Microsoft to sell Xbox One without Kinect for

[0nyX]

So it seems kinect wasn't that major deal in the "xbox one experience" after all.

[Dale-Kurt Murray]

Microsoft has a vision for the Kinect, however I do think they rushed this console to market and at a starting price of $499, for someone like myself who is getting back into gaming PS4 would have been my first choice. Yet still I decided to go with the Xbox 360 and way a couple of years for the dust to settle and possible an iteration of the next generation console to be released.

 

Microsoft started off with a strong belief that the Kinect would have been essential to their next step into the living room, I don't think everyone is quite there yet and certainly not the hardcore gamers but this is not for them is it now? I can't say that anyone really sees the Kinect through Microsoft's lens, we all know what they want to do but they are just way ahead us as consumers. Offering the $399 with the Kinect would have been the better play as I don't think this will really help their sales figures.

 

That $399 price tag with the Kinect would resonate an entirely more favorable response both with current and potential Xbox One owners

[GotBored]

*Snip*

 

You paid more than that for the ps4 camera which you found was better then the Kinect camera, but still. Be serious :p

 

*Snip*

 

Wow you must have spent a long time quoting pretty much every comment on this thread, lol.

 

Yes I paid more that $20 for the PS4 Camera, I never said it was better than Kinect 2.0. My post was a joke with Andy (but honestly if I wanted a kinect camera I'd expect lots of people trying to offload them on eBay now after this announcement, so $20 is a good price in my opinion)

[neoadorable]

I thought about this some more, and actually I am more ###### off about it then I was earlier.

 

 

 

Sorry, that was just too long to quote but read every word. Agree with the anger, but not with everything you say. We weren't forced to do anything, we can say we bought into a vision and now that we were finally warming up to it suddenly it's been sidelined. We knew what we were getting into, and knew the extra $100 went to pay for an accessory very few of us actually wanted, but that many of us grew to kinda like over the last few months.

 

I know your post history very well, and you may also remember that i was vehemently anti-Kinect from back in 2010. I hate motion controls, i find them a rowdy and silly gimmick. But this Kinect won me over by saying hi to me every time i turned the console on, until Kinect stopped working that is :(

 

My point is that we all knew this was going to happen, i am more worried about what you mentioned earlier - if they change something so fundamental suddenly, then who's to say they won't redesign the console itself on us next year? The overall wishy washy attitude is more worrying than abandoning Kinect, which is just one example.

 

You are perfectly justified in being angry and deciding to stick with exclusives only on X1, though that's not my reaction. I am facing some major issues in life, as do we all, and know that this has to be taken in perspective. Within our context what MS did is bad and irresponsible. In the grander scheme of things the reasons for me getting an X1 are still there, haven't changed, and she's still a great console. Hopefully things will begin to stabilize soon and this U-turn storm will subside so we can get back to gaming.

[neo1911]

Mother of all U-turns.

It would have been interesting to observe the situation if Microsoft had not backtracked from anything they first announced for Xbox One.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

The Xbox was the future ? now it's just a game console

By removing Kinect, Microsoft is forfeiting its original vision

 

Years ago, Microsoft had a bold vision for the future of computing. It would be a tapestry composed of tiny squares. Each square would represent an app, a game, an experience of some sort, and you?d be able to just reach out and touch it. Or, if you already knew what you wanted, you?d be able to simply speak a name, and have the object of your desire materialize out of thin air ? regardless of whether you were using a smartphone or lazing in front of a TV set.

 

That?s the vision Microsoft was building with Windows 8, with Windows Phone, and most intriguingly, with Xbox.

 

That vision is dead.

 

Today, the input device that made it all possible on a television screen ? the Kinect ? will no longer be bundled with every new Microsoft game console. For now, the $499 Xbox One bundle still exists, but consumers will soon be able to save $100 by sacrificing the cameras and microphones that let the system respond to your gestures and voice commands.

 

"Xbox One is Kinect. They are not separate systems," said Microsoft VP Phil Harrison last August. So much for that.

