**XBOX ONE** Official Thread

[Shamikebab]

I always assumed that was far from finalised anyway. They'd already confirmed you didn't have to have it on so why need it connected? *awaits fanboy claiming they want to watch him in his underwear*

 

[Macro]

Microsoft chief product officer Marc Whitten has confirmed that though every Xbox One will ship with a new version of Kinect, the camera will not need to be plugged in for the next-generation console to function.
"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," Whitten told IGN.

He added that users will have the ability to "completely" turn off the Kinect through system settings. When toggled "off," the Kinect is not collecting any information at all, Whitten said.

"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," he said

 

[muggs]

I've given it plenty of thought, and I don't think it's top stuff, not if it means bulking up the controller to make room for more buttons. Like I said, just remap the reload button to R3, and you don't need to take your thumb off your aim button. Simple.

but if it doesnt mean bulking up the controller its top stuff then right?

just try clicking r3 whilst keeping smooth steady controlled moving aim, try it with your controller now. messed up yeah? your aiming just stops then starts to move at a slower pace to before you clicked it. even if it was fine i would then lose crouch and then im are back to square one again.

you could move crouch to l3 but then you lose sprint, no way i could have sprint as a button, shoulder button sprint? no because that opens up another set of shoot/ads issues. do you see the need for more buttons now? this is why i would love buttons on the back of the pad

 

[Davinnicus]

Should have just called it the Xbox 180
So for those of us that have no intention of using kinect, why not offer a pack that doesn't include it at a lower price point? Especially if this is true that it doesn't need to be connected.

 

[Soulja]

I don't think the developers would be very happy to see a Kinect-less SKU so soon after they've been told all Xboxs will have a Kinect in the box, and they've been programming games to make use of it. No matter how big or small the use is. I would expect a cheaper Kinect-less SKU in the future but I don't think it will be for at least a year or two.

 

[Shamikebab]

Should have just called it the Xbox 180
So for those of us that have no intention of using kinect, why not offer a pack that doesn't include it at a lower price point? Especially if this is true that it doesn't need to be connected.

because optional accessories just aren't developed for. It has to be in every SKU.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

but if it doesnt mean bulking up the controller its top stuff then right?

No, as I said I don't feel the controllers need any more buttons.

do you see the need for more buttons now?

No, I don't. Like I said, I've had no problems in all my years of gaming. Sounds like PC gaming would suit you better tbh.

 

[TriedandTested]

Boom. Signed, sealed, delivered.

 

[biron_w]

Great read, suggests that the new controller is some way ahead of the 360 controller, which is impressive. The DS4 has some way to go to match it.

A few people have said the DS4 is better than the new X1 controller. I think somebody from DICE said the DS4 is the best controller they've used.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

A few people have said the DS4 is better than the new X1 controller. I think somebody from DICE said the DS4 is the best controller they've used.

The thumbsticks are still wrong for me, the placement on the Xbox controller is perfect IMHO.

 

[Soulja]

I'm looking forward to trying them both. The sticks have always been the main issue for me, yeah the placement wasn't very good but also the dead zones are massive on the ps3 controller. I think the use of the sticks can be improved by changing the grips, which Sony have done but I'm not convinced it will better the xbox controller.

 

[Kohaashi]

To me the PS4 pad looks like two penises.

 

[djshauny1]

To me the PS4 pad looks like two penises.

I just looked at the pic of the pad and you have ruined it for me lol

 

[Nismo]

Personally I find the more MS backtrack over their initial XB1 plans, the less appealing it gets. I was perfectly happy for them to keep the online checks and Kinect requirement, it's what made the difference.

Now we are back to the same situation as the current gen, flip a coin as to what exclusives you want and that's the only core difference.

 

[Shamikebab]

Why has making the kinect optional made a difference? The important thing is developers knowing that every One has a Kinect, not that they're in use 100% of the time.

 

[Nismo]

The important thing is developers knowing that every One has a Kinect, not that they're in use 100% of the time.

So then, why backtrack if it doesn't make any difference? Because of the tin-hat brigade who think MS are spying on them?

If every developer is coding games to make use of it in some way, however small, then keep the requirement to have it enabled, rather than now having to cater to people who turn it off. Ultimately, it also smacks of a future Kinect-less SKU, meaning developer support will further dip.

While I'm sure that pleases some folks who have always rubbished Kinect, as I said earlier, it detracts from the unique selling points of the XB1 and blurs the lines between consoles further, instead of having 2 completely different gaming experiences. Just like the always-on/diskless feature that got dropped due to consumer pressure, to me that was fantastic.

 

[Davey_Pitch]

So then, why backtrack if it doesn't make any difference? Because of the tin-hat brigade who think MS are spying on them?

Effectively, yes....

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.

So yup, because of the people scared MS want to watch them in their underwear or something, they've changed a few things.

 

[TheVoice]

So then, why backtrack if it doesn't make any difference? Because of the tin-hat brigade who think MS are spying on them?

If every developer is coding games to make use of it in some way, however small, then keep the requirement to have it enabled, rather than now having to cater to people who turn it off. Ultimately, it also smacks of a future Kinect-less SKU, meaning developer support will further dip.

While I'm sure that pleases some folks who have always rubbished Kinect, as I said earlier, it detracts from the unique selling points of the XB1 and blurs the lines between consoles further, instead of having 2 completely different gaming experiences. Just like the always-on/diskless feature that got dropped due to consumer pressure, to me that was fantastic.

They'd have had to cater for people who covered it with a box or towel, or threw it down the back of their TV cabinet anyway. All it means is that Kinect-specific features won't be enabled if the sensor isn't connected, the fact that every Xbox One owner will still have the ability to use Kinect is all that really matters to the developers. Give people a compelling reason to have it connected and they (mostly) will.

 

[Nismo]

They'd have had to cater for people who covered it with a box or towel, or threw it down the back of their TV cabinet anyway.

Obviously they wouldn't cater for those people, because they would just say they are being ridiculous. Covering it up or shoving it behind a cupboard isn't really a valid get-out, is it?

Now that MS has officially made it optional, they do. The less developers that design games to use Kinect, the less impressive it's inclusion will be. We saw that with the original Kinect and the PS Eye, only a small number of games got the most out of them because only a few developers could be bothered. Making it compulsory would have meant devs (in theory) would have explored more ways to integrate it into the whole experience.

MS were trying to move the game forward in different ways, discless game libraries, MUCH improved motion/voice control, now we just look to be getting a diluted version of that because the internet moaned a bit.

I can just about understand the changes from a business point of view, but I do wish they had stuck to their guns and offered something a little different to what Sony are giving us.

 

[djkav]

Im having a guess that more than 50% of Xbox One users will have Kinect disconnected, with no intentions of using it. I bet that developers will now start to become wary of this. Resulting in more generic Kinect usage in games, that won't be missed if its not in use.

MS really should have just kept it as an always connected requirement. Give the devs something to use for special features.