Xbox One to Get Kinect-Free Version for $399 in June

[BrotherRool]

Praise Sony!

This console race has somewhat restored my faith in capitalism. Now the two consoles are on level pegging again. Let's see if the advantage Sony has built up is going to stick. Also the Kinect is officially dead, they couldn't make a single compelling game that used the Kinect when it was a mandatory add-on. If no-one could give a toss then, no-ones going to give a toss now

 

[erbkaiser]

Better late than never eh? Now the XBone is no longer weaker AND $100 more expensive then the PS4.

Kinect has been out for what, 3 1/2 years now? You'd think they'd realised /before/ the XBone development that nobody cares about it.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Saw this coming from a mile away. Maybe I'll get one some day.

 

[josemlopes]

Good move on Spencer, not just the kinect-less version but the other stuff too, the Games with Gold is starting to actually released fairly recent and good games.

And its nice to see them start offering games and better discounts for Xbox One users (I dont really plan on getting one but its still nice)

 

[CriticalMiss]

So Microsoft have done the impossible twice now; first getting rid of the DRM that was a vital part of the console, now ditching the Kinect. The power of the cloud is truly infinite. All hail TV!

 

[circularlogic88]

Man I almost can't wait to see Microsoft do something appealing and decently good and still see it being called "weak" and "desperate".

It's like I can't wait for that 1% of news that hopefully won't be spun on it's side for the ultra cynics that have no stake with MS to begin with.

Microsoft isn't your friend. They don't care about you. They care about your money and numbers and the number amount of money you willingly give them. Sony is the exact same way. Nintendo is the exact same way. The difference between them and Microsoft is the way they present themselves to their consumers and the options they provide them.

You're acting like all of this negative spin on positive changes Microsoft is making isn't deserved. It is. And you making passive-aggressive comments without elaborating upon them doesn't make you seem clever or witty for pointing out the amount of negativity and cynicism people have towards the One.

 

[circularlogic88]

Stupid double-posting BS....Here's a puppy.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Man I almost can't wait to see Microsoft do something appealing and decently good and still see it being called "weak" and "desperate".

It's like I can't wait for that 1% of news that hopefully won't be spun on it's side for the ultra cynics that have no stake with MS to begin with.

Maybe we shouldn't express unbridled gratitude for something that should have been there at launch. You know Jim just did a great video [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/9145-The-Trap-Of-Gamer-Gratitude] on this last week, how a company breaks something and when they fix a problem they created and that should not have been there people are bafflingly grateful.



Yes this is good news, we finally get the basic options we wanted, but it was still an artificial problem created by Microsoft themselves. It's also a slightly embarrassing climb-down for them after insistence the Kintect was vital and the Xbone wouldn't work without it. I think most news sites will say what 99% of games think; it should have been this way in the first place and Microsoft should have never pretended it shouldn't.

Well aware of the episode itself, it was a good one, however there are many mistakes made by other 2 and yet MS gets the absolute fuck ton of the bile and vitriol, it's like expecting MS to do something good but at the same time it's totally not right of me to expect people here to change their tune, except that's never going to happen and it's pathetically sad, I'm sorry but it's the same tune per article, what's the discussion value on these articles again if MS isn't here to listen in and we're still spewing the same bile and insults towards an emotionless brand?.

Nothing, there is none and even if there was anything it's already been done before.

Lets throw something out there that's not MS related, I expect Steam to have proper QA, it's a glaring problem pointed out by many yet it gets praised to the high bloody heavens, why is that not getting ragged and biled on?, don't give me the "oh it's not as bad/nowhere near as bad as such and such", there's no excuse for having really shit and enxt to no QA at all when other businesses big and small can do it out there.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Nice. My brother's been saving up for one... he'll be happy to ditch the Kinect.

I mean, it's honestly a great piece of technology. Just not something we should have had to fork over an extra hundred bucks for.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

You're acting like all of this negative spin on positive changes Microsoft is making isn't deserved. It is. And you making passive-aggressive comments without elaborating upon them doesn't make you seem clever or witty for pointing out the amount of negativity and cynicism people have towards the One.

Cool =^), glad to know I've been slapped on that page already.

gee whiz I'd always thought MS and the other two were my bestest pals int he whole world, golly gee was I proved wrong.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Finally. It wouldnt be so bad if Kinect was amazing and their were loads of amazing software for it. But there isnt, every game has been shit apart from Dance games. Im sure they had high hopes for the kinect, but it just hasnt worked out the way they hoped. Good they are ditching it.

 

[Dire Trout]

Well, okay, I did repeatedly and specifically refuse to buy an Xbone because of (1) the used-game nonsense, (2) the always-on DRM, and (3) the Kinect. Now that all three have been dealt with, all they have to do is make some games I'm interested in, and then we can talk about it.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

MS, this back pedaling is actually good news. But one problem: You should have addressed these complaints months ago. Back then, the different in PS4's power to the xbone's wasn't as apparent, and more people would have gone the an xbox uno since it had the better launch window line up. Now many potential customers have been burned by 1) MS's attempts at draconian DRM on consoles, 2) Force fed Kinect, driving up the price by $100. 3) Extra services like Netflix and Hulu requiring an extra payed subscription. 4) MS spokespeople saying contradictory statements within days, sometimes hours, of one another. Hopefully, worthwhile exclusives will keep the xbone profitable enough that MS won't cut hardworking employees who really need their jobs.

The same problem lies with Windows 8. Many users hate the new interfaces desktop PC unfriendly characteristics and want the start menu back. What does MS do? They put in a start button that brings them right back to the atrocious start screen than is the source of the complaints. What's next? They fix Win 8 right when Win 9 come out and has all the fixes in it. It's like today's MS is full of braying jackasses that want to see how far they can troll their customer base before the company goes under.

 

[circularlogic88]

gee whiz I'd always thought MS and the other two were my bestest pals int he whole world, golly gee was I proved wrong.

No, but you did prove my point that you have nothing to bring to this discussion apart from your dispapproval of negativity towards Microsoft. ;3

 

[UltimatheChosen]

I'm sure this'll now mean that everyone on the internet that said "I'll get it when they get rid of the Kinect, stop requiring Gold for apps and all that" will now turn round and buy it, especially at the new price.

Right guys?

Or will they turn round and go "Too little, too late"? Because why be consistent.

Anyway, looks like Spencer is having a big impact, which is good to see.

For the record, I was not one of those individuals, but I don't necessarily think that it is inconsistent.

My understanding is that one of the beefs that a lot of people have with Microsoft is not just that they made all of these questionable decisions with their console, but that they failed to listen to feedback that specifically begged them not to do it. Their basic response "no way, guys, it'll all be fine, I swear".

And now that that's been disproven, they're backpedaling without admitting error. Instead of saying "we should have allowed this option from the beginning, and we'll listen to feedback better in the future", they're just portraying this as being purely positive. Humility and admitting errors is not a bad thing, which leads me to think that they don't really see it as an error.

That doesn't give me a lot of faith in their ability to make better decisions in the future.

 

[misg]

NSA must of pulled their funded from kintec.