I'm bored, SO IT'S TIME FOR WHAT-IFS! =D
Back during the initial pre-launch period of the Xbox One, Yusuf Mehdi spoke about how the console's ability to act as an All-In-One entertainment device, coupled with the utility of the Kinect sensor, would increase the potential market size, translating into more sales. He rather infamously added that the market could rise as high as 'One Billion,' insinuating a future where both gamers and non-gamers flocked to these devices for their entertainment needs. (Some articles mistakenly believed he was referring solely to Xbox One sales, but given what he said, it is far more likely he referred to the overall 8th generation market size in his One Billion statement... though obviously he figured the Xbox One would take a big, big piece of that pie. xP )
There was, however, one glaring flaw that has kept the Xbox One from having a hope in hell of competing in the entertainment device market, as opposed to the gaming device market, and in the end, it really did come down to price. Whereas the Xbox One was, relatively speaking, close to its gaming competitor in price, (a hundred dollar gap between the PS4 and Kinect-possessing Xbox One,) it was often between four and five times the cost of Entertainment device competitors like AppleTV, and twelve and a half times the cost of the bargain-bin, cheapest TV-enhancing device, the Google Chromecast. While it certainly had functions that these competitors did not, such as the motion and voice controls offered by the Kinect, it simply wasn't feature-rich enough in unique entertainment capabilities to offset this massive price gap.
So, the hypothetical discussion for today is... what, folks, if Microsoft pursued the entertainment market with a Kinect-based, purebred entertainment device? A no-frills, simple gadget intended to, as Microsoft has often advertised, 'transform the TV viewing experience,' allowing OneGuide, apps, basically everything the Xbox One can do... except for playing Xbox One games. (Either meaning no games at all, or simple mobile games.) Only instead of coming in at five hundred dollars for the experience, it releases at a far cheaper price; maybe a hundred, two hundred dollars, depending on the manufacturing cost of the camera itself and whatever processing hardware is needed to make it function. Without needing to push shiny 8th-gen graphics, or multitask between games and apps, they could likely get away with making the processing part of the device a lot less beefy, and therefore a lot cheaper.
Personally, I think that the device would have potential for success. It really DOES offer something pretty interesting, and though it's not nearly enough so to make it worth five hundred bucks to a consumer with no interest in playing Xbox One games, at a hundred and fifty bucks, it could definitely draw a lot of interest.
tl;dr: What if Microsoft takes another crack as the market for entertainment devices by releasing a 100-200$ Kinect sensor that plugs into your TV, allows apps, OneGuide, everything the Xbox One can do except for play Xbox One games? Think it'd do well? If you have no plans on purchasing an Xbox One, would a certain price point on this 'entertainment device' perk your interest?
Zanten, Doer Of The Things
Unless He Forgets In Which Case Zanten, Forgetter Of The Things
Or He Procrascinates, In Which Case Zanten, Doer Of The Things Later
Or It Involves Moving Furniture, in Which Case Zanten, F*** You.
