Xbox One without Kinect price and release date revealed

[Bald Bouncer]

Hold onto your hats. Microsoft has announced that it will sell a version of Xbox One without Kinect, following a rumour to this effect from MCV. It'll be yours to pick up from 9th June, and will cost £349.99, $499.99 AU or $399 US, with prices for other regions to follow. This follows repeated denials from the big M that it would ever sell the Xbox One hardware separately. The manufacturer also plans to sell the sensor by itself, beginning this fall in the US. In a post entitled "Delivering More Choices for Fans", Head of Xbox Phil Spencer insisted that Microsoft remains committed to Kinect and Kinect gaming on Xbox One. "To be clear, as we introduce this new Xbox One console option, Kinect remains an important part of our vision," he began. "Many of you are using Kinect for Xbox One every day.



"In fact, more than 80 percent of you are actively using Kinect, with an average of 120 voice commands per month on each console. Some of the most popular voice commands include "Xbox On," "Xbox Broadcast" and "Xbox Record That." We will continue to offer a premium Xbox One with Kinect bundle to deliver voice and gesture controls, biometric sign-in, instant personalization, instant scanning of QR codes, and enhanced features only available with Kinect in games such as Kinect Sports Rivals, Just Dance 2014, Project Spark and more.

"If you buy Xbox One for $399 and later decide you want to have all the experiences Kinect enables, we will also offer a standalone sensor for Xbox One later this fall. We'll share more details about the standalone Kinect for Xbox One in the coming months."

Microsoft's E3 press conference - promisingly titled "Game On" - begins at 9.30am PDT on 9th June 2014. Here are some thoughts from me about possible announcements. Suffice to say that non-mandatory Kinect will steal the show.

You might also be interested in our list of the best Xbox One deals in the UK right now - we'll add new offers to it, including any and all Kinect-less Xbox One deals, as and when they arise.

The console is currently £379 from Zavvi or Amazon and £389 with Titanfall from Currys.

Source: www.Rheena.com

[Robbo]

The Kinect has been piss poor. A right let down to be honest.

[MsDG]

MS seem to have more reverse gears these days than the Italians!

[macmilm]

MS seem to have more reverse gears these days than the Italians!

You are right but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing.
It's good if any company listens to it's customers moans and does something about it.. Whether they were actually listening or hand has been forced due to poor sales is another matter

[reverend]

I thought one of the big selling points to devs was that everyone would have the Kinect with these?

Half of me wishes they'd just left the sensor included and lowered the price to £349 - I'm hoping to get one past the mrs when the price drops even further

[Goldberg]

I make that £238 in proper money if you bought one in the states.

I said a few months ago that it would be £200 within 6 months and I would then buy one. I still have a couple of months left for that drop.

And they said it would never happen....

[macmilm]

I make that £238 in proper money if you bought one in the states.

I said a few months ago that it would be £200 within 6 months and I would then buy one. I still have a couple of months left for that drop.

And they said it would never happen....

In your dreams.... chump !

[Goldberg]

Yeah.. We will see.

[Mr.James]

I won't pay more than £300 for a console on principle. Guess this means I'll be getting a One sooner than expected...

I just feel a bit sorry for all the people that were forced to buy a kinect when the didn't want it. Not sure they will make any money selling them separately for a while. eBay will be flooded with the things...


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[Sanj[UK]]

Admission of defeat. Its about time they realized they cant force that Kinect shite down developers and consumer throats.

Feel sorry for anyone who spent the extra dough at launch to get one.

[{{909}}]

Admission of defeat. Its about time they realized they cant force that Kinect shite down developers and consumer throats.

Feel sorry for anyone who spent the extra dough at launch to get one.

plus, the likely hood of a developers making kinect specific games will now fall to nill. If you were one of the 80% that enjoyed kinect (hopefully for more than its microphone) then you are fucked.

