Microsoft to sell Xbox One without Kinect for

[GotBored]

Any prices for the kinect for purchase separately?

 

Also for the paywall removal. Good move Microsoft, its about time you got your finger out of your... (You know what)

 

Hopefully they do some more good things with the X1 during the E3.

[MightyJordan]

Any prices for the kinect for purchase separately?

Nothing yet. Considering there's a ?70 difference between the full SKU and the Kinect-less SKU, I'd guess it'd be ?100 max.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Any prices for the kinect for purchase separately?

 

Will hopefully be selling mine before they ever get on the market :laugh: I'd expect something similar to 360's sensor though, considering it has more to it internally.

 

Any offers ladies and gents? :p Still sealed in plastic and never used

[MightyJordan]

Will hopefully be selling mine before they ever get on the market :laugh: I'd expect something similar to 360's sensor though, considering it has more to it internally.

 

Any offers ladies and gents? :p

If it could work on the PC and Microsoft gave it proper support, I'd be first in line to buy yours. :P

[spacer]

Good news for those who waited.

 

I feel a little shafted only because I've barely used my Kinect, and that is because it doesn't work. I've only kept it plugged in because I thought since Microsoft kept saying they weren't going to get rid of it, it would be useful sooner or later. Now that's it's not even packaged with the console, I don't see them making performance enhancements a priority. I guess I'm unplugging it when i get home and putting it the box forever.

[sbauer]

Fail confirmed. There goes developer support.

Oh, the price is all good, and most gamers won't know the difference. (besides us core gamers). The fail is now a lack of Kinect support from devs.

 

No doubt this will sell consoles big time.

 

There really hasn't been much developer support so far. I get that it's early, but even the exclusives have been lacking support. Sunset Overdrive developers said they had no plans to include any kinect features. 

[GotBored]

Will hopefully be selling mine before they ever get on the market :laugh: I'd expect something similar to 360's sensor though, considering it has more to it internally.

 

Any offers ladies and gents? :p Still sealed in plastic and never used

 

I'll start the auction at $20!

 

:p

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

They did. It's in the same article, no?

 

I have JS disabled so tweets don't appear to me on the forum. Was just commenting from the title until I searched elsewhere :P

[DeltaXray]

Good guy Phil.

[spenser.d]

Honestly after their first Kinect 2 game showing (Sports or w/e) I can't say I'm surprised. For the extra $100, being great at navigating through the console isn't worth it for a lot of people, so if the games that use it aren't great, what's left? Can't just sell it on potential games when you're outpriced by your competitor.

 

Had I not won mine, I still would personally have bought the bundle with Kinect because I was (and am) into the voice control of everything aspect, but it's not for everyone.

[spacer]

I guess it's good news for non-kinect developers. If the OS no longer has to allocate system resources for the Kinect, that hopefully will translate into better looking/performing games.

 

Though, I really think they should have just eaten the cost and kept the Kinect. Despite how much I dislike it.

[Hedon]

There really hasn't been much developer support so far. I get that it's early, but even the exclusives have been lacking support. Sunset Overdrive developers said they had no plans to include any kinect features. 

From my experience so far, almost every game has Kinect support. So far, the Kinect support has been in the majority. But that will change to minority now since they will just cater to lowest common denominator.

 

Now the Kinect will just be a PS Eye on steroids, used for twitch pr0n.

[spenser.d]

Also I'm excited to see what games they bring with GwG for Xbox One.  The only ones I own are Forza, Titanfall, and Tomb Raider, so I might cash in big if they do some of their launch titles like Ryse, DR, or others.

 

Edit: Actually it looks like Ryse is going to be one of their first discount offerings for gold members.  Good enough for me.

[sbauer]

From my experience so far, almost every game has Kinect support. So far, the Kinect support has been in the majority. But that will change to minority now since they will just cater to lowest common denominator.

 

Now the Kinect will just be a PS Eye on steroids, used for twitch pr0n.

Ok. Take away the games that only support optional voice commands. What's left? There has been nothing created that justifies the additional cost for most people. Most of the stuff I find somewhat useful are the voice commands. Outside of that, there isn't much out there.

[GotBored]

Good news for those who waited.

 

I feel a little shafted only because I've barely used my Kinect, and that is because it doesn't work. I've only kept it plugged in because I thought since Microsoft kept saying they weren't going to get rid of it, it would be useful sooner or later. Now that's it's not even packaged with the console, I don't see them making performance enhancements a priority. I guess I'm unplugging it when i get home and putting it the box forever.

 

Send it back for warranty repairs, even if its not going to be bundled or you dont plan to use it. You shouldn't let companies sell you a item that doesn't work.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Wow. I guess this is what desperation looks like, as people can try and spin this however they want, and I see some already are, but this is absolutely done out of desperation. There are so many aspects of Kinect that are currently deeply embedded into the overall experience of the XBox One's OS. To sell a model without it is no doubt saying that experience is not required, although they originally touted it as one of the main differentiating factors as to why the One is the console to go with.

