The Xbox One price drop isn't just to boost sales, says Microsoft

Engadget :
This morning, less than a year after Microsoft unveiled its Xbox One, the game console's price dropped from $500 to $400. How's Microsoft making up for the price difference? By removing Kinect, of course. The camera/microphone peripheral introduced halfway through Xbox 360's life cycle was a standard in every Xbox One sold since launch last November, but no longer. As of this June, a second option will exist on retailer shelves. A less expensive option. And Xbox marketing lead Yusuf Mehdi is all about that option:

[headwing45]

"We have 80-plus million Xbox 360 users today who want an Xbox One, and many of them tell us, 'For me, it's an affordability issue. I'm gonna get there, it's just a question of time. If you make it more affordable, then I'll upgrade faster.' So this is an opportunity to really make it easier for them to get there at their pace."

I love how they realize this SIX MONTHS AFTER RELEASE. Counting E3, they has pretty much a year to realize people didn't want Kinect and people aren't going to pay more because of it.

[4Sh0w]

BS. Liars, of course its purely about sales.

[LordMaim]

They wouldn't be changing course so radically, at such a great cost, if it weren't motivated by money.

[Eonjay]

Agreed.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

Of their lying man just because it's all for sales my friend!

[Mr Pumblechook]

"The Xbox One price drop isn't just to boost sales!"
Jimmy Reckon!

[osprey19]

See! Microsoft do something good and what the fans ask for and u call it bs.
then Sony lie to u all about specific game res/fps and u all forgive them. Bias.

[blackbeld]

"The Xbox One price drop is just to boost sales, says Microsoft"

Here I fix that for you Microsoft.

[Highlife]

@osprey oh come on this is a business not a charity. Like mattercornholio said if sales were flipped between ps4 and x1 you really think ms would have lowered the price out of the goodness of their heart so poor Johnny can afford one. Answer no. They need sales.

[amiga-man]

MS didn't do something good they are trying to put right all the things they did bad, they bought this onto themselves they don't deserve credit for fixing something that should never have done in the first place.

To be fair it is a step in the right direction but the simple fact is there is no difference between the consoles apart from one being more powerful,the sad thing for M$ is that for your money the more powerful console is made by Sony.

[SilentNegotiator]

Now instead of getting the console, camera, and two games, we can buy the system for a mere $50 less and buy the rest separately!

I'm convinced that this has nothing to do with money!
/s

[HammadTheBeast]

It's basically like when you go to a job interview and never mention money. They are trying to never mention sales, but we all know what its all about.

[Mr-Dude]

Just a question... what would happen if sony would announce a ps4 and vita bundle as counter reaction for say... like $499?

[ABizzel1]

"We have 80-plus million Xbox 360 users today who want an Xbox One, and many of them tell us, 'For me, it's an affordability issue. I'm gonna get there, it's just a question of time. If you make it more affordable, then I'll upgrade faster.' So this is an opportunity to really make it easier for them to get there at their pace."

Does that not translate into......."SALES".

I've always planned on getting a XBO once the DRM policies were removed, and Kinect wasn't required, but the price : performance ratio was off, and there really aren't many "next-gen" games I want right now on any console (InFamous & Mario Kart, .....).

However, this new SKU is exactly what I wanted to begin with, but the facts are this was all about getting more sales.

[RAWSTA]

Sit down troll and eat all the glory of xbox today lol

[Visiblemarc]

Yeah, I mean...

How could pricing not be about sales?

That is a very odd thing for them to claim.

[troylazlow]

I think this is a great move, don't get me wrong I love my Kinect and use it everyday, but I can see how it's not for everyone.

[t-hall785]

Of course its about sales...this is big business. the more people that have one, the more games they can sell to them. i thought we all understood this by now.

[mikeslemonade]

Just PR spin. You really think if it was selling well they would change their model 8 months from launch?

[TheSaint]

Agreed, they should have cared more about this sort of thing at the start.

[UltraNova]

Its all good MS, no need to lie even more, you did the right thing here for both the consumer and your Bank accounts just don't smear it with more BS.

Now I m more interested to see what Sony does in response...

Will they drop to 349? or will they test the consumers trust in the PS brand just like they did back in 2007 and fail?

Will they be proud about it and stay at 399 just to show MS they are not 1st because of the lower price? That would be a mistake. Price > Brand Name well...most of the time (see Apple's prices and sales).

They should focus on getting out there the message of why getting a PS4 over the xbox1 gets you more hardware, more quality games in their exclusives, better performing multiplats, PS+ free games and full gen support, unlike MS.

Plus they have Project Morpheus as well, but I suspect an MS-Facebook/Oculus partnership will not go unexploited and they certainly wont let Sony go at it alone you can be sure about that!(MS owns 4% of Facebook and now part of Oculus as well). E3 will be exiting.

One thing’s for sure, this will force Sony to be even more creative and competitive which means more for us!

[British_Knight]

Microsoft earned $24.52Billion in the second quarter, while Sony has been crippled by losing a little over a billion dollars. Money isn't a factor for Microsoft. The Xbox division breaks even or earns a modicum of revenue, that doesn't make an impact either way, for one of the top 5 most powerful companies in the world.

Xbox is a marketing tool for Microsoft. They're more interested in getting as many consoles in consumers' homes as possible to push the Microsoft brand (Windows), but they can't give them away for free. Remember what the Joker said, "If you're good at something never do it for free." Xbox One is a year or two away from scratching the surface of what it's capable of.

Microsoft has completely changed their vision for the system, from a software perspective, in a short amount of time. I don't cast that as a negative aspiration, but rather a sign of how powerful the system's architecture truly is. Lets see if Directx 12 and improved Kinect will make a difference. At the end of the day, it's more about the games themselves. More exclusives can help and better PR can help as well.

[gazgriff2k12]

flip flop flip flip flop1

[Ju]

'Will they drop to 349?'...why would they lower the price for the stronger machine over the XO? The XO is still overpriced - IMO even more now that you get no advantage over the PS4 but the lower speced box for actually the same price.

I rather think consumer who haven't made a decision yet see two console @ 399 - and when asking what's the difference and you get the answer "well, one runs 1080, the other don't" (if in fact you find a non biased clerk) which one would you pick?

The $399 XO is great for people who wanted one in the first place but it yields no advantage over the PS4.

[PX54]

How does removing the Kinect from the box to make it cheaper constitute a 'price-drop'?
Realistically isn't it the same price, just without the Kinect...?
There's no price-drop here, they're just giving the customers the option (which should have always been there) to buy the console without the Kinect.

[Pain]

" The Xbox One price drop isn't just to boost sales, says Microsoft " and Girls showing there boobs on the internet isn't for attention.. ether..

[UltraNova]

@JU

You see we have a Paradox here.

Meaning the question here should be why didnt MS drop to 350 not Sony, effectively giving them a fighting chance when they clearly have the inferior product and now without the Kinect, the inferior product with nothing to differentiate it from the competition. They essentially turned the one into a less powerful ps4.

Now to my comment, no matter what at the same price the ps4 will bleed some of its sales to the xbox at least in the US. That's irrefutable. At Sony they wont/shouldn't allow that, its their 1st chance in 8 years to get a win in the US where MS was outselling them 2:1.

By dropping 50 bucks they can at least sustain their current sales, keeping them ahead of MS, again in the US at least and like it or not shareholders decide based on US performance first, the world later.

Business wise they need to deal the competition the final blow, not allow them room to breath.

[MasterCornholio]

Just a question. If sales were flipped (meaning the Xbox One outselling the PS4 by a huge margin) would Microsoft drop Kinect?

Answer is no.

[Jazz4108]

They had two skus last gen with the pro and arcade so they might have. This does not seem that car off.

[Charybdis]

It could simply mean xbox devision is finally taking a more consumer/gamer friendly approach. First kinect needed to be connected to xb1 for the x1 to work 1,consumers disagreed , kinect no longer needed to be connected to xb1. Then consumers wanted kinect less bundle, kinect less x1 bundle announced before E3.

If sales were flipped (in the darkest timeline), but consumers still wanted kinect less version would Microsoft drop kinect.

Answer- well maybe its another opportunity for them to make more money

[Utalkin2me]

@Jazz4108

The arcade model was almost 2 years later. And it was just there for people to buy to replace their pro model that keep burning up. As my friend did 3 times before wising up.

