Unless Microsoft intends to further cut the price of the Xbox One in August, or later this year, I don’t think that removing the Kinect will solve any of the problems they’re facing. If each problem the Xbox One had, had an effective solution in the form of an “if... then...” statement, it would look something like this:
If the problem that Microsoft has is that it is weaker than the PS4, then Microsoft should make games to show off the graphical capability of the Xbox One.
If the problem is that Microsoft is perceived to be anti-consumer, then Microsoft should ease up on their unfavorable policies.
Taking away the kinect is a solution to something, I’m sure. I just can’t figure out what it is:
If the problem is that people can’t see the value in Kinect, the answer to that shouldn’t be to admit that it really had no value in the first place. The answer should have been to prove that Kinect is a worthwhile purchase.
If the problem is that people couldn’t distinguish a large enough enough difference between the PS4 and Xbox One to justify paying the 100 dollar premium, the answer to that is not to diminish any difference they might have had in the first place. The answer should have been to pronounce the differences even further.
Whereas before Microsoft could have said, “Yes, you’re paying more, but you’re also getting something that our competitors can’t offer.” Now they say, “Yes, you’re paying the same amount, but we also have a lesser system.”
Microsoft taking the Kinect, I think proves that they had no vision with the Xbox One.
Microsoft had no vision with the Xbox One. They don’t know what kind of product they want to make, this reflects poorly on the company.
The Kinect was once mandatory for the system. Blatantly at first. At one point during the development phase, a person would not have been able to even turn the Xbox One on without Kinect plugged in. Then later passively, as each Xbox One came with a Kinect bundled. You were getting one, whether you liked it or not - hence it was mandatory.
Much like the DRM 180, where Microsoft went back on major decisions during the production of the product, a feature that was once touted as being “essential” or “irreversible” is shown to not have been either essential or irreversible.
Microsoft announced that starting in June, Xbox Ones and Kinect will be separate items. Rather than proving the worth of their packed-in product, they find it much easier to compromise their own plans, contradict themselves and release a box that isn’t all that different from the other companies boxes. A device that is all but it name, unrelated to the one they set out on making.
What is the Xbox One now? A PS4 that isn’t quite as good as being a PS4 as the PS4 is.
As I said earlier, I think this decision to remove a distinguishing characteristic of the Xbox One will have the adverse affect of what Microsoft was going for. At least I think, it’s still not clear to me completely as to the problem that subtracting Kinect will solve. I think people now will be even more willing to buy the PS4, because why not? There’s now one less reason to buy the Xbox One. I think this will force Microsoft to further cut the price of the Xbox One later this year to compensate for even lower sales. Maybe that’s the one advantage of removing the Kinect; it gives Microsoft more freedom to cut the price while losing a minimal amount of money. If they had kept Kinect, then it would have been very expensive to cut the price.
That is all.