 

In the short-term, possibly even over the long-term, it?s a keen business decision to sell the Xbox without a Kinect packed in. The Xbox One hasn?t been selling as well as the PlayStation 4 despite critically acclaimed exclusive games like Titanfall and Forza Motorsport 5, which suggests that price might have been a factor. Now, the two consoles are on even footing. The new Kinect has also failed to justify the Xbox One?s $100 price premium over the PS4. There?s a dearth of games that actually support the sensor in any meaningful way, and dreadful results from the few games that have. The Kinect also hasn?t been foolproof for navigating the Xbox?s own UI, often failing to recognize commands, and apps haven?t taken enough advantage. Navigating the Netflix interface with voice is a tremendous chore. It?s far faster to pick up a controller.

 

Right now, when the Kinect doesn?t matter, chopping it off makes a lot of sense. If Microsoft can convince more people to buy an Xbox now with a cheaper price, it can guarantee itself a solid footing against the PS4, and sell more games and Xbox Live subscriptions to go with those units. At $399, Microsoft might even make more money on each console, if it?s true that the new Kinect costs quite a bit to manufacture.

 

Plus, if the Kinect ever becomes important to the Xbox again, consumers can simply add one to their existing console. We?ve seen this strategy before: the original Xbox 360 shipped with and without a hard drive, but as digital downloads picked up, the drive became an increasingly valuable add-on. For that matter, the original Kinect was a hugely successful standalone product, even though it shipped late in the Xbox 360?s life. It won a Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling gaming peripheral.

 

But there?s a gigantic difference between an optional peripheral and a guaranteed pack-in with every game console. Microsoft promised early adopters and developers alike that every Xbox One would come with a Kinect, and defended that promise time and again. "As we've said from the very beginning, we believe Kinect is an absolutely integral part of the Xbox One experience," UK marketing chief Harvey Eagle reminded us in February.

 

Those promises sent a clear message that the Kinect would not be chicken and egg. Developers could count on having a guaranteed market for Kinect games and apps, and Xbox One buyers could count on developers building innovative experiences.

 

Now that Microsoft is breaking those promises, that guarantee is gone, and the market for Kinect software will never be the same. The company has suggested that Kinect voice recognition could get better over time by learning from users, but now there will be fewer reasons to keep it plugged in, and a smaller eventual install base.

 

And now that Microsoft has backtracked to such an extreme degree on its original vision, it?s hard to believe any of the company?s other promises about the system?s potential. What chance is there that Microsoft might release a version of the Xbox One that doesn?t include TV functionality? The Kinect served as a heavy-duty IR blaster for controlling your home-entertainment system, so that vision may be in jeopardy as well.

 

And with Microsoft also no longer requiring Xbox Live Gold subscriptions to use apps like Netflix, Hulu, and Skype ? don?t get me wrong, it?s a very welcome move ? can we still count on the company helping to foot the bill for games to harness additional horsepower from Microsoft's compute cloud, another promised differentiator?

 

The biggest casualty, though, might be the as-yet-unrealized potential for the Xbox to be a computer. Time and again, Microsoft hasn?t had a good answer when and how the Xbox One might open up to app developers, even though they were happy to proclaim that it runs Windows underneath. As the company distances itself from anything that isn?t key to the core game-console experience, though, it seems less likely that app developers would want to jump in. When the original Kinect first hit shelves for $129, it was incredible to see the ways the maker community hacked and harnessed the technology for its own ends, and it was exciting to think how apps might evolve on a system where the paradigm was guaranteed.

 

But now, spurred by the success of the PlayStation 4, Microsoft is sacrificing that future to focus on the present, just as it has already done with the confusing Windows 8. Now that Microsoft is no longer steering consumers towards touch and voice and gesture control, the Metro user interface is mostly just window dressing. But don?t be surprised if you see these ideas again: Microsoft was early to tablets and early to smartphones, after all.

