Yes, but one requires extreme skill and the other doesn't. This means division of said gamers. Core gamers prefer games with depth and skill, casuals prefer having their hand held.

The new sensor comes with the console, so it's not an issue of being forced to buy an accessory unless you want to be that guy who says I am paying for it because it adds to the cost of the console.

I'm probably in the minority here, but personally, Kinect 2 is the main feature of the Xbox 3 that has my interest, but not because I love motion control games. Frankly, as far as games went, every single Kinect game I played made me feel like I'd been hoodwinked/bait and switched. If it hadn't been for the fact that the only reason I bought a pair of sensors was for motion capture in Windows, I would have felt ripped off, suckered and swindled. As it were, MS' decision to release the Kinect SDK resulted in a lot of interesting home brew and even professional software in Windows. But as far as the Xbox goes, it was a bust other than as a commercially successful prototype that would ensure the future of the interface beyond the 360.

But as an integrated part of the Xbox interface, Kinect is what could/should distinguish the Xbox 3 from any other console experience. Provided it actually works. I don't really want to hear from any Microsoft apologists here because the lag on Kinect 1 made it an amusing hobby kit experiment that was probably only used by fans who wanted to like it after the initial "neat" luster wore off. It was not accurate enough and not nearly fast enough which can only be overlooked by the reality that it was using inexpensive hardware components in the interest of cost savings to MS.

I have higher hopes and expectations for Kinect 2, but I'm not drinking the Kool Aid.

Developers don't have to use all or even any of the features, but having voice recognition and motion recognition as a standard part of the hardware interface provides a pretty big set of additional tools when it comes to game design and user interface design.

i agree with that. It also adds the ability to turn on your console by voice since they have the low power mode rumored also. I use kinect as my biggest  multimedia device simply due to the voice controls and my lack of an ability to keep a controller around

That's true. But one does not spoil the other. You can have your cake and eat it too. Kinect didn't ruin Halo 4. It wasn't even used in Halo 4. Kinect voice was available for Mass Effect 3 and it was cool, but you didn't have to use it.

I'm not really seeing what you're point is other than there are different games for different people. I don't pay much attention to casual games and enjoy my core games. The existence of Kinect does not harm my enjoyment of games.

Or... you could just press the home button. oO

I usually dont have a controller close by becuase i use the voice controls for everything. But that does work too :)

I'm just messing with you mate lol

The only downside I can envisage is the downfall of the IR remote, which is very good on the 360.

What worries me is how much Kinect is required. If its absolutely essential to navigate menues what will happen if it breaks. You won't be able to use the console at all. And what if you just can't set it up right because some people live in very crammed and tiny rooms. What will they do ?

I don't think motion control is going to be the only way to navigate menues. Just the default choice. Hopefully it will all come down to convinience. You use what you prefer.  Just like you can just use your wii pro controller instead of the wiipad to play games you will be able to use play games without using the kinect at all.

 Kinect being mandatory is just to prevent splitting the audiences which is always a problem with prepherials. Sure some people may think it is a waste of money but if the thing is going to come out at launch it just doesnt make sense to make it a seperate accessory which would surely hurt support for the device. I would love for microsoft to forget about motion control completely but considering how successful kinect is, that would be about as unreasonable as for Activison to stop making CoD games.