Microsoft to sell Xbox One without Kinect. Removes requirement for gold on apps

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Possibly to further put the nail in the coffin for Kinect, Microsoft has supposedly been in talks with developers to try to get more power out of the system for their games now that resources don't have to be mitigated to Kinect.

[Dat Matt]

I am curious to see whether Nintendo could do something similar by selling the Wii U without the GamePad, and what that would do to the Wii U's future and sales.

To be honest, I don't know about this. While having a system without the touch screen probably wouldn't change much for the system now, we haven't yet seen any games to my knowledge where the Wii u gamepad gas positively impacted gameplay. To have a game that revolves around the use of the gamepad would be very interesting to see.

That and the Wii u is already behind even last gen tech, so it needs something to differentiate from the crowd.

[Loony BoB]

The voice commands were actually one of the only things about the Xbone that interested me, so I guess this doesn't really mean much to me at all. Of course, I'm still waiting until after I upgrade my PC before I buy a PS4. I'll probably get one around the time that a killer game appears, and it may be that FFXV is the game that forces me into the fray. But for now, nothing seems obvious. PC upgrade takes priority because of Star Citizen and the fact that our current ones are starting to struggle.

[Madame Adequate]

and without that gimmick it remains to be seen whether the platform has the chops to compete. My hunch would be that it does and that Bolivar is overstating the issues with memory

I'm not so sure he's overstating it. Both consoles are essentially running the same APU with the XBone actually being clocked higher than the PS4's and companies still aren't getting as much power out of it. Makes me wonder if it'll be able to keep up later on. Not that I really care that much since I don't want either, but it is looking like the XBone will be playing second fiddle in the horsepower race this gen.

I didn't mean to imply the issue doesn't exist, it does, and it'll be a problem for MS especially later in the generation. I am not, however, certain that it will make the difference between success and failure. Perhaps it will, as I said it's only a hunch on my part.

Microsoft still have absurd amounts of money to throw around at attracting talent and buying exclusives

They already tried that:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...x-One-in-March

You'll forgive me if I don't pass final judgment on a console generation likely to last seven or eight years a mere six months into it.

[Bolivar]

They will probably keep up with multiplats, but the gap will widen between Xbox One and PS4/PC.

Bolivar is overstating the issues with memory

I didn't mean to imply the issue doesn't exist, it does, and it'll be a problem for MS especially later in the generation.

Lol

You'll forgive me if I don't pass final judgment on a console generation likely to last seven or eight years a mere six months into it.

Never mentioned final judgments, just pointing out that they already cracked open the war chest like a piñata, for no less the spiritual successor to Call of Duty, by its original developers. They gave the game away for free with the console and even cut the price on it. They fell further behind.

If you're hoping they'll money hat their way out of this situation, you're in for quite a disappointment.

[Madame Adequate]

Lol

Nothing I said is contradictory or anything so...?

Never mentioned final judgments, just pointing out that they already cracked open the war chest like a piñata, for no less the spiritual successor to Call of Duty, by its original developers. They gave the game away for free with the console and even cut the price on it. They fell further behind.

If you're hoping they'll money hat their way out of this situation, you're in for quite a disappointment.

I'm not 'hoping' for anything except a bunch of good videogames to play. All I'm saying is that they've still got a huge war chest and that we cannot foresee what they will have achieved with that five or seven years from now. Are they disappointed that Titanfall hasn't crushed all opposition? I'm certain of it. Are they disappointed with the XBone's performance to date? They must be devastated, the numbers must be atrocious if they're throwing out their core Kinect element. Doesn't mean we can necessarily discount them as an important factor this generation. They certainly have their work cut out for them though.

[Loony BoB]

Aye, I agree - it's not like consoles suddenly getting a surge of sales after a pricedrop or anything similar hasn't happened before. The 3DS in particular springs to mind as a console that initially struggled, they cut the price considerably and I believe the sales kicked in like a monsoon.

[Dat Matt]

That and they released a strong game or two for the system every month from March 2013. Here's a list for Europe, omitting shovelware and things I thought were more niche:

March 2013 - Castlevania - Lord of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, Luigi's Mansion 2, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
April 2013 - Fire Emblem Awakening
May 2013 - Donkey Kong Country Returns , Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Gates to infinity
June 2013 - Animal Crossing - New Leaf
July 2013 - Mario and Luigi Dream Team Bros
August 2013 - Etrian Oddesy IV, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning
September 2013 - Shin Megami Tensei Soul Hackers
October 2013 - Pokemon X/Y
November 2013 - Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds
December 2013 - Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies

Finish one game, have a break and next month there is a new game waiting for you. That's why the 3DS is crushing the vita. Things to note about this list is that they are all exclusives With the exception of Castlevania [Multi platform] and Monster Hunter 3 [Nintendo Exclusive].

Shauna and I did some research into the next gen consoles in regards to exclusive games. Minus any games that are out for more than one system[e.g titanfall for XB1 / XB360 / 360 ] and Shovelware[e.g Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade for Wii U] our opinion is that there are 10 exclusive games worth playing on the Wii U right now.