To be honest this could be seen as a positive thing for the gaming industry in general, with the WiiU on its ass and the xbone trailing the PS4 by a large margin its clear that the majority of consumers don't want much more than a standard controller and a standard TV to sit infront of and look at. VR, kinect and all that other shite ultimately fall to the wayside when traditional gaming is cheaper and more accessible.

[Fear345]

Some of you darlings need to stop worrying about what other folk spend their cash on and crack on with your amazing lifestyles.

[ss30]

It wont be lone until you can get an Xbox One(without Kinect) with 1 game for £349 so the Xbox will effectively £300

[cyprus]

plus, the likely hood of a developers making kinect specific games will now fall to nill. If you were one of the 80% that enjoyed kinect (hopefully for more than its microphone) then you are fucked.

To be honest this could be seen as a positive thing for the gaming industry in general, with the WiiU on its ass and the xbone trailing the PS4 by a large margin its clear that the majority of consumers don't want much more than a standard controller and a standard TV to sit infront of and look at. VR, kinect and all that other shite ultimately fall to the wayside when traditional gaming is cheaper and more accessible.

I couldn't agree more mate.

Sofa > Pad > Console > TV

As for the price? 350GBP is still too much. I will probably get a PS4 but I am not in any rush whatsoever. When the price is closer to €300 (250GBP) with a pad/game bundle then I might consider it.

[macmilm]

The other question would be... as the games to date have been to a degree kinectified how well will they work without the kinect at all ?
As far as the devs would have been concerned during development their game was never going to be connected to a kinectless console ?!?!?!?!?

[cyprus]

Another issue I'm suprised no one has picked up on is privacy. The article above clearly states they know how many commands and which commands are being given to the XBOX. Are people OK with a big US corporation (ergo the NSA) listening in on them?

[Goldberg]

The other question would be... as the games to date have been to a degree kinectified how well will they work without the kinect at all ?
As far as the devs would have been concerned during development their game was never going to be connected to a kinectless console ?!?!?!?!?

Patch, patch and patch some more...

It is easy to see this as a negative, but it should be seen as a positive move by M$.

Too many keyboard warriors wrote off the console before it was launched as the majority were Bony fans (or Bony bought them as an aggressive marketing ploy). Even when M$ tried to right the wrongs before release they stood no chance and it was seen as a failure in the same peoples eyes. They obviously already had millions of the Kinect manufactured so they had no choice but to bundle them with the machines. Maybe this is why M$ recently dug up the stash of ET games so that they could bury the remaining Kinect they have in stock in place.

There is no denying that the Kinect is a good piece of kit, it just isn't going to be utilised in every single game or for games. You cannot blame M$ for trying something new but maybe they should have looked at Nintendo's long list of additional pieces of hardware that were only ever used for 1 or 2 titles and bombed.

So, M$ are moving on. They have removed the Kinect and have given in to the demands of the gamers and they should be saluted/remembered for this.

Let us see what happens moving forward. The all mighty powerful PS4 is starting to show cracks now. I understand some games will not be full 1080p on either console whereas it was once mentioned that the PS4 could easily handle that and more and the Xbox would struggle to do so..

I am still not buying one until they are £200 and have some functions/games I really need.

This is not the only thing M$ have done/announced. Games with Gold is moving to the Xbox One along side the 360 plus other discounted services. In addition you soon will not require a Gold Account to use applications like Netflix etc.. Positive move and I am a bit pissed about it if I am honest as I only recently purchased a 13 month Gold account again so I could use Amazon Prime Streaming on it.

[liveseytowers]

Its still too expensive for a casual gamer like me. I've no interest in the kinect or even have the space near my TV for it. You'd expect there to be a mic on the Xbox though to allow the voice stuff to still work. Maybe when its £250 with Forza i'll be able to get one.

[Goldberg]

Its still too expensive for a casual gamer like me

Grab an OUYA or similar Got the emulators set up on mine now and going to give it some serious play time soon.
Nothing better for the casual gamer than some old skool retro fun!

[RESiDENT-UK]

Yip that's what I use mine for emus and Xbmc never look back


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