Yesterday, a rumour appeared saying that sometime next year, Microsoft would release two more Xbox One SKU’s – and neither of them would come with the always on, always watching Kinect included in the box.
According to the rumour, one of them would ship sans Kinect, and match the PS4 in price, while another would, in addition to ditching the accessory, have a smaller hard-drive and actually be cheaper at retail than Sony’s next generation console.
Of course, that would fly in the face of Microsoft assertion that Kinect is deeply integrated in to the Xbox One, and necessary for it to function; but bundling it now would be a great ploy to get the motion-controlling add-on in to homes.
In response to the rumour, Microsoft has vehemently denied that it intends to do such a thing, re-affirming its belief in Kinect’s value and fundamental importance to the Xbox One.
“We have no plans to introduce an Xbox One without Kinect,” said the firm. “We believe in Kinect and the value it brings to both games and entertainment, and believe $499 is a great value for what consumers receive with their Xbox One.”
Here’s the thing; Do you think it would be a good idea for Microsoft to release the Xbox one with Kinect being optional? On one hand, it would make the system cheaper, getting the console in to more homes – but on the other, it would lead to the same situation we have with Kinect now; developers adding superfluous crap in to games without much thought because not everyone would be able to use the additional features.
Would you buy an Xbox One without Kinect?
Last Updated: July 25, 2013
DarthofZA
July 25, 2013 at 10:04
I would like it with Kinect. For all its rubbish, the Kinect does have some great party games. It still gets used regularly in our household.
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 10:05
I probably would yes. I don’t WANT the Kinect, why force it on me?
Trevor Davies
July 25, 2013 at 10:14
Because you don’t know what you want, you must be told. OBEY!
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 10:15
Yes Sir!
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 10:15
NO NO NO! Keep the Kinect or you’ll just doom it to the tales of legend that speak of something great that once could’ve been….like the eye toy!! Simply too much potential will be lost if they drop it, especially now that the Indie devs can also play with it, Great things to come I tell yah, GREAT THINGS! (This coming from a guy who doesn’t really like Indies to be honest!)
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 10:17
I agree there is great potential, but to force people to have to buy it is a bad Idea in my opinion. Why not rather release it separately and if developers can show how awesome it is, people will buy it? I just see MS as doing damage by making people have it.
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 10:42
It’s been proven with the Kinect 1 and PS3 eye toy that this is unfortunately not the case. It’s actually the other way around, developers will not spend extra time and money to add supporting features considered “optional”. They want to get their games out there at as lowest possible cost and as soon as possible these days (day one patches anyone?) Already we’re seeing some very nice Kinect 2 integration in some AAA titles and that’s only the beginning! Looking at the new eye toy sales on Amazon it’s doesn’t appear to be doing too bad, but it will never get as much in game support as the Kinect 2 due to it being “optional”. People buying the eye toy are being duped! You shouldn’t think about the Kinect 2 as optional, it’s part of the Xbox One like a laptop with a built-in camera. And is R1000 more really such an issue for a 7,8 year investment? To use some Sony PSN+ marketing terminology here, it’s only 30 to 40 cents per day! ????
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 10:47
I get what you are saying, but to me R1000 more is a lot of money, remember, that’s for the system without a game. And to me there is a reason the Kinect 1 and PS eye toy were not successful is because many many people just don’t want that for their gaming experience, myself included. I don’t want to have to stand when playing a game, I want to sit on my perfectly chiselled butt and veg out 😉 A good point made by OminousRain is that many games that are mulitplat will not want to incorporate this, I wonder how that will affect the quality of the games etc?
Guest
July 25, 2013 at 15:15
I don’t want it, I have bad knees and can’t even get use out of it with out risk of self injury, and when I am playing, it means that my wife and kid are asleep, and they probably don’t like the idea of waking up to the sounds of what could be the house collapsing from me jumping around like a dumb ass trying to play a game at 3am. at least with the ps4, the light bar is supposed to improve controller response, which seems like it would make more sense to have something generally useful to all players sold along with the system, rather than a camera that does nothing but watch, and judge
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 15:21
Only the full on Kinect games would require you to actively participate. All other games will have subtle build in features to take advantage of kinect. I’m also lazy and not a fan of jumping round the room but how it’s being implemented in coming AAA titles looks awesome!????. Buying the eye toy now would be a bad move as there will be almost no support for it, ever!
