According to Microsoft’s corporate vise president Phil Harrison, now that consumers have the option to buy a Kinect-less Xbox One it could mean to lead up to more games being developed for the console itself, now that it doesn’t cost the additional leg on top of the arm.
In speaking with TotalXbox about the announcement of the Xbox One now going Kinect-less, Harrison claimed that the result would be a “virtuous cycle” between the developer and the consumer; as more Xbox Ones are bought it will spur on the development of more games for the console, which would then result in more consoles being bought, and thus more games being developed…the chain reaction goes on.
“Last week we made a very significant announcement about giving gamers a choice, a choice about how they want to enter the Xbox One ecosystem, by offering them a version of Xbox One both with and without Kinect,” Harrison told TotalXbox. “And fundamentally that is good for opening up the Xbox One ecosystem – the more consumers who buy Xbox One, it’s a virtuous cycle for more developers to make and more consumers to play games, and that is what we’re committed to achieving and continuing.“
However, even with a Kinect-less variant of the Xbox One, Harrison insists that Microsoft is still committed to the Kinect peripheral.
“But we remain committed to Kinect as the premium way to experience the Xbox One vision,” he added. “Over 80 per cent of Kinect Xbox Ones are active, over 120 voice commands are issued per day on average by all users of the console, so when you have this premium experience that is where the Xbox One comes alive.“
The head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, recently explained that removing the Kinect was due in part to giving consumers a choice of whether they won’t the console by itself or included with the peripheral. As it also turns out, the Kinect could have been an Xbox One built-in feature.
The Kinect-less Xbox One will start shipping on Monday, June 9 for $399 – $100 less than its Kinect-included counterpart. The package will include everything that’s been in the box prior, just minus the Kinect.
[ TotalXbox ]