse other torso-sized objects like hanging jackets as another person.

Never use gestures, always use voice though.

I think there should be a whole book written about Xbox One in 10-15 years. Sure, I rather read it now, but who is going to talk about such an open and still bleeding wound? Also time bringing clarity, and I would love to see the thinking behind Kinect especially.

There have been books written about the development of many systems, the ones about PSX and Xbox were especially fascinating. A 'tell all" book about Xbox One would be so useful for knowing what was really the plan and thinking behind their plan. Maybe, the real plan would just sound terrible and crass, but I'd still love to know the thinking. I'd even bet there is an argument of how it seemed like really smart thinking.

Don't know if you caught it or not but I was making a shitty joke about the Kinect recognizing the fridge as your friend as if it was implying you eat too much lol

@turtlebird95: Oh, I totally took that as a comment on the quality and feasibility of Kinect games in general.

the Kinect as a piece of tech is fantastic. But its usefulness in games is questionable. Even if the sensors work perfectly, how many high quality games can you make from it? BTW Fantasia is amazing and if you have the Kinect you should totally pick it up!....as it is one of the few games that work well. That and D4.

I only use the Kinect to watch Netflix/Hulu and change stuff without getting up or using the controller. Other than that it just sits there and collects dust.