Microsoft has announced the price for the standalone Kinect for Xbox One, which will release this October for $149.99.
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The motion-sensing peripheral--earlier this year removed as mandatory part of every Xbox One package sold resulting in a $100 price drop for the console--will launch on October 7. With it, customers will also get a digital copy of Dance Central Spotlight from Harmonix. The news was announced on Xbox Wire, in a post which also explains some of the reasoning behind the move.
"When we announced the new Xbox One option, we also shared that we would deliver a standalone Kinect sensor for people that chose to purchase the sensor at a later date. We've always believed in the magic Kinect brings to Xbox One and today we're excited to confirm that, beginning in October 7, fans will be able to purchase a standalone Kinect sensor for Xbox One."
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"We believe Xbox One is better with Kinect, offering unlimited possibilities, and we're seeing our fans use Kinect for Xbox One every day, with billions of voice commands since launch."
The peripheral was originally seen as an integral part of the Xbox One's identity--Microsoft at one point commented that we would "never" see the console sold without a Kinect alongside it. With sales increasingly lagging behind Sony's PlayStation 4 and the inferior price point an obvious culprit, Microsoft chose to drop the device and cut the price tag from $499 to $399.
The move has left developers and fans alike in the lurch: without a guaranteed install base of those with the device, studios are not inclined to make games focused on its use, and those who were already in the middle of doing so (like Harmonix) face a difficult situation of potentially wasted investment.
The console itself was built to work best with Kinect--menus are more conducive to voice and motion control than traditional controller use, and it remains to be seen if Microsoft will redesign the UI with that fact in mind moving forward.