How many on both PS4 Xbox One? 2. Killzone Shadowfall / Infamous Second son for the PS4, and Dead Rising 3 / Forza 5 for the Xbox one. And yet people went nuts for these consoles with nothing to play on them. A workmate of mine bought a PS4, but doesn't own any games for it. So he watches nextflix on it.

[Bolivar]

To be brutally honest, I wouldn't even put Shadow Fall on that list and this is coming from a BIG Killzone fan!

Lol but to be fair, there's a difference between these systems not having hardly any true exclusives (unavailable on other platforms) and having "nothing to play on them." They both have a lot of games that aren't on the Wii U, for example. I also play games like Blacklight and Mercenary Kings that I wouldn't normally play on Steam (being free doesn't hurt either).

[Jiro]

These consoles offered players nothing and I expect the sales reflect that.

[Dat Matt]

The most recent figures puts the PS4 at 7 million units shipped, the Wii u at 6.2 million units shipped and the xb1 at 5 million units shipped. I find it strange the Ps4 is doing the best currently. I suppose thsts the power of marketing and not using a dumb name.

[Jiro]

A lot of people don't want to feel like they are behind and will buy the new consoles out of habit. They do not like to wait, and so they shell out for their favourite(s). I'm not sure why the PS4 is winning, but the Wii U also has the issue of not exactly being next gen, not offering a worthwhile library, and having its core demographic be uninterested and unfamiliar with the console generation cycle. I know it is very early days still, but the three of them are only like 170% the sales of the Dreamcast​.

[Skyblade]

I'm not sure why the PS4 is winning.

Well, the PS3 had done better by the end of the last generation than the Xbox 360 did, so there were more people with brand loyalty. During last year's E3 and pre-release hype run, the PS4's marketing absolutely crushed that of the Xbone. Heck, "Xbone" was a name given out of general derision for Microsoft's incredibly bad handling of the early press events. Microsoft also had a more expensive machine, and has made a history of massive design changes and has not had a consistent vision for the console.

Plus, everyone who really wants to play Titanfall would just get the PC version. PC is becoming more and more of a mainstream competitor in the gaming market, and Microsoft's tendency to have 95% of their best games available on the PC is probably not helping.

[Dat Matt]

Well, the PS3 had done better by the end of the last generation than the Xbox 360 did, so there were more people with brand loyalty.

That and the PS3 was a superior machine. It was expensive in it's early days due to the Blu Ray player, but as the generation has gone on and Blu Ray is now being pushed as the advanced DVD experience, Having a cheap blue ray that also plays games is more appealing than one that does not have Blu Ray capabilities. Currently you can get an Xbox 250GB model for £120. This is more expensive that then 320GB Slim PS3 which is £110. Sony won in the long run against Microsoft.

Plus, everyone who really wants to play Titanfall would just get the PC version

This is the reason that I omitted it from my previous list of exclusives for the Xbox One. If a game has the option to be played on the PC over the consoles then that's going to cripple it. I did some research there and I cannot find any data to suggest the sales figures per format. Just that there are 925K sales at last count, and 60% of these are for the Xbox One. That's 555k sales by m count. That's pretty bad for a "Big Title". Even Super Mario 3D world sold 2.17 Million copies.

I don't want to assume, but I think Microsoft is in trouble here. With the poor sales figures and the constant change in polices the Xbox one is clearly the weakest of all three consoles at the minute.

[Skyblade]

Well, the PS3 had done better by the end of the last generation than the Xbox 360 did, so there were more people with brand loyalty.

That and the PS3 was a superior machine. It was expensive in it's early days due to the Blu Ray player, but as the generation has gone on and Blu Ray is now being pushed as the advanced DVD experience, Having a cheap blue ray that also plays games is more appealing than one that does not have Blu Ray capabilities. Currently you can get an Xbox 250GB model for £120. This is more expensive that then 320GB Slim PS3 which is £110. Sony won in the long run against Microsoft.

Agreed. I was just saying that, as far as it affects future sales, the PlayStation name would have more people loyal to it than the Xbox name.

Plus, everyone who really wants to play Titanfall would just get the PC version

This is the reason that I omitted it from my previous list of exclusives for the Xbox One. If a game has the option to be played on the PC over the consoles then that's going to cripple it. I did some research there and I cannot find any data to suggest the sales figures per format. Just that there are 925K sales at last count, and 60% of these are for the Xbox One. That's 555k sales by m count. That's pretty bad for a "Big Title". Even Super Mario 3D world sold 2.17 Million copies.

I don't want to assume, but I think Microsoft is in trouble here. With the poor sales figures and the constant change in polices the Xbox one is clearly the weakest of all three consoles at the minute.

I know that's why you didn't mention it, but I wanted to bring it up, because all the hype surrounding it pushed it as a system seller, and that's clearly what Microsoft wanted it to be. But its ability to do that is crippled by the fact that you can play it on a PC that you've had sitting around for five years.


I am actually surprised that the Xbone is doing worse than the Wii U, though. Just because everyone harps on how badly Nintendo is screwing up with their console, and yet no one is even mentioning the other next-gen systems. I guess the Wii U has been out longer, did it factor that in?