Price Drop or Drop Kinect? Which is Better for Xbox One? Maybe Both?

Microsoft needs to make some changes to the Xbox One or they will face a situation that could end with them being in a race that will take years to catch up. Not even a year into the latest generation of consoles, and they are already over 2 million consoles behind the PS4.

[NYC_Gamer]

Xbox one needs a price drop to 399 with the Kinect

[XiSasukeUchiha]

@NYC

Dude, unbundled it put as option and make it $350.00 bro!

[RAWSTA]

That would beat out PS4 like nothing.

[darthv72]

Nah...keep the kinect and just lower the price. I like the $350 to $399 approach.

[vitullo31]

@rawsta... then you can go on living happily ever after.. YAY

[PsylentKiller]

How would you record anything without kinect?

Kinect is is a big part of the User experience. Drop the price but keep Kinect. It's helps separate itself from the PS4.

[truefan1]

I always get a kick out of how the people that complain about Kinect have never used it and are don;t own an XB1.

I would say 97% of XB1 owners would not prefer the XB1 without Kinect, it's just part of the system. There are just so many uses for it.

Also why are people on this site so narrow minded, this gen just started. Kinect is being opened up to indie devs now and they will probably create some great games, and D4 looks pretty good, and KSR was really good.

Another point is that VR/AR is coming in the near future and ps4 fans will have to buy move/camera and VR, while XB1 only have to buy the VR/AR. We have no idea what else is in the works, for them to include it and up the price it definitely has a purpose.

I say all that to say stop acting like a cult, you guys need to learn to think for yourselves and actually try it before knocking it.

[Docknoss]

Wrong keep Kinect but drop the price. Kinect is actually worth it anyway.

[lelo]

I agree. They should have a X1 sku without Kinect. Kinect is just a waste of money, gets old pretty fast.

Until now there is absolutely nothing that proves that Kinect is indispensable for the X1.

[MetaReapre]

Lol at truefan, think for yourselves comment when so blinded himself being a fanboy.

Myself I think there should be an unbundled option and a lower priced bundled option. Hell if they make just the bundled to 399 that it will definitely catch up to the ps4 in sales if not exceed it.

[dcbronco]

They will be in a position for a price drop in a few months anyway. Just wait a while and the price will drop with Kinect.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@NYC I'm kind of surprised you said that actually.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@NYC fully agree. Drop the price and keep Kinect in. MS will have to eat some cost but I think that is the right call.

[choujij]

I think there's a good chance that even at the $399 price-point with Kinect, it'll still see sluggish sales.

[iamnsuperman]

I agree but I don't know Microsoft wants to loose that much money on each system. I think it has to be an either or situation considering Microsoft spent half its budget on the Kinect (and the sensors are apparently really expensive)

[Gazondaily]

Yeah a price drop is obviously better. If they could competitively price it so that you were essentially getting the Kinect for free, then that's a win. MS can swallow the hit. Beggars cant be choosers at this point and I'd seriously consider this if I worked at MS when taking into account the fact that the competition has a more powerful, cheaper console selling at far greater volumes that has been released in all territories and is winning at the MS' home turf.

This is an ultra competitive industry. MS made some colossal missteps so it should make greater strides in ensuring that it remains relevant.

Swallow the hit with the Kinect and MS has a chance of taking the fight to Sony instead of desperately trying to play catch up.

[Retroman]

can't believe im saying this: much as i hate any MS product i rather MS stay in the gaming business ONLY to keep Sony legit, Sony alone head might blow up again.
so, competition is good.

said by Sony fanboy

gosh, did i say that?? let me splash some play beyond juice on my face.

[Geoff900]

I believe there will be a new SKU around September, with a new sleeker Kinect/Xbox design.

[tgunzz]

Go ahead and announce a $399.00 price adjust at E3 with kinect included, and get after it. They are already lining everything up according to gamer feedback. The price is the last module needed in order for the battle of the consoles material to shift to the front.

[UltraNova]

Yes definitely. Kinect is so integrated into the xbox1 it looks impossible to unbundle it, especially now that 4-5 million consoles are out there.

‘Unfortunately’ MS is in the business to make money and not lose any. Which means keeping the kinect and shaving off 150 to 349 (399 won’t cut it against the ps4's momentum don’t kid yourselves) i.e. selling at a 100 bucks loss is something I cant see MS doing, not yet at least.

Even then Sony could afford to drop 50-80 bucks and keep things as there are now, more or less.

