Microsoft launches cut-price version of Xbox One without Kinect

In a surprise turnaround, Microsoft has announced this week that they will be launching a cut-price version of their Xbox One console, without the Kinect controller. From the 9^th of June players will be able to purchase the console on its own, at the reduced price of £349.

This about- turn is rather interesting, as Microsoft spent the greater part of last year explaining how controlling your console and TV with your arms and voice is the next best thing, and how the Kinect is revolutionising game play. They’ve almost gone as far as saying that without the Kinect controller the Xbox One just isn’t the same, so the announcement has come as a shock to many players.

The cut price version will offer access to hit gaming titles such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Dead Rising 3, Titanfall and Forza Motorsport 5, and players will be able to access entertainment apps such as Netflix, YouTube and Twitch. Players will also benefit from next-gen consoles unique features and have the ability to get game invites whilst watching TV, upload favourite game moments, switch between entertainment and game apps and watch Twitch broadcasts.

Microsoft has also announced that they plan to make entertainment apps free to all gamers, in a move similar to Riverbellecasino.com casino sites and other entertainment hubs that have become hugely popular due to their free gaming. If free entertainment apps become available to all Xbox One users’, players will no longer have to have an Xbox Live Gold membership to access entertainment services, but Microsoft promises that those who have purchased this exclusive membership will be able to enjoy other exclusive products.

Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer has defended Microsoft’s decision to release the Xbox One minus the Kinect and has said that they are responding to the consumers call for more choice, and that they understand that a wide variety of gaming and hardware options is being requested. He reiterated that the Kinect remained an important part of Xbox’s vision and that the Xbox One offering that features the Kinect controller boasted massively enhanced features.

It seems like Microsoft’s move to allow a cut price version of the Xbox One without the Kinect is more of a marketing ploy to attract a broader audience, and with the lower price it certainly is far more appealing.