Microsoft VP claims Xbox One will never be sold without Kinect

[Scorpus]

According to Microsoft corporate vice-president Phil Harrison, the Xbox One will never be sold without a Kinect. He explained to CVG that the Xbox One and the Kinect are not separate systems: the Kinect is part of the console's ecosystem, just like the Blu-ray drive, the chips, the memory and the controller.

Harrison stated that "Xbox One is Kinect", and that the inclusion of the sensor with the next-generation console provides a "magical experience". He highlights how through Kinect, the console provides a "personal" relationship between you and the system, allowing you do things such as walk into a room and simply say "Xbox on" to get the One to turn itself on, recognize you, and load your Xbox profile.

He's also optimistic about the gaming potential of the Kinect. Developers have approached Microsoft wanting to self-publish games that explore the uses of Kinect through unique, creative ways; something that will be possible through the recently announced Independent Developers @ Xbox program.

However, the fact that the Xbox One will never be sold without a Kinect in the box, at least according to Harrison, kills any chance of a lower-priced console bundle in the near future. Many gamers were hoping that Microsoft would release an Xbox One SKU without the Kinect for around $400, so that the system could compete at the same price point as the PlayStation 4. With a Kinect-less bundle off the table, Sony's console offering will likely keep a price advantage for many months to come.

The Xbox One will be available for $499 at some point in November. Microsoft are yet to announce an exact launch date for the next-generation system, although the line-up of 23 launch-day titles has already been revealed.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/53724-microsoft-vp-claims-xbox-one-will-never-be-sold-without-kinect.html

 

[Ma_ga]

I wonder how much "never" that will stand.

 

[oldikes]

Their loss.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Makes absolutely no difference to me. I'll never be the owner of either.

 

[cliffordcooley]

As long as it remains an option, as to whether it is connected.

 

[m4a4]

I wouldn't doubt it. It's now a standard part of their hardware.

 

[treeski]

As long as it remains an option to use, I think this is a good move. Devs should be far more encouraged to make use of the Kinect if they know that every Xbox One user has access to it.

 

[wastedkill]

I'm really doubting xbox one will be ready by november their release date specially as xbox one dashboard is literally still in beta and microsoft are making tons of hardware changes.... RROD anyone.. sorry just had to add that last bit haha

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

This is pretty much the only option. If they sold it without the Kinect then every game would either have to work just fine with it and without it, and that would restrict what developers can do with the games. It wouldn't be a good option to have some games labelled 'Kinect' on the box so you know they needed it, that would restrict some owners from buying that game.

Not to mention this is still something that will be bought for a lot of kids and MS doesn't want to have to worry about the bad press from Christmas stories of Grandma buying little Johnny an Xbox One without a Kinect while Uncle Steve gets Johnny a game that requires it.

 

[Guest]

Or rahter: "Xbox will never be sold at all. Period"

 

[TheBigFatClown]

This is pretty much the only option. If they sold it without the Kinect then every game would either have to work just fine with it and without it, and that would restrict what developers can do with the games. It wouldn't be a good option to have some games labelled 'Kinect' on the box so you know they needed it, that would restrict some owners from buying that game.

Not to mention this is still something that will be bought for a lot of kids and MS doesn't want to have to worry about the bad press from Christmas stories of Grandma buying little Johnny an Xbox One without a Kinect while Uncle Steve gets Johnny a game that requires it.

Your first statement gives the reader the invalid impression that this would actually be a problem. Your trying to make it sound as if the developer wouldn't know what to do in each case. Programmer talking to himself, "Hmmm, do I support the kinect or don't I...oh my god, its the end of the world, I can't make that tough decision. I can't go on." Programmer hangs himself over inability to make his game compatible with/without Kinect support. LOL.

Yes, if "Kinect support" was listed on the box and you didn't have one it would restrict some people from purchasing that game if they either don't have a kinect or have no interest in ever buying a "Kinect" game.

Microsoft is doing again what they did so well with Windows 8. Making every last sonofabitch on planet earth suffer for the few oddballs that want some niche new technology. I didn't realize Microsoft was so interested in trying to be all things to all people at the same time. So choice gets the middle finger once again. And once again, as I have declared Windows 8 dead unto myself so shall I declare X-Box fifty-cent dead unto myself as well.

Long live the PS4(if I were to choose one console over the other...that is)...
Truth be told I will probably remain forever faithful to my PC and my Steam games that I get for pennies on the dollar.

Keep making choices for me Microsoft. It makes my final choice that much easier. Not to buy your crapola.

What do you think is the best name for Microsofts console at this point.
1)XBox fify-cent or 2)XBox-"I wanna be a WII"?? Vote now.

 

[Guest]

Hi, if the kinect could work perfectly with no latency and it could reconize what your doing acrualy enough to make u feel its not holding you back in a game there might be hope, but most of the games ive seen it working with it without a controller has mostly been on rails games.

 

[Guest]

Wow MS is really shoving the connect down customers throats. Feels like a bad porn :/

 

[dennis777]

The hardware are good, the company are greedy bas..rd
Kinect is like 3D glasses, concepts are good but its not accept by the general people yet.

 

[gamoniac]

I for am glad Kinect will always be part of XB1. With it, all developers have the same hardware baseline to work on. MS and Sony each has their own vision of what their console can do, I don't understand why people are so worked up about it. If Kinect is not your thing, then PS4 is a good choice.

 

[yukka]

Preordered. Can't wait

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I for am glad Kinect will always be part of XB1. With it, all developers have the same hardware baseline to work on. MS and Sony each has their own vision of what their console can do, I don't understand why people are so worked up about it. If Kinect is not your thing, then PS4 is a good choice.

All developers will have the same baseline hardware to work with whether Microsoft includes kinect or whether they don't. It seems Microsoft is just plain lazy now days. They want everybody on every machine to be using the same hardware, same software, same UI, same everything. I guess that's their new vision.

It's about choice first and foremost. I shouldn't have to buy something I don't have any interest in. I have no interest in motion controllers. And how much will this drive the cost up of each console sold? If it added nothing to the cost of the console I guess I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But I don't see how it couldn't add something to the cost.

But yeah, Microsofts general attitude toward its customers is another issue for me. Lately, they just don't give me the impression they give a damn about what people want. It's more like, "Here's what were doing, if you don't like it, go #*%# yourself." But since they can't say that to the customers they take a more subtle approach. So to put it in a more euphemistic form, "#dealwithit".

I won't be buying a console, but, I'll be rooting for Playstation 4 for the win.

 

[Burty117]

Then Microsoft, I will never ever buy an Xbox One, I have purchased the original Xbox and I invested in the Xbox 360, simply by forcing me to pay for an item I will never ever use and therefore having a higher price point than the competition (Sony, PS4) and the console itself has lower overall specs because of this stupid camera, the price is higher! If you've designed the Dash to work without it, you've given us the ability to unplug it permanently, why not sell a version without it?

Considering the specs of the Xbox one, Microsoft could quite easily sell this under the price of the PS4 if they got rid of that camera, how can that many people be asking Microsoft for this? Seriously, what is wrong with a Kinectless package for $399 and sell the Kinect for $150 which then makes the normal package with Kinect look like a good deal at $430? Such a simple request but Microsoft won't play ball because they reckon everyone in the whole world (or even the majority) like waving their arms around and shouting commands?

People who want the Kinect are prepared to buy it no matter what because they see value in it, I'm afraid I do not, please Microsoft, do yourself a favor and sell the console without the Kinect at a lower price point, I liked my original Xbox and the 360 was good until the dashboard update, you can fix this!