Including Kinect With Every Xbox One Is A Smart Move By Microsoft

[Machiavellian]

My personal opinion is that MS must sell you kinect and the X1 as a complete unit because today that's exactly what they are. There is no forcing Kinect on gamers, instead the X1 and Kinect are a unit just like the controller, Blu-ray drive, network port, wireless nic card and other parts that make up the console. If there is something about the design of the X1 that people do not want then they have the option to not purchase it. The reason Kinect is not an option is because MS is building support for the device throughout the whole system. One of the big problems with Kinect 1.0 on the 360 is that you could use some of its features some of the time but not all of the time.

Case in point would be the voice navigation. I can say Xbox "Sherlock Homes" and it would find all occurrences of Sherlock Holmes, games, TV and Movies. (this is great). But from there using voice to pick the item you want now becomes a problem and if you go to one of the Apps, voice work in some parts but not in all. Navigating menus is the same, voice will work up to a point then there isn't support.

In order to make voice navigation work is to have it so integrated that there is no part of the system where it cannot be used. This takes a commitment and resources that must just work in order to be successful. The same situation for gesture support. MS is putting a lot of resources to make voice navigation and gesture support as seamless pieces to the X1 where they work all the time in all situations. Its even rumored that MS will be bring out their Watson/Siri AI next year. I will not get into how these systems work today but I will say that having an AI that just does what you tell it to could be very powerful if done correctly. Currently Watson from IBM is right there or pretty close.

I believe what will make Kinect more a success than the PSeye is the difference in commitment between MS and Sony. MS has included hardware to make using Kinect Free for developers in games and outside of games. They have bet the farm that Kinect is worth the extra price for the X1 and they are not looking at today's numbers but years from now. MS seems to be continuing to add function and value to the Kinect as a all around device that fits into everyone daily lifestyle. MS route is the more risky path because they must make Kinect a success and they must be able to convey the importance of the device.

Sony on the other hand still consider the PSeye as a add on. There is nothing wrong with this but the commitment for it's success is not really there.
Case in point would be voice navigation and gesture support. I remember when Sony stated their will be voice navigation and gesture support with the PSeye the next thing you know, Sony supporters came out in droves talking about how the PS4 does everything the X1 can. The problem with such thoughts is the commitment behind each implementation. Having voice navigation and gesture support is great to tick the box on the console but actually having it fully implemented throughout everything the console does is another. I only see gesture and voice support being very limited using the PSeye because its an afterthought. I will even suggest its more to tick off a feature then it is a serious attempt to make such features important or even useful. Will also suggest it will be like using Kinect 1.0 on the 360 but worst.