Microsoft's removal of the Kinect from the Xbox One was a move championed by many, but the results may not be exactly what Microsoft had been hoping for. So good news for consumers, but not so much for the Redmond giant. Read on to see what gives.
Post Kinectless Xbox One, Microsoft Still Claims They'll Win Race Thanks to Games, Not Price
The first bonus of the Xbox One sans Kinect is the lowered price point, which definitely helps make the console more attractive, especially now that it's matched in price with Sony's PlayStation 4. The second is how the Xbox One can now access resources, as Microsoft puts it, "previously reserved for Kinect and system functions." More on that here.
How this will effect future games exactly, and how developers will take advantage of this remains to be seen. But more power, better games, and a lower console cost can only got to work in Microsoft's favor, right?
Major Nelson Says Microsoft Has a Long Term Focus on the Console War
Maybe not. It seems as though, no matter the effects of the Kinect's removal from Microsoft's wonder gizmo, it's too little too late, and the consumers still without a next-gen console still aren't interested in a lower priced, and/or higher performing Xbox One.
Such is the result reached by a survey conducted by DealNews, which reports: "43% of Xbox 360 users have not bought a current-generation console because of price. But 58% of those very same users said they also wouldn't buy the Xbox One at the lower price of $399. (That's $100 off the original MSRP, but it comes without the Kinect motion sensor.)"
DealNews felt that this is significant of any number of things, from the cost of the Xbox One still being too high, to owners being satisfied enough with their Xbox 360 to keep from moving on. Either way, it's bad news for Microsoft, and if accurate, is only going to hurt more and more, especially in the race against Sony.
Under the hood, Microsoft's Xbox One claims an 8-core x86 processor and Microsoft hopes it will take the place of the family room cable box by letting you watch Blu-ray movies and TV through the console, in a "seamless transition" that lets players switch from playing games to watching shows and/or movies. It will come fully loaded with 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. The console's exclusives include Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, Ryse: Son of Rome, and more recently, Titanfall.
In the opposite corner, the PlayStation 4 boasts Supercharged PC architecture, X86 CPU, Enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB Unified Memory. It supports the same PlayStation Plus service as the Vita and PlayStation 3. Sony has also updated the Dual Shock controllers with a touch screen and improved shoulder triggers, and bundles the console with a headset. Its exclusives include inFamous: Second Son, MLB 14: The Show, and The Last of Us.
You can check out Mehdi and Phil Spencer announce the new Kinect-less Xbox One in the video below.
