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Xbox One Kinect stand-alone coming October 6 for $149

icespide

Banned
ITT: people complaining they're getting charged too much for a product they've condemned.

IMO it serves people bloody right to pay extra if they willingly shirked the Kinect the first time around. It's a great device and Microsoft wanted to deliver the experience in a cheaper way aka the original (2.0) Xbox One experience.

Want to use your Xbox in a whole new way (/the way it was intended)? Pay the $50 fee it cost to take your Kinect sensor out of the original bundle it came in and repackage it.


I don't know why I'm so mad but I am.

haha wow
 
ITT: people complaining they're getting charged too much for a product they've condemned.

IMO it serves people bloody right to pay extra if they willingly shirked the Kinect the first time around. It's a great device and Microsoft wanted to deliver the experience in a cheaper way aka the original (2.0) Xbox One experience.

Want to use your Xbox in a whole new way (/the way it was intended)? Pay the $50 fee it cost to take your Kinect sensor out of the original bundle it came in and repackage it.


I don't know why I'm so mad but I am.

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Synth

Member
True that.
We will see how well the bundle or stand alone sells with things like Fantasia and more of the Dancing games come out.

I own one, so I enjoy using the Kinect.
Hopefully certain features like the heart rate monitor could be implemented in games for things like insanity effects.

It's a peripheral that isn't needed, but it is quite fun to use.
Keeping the Kinect as an add-on is fine by me. And keeping it as such would have been preferred for a more performance built machine.

Yea, don't get me wrong.. I have the Kinect bundle, and wouldn't choose to go Kinectless even to save $100. I also had tons of fun with the original Kinect, and own plenty of software for it.

I'm just well aware that the conditions the original Kinect launched under bears no resemblance to the standalone Kinect today. The original was basically a Wii-lite moment for them. The problem for these sorts of devices though, is that the audience they primarily sell to, tends to never need a version 2 of the same device.
 
I can agree with that. I always thought the Kinect for the XB1 was doomed, but Microsoft had high hopes for it. Now what this price says to me is that Microsoft isn't even trying with the Kinect anymore. They've priced it as to not loose money, not to sell more units. Btw this goes for both the bundled and stand alone units.

It sure does seem like another Vita situation all over again. Thankfully it's just a part of the platform rather than the whole thing.
 

vg260

Member
Things cost more bought piecemeal than in bundles. I'm not sure why everyone is freaking out about this.

You pay $60 more for Madden buying it and the system separately than in the new bundle.
Same for Sunset Overdrive.
What's shocking here?

Why wouldn't they charge more for it separately? If you decide you want on later on, you have no choice and end up paying more for it. You would likely already have the core system anyway in that scenario, so Microsoft already won that battle.
 

10k

Banned
If you're not interested in Kinect, it's not for you. But if you bought a Kinect-less SKU, or got given it as a gift, then later decide you want to add it to your console, it's now there as an option. 150 vs 130 dollar pricetag is really a tiny point of contention here, the real problem is lack of content, not price.
As someone who owned one for a bit with the Kinect, I loved it for the OS navigation but not for gaming. It was great for Skype and switching apps and to tv and suspending/resuming etc.

So to me, the OS navigation is great, but not worth $150 to me.
 
Wait, how much is PS4's camera which basically does the same fucking thing including Twitch streaming and voice commands?

Oh yeah. $60.
That actually make the PS4 camera look like a good deal. It seems like they're just content with whoever buying it paying more and just take that margin to the bank.
 
I think the price is fair. They can market it in so many ways. This device adds... Motion gaming, gesture and voice UI navigation, control of TV/cable box/ a/v reciever with IR/ voice, Skype calling, heart rate monitoring with kinect fitness,etc. I think those who pick up one of the kinectless bundles this holiday will be intrigued by all the features they are missing without it.

Kinect 2 is good at a lot of things, but motion gaming isn't one of them (yet). Voice commands, Skyping on my big screen, Xbox Fitness, & instant-on entertainment center control are all freaking cool. I personally think XB1 is definitely a much less attractive box w/o Kinect, but if I were using the XB1 purely as a gaming machine, there's honestly not much use I would get out of it.

That could change when Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 comes out. That game is effing fun to play and watch others play.
 
Well if kinect isn't dead this killed it.

Considering my experience on the Xbox One continues to be much better as a direct result of Kinect and the way it operates with the console, as well as the fact that Microsoft's support for it continues to be pretty damn solid month in and month out, I'd say it's, by quite a ways, far from dead. Even the new media player app has some pretty solid Kinect implementation, and it still isn't even done yet.

That said, price on this is a bit higher than I was expecting to be honest.
 

Kydd BlaZe

Member
Behold, it's almost as if that's the entire point of the bundle being...you know, a bundle.

Do some of you guys not know how this works?

Exactly.

I honestly expected the standalone to be $150. The whole point of this is to get people to buy the bundle.
 