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 15:23
Can you give me some examples on how the games are going to use it, I haven’t seen any concrete examples from developers.
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 16:10
Not
all confirmed but dev’s are keeping a tight lid till Gamescon apparently. Facial and biometric scanning actually pits
you in the game! Remember Kinect 2 is
full 1080p! Imagine playing a stealth
shooter where you can use gestures to give instructions to your squad, or
touching the side of your head for a second to activate night vision for
example in a shooter or just bringing the controller up to your chest to
activate a shield or actually slightly leaning to the side to peek around a
corner etc. The opportunities are
endless, and that’s all without even using voice recognition and all done
sitting on your couch!????
Confirmed applications so far for KI “couch tournament- you’re eight
buddies and you just start sitting down, the coolness of being able to sit
down, the controller pairs itself to you when you pick it up. It knows your
buttons. It knows how you like to play. It knows what characters you want to
play. You can just say start, and go. It knows who you are in the tournament
bracket, so it will just automatically do the matches correctly.” For Dead
rising 3 “when grabbed by a zombie just gently flicking the controller to push
it off or actually being able to call out to the zombies to get their attention”.
Battlefield 4 also working on Kinect integration but read up on it, it’s not going
to influence the traditional gameplay otherwise or even be compulsory to use, they’re
also tight lipped for now! I know not
everyone shares my enthusiasm for Kinect but I expect great things to
come!(while still sitting on my ass of course!)
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 16:13
All very cool ideas totally. But remember when the first Kinect came out they made these promises. I think they actually need to say WHAT you can do in a game, as in, 100% and I may get interested. Atm I’ll just wait to see 🙂
Admiral Chief Minion 47
July 25, 2013 at 10:17
Lulz @ header
Lardus
July 25, 2013 at 10:18
They are punting Neo with his incredible motion sensing powers to developers. They will not be happy if that is suddenly removed after all those promises were made and development done specifically for such features. This rumour blows.
eXpZA
July 25, 2013 at 10:26
I love this article. Could it be released without Kinect? No.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
July 26, 2013 at 07:42
I love you, ExpZah.
OVG
July 25, 2013 at 10:31
I do not listen to anything they say anymore. I have heard 3 conflicting notions. ONE with the Kinect being Hybrid with the system and if it falls off the TV and breaks, it bricks the ONE as a result.
Fuck off microsoft, no amount of damage control will get those 33million XBOTS who are not on LIVE, stay in your camp after that DRM 21 country shafting.
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 11:21
Sorry to disprove your stats straight away, but counting me it’s actually 32999999! As for the thing falling off and bricking, I’m with you and feel your pain….I once dropped my laptop and bricked it, now I’m suing them for making it portable….verdict pending but I’m holding thumbs! ????
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 11:22
Bwahaha 🙂
Sageville
July 25, 2013 at 11:21
Hey, that makes me think of another issue.
Will MS be selling the Kinect by itself?
If we assume that it’s only boxed with the Xbone, what reason would they have to sell the Kinect by itself? Then you have to ask, if OVG headbutts the spy camera off his TV set, would he have to send his Kinect into the retailer for repairs in order to use his Xbone again, seeing as he can’t pop out and buy a replacement spy cam.
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 11:22
I see more of a backward roundhouse 😉
CrasH
July 25, 2013 at 10:42
If they did not box it with, no one would buy it, that simple.
Why do i want to wave my hands in the air when i own very nice comfortable controllers, mice, head set, keyboards and even 2 gitar hero gitars that are collecting dust…
and what value will it really add? it can see who is playing and auto switch accounts (you saved me 5 seconds, unless my younger brother wants me to help him with a boss… then it still wont complete on his account) it has the ability to follow voice commands (technology so old thats trying to be sold as cutting edge) You can scroll left and right in menu’s… and it can do voice to text…
It can follow your fingers from 3m away. besides reading sign language (wish it could teach it to me instead of read it) and fitness and dancing maybe. i fail to see why people wanted it in the 1st place.
Dawm Wii… fun for a short while and now we all suffer because of it
RinceandLeSIGH
July 25, 2013 at 11:23
Exactly what I was saying above. If it was a peripheral, it wouldn’t sell.