[MysticStrummer]

"this is an opportunity to really make it easier for them to get there at their pace"

…which means… a boost in sales.

[-Foxtrot]

Why are they lying, do they think we are stupid or something. It's a tad insulting to our intelligence to be honest.

People keep trying to spin it like it's some gift to gamers, something Phil Spencer has done for us when really it's about boosting sales for Microsoft as a whole since they are falling behind. If the Xbox One was doing better then PS4 then I highly doubt they would be doing this bundle.

[Aleithian]

Agreed. And this is why, even if they come out with great exclusives, I won't buy XBOX - I refuse to trade with a company that routinely insults me and tries to manipulate my gaming experience and life (DRM, involvement with PRISM, etc etc). Sony eff'd up last gen, but they've made the effort to recognize their errors and correct them.

EDIT: @Foxtrot.

It's psychology. Many people lack the capacity to engage objectively with reasons to some degree, and they lack the self-awareness to recognize that fact or to respond to those who point it out. Hence, they view reasons through a lens of allegiance and emotivism. No fact speaks for itself - it speaks only to those who approach it with objective consciousness. Neither of us are fanboys - we are responding to the state of the industry. If MS reversed course and demonstrated their trustworthiness for several years, I'd happily trade with them. But they haven't. Sony has.

Cheers.

[-Foxtrot]

@Aleithian

It's why I don't understand why you try to point it out to people on here for example your called a Sony fanboy....it's not about being a fanboy it's about judging a company based on their past actions and putting what they are doing in the present in perspective.

I'm not a fanboy, I love the look of the games on the system like Dead Rising 3, Quantum Break, Halo 5 etc but the problem is Microsoft are a slimy company who'll do anything to boost sales. While someone like Sony who has been doing this for 20 years this December know what gamers want. Yeah they've made mistakes, they aren't perfect they want money just like any other company but they've fixed their mistakes straight away and tried to get money by pleasing us as much as they could.

Look at the whole Phil Spencer thing, people keep saying I'm "hating" on him but it's not really him I'm annoyed at, it's the Microsoft fans who make him out to be the messiah and how he's going to fix everything JUST because he's a gamer. It's why I keep mentioning the little "front" speech and how Phil is just a pawn in Microsofts plan to win gamers trust back.....sad thing is it seems to be working. I mean yeah they'll announce games at E3, this is fantastic news but it's not because they are "for gamers" like super duper Phil Spencer says....it's just because they want to boost sales

As I've said above if the Xbox One was doing way better in sales compared to the PS4 then they wouldn't really bother about games and would most likely dedicate E3 to Kinect, Sports, TV, Apps, the obvious games like Gears of War and Halo 5

[4Sh0w]

No just no.

True, this is a straight up BS lie from micro.

However everything else you said is fanboy rhetoric. If I bought a console strictly on morals and from companies who don't lie, I wouldn't own a console ever.

I've been gaming since there was games just about, I was reading gaming news straight out of the old "Nintendo Power" magazines. I read lies then when exec's, devs, journalists said things they knew were never true. I can say without a doubt neither company holds a higher moral ground, they are just full of people with different viewpoints and that make different mistakes. What makes those mistake MORE or LESS important to us/individuals is simply a emotional attachment to one or the other. Hell some many times those small *white lies are worst than clear lies but not really hurting anybody lies like this because those lies are purposely made to impact sales of the other brand by providing factually incorrect data but this is about micro and I'm not here to regurgitate history. Sometimes we all get caught up in it, but I can tell you gaming has been so much pleasurable when I leave out the bias and just enjoy what I enjoy.

[Ron_Danger]

XBox 360: better with Kinnect

XBox One: better without Kinnect

Which is it Microsoft?

[MastaMold]

@foxtrot, MS do think gamers are stupid and it all started with their Drm for the Xbone and forced kinect they reversed the Drm and now kinect with every Xbone and how do gamers react, "yea we won as gamers they did what we wanted " that is BS and this shows that MS is a joke. If true gamers think that MS did all these 180s for the industry then you need to cone back to reality cause they did this to boost sales and nothing else. If people actually believe this no wonder the gaming community isn't taken seriously this also goes to gaming journalist too.

[Kribwalker]

All you ponies kept yelling kinect less sku kinect less sku. Well here is a kinect less sku and you all start crying about something else, and yet, when sony blatantly lies about not only FPS but also resolution you ponies go and say it was just a mistake. Just like how sony lies about Killzone multiplayer. 1080p is 1920x1080. 960x1080 is interlaced. P stands for solid image. 960x1080 is not solid image. Yet sony never lied. You guys are helpless
#firstworldproblems #idiots #PSN4G

[nypifisel]

@4Sh0w

It's not about morals. It's about doing an educated purchase judging by historical information available to you as a consumer.

Microsoft and Sony both is in this to earn money of course. It's how you approach this that differentiate the two companies. Sony strongly believed that it could earn more money by pleasing the consumer, MS thought they could strong arm them into something that fundamentally was set up to earn the company maximum amount of profit out of the Xbox branch. They only changed due to outcry, not because they listened to fans but because they failed to do as they initially wanted, that behaviour shouldn't be rewarded. The Xbox One needs to be a failure even if MS show resolute intentions to change.

If people actually started to educate themselves more they would've seen how this would play out 4 years ago. MS have never done any long term investment in the gaming branch developing its in house studios or taking any financial long term risk to secure customer satisfaction that way. This is also the reason why I think buying exclusives the way MS does is just as insulting since it's also a sign of this and why I would never buy an Xbox, and don't think anyone should do.

It's about corporate nature at large here, Sony has never seemed as disingenuous as a company as MS has, and the hubris that was the PS3 was a brainchild of a really difficult man (Ken). But Sonys problem was never that of them not investing creatively in games. They should rightfully be rewarded with our money and MS simply should not.

To judge MS harshly even though they change their policies has nothing to do with fanboyism, it's about not promoting bad behaviour. The Xbox One simply wasn't designed for you as a gamer. And no policy reverse will change this fact. I would still regard anyone buying into this short term, an apologist.

[DragonKnight]

@Kribwalker (such a perfect name for a baby): I assume you're talking about Watch Dogs. Can you prove that it was an outright lie, or a mistake the person who updated the website made? I'll wait.

[Ju]

I wouldn't say that. If they bring some nice exclusives and drop the price by another hundred to $299 I could see myself getting me one eventually - purely for those games. But I'm not in a rush. I got the better machine which runs the better 3rd party games already. Why would I switch?

[doolin_dalton]

So, when Sony makes mistakes (as you admit they've done) and reverses course to fix them, it's done to please gamers, but when MS does the same thing it's nothing more than a sales gimmick. Typical hypocrisy.

You're a classic apologist. You defend everything Sony does while blasting MS for doing the same. It's not hard to see why you're called a fanboy when you flip flop like you do.

You'll just look at anything MS does as "they are only doing it to boost sales". MS's E3 will be for gamers just like it's ALWAYS been. Haters like you simply find reasons to dismiss them while ignoring the substance. Only on N4G will anyone agree with the things you say.

[nypifisel]

@doolin_dalton

Sony never shifted course from gaming. Even though you can call the pricing of the PS3 consumer unfriendly, it doesn't mean they inherently were trying to shift from a gaming centric focus. They haven't because the Playstation branch have always been run by people who actually look at games as something more than a way to make money. Phil Spencer might be the only one in the whole Xbox division which also does this, Don Mattrick certainly didn't.

The whole hardware design of the Xbox One really shows how games never were the focus. They had shifted course, being this "one in all box" was more important thinking they would bring in a new sort of potentially larger customer base. That wasn't the case. The damage have already been done on the hardware though. Kinect, and underpowered compared to the competition. If you were to design the best games console you could, it wouldn't be made like the Xbox One. But that's because MS never wanted to do that, they wanted an entertainment box.

I'm not even sure you who you directed your comment to but be clear, I don't play games on consoles, I don't even own a TV. I'm exclusively a PC guy, and have been for 10 years. The last console I owned was the original Xbox.. Yep that one! This is what I've gathered from looking at the evidence as objectively as I can, and sure I might have a Sony bias, but that because they treated me in a way that I feel inclined they deserve to be promoted. Xbox One is a catastrophe, better luck next time.

