MicrosoftMSFT +1.84% dropped the entry price to buy an Xbox One videogame console by $100 Tuesday, an effort to juice demand for the device just six months after it was initially released.
The software giant said it will offer a version of its Xbox One for $399, 20% less than the entry sticker price of $499 when the device was launched in November.
Its new version will not include the Kinect motion sensor, a device that until the announcement was bundled with every Xbox One sold. Microsoft said the Kinect will be sold separately if customers want to buy it at a later date.
“We’ve heard that you want more choices from Xbox One,” said Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox group, in a statement. He added that Microsoft remains committed to its Kinect motion sensor, noting that more than 80% of customers use the Kinect today.
sure it was an imperfect entry for the device, but the answer was to make it better, not quit…certainly not within the first 6 months…
…never really worked with forza for me…but that was because of backlighting, and its resistance to invoking the IR camera… it wasn’t that it didn’t work, they just hadn’t figured out how to utilize it properly…and now I fear they won’t. I will say that running the TV with it, while frustrating is still useful enough to use on a daily basis. Again with the totally capable, just needed tuning…
meh…
.
PS: T10…to make Kinect work best with the game use the IR camera…regular ones too susceptible to backlight
“This isn’t good news”? This was an anticipated and expected move. Dropping $100 off of the price of the console will now make it more appealing to those who didn’t want to pay for Kinect; or just didn’t want to spend $100 more for an Xbox One, for that matter.
The Kinect version will still be available … they aren’t “quitting”. Relax.
While not a complete surprise, it signals them giving up on their vision. Something which has been crumbling since its announcement almost this time last year. Kinect needed fixing, it was one of the things which made the xbox unique. Now its lost that…as for continuing support for it, why would microsoft put much effort into that when they have so many other problems. Lets face it, why would you buy a Kinect individually. Barely gets the ‘turn on,’ command, certainly not in the first 5 times, although I believe this is microsoft turning down its ‘listening’ threshold as ‘xbox, turn off,’ works all the time, with anything over a whisper from 25ft away. Anyway, Forza doesn’t work, that kinect sports game is…so bad…There really isn’t any reason to buy it on its own, which leads me to believe this is them slowly slinking away from a good idea. I dunno…
It is all marketing strategy from the Xbox folks, just as they did with the launch of the Xbox 360, followed by available add-ons/add-ins, the Arcade Xbox (without a hard drive) ad the “slim” model.
No big deal, they aren’t disabling or revising Kinect.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve sworn at my Xbox because it didn’t turn on when I said to. One of these days it’ll swear back I’m sure.
Slightly off topic I know, but I do like to share.
On topic: Microsoft slashing the price of its Kinect is just a means of trying to stoke the sales fire a little. How many people bought a 360 only to have it RROD on them? Consumers are cautious creatures on a whole and spend their hard earned wisely.
Also it’s not like there is any MUST HAVE! Title out on either console at the minute either. One of the powerhouses needs a big release or else this is going to be a very tepid console war.
What I don’t get is here in the UK we can get an xbox one bundled with Titanfall for £340 to £350 and it includes the Kinect… Tough choice which one to buy, Kinectless of the cheaper with Kinect and bundled game???
But how does this work, the Kinect has to see the controler you are using or in my case the thrustmaster TX, How will this work with no Kinect, Is there a chance the with a new program or firmware and the Fanatce wheel will work the Xbox one?
The Xbox doesn’t need to see your controller or wheel. Try unplugging your Kinect. Your TX wont work any different. Fanatec not having a “binder ID” on its wheels is not why its not working on the One.