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XBOX HAS DECIDED to release a cheaper Xbox One without Kinect on June 9th, pricing it at $399, putting it in the same price range as the PS4.
Despite saying that all Xbox One consoles will have Kinect included when it was launched, Microsoft has now decided that releasing one without the motion sensing device is the way to go.
Every market where the Xbox One is now available will receive the new version while a standalone Kinect for the console will be released during Autumn.
The company says that more than 80 per cent of Xbox One owners are using Kinect, with an average of 120 voice commands per month on each console.
Alongside this announcement, Microsoft also revealed it will be making changes to its Xbox Live service. The company has dropped the requirement for an Xbox Live Gold subscription for streaming apps meaning both Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners can access apps like Netflix, Skype, and Internet Explorer directly.
In a video announcing the change, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer said that the new Xbox One is a response to feedback given by fans, but will continue to work on Kinect.
We’ve also heard from people they just like to play games with a controller in their hands…we’ll continue to innovate on Kinect. It’s an important differentiator for us. but I also know there are people out there that want to make the choice when they want to make it.
Alongside this announcement, Microsoft also revealed it will be making changes to its Xbox Live service. The company has dropped the requirement for an Xbox Live Gold subscription for streaming apps meaning both Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners can access apps like Netflix, Skype, and Internet Explorer directly.
The current Xbox One with Kinect is currently on sale here for €499, €100 more than the PS4, and it’s expected the new version will retail for €399 when it arrives.
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Good news either way.
Customers didn’t want the ‘always on, all seeing eye’ of Kinect.
Also, dropping the Gold requirement for app usage is terrific.
I think it was more sony that was listening to users and Microsoft was getting so much backlash they had to change. Bit late now though ps4 has outperformed the Xbox one in almost all markets.
Jeremy ,the kinetic can be turned off or unplugged it’d not required to run the console so the always on always listening you mentioned is rubbish
They dropped the gold requirement for apps but they have now tied gold to the games for gold deals. When your subscription expires you can’t play the game anymore.
This was one area where the xbone was better than ps4, but not anymore.
Jeremy, the way you explained it, makes it seem like the must have device!!! :)
What microsoft should work on is making their new console backwards compatible with 360 games.
Unlikely. The Xbox 360 was based on a PowerPC CPU based architecture, whereas the Xbox One is an x86 based architecture. It would probably require some very difficult and costly emulation.
A pity, when all those 360s people still have inevitably die and microsoft end production of the console, stacks of great games will be never played again.
Indecently, the sega megadrive I got 20 years ago still works; I guess those days when things were built to last are over.
I know. My original 360 red ringed; it was just outside of their extended warranty period so it ended up in the skip. Even the design of the Xbox One is inferior to the PS4; they still have their mains transformer sitting as a big block outside the console, whereas in the PS4 it’s internal. Microsoft are not a hardware company and they should have outsourced or gone into partnership with someone (Apple?!) for the hardware design. It’s a pity though; there’s some great Xbox exclusives and Xbox Live is miles ahead of Sony’s networking….
Haha! Ya, my MegaDrive is still in perfect condition too; I even stick on Mortal Kombat 3 every now and again!
My Nintendo 64 is still going strong despite it getting loads of knocks and bangs. Goldeneye 4 player is still king of multiplayer.
That’s not a flaw though, having the transformer outside the console helps keep things cooler inside the console. I can’t believe the thing runs so quietly.
It is a flaw when the console is the size of a house.
I have to agree with The Doctor here. The PS4 is pretty near silent, doesn’t overheat and is smaller than the Xbox One. Don’t get me wrong; I like the Xbox brand, and they have some great games and and online services. However their hardware design has been lacking since the first Xbox. When I got my 360 in 2006, the disc loading tray was sticking from day one, so bad that if the console was vertical it would jam. I think that Microsoft are a fantastic software system, but their overall inexperience in hardware design is apparent.
This just shows how desperate Micro$oft are getting. They know that the PS4 is champion so far, even though Xbox got a sales boost from Titanfall, it still failed to outsell PS4 so far.