[imt558]

Yeah, Microsoft, price cut isn't just to boost sales! It is HUGE slap in the face to early buyers of Xbone at launch!!!

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Unless you can find people who work for free , then it is about sales!

[Ginesis]

I was a believer in Microsoft's supposed "vision" they had for the Xbox One but as of yesterday I'm pretty much done dealing with this company. As a Day Oner I can't help but look at this like Microsoft have their early adopters a few good backshots.

You got me once Microsoft but never again! Good luck getting back those 80 million...just realize that of those 80 million a good majority of them bought multiple systems because of the RROD so I'd it really 80???

[PX54]

How is it a huge slap? It's a slight slap, but not a huge one.
It's a slap in the sense that early adopters were required to also purchase the Kinect, but realistically there's no price-drop taking place. If there was the Kinect would still be part of the console bundle. Basically they've just changed the bundle on sale from - Console + Controller + Kinect, to - Console + Controller. That's the only reason it's cheaper - they removed a peripheral. If you were to buy the XBO without the controller in the bundle it would likely be cheaper again.

[trenso1]

The bold face lie! No one wanted kinect and they really needed a sales push. With how it is selling compared to ps4 it is shocking that they dropped the price not even a year after launch. But now that kinect isn't mandatory devs will drop the support. Really they should have waited for the price drop to at least after this christmas. So by then most of the install base will have a kinect giving more reason to support it. but now that they are on par in price it will be interesting to see which one sells more, since the ps4 is still more powerful and so far is getting the better versions of some games. Or will Sony come around do their own price drop. Probably not.

[kneon]

I can't see sony dropping their price anytime soon unless they see a significant and lasting decline in sales.

[system22]

its true. im surprised they didn't do this at launch... then again, i think the more other things that people complained about got cut back, the kinects importance also scaled back.

[osprey19]

@highlife. I agree, this isn't a charity its a business to make the most money possible, Sony are in the same business, so y give them every benefit of the doubt when u all hate on Microsoft? They want ur money too. The best way to make money is to make ur consumers happy, Sony have done that with a good console, Microsoft once had the idiot that was mattrick at the reigns, ditched him, put a gamer in charge and set about making things better, he has started to do that yet u dnt seem to like that idea. I say its a good thing, its now the same policy as Sony, have a camera, dnt have to its ur choice. U and i both knw if u took over from mattrick and ur task was to build up sales of the xb1, u wud do the same thing.

[OrangePowerz]

80 milion users is also a joke, they sold 80 million with RRoD and having several units that people upgraded to like with the original 360 never having an HDMI port.

So they still think that consumers are idiot for claiming it's not about sales. Sure if they would be first they wouldn't drop Kinect. They can stop with their pretentious "it's for the fans". And what's with their fans who already bought one and had to pay for Kinect?

Every single 180 was for sales and not for their fans. Always online and DRM was rumoured since 2012 and people always said it was a stupid idea, yet they reverse it only after they got their ass handed over in the pre orders after the E3 and the same withKinect having to be plugged in.

Next up indie support, indies complained for years about needing a publisher amd yet that was also only reversed after E3.

Netflix being behind the pay wall was criticised since day one and only reversed now.

They do nothing for their fans and all they do is only for sales and nothing else. They must have gotten a beating in the April US sales.

Sony aren't saints and they are also in the business to make money, but they don't try to screw over people at every corner and at least their people seem to care about their customers.

[Codey47]

Yep, If you've known Microsoft as long as I have you'd be on first name terms.

And "Mikey" certainly knows how to get everything Backwards Ass.

[SuperBlur]

by their logic i would be part of their made up stats since i've once logged into a xbox with my hotmail account , i dont recall ever receiving a email asking me if i want a xbox one and for what reason haven't i gotten one by now.

[D3ATH_DRIV3R_777]

You deserved that bubble, well said.

[pyramidshead]

It is about sales. Apparently the NPD coming out on thursday shows Xbone dipping slightly under 100K sold with PS4 at a 2:1 lead in North America.

[doolin_dalton]

@orange

That's some of the most ridiculous fanboy drivel that's been spouted around here in a long time.

First of all, if any significant number of people bought multiple 360's, the software attach ratio would have dropped like a rock. After all, people wouldn't replace their games when they replaced their console. In reality, 360 had the highest attach rate, therefore proving your theory 100% wrong.

Like many others here, you're a Sony apologist. You dismiss every mistake they make by saying "they did it for the fans", while accusing MS of caring only about sales. Just because you WANT to believe that doesn't make it true.

MS has created numerous successful ann highly rated games over the past decade. How is that "not for the gamers"? Remember, you said they do NOTHING for their fans. If you want to believe that so you can continue your endless hate crusade, go right ahead. Xbox gamers know the truth, regardless of how hard you try to distort it.

The xbox One is outselling the 360 at the same point in it's life cycle. Just because it's not selling as well as the PS4 doesn't mean it's having it's ass handed to it. Of course, you can keep dreaming and believe that MS is desperate, and they were forced into this by your beloved Sony, but only on N4G will anyone agree with you.

[OrangePowerz]

@Doolin

Really? I had 3 360s myself and I know a lot of people who bought more than one either because they upgraded or because it broke and was out of warranty. But let me guess the usual response is that it`s just a few people I know and that doesn`t represent at all the general userbase. On the other hand I still have my launch original Xbox, launch GameCube, launch Dreamcast, launch PS2 and launch PS3 all in working condition.

As for attach ratio, what valid numbers do we have to validate that?

Sony apologist? Sorry but if Sony would have pulled the same that MS pulled last year I sure as hell would not have gotten a PS4. Hardcore Xbox fans just bended over, put down their pants and go into position to take it from MS with their DRM, online check in and mandatory Kinect. All of that was rocket science and so integral that it could not be reversed.

Numerous successful and highly rated games? In the top 50 metacritic list there are 5 games created by MS. 2 Forza, 2 Halos and Mass Effect. Games like Gears of War don`t count because all they did was give Epic money to get it exclusive and to publish the games, they had not been developed by MS. On the other hand if I do the same I get 11 with a lot more variety from all the different genres.

MS is desperate, they just sent their beloved Kinect to die. And Sony didn`t do it, the sales did it. If you face being outsold 2:1 even in your home country you are getting your ass kicked, because the US and UK had been the only real strong markets last gen where they had a good lead to the PS3. Not even the overhyped Titanfall that cost them a crap load of money to get exclusive couldn`t get them to outsell the PS4 in the US.

The last generation lasted also a lot longer compared to the previous one so people are more willing to upgrade for either of the new consoles.

And finally. Hardcore Xbox fans deserve what they get now. Playstation fans got a lot of grief last gen from them because Sony was arrogant, Sony removed the other OS option, Sony got hacked, PS3 versions have less grass and 360 version are much better because they load 3 seconds quicker, 360 doesn`t have to wait long for game installs. Those same 360 fans just ignore all the screwing over that MS wanted to give them, they ignore all the arrogance of MS. MS never once said any of the stuff of the X1 was a mistake all they always say is that people just don`t get the vision. They always spouted their BS about how the 360 failure rate is withing normal standards and those 360 fans eat it up. Where are those Xbox fans now complaining about the X1 install times or having to download mandatory patches that are several GB big? They believe the crap about cloud, how DX12 will make everything better and all the crap Mister X writes. The original Xbox was only abandoned because of nVidia (ignoring the fact that MS didn`t gave a toss about the 360 gamers in the last few years). I don`t pity the fools.

Normal Xbox fans that are skeptical towards MS and question their decisions are fine. But people who go around with their Sony apologist or "phony" crap can continue to bend over to MS because in 7 years they got a lot more crap fed from MS than what people got from Sony since the PS1 and I will continue to enjoy having them squirm and spin everything in their favor.

[yellowgerbil]

Well they also didn't spend that year proving the Kinects worth, how many games are kinect centered? or even use it in an integral way? 1, 2 maybe?
To all those that said with the Kinect in every box it would get support, there are like no games utilizing it, kinect sports is the only one I know of besides that dance karoke shovelware games ubisoft made.

