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June 9 you can get a Kinect free XBox One for $399.99.
But Microsoft said that the XBox One would always come with the Kinect. So they are changing there policy, again. ;)
We'll see how this effects sales.
This... is very good news. But extremely surprising. I must say I was not expecting it. I wonder why - usually such major decisions are... difficult to come to for a company like Microsoft, especially when they've taken such a hard stand in the past. Any reason given beyond the article's statements?
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So I can have an Xbone without installing a surveillance camera into my living room? Cool.
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While I am all for this, and anything that looks like Microsoft is performing upper manangement house cleaning (now if they'd just fire the guy who came up with Windows 8), This and the related price drop smells a bit of desperation.
PS4 is currently outselling XBoxOne by a comfortable margin, and obviously Microsoft is trying to make up ground by reversing some of their more disliked policies. But why announce this now instead of waiting a month and reveal it at E3 where it would make a bigger splash?
All this did was give Sony a heads up to do something like cut PS4 down to a 350 price point. Which they would be taking a loss on but current market numbers show them making up the loss in software sales.
If it wasn't for their stable of software properties, I'd almost say they are on the ropes and are starting to struggle to get off them.
someone just blinked. Currently playing 360 and biding my time waiting on Dragon Age Inquisition. Once that comes out and the librabries for both systems expand i will make my final decision but from everything ive heard PS4 is the better system for me
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While I am all for this, and anything that looks like Microsoft is performing upper manangement house cleaning (now if they'd just fire the guy who came up with Windows 8), This and the related price drop smells a bit of desperation.
PS4 is currently outselling XBoxOne by a comfortable margin, and obviously Microsoft is trying to make up ground by reversing some of their more disliked policies. But why announce this now instead of waiting a month and reveal it at E3 where it would make a bigger splash?
All this did was give Sony a heads up to do something like cut PS4 down to a 350 price point. Which they would be taking a loss on but current market numbers show them making up the loss in software sales.
If it wasn't for their stable of software properties, I'd almost say they are on the ropes and are starting to struggle to get off them.
Sony and Microsoft are in radically different financial positions. Sony reported a 1.2 Billion, yes Billion dollar loss with a projection of another 500 million dollar loss for the incoming year as well. That makes five out of the last six years Sony has reported a loss (will be 6 out of 7 next year). This is with Sony liquidating its stock holdings in Square Soft / other Japanese companies as well as selling ownership of buildings around the world. Sony's credit rating was downgraded by Moody's to junk status btw. Sony simply can not afford to sell at a loss atm. Sony is hoping to eventually turn things around with Smartphones, Imaging, and Gaming as areas of growth.
Microsoft on the other hand announced for the last quarter a gross margin of 14 Billion dollars with a positive net income of five and half billion dollars after all expenses including R&D were factored in.
So I can have an Xbone without installing a surveillance camera into my living room? Cool.
The Xbox One works without the Kinect plugged in. That has been the case since the console's release. You never needed to install a surveillance camera in your living room if you didn't want to.
Not that the Kinect is a surveillance camera. That's a pretty silly way to describe something that records practically nothing and streams nothing online.
Yeah Microsoft can afford to take a hit and Sony can't that's for sure. It's a matter of division success and growth. Gaming is a Cash Cow for Sony right now the rest of the company is hurting, and hurting bad. Technically Sony is already selling the PS4 at a small loss but supposedly making up for it in software sales.
Microsoft on the other hand is rolling in it thanks to their other successful divisions, primarily software sales. Their weak division right now is hardware, from what I've read specifically the Surface is bombing compared to other mobile platforms. Xbox had a relatively weak start due to very bad marketing and policy decisions. They can come back if they play their cards right, and cutting the mandatory kinect is a first step at that.
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So I can have an Xbone without installing a surveillance camera into my living room? Cool.
But they will still bust into your internets and have you cyber-hanged for calling it the XBone!
I wonder if Microsoft finally got around to asking producers, 'Hey, how many of you guys are actually gonna use that Kinnect we added?' and were saddened by the deafening sound of cricket chirps. I'm sure some folks were planning to do it, but it's an added expense, codding features to work with the Kinnect when a controller will do the job - especially if that game is multi-platform and you needed to code for the PS4's (somewhat irritating) touch controller too.
It's one of the reasons the WiiU is struggling - a of companies don't wanna play with the giant TV controller. And Nintendo doesn't seem to be trying very hard to entice them.