Its a steep hill MS has to climb this time around.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Price drop with Kinect. I'm sure MS has some unique features coming to it and maybe some interesting optional Kinect controls in future games so keep it.

Realistically its WAY to early to ride off Kinect. The console's been out for 6 months its not fair to ditch Kinect that early in the game.

I said before that I don't I'm not a hardcore Kinect fan but I'll give it a chance to see what it can do at least.

[GoGoGadge7]

I'm still waiting for those "unique features" they promised 4 years ago. Its a device nobody wants.

If Microsoft drops the price, expect Sony to drop 50$ lower regardless of taking a hit or not. Sony has made it clear that this is their rodeo this time around.

My xbox one gets no love. My ps4... night and day.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

"Its a device nobody wants".. no it's a device you apparently don't want.

Edit: "If Microsoft drops the price, expect Sony to drop 50$ lower regardless of taking a hit or not. Sony has made it clear that this is their rodeo this time around." ... this just makes me laugh. This is how I see that notion playing out at Sony:

Andrew House: We need to drop the price of the PS4.
Kaz: We really need the revenue we are making from the success of the PS4. Why do you want to drop price?
Andrew House: Because MS just dropped their price.
Kaz: Did that impact our sales?
Adrew House: Not really sure yet but seems like we are still selling really well even when they price dropped before with their limited time offers.
Kaz: So we are good then?
Andrew House: But MS dropped price
Kaz: Just shut up.

[ats1992]

You're delusional if you think sony would drop the price of the ps4 just because micosoft drops the price of the xbox one. Sony can't afford to take that hit.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@@Go Sorry I can't take your comment seriously.

"I'm still waiting for those "unique features" they promised 4 years ago. Its a device nobody wants."

Nice generalization and trying to speak for everyone. How would you know who wants it or not?

"If Microsoft drops the price, expect Sony to drop 50$ lower regardless of taking a hit or not."

Huh? Sony doesn't need to drop the price they doing extremely well where they're at. And no Sony will absolutely not risk taking a hit by cutting the price on the PS4 Sony couldn't afford to.

"My xbox one gets no love. My ps4... night and day."

You mean you have no Xbox to get give love to in the first place.

Fixed.

[RAWSTA]

I want it! so your dead wrong! I use my kinect to log me in and as my remote control for tv.

[headblackman]

let me have your xbox one then. i'll give it all of the play time that you don't have the time to give it. :-)

[Geoff900]

Also MS has invested a lot of money in Kinect, not a good thing to just drop it after bundling it with the bone.

[rainslacker]

I think we can all admit that there are many people that have absolutely no interest in Kinect. Saying nobody wants it is an extreme generalization, and completely untrue.

Because of this, I think the best thing MS can do is what Sony did. Make it an optional purchase. Find an app that makes the camera a must have. Then sell the system at a competitive price against Sony's PS4, and get extra revenue by selling the camera separately.

If MS can drop the price to be the same as PS4 with the camera, then great. But I think they would generate more revenue by having it an optional purchase. It will also give developers a better idea of just how many people are using the Kinect, so they aren't wasting time adding in features which go mostly unused.

In the end, it really comes down to just how badly MS wants people to have Kinect. I know there was a lot of hyperbole flung around before launch about why MS wanted it there, but MS really needs to consider if the Kinect is going to be financially viable in achieving whatever goal they have intended for it. In other words, what's more important to MS...selling the console, or making sure people have Kinect?

[MysticStrummer]

Both would be best, but MS will try dropping the price and keeping Kinect first. They aren't big on losing money, so I don't know how soon that will happen or how low they'll go. I'd be shocked if they did it at E3, but they definitely could, depending on how worried they are with how things are going.

[Blues Cowboy]

I used to staunchly defend keeping Kinect in the bundle - I love its voice commands/face recognition and detaching it from the console will effectively kill the peripheral stone dead. As it stands, developers know that there's a big install base and can create cool stuff for it...

... except, erm, where is that stuff? Rivals was mediocre, the Ubi fighting game was godawful and otherwise its gaming applications are gimmicky if not downright silly.

Give it a year, but if MS and third parties don't give us a good reason to use Kinect, I'd like to see a much cheaper, smaller and more basic sensor released in a cheaper bundle that's basically just a microphone with simple face recognition .

[Megaplaynate]

I agree with you, the face and voice recognition are great but we need software to justify the extra $100.
If they do not release games that use the kinect in a unique way, then I don't see any need for it. But, the potential is there.