OminousRain
July 25, 2013 at 10:47
Just remember one thing. Most of the developers will develop cross platform. Only the ones who develop exclusive for XBOX, might go the Kinect route. And that is a small number.
CrasH
July 25, 2013 at 10:56
You work for MS PR? Already starting with damage control? the Kinect failed cause PS made that the developers ignored the expensive add-on we forced you to buy?
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 11:00
Some green on green fire here?
OminousRain
July 25, 2013 at 11:12
No. I’m not doing any dmg control 🙂
All that I am saying, because most games will be cross platform, we are not going to see many AAA kinect games anyway. So forcing us to get kinect is not going to make much of a difference.
You might get a few more games that is kinect enabled if kinect is standard with the xbox. But not the numbers they are expecting.
For me personally, the Kinect is an awesome gimmick. But still only a gimmick.
Double-O-Six and a half
July 25, 2013 at 11:02
The one thing keeping me from buying XBOne right now is the non optional Kinect. All of my other gripes they did their 180 and made me a bit happier again, but the non optional Kinect is a deal breaker. I have an XB360 and have never even entertained the idea of having a Kinect on the system, so why would I entertain it now.
The bottom line here is consumer choice, I chose not to have it with my 360 and I would really like the choice to choose not to have it with my next gen console… I might add, I also have a PS3 without an eye-toy, specifically by choice and have got on just fine without them for the past number of years…
Force me into buying something I don’t want and could never envisage a use for and I’ll exercise my “choice” not to spend hard earned Randelas on Xbone… I’d rather spend them on buying those nekkid banana pictures from Fruit and Veg City…
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 11:09
Well it’s not a choice, it’s part of the system, like the camera in your phone or laptop. We should stop comparing it with the Kinect 1 and eye toy. It’s an integral part of the machine! Only reason it appears optional and people feel that they should be given an choice is because it’s designed to connect with a cable so it can be placed on top of your TV away from the console, but really, it’s not.
Double-O-Six and a half
July 25, 2013 at 11:16
That’s my point, it IS a choice, a choice that I will exercise by not spending my money on it if it has Kinect included as mandatory…
I CHOOSE not to buy it with Kinect and if that’s the only way it will be supplied I guess I’m sticking with my choice to buy a PS4 and my choice to stay with a non Kinected 360…
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 11:30
Errr, NO, it’s NOT a choice! It only appears to be one cause it’s not part of the physical console itself! Maybe if MS glued the thing to the console you’d get what I’m saying? Look at it like this: If you buy an MP3 player it comes with the earphones. Although it’s only connected to the MP3 player through a wire, the earphones are part of the device and the MP3 player cannot function without them!
Double-O-Six and a half
July 25, 2013 at 12:00
You’re STILL missing my point, go and reread. My CHOICE is not about technical issues, my CHOICE is to buy it as it is or not to buy it. I am not talking about the technical aspects of the device, I am merely talking about exercising my right to choose as a consumer. If technically the only way it is going to be sold is with the Kinect; whether it connects by a cable, bluetooth, wireless or little green xbox fairies driving little red busses carrying data between the camera, microphone and the xbox core processing system is irrelevant. I am not debating as to whether technically it is or isn’t part of the device, I am merely saying if the way it is being sold is only with Kinect than I CHOOSE not to buy it…
Geddit???
Concerned
July 25, 2013 at 12:28
Goddit! Then just stop using phrases like “Kinect included as mandatory” etc. Geddit? ????
Tbone187
July 25, 2013 at 11:10
I reckon the tech itself is quite impressive and MS are certainly onto something that may well become the norm in the future…It’s difficult to get over the paranoia of being watched tho…Once the topic of people’s privacy is in question, it’s always gonna be difficult to convince otherwise…But yeah, I would buy an Xbox without Kinect…
Fnuik
July 25, 2013 at 11:17
Gonna piss of a lot of early adopters I think.
DrKiller
July 25, 2013 at 11:22
A Kinect is not one of those things you get up in the morning for and think to yourself “yes! Well i saved enough the past month, I think I’ll go buy a Kinect today”.. But when it gets bundled with the Xbox, you think “hmm, thats not bad… Maybe I’ll give it a try since I have it”
Tidycpc
July 25, 2013 at 12:57
I will take one with Kinect. Just to see whats it all about….i might just like it