Seriously, I’m surprised Microsoft didn’t call their new
console the Xbox 180, because that’s what they’ve been doing since their next
console’s big reveal. Which is both good and bad really. Good in
the sense that they’re actually listening to their customers when it comes to what
makes a deal breaker for them. Bad in the sense that this is where
Microsoft’s game plan is always going to go on the gaming front, until outside
forces (i.e. angry customers threatening sales) stop them and force a course
correction.
First came the always-on DRM which outraged consumers – including
America’s fighting men and women – causing Microsoft to turn an
about face, dropping the always-on and check in once a day requirements.
And now yesterday in their latest policy change, the Kinect sensor no
longer has to be plugged in for the console to function.
The news came from Chief Xbox One Platform Architect Marc
Whitten in an ongoing “Ask Microsoft Anything” segment on IGN, where he addressed
users’ Kinect questions yesterday. When asked how “off” the sensor would
be when plugged in, Whitten responded that it can be set to “totally” off in
the console settings. He went on to state that the Kinect sensor will be
optional in games where supplemental content calls for it, but naturally would
be required for games that focus on Kinect functionality as the primary mode of
gameplay:
"You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information. Any functionality that relies on voice, video, gesture or more won’t work. We still support using it for IR blasting in this mode. You can turn the sensor back on at any time through settings, and if you enter into a required Kinect experience (like Kinect Sports Rivals for instance), you’ll get a message asking if you want to turn the sensor back on in order to continue."
Right – if the word “Kinect” is in the title of the game,
you’re going to still need it to play. And this information is all thanks
to a user that asked about the always plugged in requirement and what would
happen if their sensor broke. Thanks, random user.
According to Whitten and the others who have spoken on
Microsoft’s behalf in the past, the Xbox One is still designed to work with the
Kinect, not only for gameplay of certain games but for SmartGlass, search, and
UI navigation in general. So if you were planning on buying an Xbox One as your
new “one” all-serving console, there’s still that stuff you can use it for.
So who knows what’s going on? Maybe they’re feeling
threatened by the PS4 and are dropping restrictions to pull in those on the
fence outside of the Microsoft die-hards. Maybe they’ve survived a crisis
of conscience. Maybe their PR doesn’t want any perception issues after
all the recent news and events about digital spying. Either way, this is
another 180 from their former draconian policies that console gamers should be
able to get behind. That’s not changing their sales strategy though.
Even though we now know that the Kinect won’t be required to fire up a
game on Xbox One, Microsoft still has no plans of selling the console without
it at their $500 price point because of that UI design integration they
described. Personally I think selling a non-Kinect version at maybe $400
would get them more sales, because I don’t care how much money you’ve got –
$100 is $100. But that’s just me.
I said before publicly that I wouldn’t buy an Xbox One and
would go the Sony PS4 route if those old policies from Microsoft remained in
place. Now that they’re gone, it’s something I might actually consider.
You know, if I buy a new console at all.