So now one of the major selling points is no longer necessary, yet they still have a console that is not as powerful from a technical standpoint.

So what's next? A new and improved version of the console with more RAM and a better GPU or CPU? Does that seem so far fetched? To me it does not. Not at all.

 

I should have known my major issue with MS from last generation would still exist with this generation. And that is they simply just do not stick by their guns and as a result they really do wind up screwing those of us who choose to support them on Day 1.

 

Wow. Way to go MS. Nothing like changing your mind and back peddling on one of the core features of your console just 6 months after release.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

Wow big news. I guess MS are really eating their words now. For the few things that I used it for it'll continue but it's probably going to have less and less support going forward. Shame really.

 

The vision that MS had when they first announced the One is slowly starting to disappear.

Snip

 

This pretty much sums it up.

[DeltaXray]

Wow. I guess this is what desperation looks like, as people can try and spin this however they want, and I see some already are, but this is absolutely done out of desperation. There are so many aspects of Kinect that are currently deeply embedded into the overall experience of the XBox One's OS. To sell a model without it is no doubt saying that experience is not required, although they originally touted it as one of the main differentiating factors as to why the One is the console to go with.

So now one of the major selling points is no longer necessary, yet they still have a console that is not as powerful from a technical standpoint.

So what's next? A new and improved version of the console with more RAM and a better GPU or CPU? Does that seem so far fetched? To me it does not. Not at all.

 

I should have known my major issue with MS from last generation would still exist with this generation. And that is they simply just do not stick by their guns and as a result they really do wind up screwing those of us who choose to support them on Day 1.

 

Wow. Way to go MS. Nothing like changing your mind and back peddling on one of the core features of your console just 6 months after release.

 

The man who championed Kinect left when the One launched. I think the new head of Xbox is more of a gamer feels the same way the majority of us do about it.

 

You're right though if the console was selling they wouldn't be doing this but if Mattrick was still there they would struggle along and never release a kinect-less version.

 

They're making the right decision for the situation at hand. That's all.  What interests me is what they'll do with the part of the system resources dedicated to Kinect. Will they hand it over to devs to use? Perhaps not since it can't be guaranteed for every user.

[Hedon]

Ok. Take away the games that only support optional voice commands. What's left? There has been nothing created that justifies the additional cost for most people. Most of the stuff I find somewhat useful are the voice commands. Outside of that, there isn't much out there.

Your opinion is noted.

 

Sadly, this is just one big huge fail on MS' part.

[Osiris]

Im really surprised and disappointed by this, pretty much the death knell for Kinect and a slap in the face to the xbox vision MS had.  Look they have research with says otherwise clearly but I don't think the price drop is going to magically close the deficit between the no. ps4's sold vs XB1's.  The long term damage to MS reputation and trust in their console vision will be far more costly I suspect.  The fact that they'd flip on this also makes you wonder how far off being spun to someone else the Xbox1 division is.

 

I agree with other posters that whats the XboxOne now without Kinect?  Its basically a less powerful ps4 with some exclusives.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Wow. I guess this is what desperation looks like, as people can try and spin this however they want, and I see some already are, but this is absolutely done out of desperation. There are so many aspects of Kinect that are currently deeply embedded into the overall experience of the XBox One's OS. To sell a model without it is no doubt saying that experience is not required, although they originally touted it as one of the main differentiating factors as to why the One is the console to go with.

So now one of the major selling points is no longer necessary, yet they still have a console that is not as powerful from a technical standpoint.

So what's next? A new and improved version of the console with more RAM and a better GPU or CPU? Does that seem so far fetched? To me it does not. Not at all.

 

I should have known my major issue with MS from last generation would still exist with this generation. And that is they simply just do not stick by their guns and as a result they really do wind up screwing those of us who choose to support them on Day 1.

 

Wow. Way to go MS. Nothing like changing your mind and back peddling on one of the core features of your console just 6 months after release.

 

They are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Kinect, which they brought on themselves when they didn't support it out the gate. Just compare the launch of Kinect 1 on 360 and I think it had at least 10 games on day 1. Now fair enough if you don't want to sell it as a game accessory for X1 but then why does it need to be more powerful than Kinect 1 in the first place. Simple fact is that it is a gaming accessory first and UI navigation tool etc second.

 

Kinect is the sole reason the console is priced higher than the PS4 and after the sales data started rolling they knew it couldn't continue. Their train of thought is what's worse, a console which only sells half the number the competition does/loses appeal with hardcore or staying in the game and fighting another day. They answered that Q today and they'll be mocked for it by some / disappointing others, but it was for the best in the long run. They still have a struggle on their hands now that most of the 2013 reveal features have been removed and nothing to replace them yet, but we know they're working to bring back sharing in some form. The performance gap will get better but will no doubt stay in PS4's favour. VR will be the next card that gets played and MS need to work on it ASAP if they aren't already. So desperation yes, but the "survival instinct" finally kicked in and they got their head out of the clouds.