[Ashby_JC]

I use my xbox one daily and use the Kinect and like it for voice recog and signing in.

Cant see using my X1 at this point without it.

BUT.......where are the games that are using it ...and using it in a meaningful way.

I was surprised they didnt at least release the X1 with a simple tech demo that showed off some simple mini games etc. Just something to show what its capable of.

At this time I think there is like 2 golf games and both DONT use kinect!!!

I dont want them to unbundle it. But at this point I feel MS has failed in the games use dept. They had Kinect 1.0 to build off of going into Kinect 2.0.

Its almost like they have no idea what to do with it.

Here is hoping that indies will use it. If they dont....then I would say the gaming use of it is a FAIL!!

I still like it, but for games...I havent seen anything that makes it better to use then my controller.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Do we really need another article like this, with the same comments we've read 100 times on other similar articles?
Aren't there any games to talk about?

[Blues Cowboy]

It's the pre-E3 lull, so... no? Daresay there'll be a few leaks though.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

I hope it changes a little bit round here after E3. Too much doom and gloom right now, not enough excitement!

[jamsam360]

Price drop with Kinect! I am enjoying the voice commands, i dont care about games using it! Just think better version of playstation camera! I am loving my Xbox One! so are my kids! I like that i only need to pay for my account and they get the benifits!

[Dudebro90]

Keep Kinect. It makes the system different like the writer said.

[choujij]

A little from column A, a little from column B.

[Kayant]

I don't think they can drop the price enough while having the kinect because they have shown they don't want to be having too much loses, it won't be a good sign to the investors already looking at the Xbox division. And dropping the price by such a large margin ($399 or lower) isn't going to be a good sign to consumers value wise because of losing so much "value" in a short time after it's launch.

But yh I agree the biggest factor for them is price/kinect.

[Funky Town_TX]

There are no Kinect games. There should have been a Kinect game with the console from day one. M$ is stealing money from people when they sold every console with Kinect. We love playing Dance Central and the other Kinect games on 360.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I agree they should have had Kinect Sports in the box or atleast as a voucher offer included. As for "no kinect games"... Sports Rivals just came out last month so there is one genuine Kinect game on the market that mediocre on the metacritic range.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Theyre hardly stealing when we handed them the money by our own free will.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Funky Well there's another problem.

If MS starts releasing Kinect games then we're gonna go back to "Xbox is not a cores game console" "Kiddy Kinect box" "Xbox has no games" "Xbox is casual now"

The 360 got loads and loads of flack for that.

But if they don't release games for it then people call it useless and pointless.

There seems to be no even footing with the device.

At the end of the day just keep it in there for another year maybe two and if its still not impressing then they might consider ditching the device.

Even then its a maybe considering the Kinect's best feature is Live Broadcasting using Twitch stream.

[rainslacker]

That's the thing though. Despite the original Kinect being around for a while, despite Wii being around for a while, as well as Move, hardcore motion control games worth the core gamer's respect are few and far between. At most they seem to get the "fun distraction" title. They're great for the casual crowd, and there's nothing wrong with that.

MS needs to really find how the Kinect fits into the hardcore gaming scene if they want people to stop complaining about it. Kinect, at times, offers neat little features, but nothing groundbreaking that make it a must have. Even looking at the people that justify it's inclusion with the X1, it's almost always about UI navigation...something that MS purposefully obfuscated by way of the controller. Well, I hate to say this, but when I'm playing a game, I'm not navigating the UI. Nor do I care about all those extra features the system offers. I don't use those share features on the PS4, and I'm too OCD to use the snap features of the X1. There are many people like me who just want to play a damn game, and not be distracted by "cool features" while doing so. The Kinect does absolutely nothing for people like us.

D4 seems to be the only game that will be considered hardcore that is a Kinect title, but realistically, everything it does can be done with a regular controller as well. In that case, it's a forced acceptance deal, and not a natural progression towards making Kinect relevant by finding new ways to play games. I find this mostly true of all motion control gaming, particularly in the hardcore arena.

I don't find Kinect, or other motion controls, pointless or useless in the least. I find them unreliable, sometimes unneeded, and in most cases redundant.

[uth11]

Change the name. It is seriously confusing to consumers who don't follow the videogame industry closely

[dodgemoose]

Ugh, well that's not gonna happen. That would be an awful move from a business stand point.

[skoorydook]

Got myself one with 3 games for £414 out of Game and was happy enough with that deal

[modesign]

2 options

1. unbundle xbox1 and kinect, sell xbox1 alone for $399.
2. keep the bundle and take a massive loss by selling for $350 (1up sony).

