Xbox One Coming in White; Could Shed Blu-ray to Lower Price

[gm0n3y]

I just don't understand all of the Kinect hate around here. Its just a motion tracking system used for gaming and menu gestures. Personally, I would rather save some money and not have a BluRay drive. I'm in the same boat as back_by_demand and daglesj in that I haven't used a disc in any device for years. The last was probably the Windows 7 install disk a couple of years ago. I haven't used a console in a few years, but if it is even half as easy to buy games as Steam on the PC then there is no way that I would buy a physical copy when I can just download it far more easily.

 

[Monochrome_Night]

I just don't understand all of the Kinect hate around here. Its just a motion tracking system used for gaming and menu gestures. Personally, I would rather save some money and not have a BluRay drive. I'm in the same boat as back_by_demand and daglesj in that I haven't used a disc in any device for years. The last was probably the Windows 7 install disk a couple of years ago. I haven't used a console in a few years, but if it is even half as easy to buy games as Steam on the PC then there is no way that I would buy a physical copy when I can just download it far more easily.

The reason why I dislike the Kinect isn't because of what it does, it's because it's pretty much a forced accessory. Most games are multi-platform, and developers aren't going to put too much effort into the Kinect, and the Kinect probably adds $100 to the console's cost. A $400 Kinect-less Xbox One, while still being inferior to the PS4, is at least much more appealing if you like the exclusives that will be available on it and you don't care about Kinect at all.

 

[stevejnb]

Am I the only one that thinks Kinect - or at least Kinect type technologies - have a much longer and more promising future than Blu-ray, or optical media in general, as a mainstream format? I already know dozens of people who don't buy discs any more... In a few years, as steaming technology becomes better, cheaper, and more prevalent, am I the only one who sees Blu-ray taking a Blockbuster style turn?

I don't know if Kinect is the future - in fact, I think there is a good chance that it, specifically, is not - but I can't imagine a future in which motion control won't be *huge*. I'm also expecting it to really pick up within the next few years.

Getting rid of the Blu-ray is boneheaded for now, in my eyes, but even ten years from now I'm betting people will be laughing at disc formats for media.

 

[computer_noob]

Is this the "continual improvement cycle" people were hoping for? Stripping out parts before the system even reaches a full year old? I'll restate my position - PC and console gaming are different, and there should be respect for those differences, including that consoles are meant to be relatively stable for multiple years. Don't like that, fine. That's what PC's are for. I think Xbox is shooting itself in the foot here.

The problem, as I see it:

Microsoft considers the value proposition differently than the consumer does. They would rather sacrifice the blu ray drive vs kinect and therefore kinect is a plan that goes deeper than the xbox.

Can we see mobile phones with a miniature kinect sensor on the front some day that tracks eyes or other craziness?

My galaxy note already does this. I'm sure other phones do too.

 

[gallidorn]

They should get rid of Kinect too. THAT will lower the price!

They should have offered Xbox One without Kinnect in the first place, rather than forcing people to spend an additional $100 for something that brings no value to the console. Their sales would have increased and since they would have the extra expense of Kinnect... they would probably be more profitable!