[fr0sty]

It wasn't about sales, it was about our fans!

*and their money, which they have been holding on to more than we anticipated.

[Retroman]

"XBOX 1 price drop not for boosting sales"

oh' REALLY??
umm let me guess E3 right round the corner for boosting NEW games this year. yeah' i say that price drop was for boosting sales.

MS if you can't lie correctly get out of marketing business. that is what marketing all about lure un-expected consumers with a Fantastic lie.

[WilDRangeRrfc]

Yeah they could learn how to lie correctly off of Sony!! Got both systems selling PS4 to a friend game line up is horrendous my (2)DS4 thumbsticks are falling to pieces,the system gets warm and is loud,it has nice graphics but is hughely overrated,UI is plain and boring enjoy X1 far more better games and more fun online,disagree all you want this is my honest opinion,to single player focused games have no replay value although I did enjoy ISS I traded it in after 2 play throughs,people are blind and easily led by Sony

[cheetah]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[showtimefolks]

look i am a pro sony/ps4 but this is good news. I think most of us agree that $399 without kinect is the right move. Competition between sony and ms is a good thing

MS humbled sony last gen and made them make an competitive online service like xblive

sony pushed MS to do a lot of things right since E3 and now again. Along with that sony pushed MS to offer better content for xblive gold games

I for one can't wait to see what both have in store at E3 and moving forward.

#begamersnotfanboys#

[aerisbueller]

MS always starts 'listening to the fans' when they are against the ropes.

[n4rc]

Omg.. People.. Give your fkn heads a shake

He didn't lie.. People are trying to take one sentence out of context then ridicule the results..

Why the fk would you drop the price for anything but sales? He's simply saying they did it because many spoke to them about wanting a lower price point to jump on board..

Of course its about sales in the end.. But its not just to match or beat some other companies number.. Its about current customers asking for something..

All businesses run on money.. That is their sole motive.. Acting like it isn't makes you look like a naive kid..

But hey.. Ms killed fanboys main battle cries in a day, they gotta scramble for something else now to bitch about.. AMD we are scraping the barrel here

[kenshiro100]

Lol @ Microsoft.

It was about sales. Who are you fooling?

[Codewow]

New CEO has to make up for the greedy old CEO.

[ZombieKiller]

I don't know what's worse, them shoving Kinect down peoples throats so they're forced to pay for it, or their lies.

Funny. I actually thought for a second I might pick the XB1 up at a $399 tag but honestly, every time I see some article about Microsoft and how their policies change, and how they treat their customers, and I do a 180 away from the thing again. I want the xbox, but I don't want all this drama and bullshit that comes with it.
Maybe if they made the experience actually customizable to me rather than a version their wallets think is customizable to my experience, and I might consider. Then again, they'll just hide the damn auto-renewal feature on me for the ump-teenth time after I buy. Sorry but I'm good with my Playstation for now despite what your excuse for screwing gamers is.

[n4rc]

Ya.. How dare they listen to their customers? Such horrible treatment, free games and features people wanted... What assholes!

You gotta be trolling because I cant believe someone can actually think what you wrote. Lol

[ZombieKiller]

...Or the fact that you have 2 bubbles? Let me guess, your excuse is this is a Sony fanboy site like every other idiot with a bubble or 2.

How is ANY of what I mentioned classified as "listening to their customers"?

Secondly, how DOES Microsoft listen to their customers? That is NOT it by any means. Just because you release a policy that makes all of your fans FLOCK to the competition, then do a 180 with them, that's not listening to people, that's being scared of losing sales. The free games would have NEVER happened if they didn't have the competition doing it. Next you're gonna say that they give out better free games than Sony does, right?
I'm not trolling nimrod, I have an xbox. I'm simply venting the fact that I want an xbox one because I'm a gamer, but refuse because I hate Microsoft. I can't believe you actually think at all, judging by what YOU wrote.

[Christopher]

*cough*BS*cough*

Sony, MS, Nintendo... their primary goal? Make da money!

So, no, this is all about boosting sales to get a bigger market share so that third-parties won't abandon you or ignore you and so you can make more money on software sales.

This has everything to do about boosting sales.

To say otherwise? Is to tell us that DRM can't be reversed or that XBO isn't possible without Kinect.

Edit: Add to this that MS pretty much dropped support of the 360. If they don't boost XBO sales, those gamers are going to just leave and go to PS4. Again, this has everything to do about boosting sales. Everything.

[Aleithian]

They're dropping (or reducing) support for 360?

[HeavenlySnipes]

What have you seen them announce for that system?

Its not necessarily a bad thing but I'd hope Sony and MS would reduce support for the PS3/360 to improve the experience on current gen

[Christopher]

@Aleithian: They have no game support on the 360. Their focus is on XBO. So, yes, support is being dropped in some degree. It's primarily just third-party games going to 360 now.

Also note how this article is all about getting 360 games to move over to the XBO. They don't want to manage two gaming hardware pieces.

PS3 on the other hand has a ton of game releases coming out for it that are exclusive to the platform this year, even with the success of the PS4.

[4Sh0w]

@cgoodno
3rd party support wasn't going anywhere, #1 Although trailing ps4 it was still quite healthy as far as sales, so if I'm a 3rd party dev I'm not going to limit my potential sales unless sony pays me. #2 Micro has deep pockets to pay for more 3rd party AAA exclusives as they are doing now.

There a big difference between saying its complicated to reverse DRM(can't fix overnight) and saying it can't be done, which from listening to the entirety of interviews was what Major Nelson and others pointed out.

You are correct this is all about boosting sales

Well last year although Gears Judgement wasn't up to past standards it was good, then other fan favorite stuff like Fable Anniversary was well received but yes exclusive support is lower especially with X1 arrival but its been out a long time now, plus plenty good games to play with its library of xbox exclusives here and there and tons of multiplats of course still coming. Frankly micro has been beat up either way on that front when they allow great games like Titanfall, Project Spark, etc to come to 360 too. After TLOU I see all of sony's big games slated for ps4 too, sure they'll get indie stuff and some less popular titles exclusive but I think if its anything highly anticipated its going to ps4. I mean you either had these platforms a long time and played them to death to recoup your investment or you're buying cheap now with a vast library to choose from, so at least imo I don't see either company focusing on their next platform as a bad thing, hell E3 will be all about wii-u, ps4 and X1; everything else if even mentioned will be a side note type announcement.

[Christopher]

***There a big difference between saying its complicated to reverse DRM(can't fix overnight) and saying it can't be done, which from listening to the entirety of interviews was what Major Nelson and others pointed out. ***

I know it's a bit off topic, but I disagree with that comment they made as well.

Comparatively, "undoing" a process is pretty easy compared to creating that process in the first place.

They create a program flow that involves "DRM check". To remove it, quickly, on calls to that to get values, instead remove the calls and set the values you want to send to "verify" as DRM. Done. Very easy compared to the whole process of doing the whole DRM validation, which would be its own class structure.

Anyway, sorry for the slightly OT.

[OrangePowerz]

The Titanfall delay was a clear indication of how much they care about the 360 user base. I don't buy it that the game wasn't ready and had to be delayed on the 360 because of it, they never even.promoted the 360 version at all. It all poibts towards MS getting EA to release it later. Plus all we got last year was one Gears of War ge and that was it regarding MS supporting the 360.

[4Sh0w]

nah, its cool.

I see what you're say "comparatively" but that said building a whole platform with the idea that it was going to have online checks IS complicated and also I'm sure DRM was embedded in many unknown ways to ensure functionality, not sure how long after E3 they changed it but I bet it was a significant effort with a lot of late nights on their part.

[4Sh0w]

My bad, reply above.

[Godmars290]

There is a difference between how Nintendo Sony and MS went about making money though. Namely where the first two went about it by providing a product, which was generally a onetime purchase, MS has been leaning towards providing a service while controlling - profiting from all - interactions in between to produce an ongoing revenue stream. It shows in everything they've done from online support for the first Xbox to the DRM plans. Kinect itself was more about making money from advertisers, being an easily accessible market research network, than actually working.

But like their DRM plans which went belly up at E3, Kinect has now finally joined it. Maybe from those mistakes the Xbox brand can finally become similar to its competition, actually give customers something before looking for more money just to work, but I still have doubts.

