Multiple Xbox one packages, includes a Kinect free version rumour

[J Tyran]

Not sure how true or reliable this is, cannot find it anywhere else and its from one of those "anonymous sources" but its interesting if true.

Spoiler

Supposedly there will be several Xbone bundles released next summer that include cheaper versions and one without Kinect, although how likely that it is is anyone's guess. Microsoft seem to be banking a lot on everyone that owns an Xbone having Kinect, the massive price difference to the PS4 might be making people at Microsoft nervous though.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

If there is a Kinect free version then I will definitely buy one.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I wouldnt be surprised they have backed down on everything else so why not this? I hope there is a kinnect less version I dislike paying for things I dont want or will never use. Its going to make them look really stupid though but I dont think much more damage can be done on that front unless Xbox One has the same hardware failure rate as the 360.

I think they thought kinnect would be a major selling point seeing as how the first one sold and didnt realise it was short lived bubble so now they have spent stupid amounts of money around a device and features that a lot of people dont care about and certainly dont want to pay more for.

OFC if there is a kinnect less bundle then that must mean the machine can be used without kinnect which goes against what they are saying...again and if it sold a lot well that would effectively relegate kinnect to novelty status again as developers wouldnt design games to use kinnect in any meaningful way if most people arent using or cant use it.

Pretty pointless speculating on rumours though I suppose.

 

[spartandude]

sorry but this has already been denied this, well atleast at launch but so far it does require the kinect

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/microsoft-denies-plans-to-launch-kinect-free-xbox-one-sku/0119139

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

So another possible backpeddle from MS?

All they need to do now is remove 'the interface formally known as Metro' from Windows 8 and they'll be back where they started.

Minus a whole lot of customer goodwill of course.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Thing is, they want everyone to have kinect. But have shown nothing worth playing on the connect. Only good thing i saw kinect do was the head tilt thing on Forza when your looking left or right. Thought that was good. All the talking to the console thing i really hate, younger gamers may love that, but i think its weird. An its quicker to press a button than to speak the instructions. I dont know, we will have to see. But MS need to start showing what can be accomplished with the Kinect2 outside of dancing games.

 

[Fox12]

I could see them having one further down the line, maybe. The problem is that it's so connected to the infrastructure that there's no way to remove it by Christmas. They've been desperate to save their brand name though, so who knows?

 

[Lightknight]

If true, this is good. This does side step the active listening/marketing problem I have with the Kinect 2. It sounds odd that they have general price points a year in advance.

 

[fix-the-spade]

There won't be a Kinect free version of the Xbone, the NSA wouldn't let them do it.

 

[CriticalMiss]

It wouldn't suprise me if this were true but I doubt it is, unless Microsoft plan on selling Kinect-less bundles and when people fire up the console it has a message pop up saying 'Thou must haveth the Kinect dirty peasant. No games you thou!' and effectively force you to go out and buy a full price Kinect seperately. It makes little business sense as people will just ask for refunds, so Microsoft are probably behind that plan 100%

And since it isn't being reported elsewhere it's most likely bullshit they cooked up for views. I have my own well placed anonymous source at Sony who can confirm that the PS4 will come bundled with a living Gorilla and the guy down the pub said that the WiiU will soon have a price drop and will be bundled with a kilogram of fairy dust, two leprachauns and a 50% off coupon for Unicorn rides and a trip round Valve HQ where you get to play the alpha version of Half-Portal Fortress 3: DOTA.

 

[Roxas1359]

Not sure how true or reliable this is, cannot find it anywhere else and its from one of those "anonymous sources" but its interesting if true.

Spoiler

Supposedly there will be several Xbone bundles released next summer that include cheaper versions and one without Kinect, although how likely that it is is anyone's guess. Microsoft seem to be banking a lot on everyone that owns an Xbone having Kinect, the massive price difference to the PS4 might be making people at Microsoft nervous though.

