Kinect Not Needed to Run Xbox One According to Microsoft

By: Talha Bhatti  |   August 16th, 2013   |   Business, Gadgets, Games, News

With the release of the latest next generation gaming console, Microsoft added a list of requirements that gamers needed to fulfill if they wanted to enjoy the fully loaded console experience. This did not sit well with the everyday gamer and a public backlash caused Microsoft to take a few of these requirements back to boost their chances to compete with other brands since the market is now more competitive. Gamers described these requirements as unnecessary and prohibitive costs that the gamers had to pay in order to enjoy their video games.

 

One of these requirements was the need to be continuously connected to the internet, which was invalidated by Redmond in June. Furthermore the previously planned initiative to limit using and sharing of games has been lifted after staggering criticism from gaming fanatics.

 

Another requirement was the entangled Xbox one and Kinect package which required Kinect motion sensor to be continuously be connected to the console as it became a permanent addition to the console. This was hugely criticized and now according to Marc Whitten, Xbox One platform architect, Microsoft has lifted this requirement as well and as a result the console won’t require the hassle of connecting Kinect.

 

This won’t change the fact that gamers will be allowed to avoid Kinect altogether. It’ll still come with the console and this change will only prevent the console from becoming useless if Kinect is powered off or is defective.

 

Whitten while addressing concerns over Xbox One functionality without using Kinect, told IGN:

“You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information. Any functionality that relies on voice, video, gesture, or more won’t work. We still support using it for IR blasting in this mode. You can turn the sensor back on at any time through settings, and if you enter into a required Kinect experience (like Kinect Sports Rivals for instance), you’ll get a message asking if you want to turn the sensor back on in order to continue.”

 

PC Mag wrote that, “Whitten also confirmed that the Xbox One will ship with a mono audio headset, as seen in a recent in-house unboxing video, which he said features improved audio quality that “is night and day compared to chat on the Xbox 360.” The Xbox One platform architect also told IGN that gamers’ Xbox 360 avatars will transfer over to the new console, elaborated on how Live Arcade will work on the Xbox One dashboard, talked resolutions and frame rates for Game DVR video captures, and more.”

Source: PC Mag