What does the Kinect add to the xbox one anyway? I've tried finding videos and articles about it but all I found were a few gimmicks.

I've found it useful for recording stuff (which generally works unlike the PS4's finicky share button) and opening apps I don't have readily pinned. Nice to be able to launch the Twitch app hands-free, or Netflix for example.

At that stand-alone price it's a tad overpriced, though. It's useful but not worth that much money.
 

blazeuk

Member
I can agree with that. I always thought the Kinect for the XB1 was doomed, but Microsoft had high hopes for it. Now what this price says to me is that Microsoft isn't even trying with the Kinect anymore. They've priced it as to not loose money, not to sell more units. Btw this goes for both the bundled and stand alone units.

It's been pretty obvious for a while now that they've been limiting the role of Kinect going forward, I think with the investment they'd put into it they were trying to force it to work and the market just didn't want it. The price for it is about what should have been expected really, I think they'll be fully aware that this isn't going to have a massive effect on anything or sell tons of units, they're just putting the option out there for those who might change their minds on it or want one of their newer bundles which don't actually come with Kinect.
 

JLeack

Banned
Behold, it's almost as if that's the entire point of the bundle being...you know, a bundle.

Do some of you guys not know how this works?

I can confirm that they don't.

Wait, how much is PS4's camera which basically does the same fucking thing including Twitch streaming and voice commands?

Oh yeah. $60.

Please don't pretend you understand the technology under the hood of the Kinect 2 when you don't.
 
I've found it useful for recording stuff (which generally works unlike the PS4's finicky share button) and opening apps I don't have readily pinned. Nice to be able to launch the Twitch app hands-free, or Netflix for example.

At that stand-alone price it's a tad overpriced, though. It's useful but not worth that much money.

Can you just use a mic for that, Like the PS4?
 

_Ryo_

Member
I knew it! I said before that it'd be priced 140$ - 160$ , which is ridiculous as you can get them much MUCH much cheaper on ebay.
 
Well I'm getting the sunset bundle and if this comes in white I might get it down the road. But all I would want is voice commands not a camera also.
 

Megatron

Member
Exactly the price I thought it would be. I'm really surprised anyone thought it would be less.

It's still possible it will be bundled with Kinect sports (or maybe Fantasia?) which might quell some of the garage. Oh wait, this is Microsoft. Of course it won't.
 

JesseDeya

Banned
Wait, how much is PS4's camera which basically does the same fucking thing including Twitch streaming and voice commands?

Oh yeah. $60.

This is the salient point here, well done for bringing it up.

PS4 camera is stereo, has with 4-mic array, voice commands and streaming apps that people actually use - and they can barely keep them on the shelves.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/03/20/why-is-ps4s-camera-so-unexpectedly-popular/

They're also $42.91 on Amazon.

RIP Kinect. 2.0.
 

cakely

Member
This is the salient point here, well done for bringing it up.

PS4 camera is stereo, has with 4-mic array, voice commands and streaming apps that people actually use - and they can barely keep them on the shelves.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/03/20/why-is-ps4s-camera-so-unexpectedly-popular/

They're also $42.91 on Amazon.

RIP Kinect. 2.0.

Please don't pretend you understand the technology under the hood of the Kinect 2 when you don't.

... Kinect will know.
 

statham

Member
The price is a bit too high it should have been $100

Pretty sure the parts breakdown had Kinect in the $90's put in packing, shipping, retail markup. I can see it. And most likely this will have Kinect Rivals packaged with it.

Didn't someone on the Microsoft team say the Kinect costed almost as much as the console to make..

My Kinect died yesterday, Microsoft is of course replacing but I already miss it. The volume controls, turning on/off my entertainment system/tv, changing channels all are tied to it even without the voice controls, I tried using the remote and forgot it does all that by IR.
 
$150? lol no. I actually just ordered the PS4 camera last night for $43 on Amazon.

FOURTY THREE US DOLLARS. ya dropped the ball, Phil.
 
That 49$ extra is not gonna help, M$.
The Kinect is a failure on the Bone but could have a future on pc.
Shame on you, M$.
General advice as a was-until-recently-a Junior Member; The derogatory use of "M$" is a bannable offense at mod's discretion. We at least try to be civilized folk here.

As for Kinect on PC? ...Eh, I mean, we had this same discussion with the release of the original. Other than a few super-duper-niche uses and fancy college projects it just didn't happen. I equate it to VR-- You can make a list a mile long of neat stuff you'd like to try to do but none of it really works out in execution. VR is growing very slowly and a lot of people think Sony is taking a huge risk with Morpheus. On top of just the concept, the hardware specs on the Kinect 2.0 do not do it any favors as being too slow for a theoretical crisp VR performance.
 
$60 AUD on ebay is still a touch too much for me so $149 (assuming US) is ridiculous. Not even sure I need it now I've figured out that double tapping the guide button lets you snap things pretty easily.
 