This rumor was proven false actually. Kinect is still mandatory as MS came out and said that they have no plans to release a Kinect-free version of the Xbox One.
Here's a source

 

[viranimus]

Im conflicted here.

I have used the kinect and I am honestly NOT impressed with its functionality. While the idea in theory is great, there are practical issues that they are willfully and defiantly refusing to resolve. Such as the need for A: a point of tracking akin to a small PSmove/wiimote type wireless "wand" that would make it MUCH more accurate and B: Need to incorporate on said wand a simple analog stick in order to effectively control 360 degree plane of motion to move forward, backward or strafe as needed.

So on one side I am like most people and ready to dismiss, boo and hiss at kinect for all its forced failures.

Yet I know that where it is emerging tech there is an abundance of potential there. The people at MS didnt sink a bunch of money into developing Natal if it did not have genuine promise and potential. However often with such hardware tech too many times potential is squandered because impatient public with too high of expectations will kill something before developers have really had enough time to experiment with the hardware to come up with truly innovative and industry changing things.

So I guess I am glad Kinect comes bundled with XBone. I also think the comittment to the tech to have it as a standardization at least gives this tech a little more life in order to allow it to grow into something that can thrive on its own merits, but as with most things microsoft does they are totally going about it in the wrong way and making it worse than it needs to be by giving consumers every possible reason to hate it when they were never in shortage of reasons.

So, despite MS being microsoft, and honestly personally still not seeing practical and enjoyable use out of it despite supporting it both hardware and software wise, the real problem of the issue is still first and foremost with the consumers who are determined to nag this thing into its grave before it even had a chance for its pubes to start growin in.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Well they keep 180ing at the speed of light so yeah, I'd actually believe this. But now that I think about it, what about games that are at the end if their development that need the kinect? I doubt too much coding would be needed to change a few gimmicks but it would be dumb to have kinect exclusive games

Geez, if MS keeps doing this stuff we won't be left with anything to complain about (assuming the price drops below $400). I still don't trust ms as a company and they'd have to get rid of either dashboard ads or subscriptions fees or a choice between the 2 in order for me to at least look the console. Not that I'd buy it because of other bullshit reasons but at least it would priced right

Edit: never mind, didn't see that it confirmed false

 

[Lightknight]

This rumor was proven false actually. Kinect is still mandatory as MS came out and said that they have no plans to release a Kinect-free version of the Xbox One.
Here's a source

Ok, that makes more sense. As I said earlier, while it would be a step forward it sounded odd that they'd have a price announcement a year in advance. Primarily because it would undercut sales now.

 

[TehCookie]

Weren't they releasing an xbone that doesn't play games that functions solely as a home media thing? I can't remember where I read it so that could of just be a possibility or speculation.

I have my own well placed anonymous source at Sony who can confirm that the PS4 will come bundled with a living Gorilla and the guy down the pub said that the WiiU will soon have a price drop and will be bundled with a kilogram of fairy dust, two leprachauns and a 50% off coupon for Unicorn rides and a trip round Valve HQ where you get to play the alpha version of Half-Portal Fortress 3: DOTA.

So are those leprechauns and unicorn ride only available after you snort the fairy dust?

 

[Roxas1359]

This rumor was proven false actually. Kinect is still mandatory as MS came out and said that they have no plans to release a Kinect-free version of the Xbox One.
Here's a source

Ok, that makes more sense. As I said earlier, while it would be a step forward it sounded odd that they'd have a price announcement a year in advance. Primarily because it would undercut sales now.

I could honestly see them dropping the Kinect in the future or if they were to get really desperate. I mean remember that the reason the PS3 dropped the PS2 backwards compatibility was so that they could lower the price of the PS3 so that it could compete with the 360 and Wii, since it is apparently very expensive to develop that and after researching it I have to say that it really is expensive.
I mean technically you don't need a sensor bar on a Wii if you have the Classic controller plugged in because that's how my friend uses his Wii so it's possible for them to have it so that the controller can control the dashboard and it'll be just an expensive peripheral if they get desperate enough.