[Megaplaynate]

I think it should be the other way around.

Bundled Xbox $399
Kinectless one $350

Both with a game.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

or a more likely scenario:

Bundled Xbox $399 no game
Bundled Xbox $449 with a full game.

[rainslacker]

Funnily enough, the Kinect probably appeals more to the people that would spend less on a console.

[bleedsoe9mm]

3. do nothing (maybe some value adds to gold) let retailers do the sales until the strong game lineup hits in the fall .

i think we'll find out how bad or good they think the sales numbers really are

[dodgemoose]

I don't think they can drop Kinect at this stage. Maybe in the future. As others have said, I think they're gonna need to bite the bullet and drop the RRP.

[prodg52]

I don't have an Xbox, but if I was going to buy one I would want it with Kinect. It's the main feature of the system and XBone wouldn't be the same without it.

[mmj]

Drop Kinect, the perception of many people is that they're being forced to pay for something that they don't want let alone need.

Unless there's a sudden explosion of Kinect enabled games there's no reason for it to be mandatory other than Microsoft selfishly trying to claw back R&D costs, a $5 microphone can do 99% of the things Kinect is currently being used for.

[system22]

thats a good point. so much so that my first instinct was to view the kinect as a navigational tool than a game controller... and thats not really necessary if you don't want it.

[Picnic]

Keep the Kinect and release a platform game (ideally by Rare) that uses Kinect.

[system22]

its a tough one. personally i like the functionality of the kinect, especially with all the voice/gesture commands over volume/channel/guide/video control. that said, I don't think its completely necessary if you don't want to pay for it. a harmony remote works just as well if you don't want to use the controller or didn't have kinect.

[ziggurcat]

well... dropping kinect would technically result in a price drop anyway, so....

[D-riders]

both 400 without kinect still isnt worth it

[system22]

i disagree. personally without the price of the kinect, i feel the xbox is the better value assuming it would be on par price wise with the ps4. even without the kinect it just has more functionality/apps/ content. ps4 has more 1080p/60 fps cross platform titles, but thats such a small detail in the grand scheme, that will get more diluted over time and the x1 (yes this is completely subjective i realize) still just has better games regardless of rez. I played infamous in all its beautiful glory until i beat it 1.5 weeks later. haven't played it since. same with killzone. and tombraider. I find most of my time being spent on titanfall and forza... according to the recent charts most people are feeling the same. infamous has dropped in the charts and titanfall is still #1 (in the US im referring to). i mean its all preference i guess, but i have way more reasons to use my xbox right now even beyond games (tv control, sound control, apps that behave as channel guides, being able to run an app and watch tv at the same time) than the occasional play thru title that has been out on ps4... collecting dust til watchdogs i suppose.

[SH4D0-NiNj4H]

i hoping that Microsoft gives us a option without Kinect, I'd really much rather they increase the internal storage to 1TB instead of the current 500GB... i mean 362GB they currently offer instead of Kinect, and keep the price about the same.

[LAWSON72]

If they dropped Kinect they would need a voice command alternative.

[ziggurcat]

there already is... i think you can use the mic from the headset for voice commands.

[LAWSON72]

Nope and honestly who wants to wear a headset all the time. It is just unpractical. I own one and I think it would be a pain the arse to use a mic. A nice cheap alternative would be a built in mic or some sort of attachment

[S2Killinit]

xbox will be getting a price drop at E3

[MasterCornholio]

I'm expecting them to announce an Xbox One Standard edition which will sell for 399$ and it won't include Kinect. The current SKU they will just rename it as Xbox One Premium and they won't drop the price for it.

Seems like the most logical thing that they will do. I honestly dont see them dropping the price and keeping Kinect.

[S2Killinit]

True, if they do decide to drop kinect, they will definitely keep the kinect bundled SKU as well. Whats for certain i think is that there will be a price drop in the near future.

[JeffGUNZ]

Kinect isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If you make it optional it will fall on the way side. Having it with every console obviously leads to more support. I don't know if you own an Xbox, but everyone who owns one I know would never want an Xbox without it. It's really a moot issue, if they lower the price $50 or $100, which they can do as MS has billions upon billions of dollars, that taking a loss won't be the end of the world if they can boost sales. I could see 3-5 years down the line to release a disc-less Xbox one with Kinect knocking the price down when DD becomes more the norm. The whole experience of the Xbox One has been built with the Kinect in mind and integrated.