Alex, the moment you put in a $ instead of S, you show your ignorant fanboy colours and discredit anything you say. Also,as you say so far…… I read alot of people too say if they dropped price and Kinect, they would buy it….. interesting now to see if they are full of shlt too…. I love my PS4, and X1, but still mostly playing today on 360, a huge back log of great games…. looking forward to The Last of Us on PS4, looks hugely better, and thats not saying it did not look great either…..
Man did not see that coming. At least not this soon. They should have just dropped the price and kept the kinect as now all they have is a similar priced console as sony that it less powerful. Still no incentive to chose it over the PS4.
God PR videos are such bile.
It still won’t be able to do 1080p at 60 frames per second. It’s an inferior games console compared to ps4. I had the original xbox. The 360. Many 360s actually. Rrod. Won’t be getting a kinectless xbox. They are eating humble pie now and their position in the market is justified.
That’s actually lovely to read. But nobody’s going to buy the XBOX ONE over the PlayStation 4 in all fairness.
Troll
Microsoft’s management strategy seems really out of touch. They spend all this time and money developing Kinect and pushing for it to become standard, to the extent that it was a mandatory component in the Xbone, yet they never pushed devs to implement a meaningful use for it in proper games, only gimmicky uses in mostly kiddie games. Overall, MS as well as EA are bad for gaming
They got to big for their boots with the 360. Instead of giving consumers what we want, they tell us what we want (ie what they want) and because of their previous successes in the console market, they think we’ll just lap it up. The f**cking arrogance is overwhelming.
The way Sony told you that you would work 2 jobs to buy a PS3….. F$&king arrogance!
Yep, we got a bona fida Sony fanboy group here….. Sad, like Man U fans coming out, now the season is over…..
Since I went from
Ps1-Ps2-360 I might just go with the one now !! But at the same price there is a definite versus between them !!
Not really? As of now, the Xbox One is just a less powerful PS4 yet they both cost the same? The Xbox One specs compared to the PS4 specs are a joke. It is an identically priced, inferior version of the PS4.
The specs are a joke, please, people don’t care about what’s written on the page. You sound like a play station fanboy anyway. In reality both machines are massively powerfull. Bar maybe a slightly sharper picture on the ps4. I think that the ps4 lead is going to dwindle over the next few months because if this. Xbox still has better exclusives and a superior online experience
It has an inferior online experience?! The lag on the Xbox Done is unbelievable compared to the hugely superior PS4.
Paul. The xbone does not have better exclusives. It does not have a better online experience. The only decent game that the one had that ps doesn’t is titanfall. Pretty soon all ps3 games will be available on the ps4 via gaikai. Navigating the ps4 home screen is easy. The xbox one dashboard is a joke. I’ve had all the previous gen consoles from both micro$oft and phony and in all seriousness the ps4 kicks the stupidly named xbox one right out of the ball park.
Slightly sharper? Both battlefield and CoD are only running at 720p and barely over 30 fps. Both run at 1080p and mostly 60fps on ps4.
Why would anybody choose 720p? The difference is massive.
Xbox 1 is immense stop talking crap
No crap. It is inferior in almost everyway.
But it’s not bad. It is great. I still got one. But titanfall has already lost its appeal and I’m not sure when I’ll use it again.
I see what you did there Alex, with the ‘done’ very well played, fanboy :)
Specs are in the PS4′s favour but the software is what csn make the difference. Direct x 12 could even the field
Jesus nerds on here don’t have a clue, ye just look at some spec sheet and decide which is better. Forza and titanfall are savage games, a million times better than anything on ps4. Sheep
I’ve been disappointed by Forza 5, lacks to number of F4 and GT6. But the having to pay to get the Veyron and some of the better Ferrari’s is really scabby from MS
This is a good conversation on the topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC49bOoruc4
actually it’s here now http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/lets-talk-about-microsofts-big-xbox-news-today/2300-8877/
Seeing as the Xbox One doesn’t *officially support voice commands in Ireland, its pointless having the camera in the first place. That said Titanfall and Forza make worth getting.
Just lacks a user up-gradable hard drive :/
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