Xbox One

[Mr.Smif]

Re: Xbox One

I don't understand why the are pushing all these Kinectless bundles and not doing the same for the ones with the Kinect? Because I sure would have paid $499 for the Madden bundle with Kinect.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Xbox One

I don't understand why the are pushing all these Kinectless bundles and not doing the same for the ones with the Kinect? Because I sure would have paid $499 for the Madden bundle with Kinect.

I believe they are in damage control with how they introduced the Xbox One with Kinect. The going theme was that MS forced it. It hasn't been too long that they just released a Kinect-less Xbox One, so pushing it right now isn't their best interest.

That doesn't mean they are calling it quits. Gamescom looked better to me than E3 for MS. It looks like they are shedding the horrible initial release and can gain some momentum for the holiday. We will most likely see more Kinect in 2015.

[ubernoob]

Re: Xbox One

I believe they are in damage control with how they introduced the Xbox One with Kinect. The going theme was that MS forced it. It hasn't been too long that they just released a Kinect-less Xbox One, so pushing it right now isn't their best interest.

That doesn't mean they are calling it quits. Gamescom looked better to me than E3 for MS. It looks like they are shedding the horrible initial release and can gain some momentum for the holiday. We will most likely see more Kinect in 2015.

Nope. They realized there's not use in pushing something extraneous at best.

The Kinect (much like Oculus/Project Morpheus and the motion controls [both Wii-type and PSEye/Kinect-type]) is nothing more than a niche gimmick that will never have more than a vocal minority of an install base. Even Nintendo (the kings of beating dead horses) have realized that the ship on "motion controls" has sailed years ago.

Once people realize this and learn to accept it, all these discussions can finally be taken out behind the barn where they belong.

I'll use this as a personal anecdote: I love my HTPC. It took me ~5 minutes to slightly modify. It took me another ~10 minutes to get set up. Literally all the media I could want is at my fingertips, sorted and put into a beautiful UI.

I think everyone should have one. I am also smart enough to realize that most people just don't care/have an interest in having one/setting one up. A great product for a niche crowd. Not something that needs to be shoved down people's throat.

No matter what way you look at it, the XBone and the PS4 are video game consoles. They always will be video game consoles in the public eye. Nothing will change that. Nobody is going to buy a video game console to use for the other ways it could potentially be used, if they aren't 'core gamers' in the first place. And you know what appeals to "core gamers" [aka: the ones that drive sales]? The video games, and being the best console to play said games on sans gimmicks.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Xbox One

I agree that it is gaming first. However, we are naive if we are going to claim that MS is sailing this ship. Their mistake was in trying to market the kinect as being an essential experience. Consumers and bad internet press quickly talked that concept down and MS rightfully changed course.

The Kinect is not and never will be a staple to gaming. That is obvious. But it is a strong peripheral and compliment to Xbox One. Closing the books on it now is a bit reactionary and knee jerk.

[ubernoob]

Re: Xbox One

I'm not saying MS is.

I'm saying it's not a product that consumers will ever care about by and large. Which they won't.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Xbox One

You said "they realized there is no use pushing something extraneous at best." That's where I disagree. I don't think MS ever felt the kinect was the end all.

Their goal is all in one entertainment. Just the name of their last two consoles and the philosophy behind that is proof. Where I think they flopped is how they made gaming look secondary to the TV side and other entertainment scenarios.

Gaming has to always be the core. MS almost made it look inconsequential at first. What we are seeing now is a more gaming central focus. I don't think they realized anything but how poorly they implemented the Xbox One's release.

[ricky24]

Re: Xbox One

I also must be missing where Microsoft pushed the kinect as a "staple" in gaming.

[NYGiants4Natic]

Re: Xbox One

I was a huge (still am) TR fan so the fact it's a woman has zero to do with it.
IMO Uncharted is the better game right now and for me it's not even close.

What bothers me is it's not even coming to PC...

That is fine but I feel that the last TR game was superior to UC 1 and 3

UC 2 is my favorite but TR combat and gunplay to me felt better yet very similar.

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox One

You said "they realized there is no use pushing something extraneous at best." That's where I disagree. I don't think MS ever felt the kinect was the end all.

Their goal is all in one entertainment. Just the name of their last two consoles and the philosophy behind that is proof. Where I think they flopped is how they made gaming look secondary to the TV side and other entertainment scenarios.

Gaming has to always be the core. MS almost made it look inconsequential at first. What we are seeing now is a more gaming central focus. I don't think they realized anything but how poorly they implemented the Xbox One's release.

Yeah. I think it's tough for them to push Kinect to gamers right now, but they'll continue to push the TV aspects to everyone. I feel they won't give up on that and it's a huge feature of Kinect (along with just using the features to navigate the dashboard).

I don't think Kinect will be huge for games themselves, but it does set MS apart from Sony with how they use it otherwise.

I think motion games are going away. Is Sony even doing anything with Move? I don't think so.

[mestevo]

Re: Xbox One

Kinect at least has things like Fantasia and more training programs being released (I'm sure there's more, always another Just Dance around the corner it seems).

The only Move related stuff I've seen coming is related to VR, increasing the amount of money we'll have to invest to buy into that gimmick.

Still easily the most useful component of our next gen purchases between both consoles and all accessories. The voice control over your TV and stuff is priceless in our household.

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox One

Kinect at least has things like Fantasia and more training programs being released (I'm sure there's more, always another Just Dance around the corner it seems).

The only Move related stuff I've seen coming is related to VR, increasing the amount of money we'll have to invest to buy into that gimmick.

Still easily the most useful component of our next gen purchases between both consoles and all accessories. The voice control over your TV and stuff is priceless in our household.

I agree. My hope is that they continue to make that better. If that's all they do with Kinect it'll be amazing for me. I'm even better off now with what they have, if they stopped updating the tv and control stuff. I know tons of people here hate that stuff, but it's really cool if your life works well with it.

I played Forza the other night and the trigger rumble feels amazing in that game. Really made me feel into the driving more.

"Xbox On" works better in our bedroom (smaller ceiling) vs. living room (huge vaulted ceiling). I may try re-calibrating sometime and really jacking up the sound, but not sure if that'll help or not. My ceiling may just be too echo-ish for it, i dunno.

[ODogg]

Re: Xbox One

Is your Kinect mounted ABOVE your tv? I have found that makes a huge difference from being down at the base or below it.

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox One

Is your Kinect mounted ABOVE your tv? I have found that makes a huge difference from being down at the base or below it.

Yeah, I have mounts on both TVs for the Kinect. I just have to tinker with the living room one a bit I think. Not a biggie, just haven't had time when I could jack the soundbar sound up that high lol

[Artman22]

Re: Xbox One

Is your Kinect mounted ABOVE your tv? I have found that makes a huge difference from being down at the base or below it.

For me it was the opposite. For some reason it worked better above my center channel. When I put it on top of my tv it was worse.

[DaveDQ]

Xbox One

I played Forza the other night and the trigger rumble feels amazing in that game. Really made me feel into the driving more.

Man, that is so true. Hitting corners just right and coming out of the term is nice.