XBox One naujienos

Kinect No Longer Mandatory For Xbox One (But Will Still Come With It)

Another backflip? Back in May, Microsoft said that you'll need have the motion-sensing Kinect plugged in at all times in order for your Xbox One to function, but now they're reversing course once again.

We already knew that you could turn off the Kinect, but now Microsoft says it doesn't have to be plugged in at all. Speaking to IGN, Microsoft's Marc Whitten shared the news that the Xbox One will indeed work without Kinect.

"That said, like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor," he said.

Asked just how "off" the Kinect can be when it is plugged in, Whitten answered totally off.

"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."

This is yet another entry to add to the list of stunning reversals in Xbox One policy made by Microsoft over the past few months. In June, Microsoft switched course on Xbox DRM, and they've flipped on all sorts of other policies since then.

Microsoft has said they have no intentions of selling an Xbox One without Kinect, so the Kinect is still mandatory in that sense. But Microsoft has changed their minds once or twice before.

The Xbox One will cost $500, Microsoft has said. That's with the Kinect. For comparison, the PS4 will be $400. The Wii U premium package costs $350.

UPDATE: A Microsoft spokesman has answered a couple of our questions:

Can games that use Kinect for supplemental features and commands still be played without Kinect, or will any game that uses Kinect at *all* need the Kinect plugged in?

If Kinect is only used to enable supplemental features in a particular title, then you will still be able to play that game if Kinect is unplugged. Games where Kinect is required – like “Kinect Sports Rivals,” for example – will of course need the sensor to be plugged in.

Does Microsoft still have no intentions of selling a Kinect-free bundle?

Though we’ve changed this requirement, Kinect is still an essential and integrated part of the Xbox One platform. By having it as a consistent part of every Xbox One, game and entertainment creators can build experiences that assume the availability of voice, gesture and natural sensing, leading to unrivaled ease of use, premium experiences and interactivity for consumers. We also strongly believe that once you try the all-new Kinect and the game and entertainment experiences it enhances or enables, you won’t want to use your Xbox One without it.

And here's Microsoft senior exec Albert Penello, posting on NeoGAF about the flip. (Bolded emphasis mine)

We still believe in Kinect. We aren’t interested in splitting the development base. The more demos I’ve seen, the more I’ve used it – the more impressed I am. The team feels strongly about Kinect, and I hope we’re able to prove that when you use it.

We also have a ton of privacy settings to allow people to turn off the camera, or microphones, or put it in a state just for “Xbox On” and IR blasting – there will be a lot of user control for that.

The thing we all understood, and hence this change, is that there are some scenarios where people just may not be comfortable. We wanted people to be 100% comfortable, so we allow the sensor to be unplugged. And clearly the “it dropped” scenario is possible.

The most obvious thing is watching a DVD/BD, or streaming a movie, or HDMI pass-through, your experience isn’t impacted (except you miss voice and IR blasting)

There is no “gotcha”, but obviously, if there is a game that REQUIRES Kinect (like Rivals), or something where Kinect IS the experience (like Skype), those won’t work.

That said, for people who have privacy concerns there are user control settings, which we believe are great.

Bet vistiek parduodama su kinect

Juokingi tie MS darosi (kas del Xbox One). Paskelbia ivairiausia informacija tikedamasi, kad isbris is visos situacijos nesuslape. Taciau veliau vos ne kiekviena savaite vis kazka keicia, nes mato, kad visiska sikna gali buti veliau. Taip siuo atveju, tai gerai is vartotojo puses, bet come on, tai tik parodo kokie jie savim pasitikintys buvo paskelbimo pradzioje ir kaip jie "galvoja" apie savo klientus.

Na bet džiaukimės jog jie dar kažką daro, ir manau ir žaidėjai kurie PlayStasion pirks turėtu džiugauti, kadangi kuo didesnė konkurencija, tuo geresnės konsolės.

Čia jau gerai, nes tokį šnipą turėt namuose tai eina sau. Nė už ką. Beliko tik pašalinti jį iš bundle'o.

Pamatysit day one edition eis su kinect, o kiti jau be jo bus Beje cia kada skaitinejau TX forume tai jie labai savimi pasitiki ir sako, kad xone jau beveik nulauztas

Lauuuuukiam, greičiau paskelbkit tikrą release day.

Kaip ir buvo galima tiketis,Xbox One pultas bus suderinamas su PC (kaip ir X360 pultelis) beveik nuo pacios X1 pasirodymo datos....

Xbox One controllers will be compatible with PCs at some point in 2014, Microsoft has announced.

Kaip ir buvo galima tiketis,Xbox One pultas bus suderinamas su PC (kaip ir X360 pultelis) beveik nuo pacios X1 pasirodymo datos....

 

Xbox One controllers will be compatible with PCs at some point in 2014, Microsoft has announced.

 

 

More info

"We know people want to use the Xbox One controller on their PC, and we do too - we expect to have the functionality available in 2014," said a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to CVG, since verified by Eurogamer.

 

"The Xbox One controller, although it looks similar in many ways, shares no underlying technology with the current Xbox 360 controller," the rep explained. "New wireless protocol, combined with the ability to work in 'wired' mode, and the addition of features like Impulse triggers, means that new software has to be written and optimised for the PC."

 

"There is also some work that we need to do to make sure that existing PC games that support the Xbox 360 controller, will work with the Xbox One controller," Microsoft added. "While it seems trivial, it's actually quite a bit of dedicated work for all that to be seamless for the user."

 

One of the nice things about the Xbox One controller is that you can plug it into the console via a USB cable, so players no longer have to decide whether to buy the one with a cord (that your cat will inevitable chew on) or the more convenient wireless one, which eats up batteries and isn't compatible with a PC. This will do both.

 

 

Zaibys. Ir zaibys normali USB jungtis.

Jo,dar butu jega,jei tiktu (bevielei versijai aisku) x360 pultelio imtuvas,nes losimas su laidu,tai vistiek ne tas...nors geriau nei nieko,bet tik tiek...

Na seip manau nelabai microsoft naudos ta "cloud" cia tik jie tai graziai pavadino, nes tas ju cloud pvz ant forzos, tai kaip kazkoks updeitas, kuris pakeicia AI veiksmus tikru zaideju veiksmais, to as cloud nepavadinciau. Normalus cloud, tai kaip ant onlive viska is neto streamina, o cia net daleles sito nera. Plius manau multiplatforminiai zaidimai visi be cloud veiks, nes ps4 to nenaudos,o del vieno xbox game perdaryt ir is cloud daryt butu nepalanku ir kurejam ir zaidejam. Jie ta cloud ateityje nebent ant ekskiuzyvu naudos, kuriu manau labai daug irgi nebus.

Is esmes del nebutino Kinect manau labai teisingas sprendimas. Visu pirma bundle be kinect bus ~100-150 USD pigesni, ko pasekoje kaina gerokai nukris.

O kas kalbejo del XONE nulauzimo sklando ivairus gandai, kad pora devkitu senokai guli pas TX komanda rusyje ir kad galbut jie jau turi veikianti ODD prototipa Na bet bus matyt. Siaip manau per 8-14 men sita daikciuka nulaush

Na nors cia tik mano svajone, bet jei nulauztu, tai butu kas lost, nors apie nulauzimus kalbet dar anksti