With the announcement of the Kinect-less Xbox One, which will be shipping on Monday, June 9, there will now be another version of the Xbox One for you to choose from that’ll cost $100 less, bringing the console down from a pricey $499 to a slightly less pricey $399.
However, to leave a little sore spot in the minds of others, Microsoft has confirmed with a flat-out “no” that it will not refund early buyers of the Xbox One, which launched back in November last year. Stated through a spokesperson, Microsoft has also stated that the Kinect peripheral itself still remains a critical part of the company’s vision.
“No,” the spokesperson explained. “As with many first generation products, the offerings can be expected to change and evolve over time. Kinect remains an integral part of our vision. Xbox One is better with Kinect, making games, TV and entertainment come alive with premium experiences.”
Furthermore, Microsoft has revealed that it will release the Kinect as a standalone product later on in autumn this year, but it has yet to reveal any pricing information or a specific release date for the peripheral.
Microsoft’s director of programming for Xbox Live Lawrence “Larry” Hryb (aka “Major Nelson”) took to Reddit recently to express his thanks to all those who have given support to the company’s move of shipping a version of the Xbox One that doesn’t include the peripheral.
Microsoft’s corporate vice president of marketing and strategy Yusuf Mehdi explained that the decision to remove the Kinect from the Xbox One came about after a couple months of serious discussion. Microsoft officials then spoke to both publishers and developers alike over the past few weeks to update them of the change to the console.
“We have been working with our developers and game publisher partners for awhile trying to balance two goals,“ Mehdi explained. “One is the accessibility of the Kinect and the other is the desire for customers to onboard to Xbox One. They want both, a large audience of users and the best features. We feel this vision is balance the best of those goals.”
The Kinect-less Xbox One will start shipping on Monday, June 9 for $399, and it’ll include everything that’s been in the boxed package prior to the announcement (minus the Kinect of course).
[ Eurogamer ]