Microsoft Confirms Xbox One Will Function Without Kinect

[cimerians]

lol....they fear losing install base here in the States that's why they changed their minds.

 

On the tablet front, they may never gain ground with Apple though as the MS Surface tablet has tanked for the most part.

I still can't find nearly the amount of apps (and stable ones) on my windows phone than I can find on a droid and of course the iPad.

 

They will still get buyers no question but they don't want to lose any on the console race.

 

It's their last hurrah as many have flocked to Linux and Macs as well. Although I still personally use a Windows PC.

[godslabrat]

lol....they fear losing install base here in the States that's why they changed their minds.

 

On the tablet front, they may never gain ground with Apple though as the MS Surface tablet has tanked for the most part.

I still can't find nearly the amount of apps (and stable ones) on my windows phone than I can find on a droid and of course the iPad.

 

They will still get buyers no question but they don't want to lose any on the console race.

 

It's their last hurrah as many have flocked to Linux and Macs as well. Although I still personally use a Windows PC.

 

I really wonder what the long-term comfort level at MS is like these days. Their three flagship products are Windows, Office, and Xbox. All three have done a lot to drive away once loyal customers. MS can't really get a solid game plan together for the phone or tablet markets. Granted, they're the market share leader in a lot of areas, but you could argue they have nowhere to go but down, and down they are headed... Albeit very slowly and cushioned by a mountain of cash.

 

If I were at the top of MS's food chain, I'd be asking myself what the company could do to grow, that didn't involve milking established products from 10, 20, and 30 years ago. And I'm not sure I'd have an answer.

 

They do make some awesome mice, tho.

[Hatta]

I remember when console manufacturers used to promise things gamers wanted before the release, and disappointed gamers by the actual release. Now they threaten us with things we don't want, and make us happy when they don't deliver on those threats.

[cimerians]

I really wonder what the long-term comfort level at MS is like these days. Their three flagship products are Windows, Office, and Xbox. All three have done a lot to drive away once loyal customers. MS can't really get a solid game plan together for the phone or tablet markets. Granted, they're the market share leader in a lot of areas, but you could argue they have nowhere to go but down, and down they are headed... Albeit very slowly and cushioned by a mountain of cash.

 

If I were at the top of MS's food chain, I'd be asking myself what the company could do to grow, that didn't involve milking established products from 10, 20, and 30 years ago. And I'm not sure I'd have an answer.

 

They do make some awesome mice, tho.

 

I really don't know about what they will plan to do down the road.They like to mimic things so they will blend in with whatever anyone else does.

 

They did hire a veteran Steam employee so maybe they will turn the Xbox One into a digital only device years down the road.

 

Former Steam boss Jason Holtman lands at Microsoft

http://www.gamesindu...ds-at-microsoft

Edited August 15, 2013 by cimerians

[Lord Helmet]

I don't think this is MS listening to their customers...I think they are seeing abysmal pre order numbers far below what they were projecting, and it's likely they know Sony is doing quite well with PS4 pre orders. That's my gut feeling. Either way it's been too little too late for me for quite some time. I preordered a PS4 ages ago. Buh Bye MS!

[Tickled_Pink]

I think they've 'shown their hand' and their long-term plans. I don't think any of these policy reversals will last... once they make sure the xbone isn't dead on arrival they can start sneaking these unwanted policies back in. They spent millions developing their kinect tracking software and the online check-in/drm system for retail. Can't see them ignoring all of the potential revenue from kinect-fed advertising and publisher revenue on used games for long...

 

Well, that's good to hear. Will be waiting a couple of years before picking up a next gen anyway. So Ill have a chance to see how things pan out first.

[keilbaca]

Well, that's good to hear. Will be waiting a couple of years before picking up a next gen anyway. So Ill have a chance to see how things pan out first.

 

Yeah, I'm with him on this. There's not a single game that interests me to want me to drop that kind of cash on a new console.

[godslabrat]

I think they've 'shown their hand' and their long-term plans. I don't think any of these policy reversals will last... once they make sure the xbone isn't dead on arrival they can start sneaking these unwanted policies back in.

 

This is possibly the best reason to hope for the One to crash and burn. A lot of people are saying that MS listened to their customers, acted accordingly,and this should be rewarded. I understand that point of view... but ultimately I'd like to further reward companies who didn't try to dick me over in the first place.

 

I think it's important to send a message to the industry that wholesale anti-consumer policies won't be tolerated. Try that, and you won't just lose some sales here and there, it will sink you. You'll lose everything.

 

Look, I hate to be like this. NORMALLY, I'm that guy who says "Hey, play what you like, I don't care. The console wars are behind me. I don't need to hate on a faceless corporation." But this is different. I'm not rooting for Nintendo or Sony to win because I think they're just awesome, I'm rooting for them to bury MS because what MS did was so offensive, we consumers owe it to ourselves to not let it stand. We shouldn't ever let it be thought that MS's plan could have gone better "if we'd done a better job of communicating" or "if we'd waited for better technology". This needs to be remembered as a mistake that can't ever be made again.

[DaytonaUSA]

Couldn't have said it any better godslabrat. I always own all consoles in the long run. Heck, I'm a sega/Nintendo/Sony guy and I'm playing sw battlefront 2 on my Xbox original right now. As long as I have fun that's all that matters.

 

But I won't be buying an Xbox one. Period. I don't care what games come out, they've lost my business for at least one generation. I won't tolerate a company that tried to get away with murder and thinks its ok now because they said "oops! Just kidding!".

Edited August 17, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[Starscream]

This is possibly the best reason to hope for the One to crash and burn. A lot of people are saying that MS listened to their customers, acted accordingly,and this should be rewarded. I understand that point of view... but ultimately I'd like to further reward companies who didn't try to dick me over in the first place.

