Flying Solo: Standalone Kinect Sensor For Xbox One Coming October 7 For $150
Whether Microsoft is ready to fully admit it or not, the Redmond outfit incorrectly surmised that bundling a second generation Kinect motion control sensor with the Xbox One and charging a $100 premium would allow the console to fly off store shelves. To Microsoft's credit, it did sell minutes of units at the $499 price tag, but Sony's PlayStation 4 priced at $399 has sold millions more, hence why Microsoft now offers a standalone Xbox One package for the same price. Come October 7, you'll also be able to purchase the Kinect sensor by itself.
The second generation Kinect will go for $150 MSRP, which is a $50 premium over the bundled price when purchasing an Xbox One. However, it will come with Dance Central Spotlight (digital download), the latest in the dance series from developer Harmonix, which features a soundtrack of 10 tracks.
As you can imagine, Microsoft is still touting the benefits of having a Kinect controller, and if you're buying into the media center experience (or simply like motion controlled games), it's a worthy addition.
"Xbox One is better with Kinect, making games, TV and entertainment come alive with premium experiences. The Kinect experience includes voice and gesture controls, biometric sign-in, instant personalization, instant scanning of QR codes, and enhanced features only available with Kinect in games such as Kinect Sports Rivals, Dead Rising 3, Project Spark, and more," Microsoft stated in a blog post. "We believe Xbox One is better with Kinect, offering unlimited possibilities, and we’re seeing our fans use Kinect for Xbox One every day, with billions of voice commands since launch."
If you're not interested in the Kinect, Microsoft has some recently added bundles available -- one of them is the Xbox One with Madden NFL 15 and the other is the console with Sunset Overdrive, both of which retain the same $399 price tag as the standalone console. Neither of those bundles come with a Kinect.
The second generation Kinect will go for $150 MSRP, which is a $50 premium over the bundled price when purchasing an Xbox One. However, it will come with Dance Central Spotlight (digital download), the latest in the dance series from developer Harmonix, which features a soundtrack of 10 tracks.
As you can imagine, Microsoft is still touting the benefits of having a Kinect controller, and if you're buying into the media center experience (or simply like motion controlled games), it's a worthy addition.
"Xbox One is better with Kinect, making games, TV and entertainment come alive with premium experiences. The Kinect experience includes voice and gesture controls, biometric sign-in, instant personalization, instant scanning of QR codes, and enhanced features only available with Kinect in games such as Kinect Sports Rivals, Dead Rising 3, Project Spark, and more," Microsoft stated in a blog post. "We believe Xbox One is better with Kinect, offering unlimited possibilities, and we’re seeing our fans use Kinect for Xbox One every day, with billions of voice commands since launch."
If you're not interested in the Kinect, Microsoft has some recently added bundles available -- one of them is the Xbox One with Madden NFL 15 and the other is the console with Sunset Overdrive, both of which retain the same $399 price tag as the standalone console. Neither of those bundles come with a Kinect.