There will be colorful tiny squares in your future, and I wouldn?t lay odds that you?ll control them with a joystick. Not after what we?ve seen the Kinect do.

 

Source: The Verge

[mrp04]

Great, it should only be just a console. The Kinect features were not essential to play games. The Kinect was killing the XB1, now it can thrive.

 

The Kinect 2.0 was a huge improvement over the original but it still isn't accurate enough for core games or any AAA game. That is all I and a whole lot of people are interested in. The motion gaming fad is long over, the casual consumers have moved on to smartphone and tablet games so there is no reason to force the core gamers to buy the Kinect. If you don't care about the TV features (or you subscribe to cable) then the Kinect just isn't that useful. 

 

I know a lot of people who are going to buy an XB1 now.

[vcfan]

pandering to twitter and reddit. sickening

[Raa]

The Xbox always was a game console, just like the Playstation.

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

pandering to twitter and reddit. sickening

 

More like pandering to shareholders who want to actually see sales.

 

Now, the two consoles are on even footing.

 

Except for the inferior hardware.  :laugh:

[Nashy]

More like pandering to shareholders who want to actually see sales.

 

 

 

 

Except for the inferior hardware.  :laugh:

 

Never got the massive emphasis on the hardware.  They both play the same games, and play them perfectly fine.  Nit picking nerds are the only ones who complain.

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

Nit picking nerds?  Dude, you're on Neowin.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Penny Arcade have their own stance on it:

 

[-T- Member]

There appears to be no gameplan with the Xbox One now, everything they had offered as a difference maker is slowly going away. I'm selling mine and I'll just stick to PC gaming now

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

I was saying something similar to a friend last night. I'm starting to wonder what else they change or backtrack on.

[watkinsx2]

So - is it actually possible to believe that anything Microsoft says today will still be true tomorrow?

[trooper11]

I thought about this some more, and actually I am more ###### off about it then I was earlier.

 

I would have actually been fine with a price drop that still included Kinect. I could have sucked that up and absolutely written off as the price one pays for being an early adopter.

What I am not okay with is spending $100 more on a console at release and them taking away what was touted as one of the essential aspects of the overall experience itself. Kinect is the sole reason their console was $100 more at launch.

Unfortunately, you and I are part of the minority that would have been ok with that. This is literally a majority rules type of change.

So I just cannot come to grips with the fact this move today is the price one pays for being an early adopter.

What I do feel is this is the price one pays for dealing with a company who clearly does not commit to their plans and has no qualms or issues at all back pedaling on their stance. Even if the writing was on the wall, 6 months is hardly enough time to basically give up. Especially with technology. I think the PS3 is proof positive of this fact.

 

Yet here we are. And here I am stuck with a technology that I was forced to pay an extra $100 for that is now not going to get half the attention it would have gotten otherwise. And in keeping with my historical stance, I am not upset about game development. I am upset about the interactivity development. You just cannot convince me otherwise that they are now going to not dedicate as many resources as they would have otherwise if Kinect 2.0 was included with every console. That would be incredibly dumb to continue all out development for something all your audience will not own.

So MS and people can say they will still develop with Kinect 2.0 in mind. That fragmenting the audience is not going to impact the future of Kinect 2.0.

To that I respond really? Just refer to Google and Android to see how smoothly fragmenting the audience goes. And I happen to own an Android phone and Tablet, but I absolutely recognize things are not as smooth as they would be otherwise if the fragmentation did not exist to begin with.

Again, majority rule. So many have yelled and screamed for this to happen and apparently MS listened. Its easy now to switch and yell and scream about MS doing this, but then, most people won't be on your side. I do agree with your points though.

As far as getting less attention now, that is my main worry as well. Other people here seem convinced that nothing will change, but there is just too much evidence that it will.

 

I simply now own an XBox One for exclusives and absolutely nothing else. Truth is that was pretty much my approach regardless, but now that is absolutely signed, sealed, and delivered.