Still, one less hurdle to a One joining the WiiU and PS4 on my giant electronic game stand...now it just needs five exclusives I actually want and I'll start thinking about it.
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So I can have an Xbone without installing a surveillance camera into my living room? Cool.The Xbox One works without the Kinect plugged in. That has been the case since the console's release. You never needed to install a surveillance camera in your living room if you didn't want to.
Not that the Kinect is a surveillance camera. That's a pretty silly way to describe something that records practically nothing and streams nothing online.
Well, Scott. After some research: Microsoft originally (after showing it in June 2013) said it would not be possible to use the Xbone without Kinect. Furthermore, the console would connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours, or you couldn't use it, which would give it a complete, up to date data pipeline. This was changed before launch in November due to public outcry. They made a patch that would remove these restrictions. So far so good. It could be possible to play without sending your data to Microsoft. However, for all those who use it with the internet connection? Microsoft SAYS you can "pause" the Kinect system. Apparently, you can turn it off completely - meaning it doesn't work as a controller anymore. That, of course, doesn't mean you have any idea whether it records you or your conversations. Microsoft SAYS none of your data will leave your console without your explicit permission - but that's taking them at their word, and as far as I can see, there is little reason for that, especially considering their previous stances. Some links for you:
LinkLink
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Microsoft is coming for you, sissyl....
I had a good chuckle at the announcement.
Nice to see they're actually figuring out what consumers want, but it was amusing how totally adamant they were about Kinect coming with the Xbone and how it was an integral part of the Xbone experience.
Yeah... not so much (that every intelligent person already knew). This will easily be the lead-selling SKU.
Microsoft is coming for you, sissyl....
No, it isn't. I won't buy a kinect. Problem solved.
Isnt the kinect (assuming you need it for the tv voice feature?) one of the main features of the xbox1? Are the exclusives that much of a selling point? Doesnt the PS4 have better graphics etc and based on my needs the exclusive games that came out in 2013-14 for the PS3 were better than xbox360?
Whether something is recording or not... That is truly a difficult question to answer. It isn't as if the software is open-source. And you know, the terahertz airport scanners, the ones they solemnly promised could never send the image data anywhere else? Turned out they had a special mode that allowed dumping of the stored images via the net, IIRC. Funny how that worked out, hmmm?
To be perfectly clear on this, and to reiterate what the links are saying: It's not just my idea that the Kinect can be used as a surveillance camera. Various civil liberty organizations have reacted too, notably from Germany and Australia. GCHQ, the UK's counterpart to the NSA, has at some point considered using it as a surveillance system. We have no idea whether they decided to act on it or not. We have no idea if the NSA considered it, or are using it or not. What we do know is that it has facial and voice recognition algorithms, and that Microsoft was adamant that the Xbox One be used with the Kinect online. Why would they decide such a thing? Why would it even matter to them what control system their customers preferred to use, to the point that they didn't want ANY alternative? Sure, they backed down, but there had to be a reason for that original decision. At this point, you could, I guess, motivate it by "they are auteurs and can't stand the idea that anyone playing on their system gets less than their intended vision for what playing should be like on an Xbox"... but Microsoft hasn't really given us reason to think so by any other decisions they've made. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong here. The fact is that the NSA has a very wide-spread presence, only some of which has been detailed by the Snowden leaks, but that has been enough to quite clearly indict most of the various high profile companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft. Those companies are still trying to let the state allow them to disclose how their cooperation with the NSA works, which isn't going to happen.
You could also add to this the fact that the UK politicos wanted so very much to be able to install cameras in peoples' homes a few years ago. It was claimed that "this would ONLY EVER be used for the ABSOLUTE WORST families in Britain", and could be used, among other good things, to make sure the children got put into bed at the proper hour. The uproar was enough to cause them to back off. Yes, the powers that be WANT SO DESPERATELY to have always-on cameras and microphones in people's houses. That they try various ways to get this should surprise nobody.
You don't need to be paranoid to change your world-view to accomodate new data. Not doing it is stupid.
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Microsoft is coming for you, sissyl....No, it isn't. I won't buy a kinect. Problem solved.
It's adorable that you think you have to actually *buy* a kinect for it to be able to track your every movement.
I mean that is just the cutest little thing I've ever heard!