[Christopher]

In general, MS has seen what Apple has done with their storefront and they badly want to copy it. I think that concept was heavily at play in designing the XBO and its storefront/online system.

Even on the OS side, they want to get people to use their store front so they can get a big of each profit without doing anything but providing the content.

I'm glad that this concept doesn't fare well with a lot of my fellow gamers. I've moved away from iOS myself for that reason alone to Android, where I am able to make more decisions, buy from more sources (HumbleBundle love here), and so on.

[doolin_dalton]

The 360 is in it's ninth year on the market. How many other consoles had significant exclusives released in their ninth year? How many PS2 exclusives were released in it's ninth year? Next year we'll find out how many PS3 exclusives Sony releases in PS3's ninth year.

This late in a console life cycle is always about third party support. As long as MS keeps making 360's, there will be plenty of games to play. That's how a console is supported, and how it's always been. Complaining about supposed "dropped support" without considering all the facts screams of fanboy insecurity. Of course, this is N4G so facts are usually irrelevant if they don't support Sony or bash MS.

[Christopher]

360 has been lacking exclusives for more than its 9th year. Let's not make it look like it suddenly became an issue. They've been lacking for the last 3 or so years easily.

[Kayant]

If it wasn't it would have been done time ago as fans have been calling for the option for a while and you won't have restated multiple times your belief in kinect as an integrated part of the system and that a kinectless option was never going to be an option.

April's NPD should be interesting.

[Volkama]

May and June's system updates should be interesting. A kinectless bundle must surely coincide with a fairly hefty interface revamp...

[Eonjay]

May NPDs can be called before April's. PS4 will win May by default. After that it gets interesting.

[Yo Mama]

Hahah. Yeah right.

While it's true that every company loves money. Sony and M$ operate totally differently from each other. If Sony were as bad as M$, they would have launched the PS4 with DRM and a camera before deciding to reverse course and remove it. It was the perfect opportunity to do so because their competition had included it. But they didn't. THEY ARE THE ONE WHO LISTENED to what the fans wanted and went the opposite direction, which meant they could sell the PS4 at an even lower price than planned. Not M$. They do what's best for them and react once they see gamers aren't going to put up with their shit.

Basically, MS are arrogant idiots that thought they could screw over gamers any way they wanted and that we would still buy their system because they were considered the market leader last gen, but they got burned. Now all the sudden, they're "all about the gamer" and "listen" to want people want? Give me a break!

[mcstorm]

Do you remember the price of the psv and memory card? Or the price and direction they took the ps3? To say Sony are not as bad as Microsoft is not true. All companys are as bad as each other.

Sony knew this time they could not afford the ps4 to have a bad start like the ps3 or psv and made changes to make sure this did not happen and also played it very safe too.

Microsoft had a vision and people did not like it so they are changing it to what people want. If you see that as a bad thing then its on you. For me I don't think they should sell the Xbox one without Kinect as it sets the console apart from the Wiiu and ps4 but only time will tell if sales start to pickup now people have a choice.

For me its the same with the Wiiu I don't think Nintendo should remove the Wiiu pad from the Wiiu.

[ThanatosDMC]

Mcstorm

Bluray was new tech. Sony cards is completely different from SD. 360 HDD is a case with a normal HDD.

[mcstorm]

@ThanatosDMC So its ok for Sony to do things but not Microsoft? Come on. Even before the PS3 came out Sony removed Backward compatibility then the SD slots, Then launched a new slim console with price drop, then removed other OS ect. Sony made lots of mistakes last gen and did the same with the PSV. Yes the PSV memory card is different than SD but dose that still make it right to charge so much for a memory card that is not bundled with the console even though you need to have one for the device to work properly?

Come on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have and will carry on making mistakes but its what they do after they make the mistakes and Sony managed to turn the PS3 around by spending time on PSN as it was poor at the start. PS+ was a nice addition too.

Microsoft have had a bad start with the xbox one but have made changes because they saw the backlash they received after the console was shown and now have a new guy in charge who seems to understand gaming and what gamers want. Changes are being made to better the xbox one just like Sony did with the PS3.

At the end of the day every games console that comes out always had + and - points and always will do. Some people will also always like one over another that's why we have choice.

[DragonKnight]

@Yo Mama: Your comment sounds like you believe that Sony had DRM and the camera planned and then removed it when they saw the backlash against MS, but that's not true. The PS4 never had DRM, and although the camera WAS going to be included (and the price was still going to be $400), Sony removed it because they didn't want to take so big a loss on each sale.

@mcstorm: Where to begin.

"So its ok for Sony to do things but not Microsoft?"

Stop crying.

"Even before the PS3 came out Sony removed Backward compatibility then the SD slots."

Funny, I have a PS3 with BC and the SD slots. How did I get one before the PS3 came out?

Sony removed BC because of people like you who complained about the cost of a PS3 and said things like "I don't even use BC anyway" so they listened to the fans. They removed the SD slots for the same reason.

"Then launched a new slim console with price drop, then removed other OS ect."

They always launch a new slim console. They have since the PS1. Were you expecting them not to? Other OS was removed for security reasons and because less than 1% of the userbase was using it. Get over it.

"Sony made lots of mistakes last gen and did the same with the PSV."

Not as many as people like you seem to think they did. It's a case of taking something and blowing it out of proportion to defend someone else.

"Microsoft have had a bad start with the xbox one but have made changes because they saw the backlash they received after the console was shown and now have a new guy in charge who seems to understand gaming and what gamers want. Changes are being made to better the xbox one just like Sony did with the PS3."

None of the changes that Microsoft are doing are for the gamers. There are Xbox fanboys in this very comment thread that are telling you the same thing.

[mcstorm]

@DragonKnight where did you get the fan boy thing from? The only console I don't own at this moment in time is a PS4 and that is because the only game I want is DriverClub so as soon as this is out I will own one and own every console this gen just like the last one and the one before that.

Im not crying btw I am making a point that people on this site seem to forget the mistakes that were made by Sony and Also Nintendo in the past. No company is perfect and never will be. If you read what I say in a negative way then that's because your taking the sony side too serious.

I am a big fan of Sony and there products but I will point out when they made a mistake and also when they made the right choices like I said in my last 2 comments.

[Imalwaysright]

DragonKnight

The corporate apologist that believes that everything Sony does is for the fans. MS removes Kinect and is solely for the sales, not because fans asked them to. Sony removes BC and its because fans asked them to, not because of sales. Your hypocrisy is laughable but hey I know that you love to buy HD remakes and HD remakes of HD games.

[kewlkat007]

"Sony and M$ operate totally differently from each other."

...lol

Oh yeah, only one likes your money/s

[Yo Mama]

Maybe you should read and reply to the whole post instead of just taking the one sentence out of context and coming off like a complete and utter fool?

[Omegasyde]

^^^^^@ kewlkat

You just got served. OUCH!

[kenshiro100]

kewl, you just got caged and I do mean literally.

[wynams]

Microsoft was WAY more entertaining when they just told us we were crazy #kinect #drm #alwayson #thefuture #thecloud

[ThanatosDMC]

"You cant turn it off like a switch." ::Turns it off::

[AutoCad]

who cares if its not or it is..
point is is 399 now go buy one.

[BattleTorn]

What people are failing to recognize today is the Titanfall bundle was $450 last month.
http://kotaku.com/target-ha...

$450 = $59.99 + X1, with kinect, @ essentially $390.

We're now meant to rejoice paying $10 more for the $100 accessory being removed.

// More choices... to pay MORE! //

[AutoCad]

it was a limited time bundle lol..
promotion happen throughout system cycles.

lol n4g is too funny

they ask for things than bash for getting things.

[Omegasyde]

the way Microsoft is flipping and flopping, Iwould be surprised if they reimplement DRM at this point.

[Kal853]

No.

[johndoe11211]

No thanks

[NatureOfLogic_]

I really don't get it. A kinect-less Xbox One is a weaker PS4.

[Mikelarry]

Like a kinected xbox one was ever close to ps4 power from a technical perspective

[xxBiG_BoSSxx]

I think he means that without kinect, there is nothing that differentiates the xbone from the ps4, besides being technically weaker and aesthetically less pleasing.

