The kinect tax has been lifted. Im so glad they got Phil in there. I know he has been berated with requests about that.

This move means I'm now way more likely to support their console, I never understood the point of kinect. It's just a gimmick to me and i'm glad to see them remove it from Xbox One. Certainly took long enough for them to do it

Games with gold is starting to look good now too

The death of a platform is good news?

 Without Kinect why even bother with an Xbox One Console?  The best reason to get a console is for new and creative experiences to interact and play with the device.  The Wii had motion.  Kinect 1.0 did too, it works well for some things and doesn't for others.  Kinect 2.0 on the Xbox One was the future of innovation far beyond what we already have.

Now it's just a mid level powered PC.  Without Kinect it loses what makes it so special.  I don't think it will help them compete with Sony or help their PR reputation either.  It's just a major fail all around.  It's about as bad news as you could get for Xbox.  Instead of innovation, they are having  fear based reactions.  That never leads to anything but mediocrity.

I would just stick with a PC.  You can add an X1 or PS4 controller to it.  It's more powerful and if Kinect is truly dead you wouldn't be missing out on anything.

Most all of the early adopter are somewhere between furious and dissapointed.  Most of the people that are happy about it were never going to get an Xbox One anyway.

It's a victory for the trolls.   It doesn't help Xbox.

They will get one more sale because of me with this move.

The issue I had was the price, I could upgrade my Core i7 3930K to a 4930K for what they were asking.

On the flip side, Sony threw a $100 Australian tax onto the Playstation 4, Microsoft only threw a $50 Australian tax onto their console, potentially the Xbox One should be cheaper in the land down under when this takes effect by $50... And because Microsoft price gauges less than Sony here, I am more inclined to go with Microsoft on pure principle.

If I wan't graphics or performance, well. I have something no console will ever match anyway.

Its a great move. People aren't interested in the kinect anymore.

So now WiiU is the only nextgen console which differentiate itself both from console competitors and from PC-gaming. Also it has a price advantage... If only 3rd party wouldn't drop Nintendo support - it would be in much better position now!

"So why all the negativity?"
Because they are selling weaker hardware for the same price as sony are selling a more powerful console.

When exactly will my Kinect stop to work?

I've never been interested in owning my very own HAL 900 Kinect; don't need it, as I have DDP Yoga and various outdoor activity to fulfil those needs. The price and mandatory Kinect bundled in was my dealbreaker last year, and I'm very glad they addressed this issue.