Xbox One Dropping Price to $399 – Kinect Not Included
Xbox has announced that they are dropping the price of the Xbox One from $499 to $399 in order to compete with the Playstation 4, which has always been sold at that lower price point, but they are removing the Kinect from the box. When it comes to accessories, apparently that $100 audio/video sensor that made YOU the controller, is no longer worth including in the core package. For years, it’s been touted as the future of gaming and of entertainment management in the home. To be clear, Xbox isn’t dropping the peripheral altogether, but it does seem like they’ve come to a realization. With competition from television manufacturers making Smart TVs and a plethora of other gadget makers fighting for dominance over how you manage your non-gaming media, the ability to scroll through your Netflix queue with a wave of your hand wasn’t enough to keep it around any longer. Sure, the ability to watch and manage your media is still apart of the Xbox One design, but you’ll just do it with the controller as most people were likely doing it, even with a Kinect attached to their console. And if you are one of those players who enjoy using the Kinect to play those Kinect-friendly games, the original isn’t going away. Dance dance dance to your heart’s content.
So why the backtrack on the Kinect? Well, it apparently comes down to being competitive price-wise. And since Xbox valued the Kinect at $100, it was a matter of simply removing it to level the playing field against the PS4. The big question is whether gamers will actually miss the Kinect functionality. Most hardcore gamers I know do not play games that are Kinect dependent. They practically become one with their handheld controllers the moment they start playing Titanfall or Grand Theft Auto 5. There’s no hand waving or hopping around to make things happen on the screen and that’s the way they like it. Kinect (and Playstations Motion controllers like it) was Xbox’s way of breaking into the deluge of casual gaming that Nintendo dominated back in 2006 when the Wii debuted to voracious players of every age, race, sex, and orientation. Yes, there was a time not so long ago that Nintendo ruled the console wars. Less than one E3 Expo later, Xbox and Sony were rolling out their own versions of wireless, physically engaging interaction that took button mashing out of the picture.
But fast forward to 2014 and even the hottest games on the Wii U are less about flailing your arms around and more about pressing buttons and D-pads to bring the smackdown to your friends. It’s not that the controller-less age of gaming is dead. It’s just not ready for prime time yet. And that’s what dropping the Kinect seems to be telling us. Yes, it’s about being competitive on the shelves, but right now, unless you’re a preteen who likes dancing to Katy Perry in front of your big screen TV with your friends, the high end current gen consoles mostly belong to hardcore gamers ready to immerse themselves into gaming worlds that let them unleash hell in a mech or drive a high end sports car at breakneck speeds… without pretending to hold a steering wheel for hours on end.
The new Kinect-less Xbox One will be available for $399 everywhere starting June 9th. You can pre-order it from the official site now!
Will the new lower price of the new Xbox One prompt you to get one? Or do you have one with the Kinect already? And if you do, do you ever use it?
Image: Xbox