 

I think it's important to send a message to the industry that wholesale anti-consumer policies won't be tolerated. Try that, and you won't just lose some sales here and there, it will sink you. You'll lose everything.

 

Look, I hate to be like this. NORMALLY, I'm that guy who says "Hey, play what you like, I don't care. The console wars are behind me. I don't need to hate on a faceless corporation." But this is different. I'm not rooting for Nintendo or Sony to win because I think they're just awesome, I'm rooting for them to bury MS because what MS did was so offensive, we consumers owe it to ourselves to not let it stand. We shouldn't ever let it be thought that MS's plan could have gone better "if we'd done a better job of communicating" or "if we'd waited for better technology". This needs to be remembered as a mistake that can't ever be made again.

 

So Rootkit was less offensive? Denying personal info was compromised for weeks before being forced to come clean? Removing features after purchase? Reaperman has been a voice of reason for months and yet is ignored.

Your rant was good, no doubt, but it's shallow based on the fact that you don't hold all companies accountable to the same measure. If you have cable, mobile phone, netflix you get bent over time after time and just sit back and say "thanks, can I have another?" Seriously, I was about to just say "Rock on broseph, fight the fight!!" but this stance is just wishy washy.

 

Is giving you info about a possible upcoming purchase and you not agreeing with it worse/better than saying nothing about an upcoming product? Patents pertaining to DRM for BR discs? By your standard of speculation and many others, you should only buy Nintendo. Afterall, they really haven't done anything bad. Worse case, they forgot you need games to play on video game systems.

 

MS has screwed the pooch on every single thing they have done in the past year, Xbox 360 excluded. It won't get better I'm sure but they have listened and changed products to try to accommodate. In the end, it will once again come down to GAMES, which is what this is all about. That is what usually decides what sells the best. I'm gonna get both, Xbone first, later on a PS4. Both companies treated me as expected over the years. I don't need to "stick it" to either one.

[godslabrat]

So Rootkit was less offensive? Denying personal info was compromised for weeks before being forced to come clean? Removing features after purchase? Reaperman has been a voice of reason for months and yet is ignored.

 

All those things piss me off, but I would say yes, they are less offensive than what MS tried. I'm no fan of Sony either, and have no plans to buy a PS4... but MS didn't just take away features I bought (which is BAD!) but they actively advanced an agenda to take away our consumer rights. Taking away our rights trumps violating the ones we currently have.

 

And yes, I'm thinking it's Nintendo only from here on out.

[Video]

There's a difference between "will function without" and "will function when turned off" though.

 

If I have to have the kinect physically plugged into the system to use the system, I'm not interested. I only tolerated it on the 360 (barely) because it was an unneeded accessory piece and it sits in the box in the corner for the most part, till I get the next game that will amuse me for a week.

 

If they make a model of the system that doesn't even have the kinect included (which should cost closer to $300, according to microsofts excuses for the Ones high price) I'd think about the system.

 

Then again, it still has 3GB less ram than the PS4 so...

[Reaperman]

I really wonder what the long-term comfort level at MS is like these days. Their three flagship products are Windows, Office, and Xbox. All three have done a lot to drive away once loyal customers.

 

Weird question--what'd office do wrong? I've had 2013 for some time (got it through a microsoft promo for $10) and it appears to be better than 2010. Ribbon's a bit annoying, but only on the products I already knew well--on the others it's a real time saver.

 

Even 365, which outwardly sounds like a bad deal, but with 99.9% uptime guarantee and even MOSS hosting(!) it's really hard to touch it for small business. I can see why they got rid of SBS now. I keep trying to convince the wife's work that they need to get rid of their single-rack setup--they really don't have the resources to deal with it, and I'm sure their service contract is a helluva lot higher than 365.

Edited September 7, 2013 by Reaperman

[godslabrat]

Weird question--what'd office do wrong? I've had 2013 for some time (got it through a microsoft promo for $10) and it appears to be better than 2010. Ribbon's a bit annoying, but only on the products I already knew well--on the others it's a real time saver.

 

Even 365, which outwardly sounds like a bad deal, but with 99.9% uptime guarantee and even MOSS hosting(!) it's really hard to touch it for small business. I can see why they got rid of SBS now. I keep trying to convince the wife's work that they need to get rid of their single-rack setup--they really don't have the resources to deal with it, and I'm sure their service contract is a helluva lot higher than 365.

I've had to walk my company through the transitions from Office 2003 to 2007, and then again from 2007 to 2010. I'm about ready to watch the next transition to Office 2013.

 

Each time, it's been painful for a number of reasons. Ribbon, yes, it's annoying. It was change for the sake of change, and in an environment when most employees are just using Word and Excel, it needlessly complicated them doing what they already needed to do. Next was the new file extensions like .docx and .xlsx, which the PC often saw as ZIP files and threw all sorts of fits if security settings weren't correct. The real frustration for me is that very little had actually been *improved* in the office package, in terms of performance and usability. I contend that we're at the point where basic productivity software doesn't need to actually add features as much as it needs to become more stable and faster. But then, Microsoft just did the typical pass-the-buck routine, expecting users to get better systems in order to run tons of features they didn't need. Oh, and the authorization methods are getting more annoying too.

 

Of course, most of my users can't put into those exact words why they don't want to upgrade Office. They simply tell me "They changed everything, and the old one worked just fine, and I'm tired of having to re-learn how to do what I already knew how to do." And they're 100% right.

 

This is really the big issue with a lot of Microsoft products-- Needless cosmetic redesigns.