 

Removing Kinect doesn't mean it has to be forgotten about though. If that was ever anyone's concern then they do a lousy job of selling it today with only 2 games which are for sale and the rest of the benefits coming from the OS.

 

 

Im really surprised and disappointed by this, pretty much the death knell for Kinect and a slap in the face to the xbox vision MS had.  Look they have research with says otherwise clearly but I don't think the price drop is going to magically close the deficit between the no. ps4's sold vs XB1's.  The long term damage to MS reputation and trust in their console vision will be far more costly I suspect.  The fact that they'd flip on this also makes you wonder how far off being spun to someone else the Xbox1 division is.

 

I agree with other posters that whats the XboxOne now without Kinect?  Its basically a less powerful ps4 with some exclusives.

 

This point comes up very often when we talk about MS/Kinect on Neowin, but usually it's that the public don't care about the internal ongoings of the game industry, so why would that be any different now? Joe Bloggs doesn't care that MS backtracked on features when they can finally afford to buy an X1 and play all the future games they want. Topped with XBL now finally offering real value in the sub with GwG/TV series and dropping the paywall. Removing Kinect would only be a blow to developer trust if they actually cared to implement it, and as I said above, that isn't the case and I'm willing to bet we'll hear from a few of them over the next few days congratulating them on the move. Cheaper consoles, more sales, more customers = happy publishers and devs.

[PGHammer]

There really hasn't been much developer support so far. I get that it's early, but even the exclusives have been lacking support. Sunset Overdrive developers said they had no plans to include any kinect features. 

If a developer also targets PSx (either PS3 or PS4), of COURSE they won't use any features of Kinect - for the sensible reason that very few PS3s or PS4s include Move.

 

The only reason for any developer to, in fact, support Kinect is if the title is an exclusive - and even then, exactly how many developers have done so?

 

For even a developer to support Kinect (or Move - or even the similar features of the Wii), the developer must feel comfortable doing so - how many developers - across ALL platforms - have done so?

 

Developers aren't going there (on any hardware), users aren't venturing out of the same territory that PS3 or even XB360 charted except for greater graphics capabilities; name so much as ONE developer that has stretched their game capabilities to include any new outside-of-core feature support - between both of them, the egg (motion-support in general) has refused to hatch.

 

I don't blame Microsoft at all - instead, I blame both developers AND users.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

I don't blame Microsoft at all - instead, I blame both developers AND users.

 

What you say is true, but now with the Kinect not being mandatory, even devs for Xbox exclusives won't bother. 

[Osiris]

We're in the first six months of the consoles life cycle and barely past the launch title releases, I agree there should have been Kinect based games by now and maybe its chicken and the egg but I don't buy the argument that developers or users are to blame.

 

MS said the issue with the original Kinect was that there was no reason for developers to support the Kinect because it was a niche and non mandatory accessory so devoting development dollars and time to it made no sense but with Xbox1, they know that their whole audience has the hardware so they can start to build unique game experiences with it.  Now maybe the Kinect wasn't going to be the next big thing in gaming but with everything it can do I for one feel you could definitely use it to create some interesting gaming experiences - even at the most basic level imagine a horror / thriller game that reads your heart-rate or listens to the ambient noise and adjusts the game play and fright events accordingly.  That's just one basic example of the type of interaction we could have seen and might have seen over-time im sure theres plenty of other ways too but now that's goneski because MS couldn't trust their own long term vision.

[sbauer]

If a developer also targets PSx (either PS3 or PS4), of COURSE they won't use any features of Kinect - for the sensible reason that very few PS3s or PS4s include Move.

 

The only reason for any developer to, in fact, support Kinect is if the title is an exclusive - and even then, exactly how many developers have done so?

 

For even a developer to support Kinect (or Move - or even the similar features of the Wii), the developer must feel comfortable doing so - how many developers - across ALL platforms - have done so?

 

Developers aren't going there (on any hardware), users aren't venturing out of the same territory that PS3 or even XB360 charted except for greater graphics capabilities; name so much as ONE developer that has stretched their game capabilities to include any new outside-of-core feature support - between both of them, the egg (motion-support in general) has refused to hatch.

 

I don't blame Microsoft at all - instead, I blame both developers AND users.

 

I get what you're saying, but even the exclusives aren't supporting it. Sunset Overdrive devs said they won't have any support for Kinect.

 

If the vision of their game doesn't fit with Kinect, they shouldn't be forced to support it. I don't blame them. I'm not sure why you'd blame the users.