[youndamie]

Yea at this point it's all about the exclusives

[HugoDrax]

@xxBiG_BoSSxx

"there is nothing that differentiates the xbone from the ps4"

Que? How about GAMES/Software? isn't that what gaming is all about? or is about fanboy disputes?

[xxBiG_BoSSxx]

@Drax

Yes games, of course. but at this point, this early into the generation, those have yet to be proven. I know Sony's history and pedigree with delivering a multitude of great and varied exclusives. Microsoft has had very successful exclusives, but far, far fewer. I like variety. But time will tell on the games front.

As of now, I know the ps4 does what they said it does, at $400. After a year of Microsoft touting the greatness, functionality, and necessity of kinect, how integral it was, and then removing it, I have no idea what the xbox one does at $400.

[scotmacb]

Until they unblock the 10% power from kinect then theres dx12

[Aleithian]

They won't be able to unlock the 10%. If games are made with that 10% in mind, they won't run efficiently on a system that does run the kinect. dx12 has potential, of course, but that 10% is locked.

[HeavenlySnipes]

Other people still have the Kinect....

[MasterCornholio]

ROFL

So funny.

[Codewow]

Obviously they would disable kinect functionality if the game requires that 10% extra processing power.. I mean, you don't even have to have the kinect plugged in..

[Sayburr]

It does seem that way. I guess Microsoft hopes the games they will announce at E3 will show the XBO is the better option.

[Docknoss]

Not by much, plus it's about which exclusives you like more.

[polow got sol]

With better games

[rextraordinaire]

How is "Wanting the existing fan base to upgrade faster" not about sales? It's all about sales, even if it's about the existing fan base...

[Transporter47]

If it wasn't to boost sales then why drop the price? That is just a weird way of saying we don't need to but we really do.

[Codewow]

New CEO = new ways of thinking. In all honesty, he's been making all the RIGHT decisions. Backtracking on what was originally "set in stone" is better than giving no other options. Plus look at all this publicity now.

[SixtyNine]

Taking the spotlight, and bringing excitement before E3. Everyone is talking Xbox ONE.

Doing whatever it takes to satisfy the fans whilst staying competitive.

The major factor for dropping kinect is due to voice localization for every market. It was a technical hurdle for them.

Developers won't prioritize Kinect as they might have done if everyone had one, anymore. . .

and all this talk about the Xbox being a "weaker ps4" like there's a PC-like difference lol.

80 mill 360 owners can now upgrade.

[MasterCornholio]

"The major factor for dropping kinect is due to voice localization for every market. It was a technical hurdle for them."

Nope it was due to Sonys 3 million lead.

[rextraordinaire]

Also a technical hurdle. What's with all the accents and stuff...

But then again, that's something they should've thought of -from- -the- -start-...

[SixtyNine]

I did mention, "staying competitive" in my post so.. We all know the PS4 is leading. None of us gain from that, Sony does.

I'm just glad Microsoft has made gamers happy with today's announcements.

[TKCMuzzer]

Don't be deluded, Microsoft have share holders, share holders ask questions, sales need increasing, that only means one thing...a lower price.
Why people try and over complicate the obvious I don't know.

[Back-to-Back]

"The major factor for dropping kinect is due to voice localization for every market. It was a technical hurdle for them."

What about the app Cortana? Seems to work just like siri or google now.

Sounds like a copout.

[BX81]

Good job MS. Gotta have options

[MysticStrummer]

Options are integral.

@BattleTorn - Paying more for less has always been an option when it comes to XB1. Now people have the option to pay the same for lesser hardware. Definitely a step in the right direction.

[BattleTorn]

Even if it's an option to pay more for less?

X1, with Kinect, and $60 Titanfall was $450 last month.
Pricing the X1, with kinect, @ $390.
http://kotaku.com/target-ha...

[Codewow]

When has hardware power made the entirety of the console "less". I mean, comparing the two consoles in every aspect there's a lot more than gaming capabilities that have to be looked at. At the $400 price point, they beat out other competition. And no, I don't mean Sony, I mean Comcast and other competition that Sony doesn't have to deal with.

[MysticStrummer]

"comparing the two consoles in every aspect there's a lot more than gaming capabilities that have to be looked at"

True to some extent, but that depends on the individual consumer doesn't it?

[HeavenlySnipes]

I don't know why people are disagreeing

Although they are stupid for waiting this long, these options were what people have been asking for since the X1 was announced

[rextraordinaire]

(It's n4g. You could give a million to everyone and you would still get disagrees)

[TKCMuzzer]

I think the disagrees are on saying "good job MS". They were given plenty of hints, so really they have been reactive, not proactive, which is not really a good job.

[TKCMuzzer]

You mean the options gamers were asking for before launch?

[ThatEnglishDude]

Kinect JUST got relegated to a bloatware fueled add-on accessory with shitty support, powering shockingly bad games that no one truly wanted in the first place. As if we didn't know this already. What happened to Kinect being an integral part of the Xbox One experience, and that without Kinect, there was no Xbox One? Shove it up your arse, Microsoft. What about the people who gladly spent $500, knowing they didn't really want or need the Kinect, who now realize they could have got a Kinect-less SKU 6 months after it's release. How do you fuck up so bad?

Talk about back peddling. Oh, and it's not to boost sales? Really? Jesus Christ, if you believe this then you'll believe anything. The fact Microsoft expect us to believe this tripe says a lot about them.

But really, you can't even call it a price drop. You're subtracting an 'essential' part of the hardware experience. It's not a price drop at all. God this company sucks.

[antikbaka]

not gonna buy one anyway

[Sayburr]

To be honest, I am not sure why an informed gamer would. It has been shown, through Multiplatform Games, that the PS4 is a stronger system. Now that the XBO is at the same price with no additional hardware to make it unique... Oh, well, maybe Microsoft has hope that the games being shown at E3 will make XBO more appealing than the PS4.

[JeffGUNZ]

Geez, I don't know, maybe because a few people enjoy Halo, Gears, Forza, Titanfall, etc. Others may enjoy Xbox live and the community they have developed over the past 8 years on their 360's.

[Sayburr]

@JeffGUNZ

OH, don't get me wrong, I think the Microsoft exclusives are great, thus the last sentence in the post saying that maybe Microsoft hopes, with a preceived weaker system at the same price, the games being shown at E3 will make a difference.

[cfc78]

More consoles sold = more games sold = more money made it's that simple there's nothing else to it,it's not microsoft doing us a favor it's microsoft doing themselves a favor.

[Sayburr]

I think all businesses work this way. I havn't seen one yet that is not in business to make money.

[cfc78]

Totally agree it's the way it goes and it will never change.

[SirBradders]

Yes business is about making money but essentially its also about providing the best possible service for that money.

[bleedsoe9mm]

no its to boost fall retail orders from big buyers like amazon and walmart that why its being done before E3 .

[mmj]

It's funny how they weren't thinking about their fans prior to launch and now only since sales have been low.

[OiNioB]

Yeah Phil had nothing to do with it I'm sure.

[HugoDrax]

Nintendo hasn't been thinking about it's older fans. Where is my Metroid? Zelda? Star Fox? F Zero? Stop making it seem like these corporations give a shit about it's fanbase. Every business, is out to make one thing and one thing only.....MONEY..

[FITgamer]

Microsoft can never do anything without following it with BS PR. They should of just made the announcement then shut the hell up.

[Riderz1337]

http://i.imgur.com/7pSX32a....

[Bonkerz]

I honestly dont understand the huge controversy. I understand they went back on what they said, but why people are making this huge deal doesnt make much sense. If you did not like the kinect you should not have bought the console in the first place, or you can always sell it on a 3rd party site. It happens a companies vision did not go to as planned, it actually happens alot. We as gamers knew from the beginning that the Kinect is not gonna be this huge gaming peripheral its just not happening, it is to me a great peripheral that adds to the X1 experience. I use it daily and i truly love it. In fact we as consumers should be happy we officially have another option if you want to own an X1, for a cheaper price.

[akaFullMetal]

The controversy is that Microsoft has been hammering on for a year that Kinect is xboxone, that kinect is the identity of xbox one, that xboxone is built up around kinect. That kinect will never be removed. But they end up removing it within 6 months, all the while saying they are doing it to not boost sales.
If you still don't get it, then I don't know.