[Deadpool101]

Phil Spencer at the 2014 E3 conference...
"We've been listening to our fans and our detractors. They've been saying "drop the kinect and drop the price to $399.99". Well how about I go one better, the RRP is now $349.99....including kinect!"
He'll then say "of course to afford this we're making a few cutbacks. The following games are now cancelled due to ceased funding...ahem...all of them. Well thanks for coming everyone. Enjoy the rest of E3"

[Gunstar75]

If MS wanted to drop the price, they could. We are 6 months in and the game isn't won.

Anyone who has been around for the last 30 years of gaming knows this.

[SonyMontana]

I honestly feel they should lose the Kinect and drop the console price to $350. I still won't buy one, but I'm sure it would sway some to pick it up.

[candy_mafia]

Now that Kinect is attached to every X1, MS should keep it. Plus, like PS Camera, it is great for Twitch/broadcasting.

On the flipside, perhaps MS should have improved the X1 spec and left Kinect with X360 in the first instance.

I play both X1/PS4 (also Wii U) and IMO MS really dropped the ball being so underpowered than PS4. As it stands, I feel like my Xbox One's power sits somewhere in between Wii U and PS4. This is not a bad thing, but I really expected MS to come out blazing after the success of the 360.

[Gunstar75]

I can afford a ps4, I actually pre-ordered one in June 2013,but as of yet, i'm not compelled to get it.

I'm sure this will change, and maybe E3 will be my turning point, but I wanted the xb1 games (esp. KI and F5). I am also a Kinect convert. I didn't really dog it last gen, apart from bowling with my friends when drunk, but I really see the potential this gen.

Just like my Audi, voice recognition has come a long way, and I find myself sing t all the time.

All I need is Cortana on xb1 and its all good

[josephayal]

if the xbox one was $400 and didn't require the Kinect and a live account I would buy one

[TheDarpaChief]

Kinect on the one is stupid, my sister has one ten feet away from her couch and you have to yell at the thing for it to listen

[Dudebro90]

Calibrate it.

[iistuii]

It was the Kinect that made the console $100 more expensive. They could have charged the same price using that $100 on making a more powerful console & offered Kinect as an option. If they did that then ALL games could have run at 1080/60fps & we'd have a real console on our hands.

[SilentGuard]

$349 without Kinect would be perfect. Cheaper hardware than PS4 should allow it to undercut Sony on price. Even $399 with Kinect would still feel like too much if Kinect doesn't interest you...still would be paying extra $50 for an unwanted accessory.

[GodGinrai]

I think they should bite the bullet and drop the price to $350 WITH kinect.

[bleedsoe9mm]

ms can afford a price war allot more than sony can , at least right now .

[LexHazard79]

Just introduce new kinectless sku for $350 and sell Kinect sku for $450.

[gamer7804]

Part of its differentiation from ps4 is that every console is guranteed to have a kinect. I like this so we have more options for innovation.

[bLueCrow]

I just bought the titanfall bundle. Please don't drop the price now :\

[Codewow]

Electronics drop in price every day.. There's no getting around it. :/ that's the problem with GPUs they have a new one coming out every 6 months that drop the price of older units >.>

[bLueCrow]

Yeah I know. Still sucks when they drop it RIGHT AFTER you buy something though. Happened to me with 8800 back in the days.

[MasterD919]

I love Kinect's features on the X1, but clearly, removing Kinect would be the smarter move there...You cannot have a game console that DOES NOT have an optical disc drive!

If their focus is on gaming then the answer is staring them right in the face!

[hillsht]

Both - they need to do both. Kinect isn't that great for most of us in the hardcore set...a gimmick really.

[Codewow]

I don't care what they do. I'll be getting XB1 if Halo 5 wows me. (unless the game appears on steam ;] ) Then I would wait for a while. Hell the prices of both consoles started low this year.. Price drops will happen and I can save my money for games when they do drop.

[Mikethejew]

xbox one was on sale at target and many other retailers for $450 with titanfall which makes it 400 if you sell titanfall. If the price drop is to $400 they will sell just as many as they did during the month of march, which it would seem wasn't as many as they wanted. I had an xbone, Kinect sucks, not because of the technology but because of how inconsistent it was. Also there is no reason for the Kinect to exist and it's been 6 months, not one game that shows it prowess. I think if they dropped the Kinect and dropped the price to $350 they have a shot. But if it's the same price as the ps4 with or without Kinect I will pick the more powerful system each time.