Xbox One without Kinect revealed!

As reported by IGN, Microsoft going back on previous statements have made the bold move of offering a new iteration of their Xbox One games console to consumers without the much touted Kinect in the box. Given that Microsoft had stated in February that they had no intention to remove the add on it's quite a turn around and it would appear that Microsoft have indeed been listening to consumers regarding the console by removing the Kinect peripheral.

Launching on June 9th the new Xbox One without Kinect will weigh in at around £349 matching it's immediate rival, Sony's Playstation 4. Kinect will continue to be available for those users picking up these cheaper bundle as a separate accessory. When discussing the decision and concern that games would now lack any enriching Kinect features head of Xbox Phil Spencer stated "Kinect remains an important part of our vision. We will continue to innovate on Kinect, I think it's an important differentiator for us."

What do you think to the news that Kinect will now be a separate accessory? As a day one Xbox One owner it seems a shame that regardless of Phil Spencer's suggestion, it's most likely third party developers will not spend time developing unique gameplay features for the device given the now limited audience. Do you think Microsoft is making the right decision? Should they have just done this from the start?

Ben Corbett-Mills / @benleopards

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