 

So kudos MS. You really know how to treat your what I would think would be considered loyal customers. That is after all why I have the fancy controller with Day 1 written on it is it not?

MS listened to feedback and reacted, so you can be angry at them, but then you have so many other people that are happy today. Apparently the people that agree with you are far fewer then those that do not.

I very much hoped they would stick it out and try to drop the price without unbundling, but they didn't.

[spenser.d]

This guy acts like you still can't buy a version with Kinect, or choose to buy Kinect later. They're not axing Kinect, they're just selling separately. They played their hand and people didn't care enough about it, which is unfortunate but it is the reality of the situation. I don't get the hate though. Your Xbox isn't all of a sudden worse.

[spenser.d]

As far as getting less attention now, that is my main worry as well. Other people here seem convinced that nothing will change, but there is just too much evidence that it will.

Evidence such as?

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

This guy acts like you still can't buy a version with Kinect, or choose to buy Kinect later. They're not axing Kinect, they're just selling separately. They played their hand and people didn't care enough about it, which is unfortunate but it is the reality of the situation. I don't get the hate though. Your Xbox isn't all of a sudden worse.

 

It's probably not going to get worse (at least I hope not) but with the Kinect it's definitely not going to improve and that's what the biggest (IMO) issue is. 

 

By not making the Kinect available with all systems, the little support it did have is going to diminish. I like using my Kinect, but going forward it's probably going to have less and less added to it, which is a massive shame.

[Guest]

Whats more annoying is that a certain percentage of the CPU / GPU will still be reserved for the Kinect that you don't have...

[Woelfel]

So when the next consoles come out...do we even know if whatever MS promises...stay true a year later? Shameful act.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Unfortunately, you and I are part of the minority that would have been ok with that. This is literally a majority rules type of change.

Again, majority rule. So many have yelled and screamed for this to happen and apparently MS listened. Its easy now to switch and yell and scream about MS doing this, but then, most people won't be on your side. I do agree with your points though.

As far as getting less attention now, that is my main worry as well. Other people here seem convinced that nothing will change, but there is just too much evidence that it will.

MS listened to feedback and reacted, so you can be angry at them, but then you have so many other people that are happy today. Apparently the people that agree with you are far fewer then those that do not.

I very much hoped they would stick it out and try to drop the price without unbundling, but they didn't.

 

This isn't about a "majority" (which are actually the minority), who have pressured MS into anything. You can't blame Reddit/Neogaf/*insert any online community* for this.

 

It simply comes down to Joe Bloggs goes to buy a new console and he buys the more powerful, cheaper option. There's no point in comparing X1 sales to the 360. You're not in this business to come second, competing with yourself and be happy with sales better than 2005. Sony are running away with sales in the early game and if it were to continue it would only get worse. Eventually you lose support from your partners because you have half the install base and what you're left with is a kinect which nobody is developing for after all is said and done. Microsoft are a business, they like money, kinect is clearly not a money maker.

[Asurax]

Now they are gonna look into ways of squeezing more juice out of a ... 6 month old console. Don't they usually do that after 6 years?

 

Microsoft is now in talks with publishers about increasing graphical performance for Xbox One games running on Kinect-less consoles.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-14-microsoft-and-publishers-mulling-kinect-less-xbox-one-performance-boost 

 

At the moment I don't buy any new MS products anymore unless they have a clear vision that fits me as consumer. I just don't trust them anymore. You can buy a great thing one day to have it changed the next...

[MikeChipshop Member]

It seems everything i was originally excited about with the Xbox One is slowly being eroded away and i'm just going to be left with a lump of plastic that doesn;t play games as well as my office PC does.

 

The trick to pushing the envelope, is to have a vision and stick to that vision, ride out the blows and take the hit. MS's decision backtracks since day one have done nothing but remove any forward thinking ideas from the system. I understand there were people who didn't want the Kinect, to those people i say, buy a PS4. You wouldn't buy a Wii if you didn;t want to use the Wii-mote.

 

Basically, i couldn't agree more with the title of this news piece.