[Joe913]

I think it is the fact that they keep having to do the 180's plus they keep lying and saying it is for the gamers that kinda shows they think ppl are stupid imo that is why this is such a big deal. I just think it is a insult just by saying this is for the gamers and has nothing to do with sales.

[badz149]

@Bonkerz

"If you did not like the kinect you should not have bought the console in the first place, or you can always sell it on a 3rd party site..."

Did you really just said that? There are many xbox fans that love xbox games but don't want Kinect. That's just the truth. And with every xbone coming with Kinect, which 3rd party would want to buy just the Kinect? Thay can't resell it as every xbone has 1. But with this move, you'll see many early adopters will try to resell their Kinect online.

[kenshiro100]

They should have offered a CHOICE in the beginning. They're flip-flopping now after making people waste their money on a peripheral that hasn't even proven itself yet.

They brought this idiocy on themselves.

[Kal853]

On my scale of "would I considering buying a Xbone", it just went from a "absolutely not, why would I?" to a "well, maybe if Bethesda makes Fallout 4 an Xbox exclusive, or gives them vast preference over PS4. Otherwise no."

[OiNioB]

The Kinect + Titanfall and Forza Bundle makes me think differently Microsoft.

[wodan]

lol yeah right,when well this lame RP from MS will stop.
and I love how everything they do now is about fans they ignored for 6 month.

[TheTwelve]

It's 110% about sales. Every 180 Microsoft has done this gen has been about sales.

[Crystallis]

^^^^

This!

[123pol]

so now i can buy a weaker console without the Kinect that made it stand out.
With an interface made for the Kinect which now doesnt follow in the box, so i have to navigate with the controller which is really bad since its not designed for it..

+1 MS !

[somedude342]

Yes, microsoft is doing this because they "care" about their customers. that's why they tried to enforce DRM, kinect, high prices for underpowered hardware, and gold as a requirement for apps like netflix........ because they are "looking out" for their customers....

sad thing is xbox fanboys believe this

[NatureOfLogic_]

Why would anyone want to support Xbox? when it takes low sales and a spanking from the competition to start finally listening to fans.

[Lowsnamebrand]

Multiple times of getting spanked before they listen

[azure1990]

As much as this is really about sales. If Sony did this, it would be the COMPLETE opposite of what y'all are saying. Got to love nrg

[rextraordinaire]

Only thing is : Sony would never have done this in the first place.

[beerzombie]

they tried doing it with drive club

[Joe913]

This would not be a big deal if this was not the 3rd or 4th time MS had to do this with the Xbox one. This is no different than the Naughty Dog ppl leaving because if one or two ppl left no big deal but since all those ppl left = something fishy. MS keep having to do 180 after 180 because they do not listen to their customers until they see they are not making money then they want to listen to the gamers.

[Mr-Dude]

Sony made their mistakes, took things away like the Linux on the ps3. The whole world was pissed but sony didn't reverse anything.

[GamingSinceThe80s]

They likely wanted to drop it much sooner, but had a warehouse filled with 5 million Kinects they had already made to unload on us 'suckers' AKA 'early adopters' first. Well mission accomplished time to drop the Kinect.lol

[TKCMuzzer]

The other week the Xbox one was £349 on Amazon with Kinect and a copy of Titanfall. If that did not boost sales by much then I doubt a £349 Xbox one without either of them will have dramatic effect.
The issue is Microsoft are trying to convince gamers who are clued up, know about their u-turns and their other problems. The key is you will be paying the same price as a PS4 but the console is weaker, Microsoft's issue is that a high percentage of their Xbox 360 users know this and will wait until it hits the £300 barrier before they deem it "the right price".
It will have to sink below £300 before I even consider buying one.

[vongruetz]

Two words to that: Bull and... well, you know the rest.

[Lowsnamebrand]

No I don't what's next? rofl

[Illusive_Man]

Why does the price drop bother Sony fans so much?

[Wikkid666]

Because MS can't do anything right in their eyes

[Applejack]

Don't generalize people, it doesn't look good on your end. Anyway, who would be upset over this? This is one of the last pushes I needed to buy an Xbox One.

[Illusive_Man]

Great you won't be dissapointed.

[OiNioB]

Early Adapters who defended this are surely not excited about MS's decision to not back their own vision....once again.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

same reason why everything positive about sony bothers ms fans.

[rextraordinaire]

Where have you seen bothered Sony fans? Everyone seems happy about the decision...

[Yomaster]

As an early adopter of the Xbox One, I'm certainly not happy about it.

[Wikkid666]

It's about one thing. Releasing in new markets. Most of these markets will never get Kinect voice support, so why bundle it.

[ToxicSushi]

Agreed. Voice localization held them back to 13 markets vs. a global launch as with the PS4.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

wut? it's actually 1000% for sales lolz everything ANY company does is for money. anything and all decisions made are directly tied to profit. period.

[danny818]

430 x1 w/ taxes. 60 gold membership that's basically mandatory, and a game 60 that's 520. Plus the charging batteries that's 25. Basically 550. Still pretty pricey if u ask me

[rivencleft]

Everyone has been predicting this for a while now and it's a good move for Microsoft, does go along with the whole Xbox 180 thing though, since they stated before they will NEVER release the Xbox One without Kinect, but still who cares, this will definitely give them a jump in the market and boost sales to compete with the PS4. I still haven't purchased an Xbox One yet (own the PS4) and I will still go for the Kinect included bundle, because I enjoyed the hell out of my 360 with Kinect, my wife and son loved it as well so I think the Kinect would be a staple in my household, but just as well I can see why a lot of people don't actually need the Kinect, especially when most people just use it for voice commands instead of motion gaming, so good move Microsoft, I can see your sales soaring now, $100 price drop is quite a bit, especially for people on restricted budgets.

[GamersHeaven]

LOL getting destroyed in sales on 6 months spree from the PS4 you had no other option Kinectless bundle was your last resort before the PS4 got even bigger lead in sales.

[S2Killinit]

Is anything that comes out of MS's mouth the truth anymore?? God damn, why not just shut their mouth and not say anything? I dont get it. why twist every little thing? Why?

[jmc8888]

Maybe it starts at the top.

Fascism begets Fascism.

[MCTJim]

Another positive article and here come the spinsters.

People asked for it and now they got it. NEXT

[QuickdrawMcgraw]

I might be wrong...But should the Xbone not be cheaper to buy then the PS4...You know with it being a inferior console and all...

[jmc8888]

Yes it really should be. $299-349 would be a fair price considering the tech.

$399 is a premium price for a mediocre at best product, but at least they reached price parity.

It will help, but it won't drastically change Microsoft's or Sony's gaming fortunes.

Plus the hate Microsoft created with its own stupid decisions are going to haunt it on the gaming front for years to come. Sony said some arrogant things in 2006, Microsoft in 2013 and 2014 is about 1,000 worse...because they did and said about 1,000 more dumb things.

That stink, like a person sprayed by a skunk, is going to last awhile.

Even now I bet some people in 2018 will still think the Xbox One is 'online only' and 'can't play used games'...which is something I said before the reveal...that if true, they are making a huge mistake, because this is what will happen. People will remember this, and any backtrack won't filter down to everyone. They have no one to blame but themselves for this situation, and actually should thank the people being harsh, because we saw reality when Microsoft didn't and pushed and prodded them at least somewhat back towards it.

[psyxon]

...it is to boost sales. their comment solidifies it.

[quenomamen]

Just another 180 for old MS, theyre also removing some paywall for some features like Netflix etc. All these things that should have never been there in the first place. These guys are lost, no wonder it sits on store shelves.

[Moe-Gunz]

This is a good thing make no mistake about it, but don't feed us BS about it's not just about sells.

If the PS4 was lagging behind and X1 was in the lead they would have stayed with $500. This is a radical change due to them losing out to the competition so far. However, it benefits the gamers which is good.

[Moe-Gunz]

sales*

[jmc8888]

Well they're still Microsoft morons afterall.

So when any corporation or individual decides they want to sell more units, do they

a) raise the price
b) keep the same price
c) lower the price

They open their mouths and more moron-talk comes out.