So are those leprechauns and unicorn ride only available after you snort the fairy dust?

No, those cost an extra $40 to enjoy when you've already snorted the fairy dust.

 

[Lightknight]

I could honestly see them dropping the Kinect in the future or if they were to get really desperate. I mean remember that the reason the PS3 dropped the PS2 backwards compatibility was so that they could lower the price of the PS3 so that it could compete with the 360 and Wii, since it is apparently very expensive to develop that and after researching it I have to say that it really is expensive.

I can see them considering it. What's interesting is the kinect 2 is supposed to cost about as much as the console itself so it would be able to drop the price considerably (assuming the MS dev's "costs almost as much" means the same thing I think it means).

The problem lies in developers working with MS right now who have been promised that such a device will be mandatory and perhaps have even been encouraged to develop their games around it. Same goes for marketing deals where customized ads are delivered via kinect 2 intel. I honestly don't think it's in Microsoft's best interest to cut the kinect. They'd be better off just dropping the price to $400, praising the kinect's family friendly party games and going from there. They'd take a slight hit on the price of the consoles but would sell more units. The downside would basically be announcing to the world that they're scare of Sony's performance and reducing the console price leaves less room for reduction later. But all their turn arounds are just showing them trying to play catchup, might as well do it on price.

In any event, announcing a console price a year away would be pretty dumb.

 

[UnnDunn]

Xbox One features natural user interface. End of story. The sensor is a part of the system, the same way the Sensor Bar is part of the Wii system. I don't get why this is so hard for some people to understand.

 

[Lightknight]

Xbox One features natural user interface. End of story. The sensor is a part of the system, the same way the Sensor Bar is part of the Wii system. I don't get why this is so hard for some people to understand.

Because God knows, the only thing that would make Halo 5 better is if I have to wave my arms in the air to throw a grenade. That's all we need, gimmicky movements in the AAA market or ruining the sub-AAA markets like the PS3's crappy six-axis did.

It's a nice party feature, it is. Had a lot of fun with Fruit Ninja on my kinect. But I just want it to stay relegated to its own corner and to stay the hell out of my regular games. That's something that anyone should be able to appreciate. This forcing it to be with every console? It's just making that happen.

Not to mention that the kinect will actively listen to you to know what ads to give you. Your information doesn't get sold to vendors but their ads do get sent to you. Talk about getting a pizza out loud? Look at the live dashboard and suddenly you have a Domino's ad. So great, another shitty marketing ploy shoehorned on us because "natural user interface". The Wii, for all it's quirks, is still built around a controller. Yes, you have to shake it to do some actions but that's a far cry compared to the kind of actions the kinect makes you do. So they're not the same. The XBO has a controller. Let us use that on non-kinect game instead of forcing small kinect actions into the games. I have never really found waving my hand from right to left to work better than pressing the right or left buttons.

 

[UnnDunn]

Xbox One features natural user interface. End of story. The sensor is a part of the system, the same way the Sensor Bar is part of the Wii system. I don't get why this is so hard for some people to understand.

Because God knows, the only thing that would make Halo 5 better is if I have to wave my arms in the air to throw a grenade. That's all we need, gimmicky movements in the AAA market or ruining the sub-AAA markets like the PS3's crappy six-axis did.

It's a nice party feature, it is. Had a lot of fun with Fruit Ninja on my kinect. But I just want it to stay relegated to its own corner and to stay the hell out of my regular games. That's something that anyone should be able to appreciate. This forcing it to be with every console? It's just making that happen.

Why don't you wait for the games to actually come out and see how they use natural user interface before you judge? Who knows, you might actually enjoy it.

Not to mention that the kinect will actively listen to you to know what ads to give you. Your information doesn't get sold to vendors but their ads do get sent to you. Talk about getting a pizza out loud? Look at the live dashboard and suddenly you have a Domino's ad. So great, another shitty marketing ploy shoehorned on us because "natural user interface".

No. Just no. This is a gross misrepresentation of how it will work.