Vestax

Banned
Pretty sure the parts breakdown had Kinect in the $90's put in packing, shipping, retail markup. I can see it. And most likely this will have Kinect Rivals packaged with it.

Didn't someone on the Microsoft team say the Kinect costed almost as much as the console to make..

Hmm, $90 is a good chunk of change. Perhaps a $110-130 might have been more reasonable. I mean, that's if MS still wants the Kinect to have some sort of success.
 

Vestax

Banned
$150? lol no. I actually just ordered the PS4 camera last night for $43 on Amazon.

FOURTY THREE US DOLLARS. ya dropped the ball, Phil.

Damn, I've been thinking about doing this, but I still have the Kinect for my old XBO. My TV might look ridiculous with a PS4 camera and Kinect. I guess a new TV would solve this issue.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I feel like this Kinect dream is dying... Remember the hubris around Project Natal? That E3 presentation where all the guests wore ponchos? Look where we are now.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
If they charge $100 then there's no perceived value in buying a $500 X1 unit with Kinect. It has to look like you're saving a few bucks going with the Kinect bundle instead of buying seperately.
 

joecanada

Member
Even if that was a good price for that dead end piece of gaming tech, it's dumb now since Microsoft has shown no desire to meaningfully support it. Paying $150 for an elaborate way to voice control your games and to facially log into your titles is just beyond any real sense, unless they started showing that any decent games beyond dance titles and garbage, barely functional mini-game compilations can be created with it. No one wants motion to lean or any of that gimmick nonsense, so I don't know what their expectations are for this. They've gone multiple shows now with virtually no new Kinect software of any merit, or just highlighting the paltry few shallow titles already unveiled. It's just not happening for the Kinect Microsoft!

The price may be "appropriate" because it's more expensive than bundling, but it's definitely a nonsensical value because of the way they've chosen to lead the Kinect into the future. It's a dead end now.

Exactly. Price says fuck it we done. Probably not even selling at a loss at this point. Can you imagine if morpheues is 199 or less?
Gee VR or Kinect? Lol ya its done. And worse, does xbox even do voice control without Kinect?
 

Ascenion

Member
Well this isn't surprising. Someone had to call this. I feel like I did, if not on here at least somewhere else. Guess this is that gunshot wound to Kinect's head.

Edit: Please tell me that for $150 it at least comes with a game?
 
$150? lol no. I actually just ordered the PS4 camera last night for $43 on Amazon.

FOURTY THREE US DOLLARS. ya dropped the ball, Phil.

This is a perfect summary of both what's entirely right and entirely wrong about how these add-ons enhance a console experience right now.

The PS camera does "most" of the same general stuff. The things that the average person would use most regardless of which they had. It does streaming/broadcasting. Until Microsoft can demonstrate that paying that extra $107 gives users and kind of incredible new experience that justifies the cost it's just not going to take off. Ever. That starts with the UI which hasn't gotten much traction even if people do rave about some things like Snap. On the games side it's also crickets chirping. Has to do more.

I almost feel bad for Kinect at this point. So much money was put into it, such initial hype generated that ultimately has been completely wasted, and so much corporate focus was given. We've never even seen what those plans for the Fortalezza project have turned into and Kinect was a core feature in that. If that wasn't all dead before the XB1 release it almost surely would be now. In 2-3 years these same statements will apply to Morpheus if Sony doesn't play that out properly.


Edit: This price point also leads me to believe that there's not a price cut imminent for the XB1. They'd leave the standalone Kinect on the market at $149 for some time before cutting the cost of the bundle when they'd presumably lower the cost of the standalone.
 
I'm sorry.. but what!?

Pay attention to the monthly updates and how much they're constantly working to make Kinect work even better. You know how many aspects of the way Kinect works has been addressed since they announced that Kinectless bundle? They've been improving the way the things works quite a bit.

For example, I wasn't as able to chain together different voice commands that Kinect would remember and execute in the order that I spoke them nearly as well as I am able to do now.

Kinect sign in has improved and is faster, 'xbox on' went from a hit or miss in success rate to working practically 9 out of 10 times for me now, the speed at which my cable box responds to voice commands given for a specific channel is now a lot quicker than it ever was. There use to be more of a delay when you said, for example, "Xbox Watch ESPN." I mean, I can go down a list of ways they've been making Kinect a whole lot better, but it would take too damn long.
 

Synth

Member
Pay attention to the monthly updates and how much they're constantly working to make Kinect work even better. You know how many aspects of the way Kinect works has been addressed since they announced that Kinectless bundle? They've been improving the way the things works quite a bit.

For example, I wasn't as able to chain together different voice commands that Kinect would remember and execute in the order that I spoke them nearly as well as I am able to do now.

We have massively different ideas about what supporting a device looks like then. Providing what essentially amounts to "stability updates" isn't the sort of support I want to see for a device that originally came standard with the console.
 
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