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Microsoft is coming for you, sissyl....No, it isn't. I won't buy a kinect. Problem solved.It's adorable that you think you have to actually *buy* a kinect for it to be able to track your every movement.
I mean that is just the cutest little thing I've ever heard!
Ummm, no. Someone else's Kinect will quite possibly be able to track me. If, you know, I am in that room. If not, and I don't buy one, I doubt it will record me. Cameras kind of need to see you to be able to see you, right?
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Technicalities.
Ummm, no. Someone else's Kinect will quite possibly be able to track me. If, you know, I am in that room. If not, and I don't buy one, I doubt it will record me. Cameras kind of need to see you to be able to see you, right?Microsoft is coming for you, sissyl....No, it isn't. I won't buy a kinect. Problem solved.It's adorable that you think you have to actually *buy* a kinect for it to be able to track your every movement.
I mean that is just the cutest little thing I've ever heard!
you're worrying me a bit here.
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XBOX Oracle will come with Fore-nect. It will predict subversive behavior and report it to Tom Cruise.
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Noooooooooooooooo!!!!oneone
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"Many Subs and Trolls knew what it was to have their couches jumped on on that day I can tell you."
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I'm more of a PS3 fan, but I do like the xbox controllers...
Not sure how I feel about this news. It's nice that they can compete on price but I can't help but feel sad about the Kinect. I was hoping to see some games that are high quality for it, and that's much more likely with a better install base of it.
I've not jumped on board yet, but I saw it as PS4 being better slightly for me, but xbone being better if the gf or other girls want to play
I imagine this actually has less to do with public perception of the kinect and more to do with the price point of the system as a whole. If you remove the kinect, it's now possible to sell it $100 cheaper. That $100 price difference between Xbone and PS4 is probably the largest factor of why the PS4 is leading in sales.
Oh, by the way, the fact that MS let people code stuff for the Kinect doesn't mean the code used in the Xbone or the Kinect is open source.
Oh, by the way, the fact that MS let people code stuff for the Kinect doesn't mean the code used in the Xbone or the Kinect is open source.
This is quite true by the definition of Open Source Software:
open source as a development model promotes a) universal access via free license to a product's design or blueprint, and b) universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone.
While the License for the SDK is free it most certainly does not allow for universal redistribution nor does it roll external developer improvements back in to the code base. And this is just the kinect SKD and toolkit for the Windows PC, in order for you to develop for the XBox you must have a separate SDK and tool kit which at certain levels Microsoft charges for. Easy to acquire? Yes. Open Source? No.
XBOX Oracle will come with Fore-nect. It will predict subversive behavior and report it to Tom Cruise.
And if you have a 3D printer, it can even print out robot police officers if it registers a crime being committed!
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Doesn't require the Kinect? Neat but still not getting anything from this new gen for at least a year or two. Always wait for the next version to have all the bugs worked out, for good interesting games to hit the market, and the price to drop. I'll keep playing my NES.
Lol, I am still having a good time on my 360 atm. Still on my buddy's XB One the UI is the only issue for removing the connect. I believe Microsoft will have a new UI shortly.
You can revert the dashboard by deleting the system updates apparently. Unfortunately, if you do that then there is a decent chance that there will be games that you may not be able to play, and you won't be able to connect to Xbox live at all until you reinstall the newer dashboard and updates.
Isnt the kinect (assuming you need it for the tv voice feature?) one of the main features of the xbox1?
Yes.
Are the exclusives that much of a selling point?
No, unless you really like Halo and/or Gears of War. (Then: Yes.) Historically, the Xbox has never had the number and variety of exclusives as its competitors. It likely never will.
Doesnt the PS4 have better graphics etc and based on my needs the exclusive games that came out in 2013-14 for the PS3 were better than xbox360?
Yes. This will very likely continue into the foreseeable future, if history is any indicator.
I'm surprised someone like an Amazon hasn't put together an interface for Xbox One that uses the Kinect for interaction with consumers that lets them walk through the showroom and then go up to the avatar of the salesman/saleswoman. When you move to that part of the "store" it shows you products and Kinects you (if you desire) to the appropriate support.
Ford or GM could do a virtual showroom and you can work out the specs for a model. It could know how much leg room you'd have in the back seat. Have a video chat with your salesman (who can link you up to your local dealership).
That sort of thing.
Losing the guarantee that folks will have the Kinect because it no longer always comes with the system would make ideas like that harder to sell to potential developers.