They have 80+ million users who want to buy an XB1? Maybe before they revealed it. Now they have significantly less. (of course this number he threw out also imagines that each 360 sold was to a different person, and not a repeat purchase for a RRoD). It's also untrue when you consider that every generation millions of people are both added and subtracted from gaming due to births/deaths.

They can reach a significant portion, but what they wanted, Microsoft didn't deliver. So if they want people to jump in, they had to...
a) remove their fascist policies (they did this last year)
b) add a kinectless SKU or reduce the price so it was effectively free (they will do this June 9th)
c) have a great exclusive games pipeline flowing with good exclusive games that justify the purchase of an Xbox One (this is still up in the air and may not happen until late 2016 or even longer)

So they still have alot to do...GAMES!!! At least they finally got out of their own way, and are back to building the console on what they should have been doing with their initial reveal. Back to square ONE...now show the games!

But then there was even more idiocy. Microsoft didn't define the next generation. PC's, while not a console, have been defining the next generation of games since LAST DECADE with DX11 since 2009, and the PS4, console wise, has been doing it since Nov 15, 2013. So more idiot talk by Microsoft.

Voice commands are not new, and have been in games both last generation, and even in the 1980's on PC (though really weak, it still responded via a microphone).

Meanwhile they degraded their UI to service voice, and really went off the track making it poorer then last generation. Think of random buzzword so your Xbox does what you want, and hope it recognizes what you said. Or I could just use the left stick to highlight what I want and hit a or b...hmmmm. Absolutely idiotic to make the UI worse for the controller, instead of augmenting the controller UI with some voice additions. But they had to justify Kinect, so that 'reach' caused a bunch of pain elsewhere. When you press, you generally screw up. They pressed.

Plus the price cut is mostly for the U.S. and maybe Europe, seeing how the U.K. has had price cuts and game pack-ins already. But lately, the U.S has had pack-ins as well.

I do notice that lately I've seen quite a few bundles/game token pack-in's packages in the advertisements, so some of the uptick might have already been taken by people who got a Titanfall+Forza bundle. But no doubt it should increase sales.

[Clarence]

We all know it's about sales.

[MasterofMagnetism]

Of course not. /s

[SonyMontana]

What BS. Spin it any way you want Microsoft. If Sony didn't exist, you wouldn't be dropping the price, giving games with Games With Gold and dropping the pay wall to access streaming services. This is a shining example of why competition is good. I'm glad MS has back tracked on their anti-consumerism, but I'm still upset it had to happen this way.

[ToxicSushi]

It's smart for MS to get this and the Gold level app changes out prior to E3. This will give them more time to showcase games at E3.

[Errefus]

I am pretty sure the X1 with kinect will get a price drop at E3 maybe 20 or 30 dollars, its insane that Kinect its 100 bucks. I dont see people playing 100 dollars for Kinect separately...

Ill probably get the 399 one when i can afford it and kinect doesnt interest me at all.

[chand93]

Microsoft have made a giant mess and they keep making things worse by trying to polish it with fart spray

[Gamerita]

LIARS they don't have 80+ million xbox360 users lucky if they have 30 million. real numbers are hidden.

[RosweeSon]

It's not just to boost sales but also to piss off all those people who mistakingly bought xbox one on launch thinking it was a good deal. To now see even more cut off the price and parts of the package removed that they probably wouldn't have bought with it otherwise "kinect" way to go microstich.

[Gamerita]

LIARS they don't have 80+ million xbox360 users lucky if they have 30 million.the real numbers are always hidden with microsfot.

[Skate-AK]

It is too about sales.

[5eriously]

So we called it! Where are those fanbois that said M$ will never do it!

Desperation and the prospect of losing makes them change their ways very fast. We saw that in the many 180's and U-turns Microsoft made since last year!

The end result is that you get even less for your money and that is fact. As many of you stated the "identity" placing the XBone separate from the other consoles are gone. So are the requirement to produce Kinect shovelware.

Things are looking up. Maybe it will become worthwhile to own an Xbone after all but first I want to see the quality games and comparable multiplats with decent resolution and as Forza and Titanfail does not do it for me!

[DaGamingKing]

Is it just me or is it the same people that hated on MS here for ages who said MS needs to do X, Y & Z also the same folks now that are hating on MS for doing X, Y & Z? Why cant people give credit where credit is due. Its been a massive excercise full of change, improvement, listening and embracing the change, yet all I am hearing is bickering and entitled gamers? Am I missing something here?

[Yomaster]

As an early-adopter of the Xbox One, I'm honestly pretty pissed about this decision from Microsoft. They touted the Kinect as an integral part of the Xbox One experience, only to drop it from the packaging a mere six months after release.

So, basically, all of those promised "Kinect features of the future" to come in our games have a slim chance of ever making it, considering developers no longer have to justify implementing any Kinect features. It's going to be just like the Xbox 360's Kinect integration, with tacked-on features that no one really gives a damn about, or things you use once and say, "Hey, that's cool," only to never use again. Remember Ghost Recon: Future Soldier? Forza Motorsport 4?

I feel like Microsoft duped those of us who believed in their vision when we preordered their console. We now have an Xbox 360 with prettier graphics, Twitch streaming, and a Windows 8 UI.

[90Supra]

yea, ok...

[iain04]

In the UK it's gonna be £350. You can get the kinect version with Titanfall for only an extra £50. The price should be £300 IMO.

[saimcheeda]

it was all Sony before but I think things will be really tight from now!

[Jsoc]

MS should of done this since day one . Then maybe I would believe that they cared about their customers . To come out now and say they are selling the Xbox one with out Kinect and say they did it for the gamers and not the Sales is complete bullshit. Xbox one was rushed since day one. They knew since last years E3 that gamers did not like having the Kinect shove down their troats . But yet November came and they sold that way. This shows everyone every lie they said about there bullshit vision of Xbox one. That u could not just flip the switch...... , then that the Xbox one could not work without the Kinect it was in the DNA and built from the ground up of the Xbox one..... , then they will never sell the Xbox one with out the Kinect . And now here we are one month from E3 a year later. And we are to believe that they did it for the gamer .... The only reason it's always been about sales.

[DJMarty]

Ofcourse not......lol.

Try your getting outsold everywhere by PS4, and 3mill behind:)

[kingPoS]

Does this mean the Kinect would sold as a standalone, and if so, would people buy it still.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[Mister_G]

2nd price drop in 1st six or seven months, doesn't look good.

[feraldrgn]

You can't fool anybody, Microsoft.

[Ghost_Nappa]

This is literally the stupidest thing ive ever heard.

[jspillen]

Well that's pretty much the final bit of proof that the Xbone has been overpriced from the beginning. Look there without the Kinect all the sudden there is a $100 of wiggle room.

So sorry for all you early adopters... the value of your purchase has already been downgraded in the eyes of the manufacturer.

And think the Xbone is still lesser hardware.

[Gamerbynight]

Of course its not /s

[ashleyjhonson]

The cases now are just about totally the same. Slight illustrations help on Ps4 aside, niether machine is putting forth a genuinely distinctive experience. Most amusements are playable crosswise over stages, making the select titles the main true distinction producer. Having possessed both for a few months, outside of the Xb1 attempting to do a few things distinctive with the associate and link thing, not that they are that it was trumpeted to be, I have a tendency to simply play each one container for the exclusives, and titles that go cross stage, I have a tendency to get on the PS since I am more acquainted with it. I expect that advancement will stagnate a bit on Xbox now that there is no motivator to attempt the Kinect interface. I think I'm wrong, however we'll see. For more information.....

[Blues Cowboy]

Pull the other one.

Seriously, I can see the logic in the decision even though my Kinect sensor might has just become a useless paperweight (cool voice commands aside), but don't dress it up.

[Arty84]

don't know why people complain so much MS is just giving people options should just be happy it happened for the gamers who wanted this

[DeezR]

Games make or break a console. if you look at previous generation the xbox had better games in the early years, but microsoft drops its previous consoles too soon. look at the last 2 years of xbox and playstation. no xbox exclusives of the last 2 years were that great. were sony brought for examples gt6 and last of us. If you look at all the IP's and studio's sony and microsoft have. it tells me sony is the favorite.

[StreelyBoy]

I don't get people. We asked for a kinectless xbox one and when they do it we all get mad.